【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 404 Breakout Begins

Ace and Sabo were equally shocked, but Ace was the first to react, as this was what he had intended to do as well, he just hadn't expected Lucci to resolve it so quickly, however, Lucci didn't seem to be in the right state, and Ace quickly approached the blond figure who was still standing there.

It wasn't until he got closer that Ace realized why he felt something was wrong at that moment. The standing figure still clutched the black sword tightly, breathing heavily, with bright red blood splattered on his chin and lips. As he approached, his dark red pupils stared at him like a wild animal, and deep in his eyes surged a heart-pounding dark tide, which was completely unfamiliar. Ace's heart tightened, and it wasn't until he grabbed Lucci's wrist that Ace realized he had moved. He had never seen Lucci like this before, and he called out softly, "Lucci?"

"It's okay." Ace lowered his voice and called out again, "Lucci."

But Lucci didn't react, but his breathing had subsided. Ace took a step forward, his right hand still tightly holding Lucci's wrist, and his left hand gently pinched Lucci's cheek. "What are you thinking about? Can you see me? I'm Ace."

These words seemed to work. He felt Lucci's tense muscles relax, and the black sword that he had been holding tightly in his hand disappeared. As if recognizing who he was, Lucci's eyes lighted up again, and the heart-pounding dark tide in his eyes completely disappeared, returning to the familiar dark red, but his body staggered back.

Ace hurried forward, trying to catch the shaky figure. He reached out to hold Lucci's unstable body, but Lucci rejected his approach. Ace stopped what he was doing in confusion and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Don't touch it... there's... venom on your body." Lucci took a breath and explained reluctantly, then broke free from Ace's hand and reached out to untie his clothes stained with venom.

"I'm fire, that's okay." Ace consoled Lucci and then helped him take off his venom-soaked jacket. He knew Lucci was scared, but he couldn't blame him, especially since Luffy was going through pain because of this.

"What's wrong?" As soon as his clothes were taken off, Lucci fell down. Ace hurriedly hugged Lucci and leaned against his body, his expression worried. "Are you hurt anywhere? Let me see."

Ace looked anxious, "Hey, Lucci, are you okay?!"

"You're so noisy, Ace."

"You bastard, if you're okay, don't make me worry!" Ace breathed a sigh of relief and angrily hit Lucci's shoulder, but the force was much smaller than usual.

"Just a little tired..."

"Really, you should have called me to beat that guy," Ace scolded, his body shaking at another scream, the same thing happened to Lucci, but he knew that he couldn't break down again, they had to be there to support their brother.

"Luffy needs you there more," Lucci said after a moment, his body flinching with each scream.

"No." Ace closed his eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath, thinking of Lucci's prepared sacrifice. Even though he knew he would have made the same choice in that moment, he would never be able to accept the outcome of Lucci's choice. "Luffy needs both of us there."

"Hmm..." Lucci smiled slightly.

"We'd better cheer him on. Our brother will always be stronger with someone's support." Ace had a genuine smile on his face, even though he was shaking the next second because of Luffy's scream of pain.

……

"Damn it!" Zoro roared softly as he looked at the burning life paper in his hand. It burned instantly. Zoro rushed into the forest while clenching the burning paper in his fist. He needed to leave. He needed to know what happened. He wanted to know Luffy's condition.

"What the hell is going on..." Zoro muttered to himself, looking at the life paper that crumpled in his palm. Zoro's voice was filled with fear. He tried hard not to let his voice become more hoarse. A part of him told him that he could not show weakness in the face of the captain's pain, but he could not drive away the feelings in his heart. Fear, despair, and worry filled his heart. "Stupid Captain, what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into!"

He didn't understand what was happening, but he knew his captain was... struggling to survive. Zoro continued to run, following the direction of the life paper through the forest. He couldn't just wait here for Luffy's judgment. The paper in his hand had now turned into half ash, and the last piece was trembling on the edge of burning, as if in deep, burning pain. Zoro kept repeating in his heart, I will come back to you soon, you can't do this, you haven't become the Pirate King yet, you haven't lived to be the freest person, so please, Luffy, fight, you must come back to us. He didn't believe in gods, but at this moment he hoped very much that gods existed.

……

The air was filled with the smell of sweetness and sweat, which was nauseating and suffocating.

In the midst of all this, Sanji ran, ignoring the demon chasing him behind him. He held tightly the burning life paper in his hand. This was Luffy's life paper, his lifeline.

The life paper curled inward, and the edges were peeling off at a very fast speed like a dying petal. It was crumbling, and the edges were disappearing. It burned in his hand like an ordinary piece of paper. Thinking of Qi's introduction to the life paper, Sanji's eyes revealed deep fear. Looking at the life paper that had burned to the size of a small piece of paper but was still burning rapidly, Sanji kept praying in his heart, please, stop, don't do this, Luffy, you can't do this to us.

……

"How are you?" Sabo looked worriedly at Lucci who was leaning heavily on Ace. His face was extremely pale, and cold sweat almost wet his blond hair. He could see that his body was trembling slightly.

"I'm fine, just a little tired... I'll be fine soon." Lucci straightened up, blinking, trying to clear his eyes of blurriness. Who was this person? "We need to get out of here."

Ace frowned at the blond man, first noticing the noble looking coat, a coat very similar to the one he wore when they were little... but that was impossible, Sabo was already dead, Ace patted his head and threw the thought out, not wanting to cause any more grief now.

"The navy will send more reinforcements soon after they know what happened here." Crocodile frowned. The result of Magellan being killed was indeed beyond his expectation.

"Luffy..." Ace looked at Luffy, who was struggling in pain with his hands and feet held down, with a painful expression. Lucci had already communicated with him, and they had successfully avenged Magellan, but Luffy still endured all the pain. It was difficult for him not to blame himself for this, but he knew that his brother needed him now. He believed that Luffy would be fine, and they would make sure Luffy was safe.

"He'll be fine," Kei said firmly, preparing to carry Luffy on his back. "Now let's focus on getting out of here alive."

"We need to get out of this hell as soon as possible, then we can find a doctor faster." Sabo said as he took off his coat and wrapped Luffy with the clothes before carrying him on his back. He needed to find a doctor to treat his brothers. He could see that Luffy and Ace were not in good condition either.

"That's right, we can't stop now. We have to deal with everything after we get out!" Jinbei reminded.

"They should know that it is a mistake to concentrate all the guards on the third floor on the fourth floor." Ivankov grinned as he looked at the guards who were completely unconscious on the ground. It was not them who did it. It should be said that he was worthy of being the son of a dragon. He possessed such powerful domineering power at such a young age.

"Come on, Straw Hat!" Von Clay looked worriedly at Luffy who was being carried on someone's back. He looked very painful. He had originally planned to pretend to be the deputy warden and go to the infirmary to find an antidote for Luffy, but he saw Ivankov coming to the Straw Hat. He knew that if anyone could save the Straw Hat, it must be him.

Ivankov turned to look at his little candies. "Everyone, follow me. We will reach the third floor soon. After we reach the second and first floors, we will release as many criminals as possible. We want to make the exit as chaotic as possible!"