【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 487 The Invaded Dragon Palace

"Ten years? Wouldn't that be incredibly boring?" Luffy asked, puzzled. "Why not go out? But never mind, I need to eat! I'm so hungry."

"Please eat." Bai Xing placed them on the table where the food was laid out and said with a smile, "This is my lunch, please have some."

"Wow! This looks amazing!" Luffy excitedly lunged at the giant loaf of bread.

"Thank you." After thanking the mermaid princess, Lucci immediately turned around and rushed towards the food with Luffy, as he was also feeling very hungry.

"It's a pity there's no meat!" Luffy said while munching on bread.

"There are clams here." Lucci took a moment from his focus on eating to give Luffy some attention.

"That's not meat!" Luffy retorted, but rushed toward the giant plate of clams, tore the meat off, and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Humans can really eat! Mr. Luffy, Mr. Lucci." Shirahoshi smiled as she propped her chin on her hand and watched the two brothers eating. "They look so small. By the way, my name is Shirahoshi."

"Hello, Princess Shirahoshi." Lucci swallowed the food in his mouth and said quickly, then continued to stuff food into his mouth.

"What a tongue-twisting name!" Luffy kept stuffing food into his mouth, not having time to answer Shirahoshi's various questions about the sun, flowers, and the like. "You have too many questions. Wait a minute, we're eating!"

Lucci sighed contentedly, put down the food scraps in his hand, and looked at Luffy, who was being disturbed from eating by Princess Shirahoshi. "I'm full."

"Oh! The rest are all mine!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly, speeding up the process of stuffing food into his mouth, almost clearing the table of food.

"Wow, what huge cheeks!" Shirahoshi curiously poked Luffy's suddenly bulging cheeks with her finger.

Lucci quickly moved away, and sure enough, the next second Luffy spat out a large amount of food.

"Don't touch me! What are you doing?!" Luffy yelled at Shirahoshi, baring his shark teeth.

Lucci sighed helplessly as he watched Princess Shirahoshi start crying again. She cried even more than Luffy did when he was a child. But considering she had been trapped in this room for 10 years, it was understandable.

Although this might bring a series of controversies and troubles, well, let's just consider it repayment for the food. Lucci looked at Princess Shirahoshi and asked, "Would you like to go out and play, Princess Shirahoshi?"

"Is...is it okay?" Shirahoshi immediately stopped crying and looked expectantly at Lucci standing on the table.

“Of course, you don’t need to worry about those axes, we can block them for you,” Lucci explained.

"Oh, I'm full, thank you for the meal!" Luffy patted his belly contentedly, and upon hearing Lucci and Shirahoshi's words, he grinned and said, "Even though you're a crybaby, let's go for a walk together. Staying here all the time will make you sick! Is there anywhere you'd like to go?"

“There are many, I want to go to the Sea Forest… but…” Shirahoshi hesitated, not wanting to cause trouble for Mr. Luffy and Mr. Lucci.

"Then go ahead! If anything else flies over, I'll knock it all away for you!!" Luffy grinned.

“We’re going to the Sea Forest too,” Lucci said with a smile. “Come along, Princess Shirahoshi.”

"Really? Thank you!" Bai Xing said happily, then remembered something and asked, "But are your companions alright? Weren't they said to have been arrested?"

"Don't worry, they won't really get caught!" Luffy said with a nonchalant smile.

“Let’s go then!” Lucci grinned.

……

Fishman Island Coral Hill

"Hey, Sanji, Qi, how come you ended up taking down all the soldiers in the end?!" Chopper shouted as he looked at the fallen soldiers.

"Didn't you take down most of them too?" Qi slung the pipe over his shoulder, frowning as he looked at the fallen soldiers on the ground. "What did Luffy and the others do? Why are these soldiers suddenly trying to capture us? Just a second ago they were inviting us to the palace."

"Damn it! This is clearly a great opportunity to go to the palace!" Sanji said, tugging at his tie in dissatisfaction.

"Yeah~~"

"A lady's voice!" Sanji seemed to have his radar activated, and suddenly his eyes lit up with hearts as he ran in one direction.

"Sanji, what are you going to do?" Chopper asked, puzzled.

"There's a person covered in blood on the beach! Go get a doctor!"

Chopper immediately ran off after him, and Qi shook his head helplessly and followed.

"Hey, Hachi!?"

The three stared in shock at Hachi lying on the shore, never expecting that the injured person they were talking about was the same Hachi they knew.

"How did you get injured like this?" Qi looked at the arrow stuck in Xiao Ba's back with a puzzled expression.

"Treat the wound immediately!" Chopper said sternly.

"It's so good to see you all... Is the straw hat there?" Hachi asked, panting heavily.

"He's not here, so don't say anything yet," Chopper said hurriedly. "I'll treat your wounds now."

"Quickly gather your companions and leave this island! The New Fishman Pirates will be attacking this island soon!" Hachi said urgently.

"The Dragon Palace Kingdom is about to collapse!!"

"Hey, Sanji, Chopper, Qi!"

The three looked up in surprise, "Luffy!?"

……

龙宫

"Your Majesty Neptune, the princess has been kidnapped, and a large number of human pirates have suddenly flown over from the tower! It's an enemy invasion!"

"At a time like this, an enemy attack has occurred?" Zoro stared expressionlessly at the Dragon Palace King and his soldiers, who were bound to the ground.

"Why now of all times?!" Usopp cried out in terror.

"Cut them down," Zoro said directly.

"I'm not asking you, don't answer!" Usopp shouted angrily.

Nami looked helplessly at the king who was tied up by them. "Why did you arrest us because of that unknown future? You invited us to be your guests."

"This castle is quite lively," Zoro remarked, looking at the fish-man pirates entering through the Dragon Palace gates.

"You conspired with those guys, didn't you!" the Left Minister shouted angrily. "You were the ones who let them in!"

"We wouldn't have come here if you hadn't invited us!" Usopp said angrily. "And who are those guys who look really strong?"

“Vander Deacon! You’re the one who kidnapped my daughter!” Neptune glared angrily at the broad-striped tiger shark man. “Where did you take Shirahoshi? Give her back!”

"What do you mean? It's as if the princess has gone somewhere else," Vander Deiken said in a panic.

"Stop pretending! If it weren't for you, how could Shirahoshi have suddenly disappeared from the room!"

"What! My Shirahoshi has disappeared!?"

"She's my daughter!!"

"Calm down. Look, all the humans who were targeting the mermaid princess have arrived safely. That means Princess Shirahoshi was at least here just now!"

"Whether what they say is true or not, you have a way to determine her location."

Zoro watched the fight in silence. These guys were enemies too. Luffy and Lucci should be with that mermaid princess. The fishman named Vander Decken had left, so only these guys were left to deal with. Zoro placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to strike at any moment.