【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 470 I will miss you

"Luffy, don't put your feet in the water!" Ace turned to Luffy, who was trying to walk to the edge of the beach to touch the seawater, and scolded him.

"Listen to Ace, Luffy!" Lucci interrupted casually, his hands clasped behind his head, a serene expression on his face, walking side by side with his brothers.

"Ace is so mean." Luffy pouted in dissatisfaction, but still left the beach and ran towards his brothers.

"We're all Devil Fruit users," Ace said, grabbing Luffy's neck and scolding him. "If you get swept away by the sea, there's no way we can save you."

"Okay, I forgive you!" Luffy said matter-of-factly.

"You forgive me? Does that make sense?" Ace teased, raising an eyebrow.

"I see a boat," Lucci pointed out, noting the small boat moored on the shore ahead. This meant the time for a leisurely stroll with his brothers was over.

"We're leaving, Luffy," Ace said softly, ruffling Luffy's hair.

"I know." Luffy grinned, staring intently into his brother's eyes. "Take care of yourself."

"Hey, that should be our language!" Ace grinned, revealing his pearly white teeth.

"Take care of yourself while we're gone, Luffy." Lucci gave Luffy a big hug.

“You too.” Luffy laughed, then pulled himself out of his brother’s arms and stared intently into his brother’s eyes. “Don’t do anything stupid, Lucci. I don’t want to lose you again.”

"You're the one who should say, 'Don't do anything stupid.'" Lucci released Luffy and looked at the serious-looking Luffy, saying, "I should be saying that to you."

"Don't cry all by yourself after we leave, Lu," Ace teased with a smile.

"I won't!" Luffy glared angrily at Ace.

“Luffy, if you feel lonely, you can call Lucci to come out and keep you company,” Lucci said with a smile. “But you have to call him first, otherwise he’ll just keep sleeping in your shadow.”

"I won't feel lonely." Luffy grinned, looking earnestly at his brothers. "Because you're all here, I'll never be alone!"

"You're getting better and better at talking!" Ace ruffled Luffy's hair vigorously.

"I'll miss you," Lucci said earnestly, cupping Luffy's cheeks and looking into his eyes.

"I'll miss you too." Luffy looked at Lucci with sparkling eyes.

Looking into Luffy's eyes, which were sparkling with joy, Lucci couldn't help but kiss his forehead, then released him, his voice gentle, "Be careful, okay?"

"Yes!" Luffy nodded vigorously, a bright smile spreading across his face.

Ace stepped forward and gave Luffy a hug. "We're leaving now. See you next time."

"Yeah, see you next time!" Luffy grinned and shouted.

They turned and walked toward the small boat that would take them back to the Moby. After boarding, they stood on the deck and waved to Luffy on the shore.

Lucci caught a glimpse of Rayleigh, who had been standing far to the side, and realized that Rayleigh's absence was to give them some time alone. After exchanging a glance, Lucci grinned at Rayleigh and waved vigorously in farewell.

"Lucci, Ace, don't cause trouble!" Luffy grinned, waving his arms wildly, his voice echoing through the sky, as he watched the ship sail towards the horizon in the twilight.

"That should be our voice!" Ace shouted back, making a megaphone with his hand and grinning.

Lucci and Ace stopped waving as Luffy's figure gradually shrank into a black dot that met the horizon. But they could still feel Luffy's presence, because he was the most precious love in their lives.

"Luffy will soon shock the world," Lucci said with a grin.

“After all, he’s Luffy.” Ace grinned and put his arm around Lucci’s shoulder, gazing affectionately at the island that had disappeared on the horizon. “He’ll soon be stronger than us.”

“Of course,” Lucci said softly, then broke free from Ace’s arm, turned around and leaned against the railing on the other side, looking at Ace with a playful smile on his face. “Cherish it, Ace, your time to freely explore the island is over.”

"What do you mean?" Ace hesitated for a second.

"Do you really think that after our bloodline is revealed, Dad will continue to let us go to the island alone like this?" Lucci shrugged. "Even this time, Dad only agreed to let us go to the island without any disguise because Rayleigh was there."

Ace frowned in thought, realizing that Lucci was right; given his father's personality, he probably wouldn't let them leave the ship.

Lu Qi sighed. "When we go back this time, Dad might be a little overprotective."

"Does that mean we might be stuck on the Moby for the next few weeks?" Ace thought with some worry about having to stay on the Moby for several weeks in a row. "It shouldn't come to that, right?"

“Unless they stop watching us,” Lucci gazed at the horizon where the sky met the sea, “we should still…”

"What are you thinking about!" Ace patted Lucci's head.

"What are you doing?" Lucci glared at Ace, rubbing his head with his hand.

Ace shrugged. "Don't think about anything else. We just need to become strong enough so they'll believe we can handle things. But it won't take long."

Lucci snorted in dissatisfaction, "Four months, we only have four months."

"So that's why you said we can't train with Luffy for another four months?" Ace raised an eyebrow.

“You’re too slow,” Lucci mocked mercilessly.

“Dad should agree to let us train with Rayleigh,” Ace retorted, dissatisfied. “So there’s absolutely no need to wait four months.”

“You should know Dad’s protective instincts better than I do,” Lucci grinned and mocked. “If you had told Dad you were going to stay on the island and train with Rayleigh in Haki instead of going back, it wouldn’t be Moby’s little boat coming to pick us up now, it would be the Moby itself.”

"And Dad will definitely refuse us to stay because he can do it himself, or because there are many powerful brothers on the ship who can train your domineering aura."

"Is it that serious?" Ace's eyes widened, but he wasn't overly surprised. He knew that since the Teach incident, everyone had been paying a bit too much... attention to the two of them.

“I got some information from Marco that the Navy and the World Government have been watching us closely, looking for any possibility that we might break away from Moby,” Lucci said, frowning as he looked at the sea. “They’re really relentless.”

“We’re wanted criminals, isn’t it normal for us to be chased?” Ace said with a grin.

“Indeed.” Lucci looked up at Ace and said with a smile, “I hope you can convince Dad that we need to leave for a while within four months.”