【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 409 Welcome home

The Whitebeard Pirates easily broke through Impel's naval forces. This was undoubtedly a surprise attack, and the naval fleet stationed here had little time to prepare support.

What's more, they controlled the Gate of Justice, and the navy could not stop them before they left. Ace could see the Moby Dick surrounded by allied ships not far away. He quickly scanned the surrounding environment and assessed the situation.

The navy ships were basically completely destroyed and turned into debris floating on the sea. It was a one-sided battle. It seemed that no one expected that their father would choose to save them in Impel Prison.

Dad was standing on the bow of Moby's ship grinning at them. He was really happy to see his dad again after such a long time. At the same time, Moby had begun to dock. He knew that his brothers would be able to get treatment in the infirmary soon. When Ace was thinking about how he should take Luffy and Lucci to jump on Moby, Marco had transformed into a phoenix. If Luffy was awake, he would definitely be extremely excited to see Marco in this form. Ace grinned.

……

When they finally got out of the prison, Sabo sighed and breathed in the fresh air. He glanced at Ace and Qi, who were both relieved. Luffy had stabilized after Marco's flame treatment and was no longer in pain and screaming heartbreakingly. This was a good sign. They were all scared by Luffy.

But he knew that Luffy would definitely hold on. His brother was no longer the little brother who made them feel fragile when they were children. He broke into the most dangerous prison in the world, destroyed the Judicial Island, and defeated CP9. His little brother was no longer weak. He had become a very powerful pirate.

Sabo grinned, but he also knew that he would always be the younger brother he wanted to protect, no matter how powerful he became, he would always be the younger brother who needed protection when he was younger in front of his brother.

But when Sabo thought about how he missed his brothers' growth and Luffy's growth because of his amnesia, his heart ached and guilt kept spreading in his heart. He even trembled all over when he thought about how he almost couldn't help his brothers.

Rumbling laughter came from the ship, Sabo looked up at the bow, Whitebeard was standing on the bow of Moby Dick, grinning at them, he glanced at Ace, very happy to see him laughing so happily, a warm feeling burst out in Sabo's chest, he was very happy that Ace had found his home, he remembered the darkness in Ace's eyes when he was a child, but now he found that his eyes had become completely bright, the darkness was completely gone, he knew that now any words and ridicule would no longer affect him.

Whitebeard gave Ace a different kind of love. He gave Ace more support. His crew members helped him and gave him more people to rely on. When Ace needed it, more people would come to help him and more people would love him. The more help and support Ace got, the better he became. Sabo knew that this was the reason why the darkness in Ace's eyes disappeared completely. This was something he and Lucci never did when they were children.

He and Lucci had done their best as children, trying to comfort Ace and keep him company, which sometimes helped, but they couldn't make it go away, until Luffy showed up, and they found that Luffy's love and adoration could make Ace's darkness disappear, which helped a lot, because they could clearly feel the changes in Ace, who by then had begun to learn to protect and love.

Sabo didn't know what would happen next, but he knew that his departure must have caused great pain to Ace and Luffy, as well as Lucci. He didn't know what Lucci's situation was like, but he still remembered the despair they faced at the time.

He didn't know how Lucci got through it, but he knew that Lucci must have been very desperate at that time, and none of them could be with him. Sabo closed his eyes, and the guilt that he had been trying to ignore surged up in his heart. When Sabo was about to fall into deeper guilt, Ace's voice interrupted him.

"Saab!"

Sabo came back to his senses and looked at the happy Ace. The ladder of the Moby Dick had been lowered at some point, and the Whitebeard pirates, revolutionary comrades, and prisoners who were allowed on board were boarding. He had been lost in his own thoughts for too long. Marco had transformed into a phoenix, carrying Ace and the others on his back. Luffy and Lucci were on top, but Lucci was missing.

"Sabo, come here!" Ace shouted again, not knowing why Sabo suddenly stood there in a daze. "Marco rarely carries people on his back!"

"Then I'd be honored." Sabo jumped lightly onto the back of the Phoenix, took Luffy from Ace, held Luffy's body in his arms, and gently stroked his pale cheek with his other hand "Why is Qi gone?"

"He said he was going back to Looper's Shadow to rest," Ace explained.

"Isn't he created by Lucci using the power of his fruit?" Sabo asked in confusion. He remembered that this was how Lucci introduced himself to him.

"I'm not sure, but Lucci left Qi to Luffy, so that might be the reason." Ace teased, "So Lucci must have a serious brother complex."

Marco glanced at Ace sideways "Are you talking about yourself?"

"Hey, I didn't. Among our three brothers, only Lucci and Sabo spoiled Luffy." Ace retorted.

"Hehehe." Sabo made a mocking sound.

"Sabo, what do you mean?" Ace shouted dissatisfiedly.

"I'm laughing at some unknowing idiot." Sabo said with a provocative grin.

Ace was about to retort, but he was already on the Moby deck, so he had to give up arguing with Sabo.

"Welcome home, my son!" Whitebeard grinned as he stood on the deck.

Ace tried hard not to cry. He had worried many times in prison, worried that his family would suffer an irreparable blow because of him. But now he was here, his family was here, his brothers were here, it was all over, they were completely out of that predicament. Ace stood up, his whole body almost shaking, the familiar yet strange hand on his shoulder calmed him down. He still couldn't believe that Sabo was really still alive.

"Dad!" Looking at his dad standing with the other brothers, waiting for his arrival, Ace's eyes were filled with tears, but he grinned and said, "I'm back!"

"I'm glad you're okay, son." Whitebeard smiled happily. He was glad that Ace was not affected by his prison experience. His eyes were still full of hope. "We are glad that you are back with us again."

"Thank you, everyone." Ace took a deep breath and said with a smile.

"It's time for them to go to the infirmary now, yoi!" Marco stopped the Whitebeards who wanted to rush up and hug Ace.

Despite being stopped, each Whitebeard had a gentle smile on his face. After all, their two brothers were back, and no one could take their brothers away from them.