【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 484 Lucci is the Straw Hat Pirate!

While Luffy was dealing with the group of fishmen who had chased them from outside Fishman Island and arrogantly demanded that they join the new Fishman Pirates, Prince Shark Star had already agreed to let them borrow his Ryugu.

"Come on up!" Lucci and Camie shouted from the Ryugu to Luffy and the others below.

“We’re going to town; lots of humans live there!” Kemi quickly explained.

"Okay!" Qi immediately picked up Sanji and used Moonwalk to jump onto the ship, with Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper following closely behind.

……

Coral Hill, Port Town, Dragon Palace Kingdom

"Great, Sanji, you're awake!" Chopper breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at Sanji who had opened his eyes, then lay on the bed and said thankfully, "It's so good that we were able to find someone to donate blood..."

"Where is this place?" Sanji asked Chopper, puzzled.

"It was at a friend's house in Port Town. Sanji almost lost all his blood!" Camie explained.

"Sanji," Killua quipped, "If you're going to die, at least choose a decent way to die! This way of dying is really pathetic!"

Upon hearing this, Sanji immediately sat up and glared at Qi with displeasure, "You're making it sound like I'm already dead."

"Lie down and don't move!" Cammy hurriedly shouted as she watched Sanji sit up.

“Almost.” Usopp, sprawled on the sofa, picked up where Sanji left off, still shaken. “I really thought I was going to die.”

"Why are the fish-men unwilling to donate blood? I've searched the entire town and can't find a single human..." Luffy complained, sprawled on the sofa.

“It seems to be a law that was enacted more than a decade ago,” Lucci explained. “It seems to have been caused by something.”

"I can't remember anything. Where was I? What did I do?" Sanji frowned, covered his face, and muttered, "But thank you all for me...."

"Ah, please don't remember!!" Usopp and Luffy shouted anxiously upon hearing this. "If you bleed again, there'll be no saving you!"

Worried that Sanji might be reminded of the mermaid again, Usopp hurriedly pulled back the curtain on the side and introduced, "Sanji, this is a blood donor we finally found at the tavern."

"Don't be so polite, we're all human, we can share the burden!"

Sanji looked expectantly at the curtains that were about to be drawn back, imagining a delicate lady donating blood for him, but he never expected that two heavily made-up, burly men would appear in front of him.

Sanji froze instantly upon seeing the two men, then, as the transvestite drew closer, a wave of unpleasant memories washed over him. Sanji immediately began to flee in terror, yelling, "Don't come any closer!!"

"Luffy, let me see your right arm." Chopper grabbed Luffy's arm and took a blood sample. "That wound was indeed infected by poison..."

"So, it really did feel like I was stabbed by something when I was fighting the fishmen just now," Luffy recalled.

"This is highly poisonous, Luffy, but your body expelled the toxins without you even realizing it. That's amazing." Chopper asked while applying the medicine, "Have you been poisoned many times before?"

“It must have been during Impel Down.” Lucci leaned back in the chair next to Luffy, looking down at the small wound on Luffy’s arm. “His body developed antibodies against the toxin.”

"Hahaha, I'm fine, Lucci," Luffy grinned.

“Yes, it just almost cost you your life,” Lucci said, frowning, before leaving the room to get some fresh air.

"Died from poisoning?" Usopp looked at Lucci's departing figure in confusion, then looked at Luffy, who was still grinning, and said incredulously, "How can you still laugh!"

"Nothing much," Luffy said with a smile, and followed Lucci out of the room.

"Is the blond kid alright now?" Shirley asked, smoking a cigarette and looking up at Lucci as he came out of the room.

"Yes, it's all right now, thank you for your help," Lucci said with a smile.

"I'm only doing this because of Camie and your status," Shirley said calmly. "The Whitebeard Pirates are our benefactors."

Before Lucci could respond to Madam Shirley's words, a sudden weight shoved him forward two steps. Lucci staggered and steadied himself, looking helplessly at Luffy who was perched on his shoulder. "Luffy, don't suddenly bump into me."

"Lucci is no longer the Whitebeard Pirate!" Luffy ignored Lucci's words and stared intently at the giant mermaid in front of him, declaring his ownership, "He's the Straw Hat Pirate!"

Shirley raised an eyebrow in surprise. Even though she had always stayed on Fishman Island, she knew that Whitebeard, one of the Four Emperors who guarded their island, was known for never abandoning any of his sons.

Lucci covered his face helplessly, and just as he was about to say something, Kemi's sudden shout interrupted him.

"Brother Luffy, this is Mrs. Shirley!" Camie rushed out and introduced, "Mrs. Shirley, this is Brother Luffy, he's my friend."

"Oh, I see." Shirley took a drag of her cigarette and said, "Kemi, you don't need to go to work today. Take your friends around the island."

"Huh? Is that possible!?" Kemi exclaimed in surprise.

While Camie and Madam Shirley were chatting, Luffy had already pulled Lucci and Usopp together to stand in front of a giant crystal ball. Luffy pointed at the crystal ball and asked, "Hey, big mermaid, what's this?!"

“You should call her Mrs. Shirley, Luffy-nii-san,” Camie immediately turned around and said.

"Don't touch that," Shirley said sternly.

“That’s a crystal ball used for divination,” Cammy explained. “The lady’s predictive abilities are very famous here.”

"Oh, so do mermaids poop?" Luffy asked with a smile.

Lucci muttered to himself, "Don't always ask such inappropriate questions."

"What does this have to do with divination?" Usopp retorted.

"What a tasteless child..." Madam Shirley suddenly revealed a terrifying face, startling even Luffy. Urged by Camie, Luffy immediately apologized.

……

Killua and Chopper stayed behind to take care of Sanji, while the rest of them, led by Camie, went to the Fishman Cafe to deliver clams to her friend Pappag.

On the way, Cammy explained to them in detail the accuracy of Mrs. Shirley's predictions. The only failed prediction was about something that happened two years ago. Lucci frowned and looked at Cammy, wanting to ask what it was. He had a feeling that it was related to them.

“Two years ago…” Lucci hadn’t finished speaking when Cammy shouted that they had arrived at the Fishman Cafe. Lucci’s attention abruptly shifted to the cafe ahead, and the words he hadn’t spoken vanished instantly. “Brook is inside,”

After Luffy and his crew greeted Brook, who was lying in the arms of the fish-woman, and their friends (starfish), Lucci remembered what Prince Shark Star had said and immediately called out to Luffy, "By the way, Luffy."

Luffy turned to Lucci in confusion. "What's wrong?"

“Prince Shark Star said that King Neptune invited you to a banquet at the palace, and also sent a message from Jinbe that he is waiting for us in the Sea Forest.” Lucci asked, “Why don’t you go to the palace with Prince Shark Star first, and I’ll go to the Sea Forest to find Jinbe? And also find Ace while I’m at it.”

Luffy looked at Lucci with a puzzled expression. "We'll go find Jinbe together, and Ace is alright."