【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 429 Contradictions

"Among the three of us, Ace is your favorite brother." Ace approached Luffy with ill intentions.

"Hey, Ace, what are you doing?" Lucci pushed Ace away dissatisfiedly. "Do you even need to ask this? I must be Luffy's favorite brother!"

"I am! Luffy said when he was a kid that he loved Sabo the most!" Sabo squeezed in between the two of them dissatisfiedly, got close to Luffy, and smiled gently, "Right, Luffy, you said you like Sabo the most!"

"Sabo, you're despicable!" Lucci shouted in dissatisfaction. "Luffy, you said you like Lucci the most!"

"No, Luffy said he likes Ace the most!" Ace shouted with equal dissatisfaction, "I have taken care of Luffy the longest!"

"No, I've been taking care of Luffy since he was a baby!" Lucci shouted angrily.

"No! I'm longer!" Ace retorted.

"You are all in the past. I will be the one who will accompany Luffy the longest in the future." Sabo shouted with the same dissatisfaction.

"Sorry, Sabo, I have to contradict you. You are now a member of the Revolutionary Army!" Lucci said with a smug smile, "I don't think you have time to do this, so I will be the one who will accompany Luffy the longest in the future! Because I plan to go to sea with him!"

"What!?" Everyone in the infirmary shouted in shock.

Although Marco and Thatch had expected this, they didn't expect Lucci to say it directly under such circumstances.

"Really?!" Luffy shouted excitedly.

"Ah, that's right. I wanted to tell everyone later, at least after you've recovered from your injury." Lucci stroked his hair and said with a smile, "But now that I've said it, I won't regret it. I'll go talk to Dad and explain it clearly."

"Lucci, when did you decide this?" Ace frowned and said sadly, "You never told me you were leaving the Whitebeard Pirates."

Lucci paused in stroking his hair and turned to look at Ace. He could clearly see the hurt in Ace's eyes and felt a little guilty. "I'm sorry, Ace. I wanted to talk to you in advance, but I kind of hope Luffy can join the Whitebeard Pirates so that we can protect him together. I don't want Luffy to get hurt again, but you know, Luffy can't join, and after everything they've been through, I can't let Luffy risk getting hurt alone again."

"So, Lucci, you chose to join me just to protect me?" Luffy asked, narrowing his eyes and frowning.

"I just don't want you to get hurt, Luffy." Lucci turned his head and looked at Luffy again and said seriously.

"You think I can't protect myself?"

The atmosphere began to grow heavy, and Luffy's expression also became serious, his black eyes fixed on Lucci. "I have become very strong now, and I am no longer the same person I was when I was little, Lucci!"

The two stared at each other in silence, neither willing to give in. Sabo wanted to interrupt their confrontation, but Ace held him back. "Lucci knows how to handle this."

They all knew how to deal with this situation. They couldn't be too tough with Luffy at this time. Luffy always responded to soft words and not to tough ones. Sure enough, Lucci spoke first, softening the confrontation between them.

"You're right, Luffy, you've become strong." Lucci sighed and said softly, "But I'm your brother. No matter how old you get or how strong you become, you'll always be that boy to me. Protecting you is the most important thing I should do as a brother."

"You know, I've grown up and am no longer the boy who needs your protection." Luffy's voice was not firm, but steady. He looked up at Lucci pleadingly and asked, "Lucci, tell me, you didn't choose to join me just to protect me."

The silence was heavy, the air was thick, Marco almost felt he couldn't breathe, Lucci had been silent for too long, if he was rational enough, in this situation he should respond to Luffy, tell him that he was not, and then end this conversation.

But Lucci remained silent, and Marco understood that things were beginning to go out of control. Marco and Sachi exchanged worried glances. Family disputes are never fun.

"Luffy" Luffy gently approached Luffy and put his hand on Luffy's face. Looking at Luffy's pale face, Luffy frowned and rubbed it gently until it was stained with a hint of blood. "You are my little brother..."

Marco suddenly frowned. There was something in Lucci's voice that Marco didn't understand. He turned to look at Ace and Sabo. Their expressions were also strange. He suddenly couldn't understand these three brothers.

"You are my only brother and the most important thing I have. Isn't it natural that I want to protect your safety?" Lucci looked at Luffy and whispered, his tone more serious than ever.

"But I can already protect myself. You don't have to join me because you're worried about me. I don't want you to join me because you want to protect me! I'm not just your brother, I'm also the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates." Luffy didn't let the subject change. He stared at Lucci, wanting his answer. "You don't see me as a boy who needs protection. You don't join me because you want to protect a little brother."

"Luffy—" Lucci begged, "Don't do this..."

"Lucci!" Luffy interrupted him. "You know, I have a dream, a ship, a crew, and I'm not your weak little brother!"

"Luffy, I know you're not. I just want to protect you and make sure you're safe..."

"That's enough!" Luffy interrupted Lucci, why he still couldn't understand "You don't want to do this! I don't need you to do this!

"Listen, Lucci!" Luffy shouted loudly, his tone firm. "I will become the Pirate King. On the road to realizing this dream, I will not regret it whether I get injured or die, because this is my own choice, my own dream. You don't need to worry about me!"

"How could it not be necessary!" Lucci gritted his teeth and said, "How can I watch you get hurt in front of me again? I won't let you do this! Either you join the Whitebeard Pirates, or I join your pirate group to protect you, otherwise I won't let you leave this ship! I will never let you take risks alone again!"

"Wait, you two...!" Sabo interrupted urgently. No matter what, Lucci was no longer calm or rational. How could he say this to Luffy? This would only cause a more serious head-on conflict.

"Lucci!" Luffy shouted angrily, interrupting Sabo's words. "You can't make decisions for me!"

"Of course I can! I'm your brother!" Lucci shouted angrily.

"No matter if you are my brother or not, you can't do that!!" Luffy glared at Lucci angrily and shouted, "I am no longer a child who needs your protection. I have my own crew!!"

"The crew that let you down?!" Lucci shouted angrily, "I won't leave my brother in the hands of a rookie crew that can't protect him!"

Lucci should know that his brother is the captain. Marco frowned and wanted to say something, but he knew that now was definitely not the time for him to speak.

"Lucci!" Ace exclaimed. He didn't know why Lucci felt this way, but this was a sentence that he absolutely couldn't say. He knew how much Luffy loved his crew. Ace walked forward, trying to get between them and stop this conversation that was about to get out of control. "You two need to calm down..."