【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 456 The Straw Hat Pirates Temporarily Closed

In any case, he had to get out of the bathroom first. Ace had already called twice from outside, and if he did it again, Ace might just kick the door open. Lucci sighed, picked up a towel from the shelf and draped it around his neck, then left the bathroom.

As he passed the mirror, Lu Qi glanced at himself and frowned. He looked rather unwell, pale, with sunken eyes, and appeared unusually tired.

But he felt he had slept well enough last night, so this shouldn't be the case. Before Lucci could think any further, the bathroom door was pushed open without warning. Lucci helplessly looked up at Ace, who was standing in the bathroom doorway, left hand in his pocket and right hand gripping the doorknob. "I haven't been showering for this long, have I?"

"Luffy's been asking because you haven't come out for so long," Ace said casually, blinking. Seeing that Lucci's face showed no abnormality, he immediately felt relieved. "Anyway, come out quickly, it's time to eat."

Lucci nodded and walked towards the door. Recalling the scene that flashed before his eyes, Lucci couldn't help but ask, "Ace, after I passed out, did we encounter any more enemies? Or did anything else happen?"

Ace frowned and asked, "Why are you suddenly asking that?"

"It's nothing," Lucci said, rubbing his forehead. "It's just that a strange image suddenly flashed into my mind while I was taking a shower."

“You’re overthinking it,” Ace suddenly laughed. “It’s probably because you’re too tired.”

"Hmm." Lucci nodded wearily. "It's good that nothing happened."

“Of course.” Ace showed no sign of surprise, after all, he was telling the truth. “Nothing happened on the way. We met Rayleigh after you fell asleep, and then we followed him back to the tavern.”

"Hmm." Lucci didn't ask anything more; that image was indeed an illusion. "Did you report it to Marco?"

"Don't worry, I've already informed Marco. We can go back tomorrow morning," Ace replied, taking the towel from Lucci's neck to dry him. "How are you feeling now?"

Lucci stood with his hands hanging down, letting Ace rub his hair with a towel. He really didn't have the strength to push it away or do it himself. "I feel very tired, but I don't want to sleep. My head hurts too. It's strange, I should have slept very well last night."

"Maybe Sabo and Luffy weren't sleeping well last night," Ace joked casually as he dried his hair.

"Maybe," Lucci said hesitantly.

Ace looked at Lucci with suspicion, but actually believed him. Ace pulled off the towel, ran his fingers through Lucci's hair, and ruffled it to heat it up. "Don't think too much. Haven't you seen your master in a long time? If you don't want to sleep, you can have a good talk with him."

“That’s right, I still need to talk to him about Luffy and see what the next steps are.” Lucci nodded, perking up.

“Let’s go then, they’re waiting for us outside.” Ace grinned and placed the towel on the sink on the other side.

Lucci nodded, and after going out, he put the red hoodie he had taken off on the bed before taking a shower back on. Touching his clothes, he felt that they were not quite the same as the ones he had worn in the morning, but Ace’s arm on his shoulder interrupted his thoughts.

"Hurry up, Lucci, or Luffy will eat all our food!" Ace grinned and put his arm around Lucci's shoulder as they walked out.

"Lucci!"

As soon as Lucci and Ace came out of the room, Luffy strode over, hugged Lucci's waist, and pulled him toward the table while telling him about the delicious ramen he and Sabo had eaten that day.

“You and Ace should come with us too. That ramen shop is just like the one we had when we were kids,” Luffy said with a grin.

"If it's so delicious, you can have it again." Lucci smiled and patted Luffy's head. "We can go together sometime later."

"Great!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly, then remembered Marco's instructions, "But didn't Pineapple Head tell us to go back on time?"

“Marco agreed to let us go back tomorrow morning,” Ace said with a smile.

"Then I can take you to see the Thousand Sunny!" Luffy immediately shouted excitedly, "Ace, Lucci, you've never seen one before, the Thousand Sunny is amazing!!"

"No problem!" Lucci smiled and ruffled Luffy's hair.

“I’m very curious about what Luffy’s ship will look like,” Sabo said with a smile.

"Probably as interesting as this kid." Ace grinned and teased, thinking of the ram-headed ship from before. "It certainly doesn't look like a pirate ship."

"The Sunny is a pirate ship!" Luffy shouted angrily at Ace.

"Hahaha, that's right, Luffy, not only is it a pirate ship, but it's also the ship of the future Pirate King." Lucci chuckled as he ruffled Luffy's hair.

"Lucci, how are you feeling?" Rayleigh asked with a smile.

"I'm fine," Lucci greeted with a smile. "Ace said you brought us back. Master, did you go gambling again?"

“This is my fun,” Rayleigh grinned.

"As long as you don't always lose," Lucci retorted.

"Luqi, you're getting cuter and cuter." Shaki chuckled and pinched Luqi's cheek.

"No, that's not it. They put something on my face. I'm actually much more handsome than this!" Lu Qi said, rubbing his face in dissatisfaction.

Sabo and Ace couldn't help but laugh; it seemed Lucci was still bothered by the makeup hidden on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, I can vouch for it! My brother was way more handsome back then!" Luffy immediately shouted, holding up his fork.

“That doesn’t need proof, Luffy!” Lucci shouted immediately, his cheeks burning.

"Lucci, you've fully regained your memories, haven't you?" Rayleigh asked with a smile after taking a sip of his drink.

“Yes, that’s right.” Lucci grinned and patted Luffy’s head. “This is my silly little brother Luffy. These two are also my brothers. The one with black hair is Ace, and the one with blond hair is Sabo. You should already know each other.”

“That’s right, thank you again, Rayleigh, for taking care of Lucci for us,” Sabo said with a smile.

“No need to thank me, he’s my apprentice,” Rayleigh said with a smile, then asked, “Lucci, you didn’t come here just to see this old man, did you?”

"I'm so sad that you actually doubted me. I came here specifically to see you and Sister Xiaqi." Lu Qi pouted in dissatisfaction.

"Really? Did I guess wrong? You didn't come to find me because of Luffy?" Rayleigh grinned, his eyes narrowed.

“Okay, this is another reason.” Lucci grinned. “I want Rayleigh to help train Luffy’s Haki.”

"Three barrels of wine."

"Did you drink all the wine on the island?"

"I think it's more than just those."

“Maybe you could go back to the river and take another look,” Lucci said innocently, blinking.

"You really did hide!" Rayleigh looked at Lucci with amusement. "Were you afraid I'd sneak a drink?"

“No, I just want to keep some for myself,” Lucci grinned.

"You don't know how to respect an old man like me at all," Rayleigh complained, then looked at Luffy, who was wolfing down his food, and asked, "Luffy, are you planning to train with me?"

Luffy nodded and swallowed the food in his mouth. "I don't want that to happen again."

"In that case, I have a suggestion." Rayleigh smiled, his eyes narrowing. "Why don't the Straw Hat Pirates halt their operations for now?"

Luffy looked at his palm and nodded. "Our strength is not enough, and my crew needs time too."

“That’s right, and Kuma gave me some information. He sent your crew to an island suitable for their training.” Rayleigh grinned. Although he didn’t know what had happened, Luffy seemed to have grown a lot. Facing his lack of power was the first step. “How about a two-year training program? I will train your Haki during these two years.”

“Although you already know Haki and can use it, overall your Haki strength is still too weak. With training, you will master Haki more skillfully and may even be able to reach a higher level, but that depends on your abilities, Luffy,” Rayleigh said with a smile.

"Yes!" Luffy nodded firmly.

"But how is Luffy going to get the message to his crew?" Sabo asked.

“Yes, they’ve been scattered across various islands,” Ace added. “It won’t be easy to find them one by one, and it will take a lot of time.”

Lu Qi seemed to be thinking for a moment, then a mischievous grin spread across his face. "I have an idea!"