【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 441 Completely Letting Down Your Guard

Ace looked at Sabo, who quickly noticed his gaze and turned to look at him, the two of them staring at each other.

Sabo looked at Ace with some confusion, not understanding why he did this. Sabo followed Ace's gaze to Lucci, who was hugging Luffy. Lucci looked fine. Wasn't the matter completely resolved? But he also knew that Ace had his reasons for doing this.

So after Luffy let go of Luffy, Sabo smiled and said to Luffy, "Luffy, are you hungry? Let's go have breakfast together!"

"Eat!" Luffy immediately turned to look at Sabo, his eyes lit up, but he didn't let go of Lucci's hand. He turned to look at Lucci and said, "Lucci, come eat with us."

"Luffy, Lucci has already eaten with me." Ace stepped forward and said, then looked at Marco seriously and said, "But Marco can go with you."

Marco glanced at Ace in surprise but said nothing, simply nodded and left the room behind Sabo and Luffy.

Lucci frowned as he watched Luffy and the others leave. Seeing Ace close the door after they left, Lucci sighed and asked tiredly, "Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

Ace didn't say anything and didn't answer Lucci's question. He just walked straight towards Lucci, who looked tired, and then reached out to pull Lucci, who was standing there with his hands hanging down, onto the bed.

Lucci frowned and let Ace do what he wanted. He sat on the bed as he followed his movements and looked at Ace's back in confusion as he turned and left. "Ace, what do you want to do?"

Ace didn't answer, but silently took out Marco's medicine box and approached Lucci, who was frowning and rubbing his forehead with a tired look on his face.

Ace had wanted to talk to Lucci again, to let him speak, but he suddenly didn't know what he wanted Lucci to say, or what he wanted to hear him say, after he looked so tired.

More importantly, he could feel that no matter how much he asked, what Lucci said would not be what he wanted. When Lucci wanted to hide his emotions, he was always too smart, too rational, and too stubborn.

Ace stood by the bed and frowned at the red stain on Lucci's shirt. "Has the wound opened up?"

"That should be it." Lucci lowered his eyes to look at the scarlet-speckled shirt, then looked at the medicine box on Ace's bed and complained, "When did you become so observant?"

"Because you're my brother," Ace said simply, looking into Lucci's eyes.

Looking at the gray eyes that were fixed on him, a wave of uneasy anxiety suddenly hit him, almost making him want to look away immediately. Finally, Lucci lowered his eyes and moved his gaze to the dark circles under Ace's eyes, and asked, "How's your face?"

"You usually hit harder during sparring." Ace said nonchalantly as he unbuttoned Lucci's shirt, revealing the wound on his abdomen. The bandage was completely stained red with blood. Ace frowned. "Does it hurt?"

"You didn't use your full strength just now." Lucci lied casually.

Ace ignored Lucci's lies and methodically removed the blood-stained bandage. He picked up a piece of gauze soaked in alcohol and prepared to wipe the blood from the wound. Just as he was about to get close, he paused briefly, looked up at Lucci, who had remained silent, and warned, "It's going to hurt a little."

"I'm not made of glass." Lucci frowned.

Then they were silent for a long time. Ace continued his actions, silently helping Lucci to re-apply medicine and change bandages, while Lucci just silently let Ace bandage him. He really didn't have the strength to refuse his brother's actions.

"I'm sorry." Lucci finally said.

"There's nothing to apologize for." Ace said as he tied the bandage into a funny bow, but Ace was satisfied with it. "I don't like that woman either, especially when she wants our baby brother."

Lucci couldn't help but laugh, then he lowered his eyes and said, "You know, that's not what I'm talking about."

"I know." Ace said as he took out the ointment from the medicine box. "But I'm not angry now. However, when you were hiding from me in the forest, I was really worried. You should know how that feels. Don't do that again in the future."

"I'm sorry." Lucci lowered his head and said softly, "I didn't want you to see me like that."

"What? I've seen you in all sorts of situations." Ace said as he lifted Lucci's face and carefully applied ointment to the wound on his cheek, then put on a Band-Aid. "I still remember the way you cried. It can't be any worse than that."

"Not only me, you are crying too." Lucci said dissatisfiedly.

"Yes, we are brothers, and we have both seen each other in such a mess."

Ace said as he carefully examined the remaining injuries on Lucci's face. The bruises had already turned black. He had indeed hit him a bit too hard this time. After applying potion to the blackened bruises, Ace let go of his hands with a bit of satisfaction and sat down on Lucci's right. "So there's nothing to be ashamed of."

Lucci stared at the floor without responding, but his shoulders relaxed a little.

"Feeling better now?" Ace asked with concern.

Lucci nodded, but his eyes still didn't move from the floor. Feeling Ace's gaze growing stronger, he shifted uncomfortably and insisted, "I'm fine. You shouldn't worry about me."

"Lucci, you're my brother. I want to help you. Don't refuse me again." Ace said helplessly, moving Lucci's golden hair away from his eyes. "Or do you need another fight to vent your anger?"

"Well, no thanks." Lucci finally raised his head and said helplessly, "I don't want to feel the harsh grip of Marco's claws again. Anyway, thank you, Ace."

"Isn't that what brothers do?" Ace stared into Lucci's eyes and said seriously, "I am your brother. I hope you can rely on me, rely on us, just like we rely on you."

He pressed his brother's head to his shoulder and reminded him, "Luffy is not here now. You can tell me and he won't know."

Lucci closed his eyes and leaned on his brother's shoulder, feeling strong emotions flowing through his body, a feeling that he couldn't suppress, but he still tried to remain silent. He didn't want his brother to think that he was so fragile.

"Let it all out," Ace said gently, running his hands through Lucci's hair. "Tell me, Lucci, what's bothering you?"

Lucci's throat choked, and he suddenly felt very tired, very tired, but he also felt a sense of peace, so much so that he couldn't help but express the uneasiness that had always existed deep in his heart: "I am... scared."

"As soon as I closed my eyes, I felt like I was back in Impel Down again, where I could only watch Luffy's voice fade away, unable to do anything.

"Luffy's screams of pain have been lingering in my mind. I can't forget Luffy's pale face. I can't bear to see Luffy in such pain again. I'm really scared. I'm afraid that I will put Luffy in such a threat of death again. I'm even more afraid that I will be powerless to watch. Really, it has happened enough times."

Ace's heart broke a little, he had no idea his brother had been in so much pain, that he had never truly made it out of Impel Down, and they were completely oblivious, feeling Lucci's body trembling, Ace pulled his thoughts away from his self-blame, no one should be caught up in this emotion right now, he couldn't make it worse, he gently turned around and wrapped his arms around his brother.

Lucci turned sideways and rested his head on Ace's shoulder. He suddenly felt sore all over and exhausted. He wanted to fall asleep directly, but he continued to talk with his eyes closed.

"When the fire broke out, Sabo and I had just escaped from Gao Town. While crossing the forest, we encountered a World Government agent who came to capture me. We were too young at the time and didn't have enough strength to resist and escape. I could only watch helplessly as he continued to hurt Sabo. I watched him throw Sabo off a cliff with an evil smile on his face. I could do nothing but watch in despair."