【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 411 Panic Disorder

Lucci gradually regained consciousness. He spent several minutes feeling his body, his muscles aching unbearably. He slowly opened his eyes, but everything was blurry. Lucci closed his eyes again, took a moment to relax, and then opened them again. His vision was still blurry. He blinked, trying to dispel the blur until it gradually became clear. The bright light made it difficult for him to open his eyes, which once again put pressure on them, but the air around him was cool, not uncomfortably hot...

He smelled the scent of disinfectant. There was silence all around, only the beeping of machines. Why was he in the infirmary again? He really hated staying in the infirmary. It felt like being in solitary confinement.

Lucci closed his eyes and spent a moment to successfully summon his Haki, wanting to feel everything around him, but as soon as it came out, his head started to hurt violently. What the hell...

He raised his hands to cover his head until the pain completely disappeared. At least it was much better than the pain in his head last time. He supported his body with his hands. The tubes on his hands were pulled with his movements. The blanket slipped off him. Lucci slowly looked around. There were two beds on the right. Ace was lying on one of them... The experience in Impel Prison began to emerge in his mind. Luffy...

Luffy suddenly pressed one hand to his chest, clutching his clothes tightly, and fell back onto the bed. He felt as if his heart was about to burst out of his chest. He clutched his chest tightly, finding it difficult to breathe... Because of him... His Luffy, his beloved brother was dying... Dying... Again... Because of him, his brother... Everyone related to you will die... This thought kept echoing in his mind... It was all his fault... He failed to protect him again...

The violent beeping of the monitor woke Ace and Sabo, and Ace rushed out of bed, not even his tired muscles tensing up at the sudden movement could stop him, as the sudden loud beeping of Lucci's monitor made him panic.

"Lucci!" Ace shouted in panic, grabbing Lucci's body, not knowing what to do. Lucci looked like he was having trouble breathing, his almost curled up body was still shaking, and even a lot of cold sweat stuck to his pale skin. "Damn it, Lucci, calm down!"

"Lucci, you need to breathe slowly," Sabo called softly, trying to keep his voice steady, trying to guide, "It's okay, Ace and Luffy are here. We're here with you, okay? Breathe."

"Breathe, Lucci." Ace calmed down and tried not to panic. He followed Sabo's method to guide Lucci in his ear and at the same time gently rubbed Lucci's back like he did when he comforted Luffy when they were children, hoping to make him relax.

Sabo sat on the bed and carefully observed Lucci's condition. He found that he was doing what they said. He whispered again, "That's it. Now exhale."

"He's doing it." Ace exhaled, his voice trembling a little. He had never seen Lucci like this before, and he was really scared. They guided him for a few minutes, and Lucci began to breathe slowly.

After a moment, Lucci's breathing returned to normal, and Ace cautiously asked, "Lucci?"

After a few minutes of silence, Lucci bit his lower lip, tasting blood. He suppressed the self-loathing that kept rising in his heart, and completely sobered up. He looked at the nervous Ace and asked quietly, "Where's Luffy?"

Ace shifted his gaze to the hospital bed to Lucci's left. Although the machines connected to his youngest brother made him look terribly fragile, it was still his nightmare until now.

But the soft and consistent beeps from the instrument told him that Luffy was actually still alive. With difficulty, Ace looked at Luffy, whose expression was becoming more and more panicked, and hurriedly comforted him, "Don't worry, we're home, Luffy is fine, he's still alive, and we won't let him get hurt again."

Of course Luffy was fine. How could he be? He would promise not to let Luffy get hurt again. Lucci calmed down and followed Ace's gaze, finally landing on Luffy lying on the hospital bed. He was connected to many instruments and IV tubes. For a moment, the thought of whether Luffy was dead suddenly flashed through Lucci's mind, but he quickly discarded the thought that almost made him panic again. Luffy would never die, and he would never let such a thing happen again.

But Luffy's condition lying on the hospital bed made him feel scared. The mask covered his face, his chest was heaving, his breathing was a little rapid, his face was still pale, almost blue, his lips had completely lost their color, his eyes were sunken, and the area around his eye sockets was blue-black.

Looking at Luffy like this, Lucci bit his lower lip in self-blame. It was his fault. He could have avoided it. If he had done so, Luffy would not have suffered so much pain. But he could do nothing and he could not protect his brother.

"What are you thinking about!?" Ace turned Lucci's depressed face over. He was too familiar with this kind of aura. He knew that he liked to blame himself, but he never wanted this kind of emotion to appear on his brother's face.

"No." Lucci ignored Ace's hand on his face, propped himself up with his elbows, and tried to leave the bed. As soon as he sat up, Ace held his shoulders down and leaned against the wall. Feeling the sharp pain on the side of his neck, Lucci's face darkened. He finally remembered why he fell asleep. "Ace, what are you doing!?"

"Answer my question first." Ace ignored Lucci's anger, grabbed his shoulders with both hands, and made him look directly into his eyes. "Don't change the subject."

"I didn't think about anything I said." Lucci turned his face away helplessly. When did Ace become so mature? It was simply hard to understand.

"You have."

"I do not have."

"Have."

"No."

"Stop, there's no point in you arguing like this." Sabo interrupted the two bickering guys. He thought Ace had become mature after growing up, but in the end he became like this. What surprised him the most was that Lucci had changed so much, but he should have thought of it. From the panic attack that Lucci had just had, he should have known that Lucci must have suffered something they didn't know about.

"Hmm?" Ace let go of Lucci dissatisfiedly and turned to look at Sabo. He crossed his hands and stomped the floor impatiently. Finally, he turned around and pointed at Lucci and complained, "Don't you have any good way to deal with this guy's stubbornness?"

"You're usually the stubborn one..." Sabo muttered. He couldn't understand how Ace could point at Lucci and say that.

"Who are you...?" Lucci then noticed that there was another person in the room. He looked familiar, as if he had seen him before. He frowned and thought for a moment, "I've seen you before. You're from the Revolutionary Army..."

"Lucci, have you met Sabo!? When did that happen!?" Ace interrupted in shock. How could he not know that Lucci had met Sabo? Hadn't Lucci been with him since they went out to sea?

"Sa...Sabo!?" Lucci widened his eyes in shock.

"That's right, Lucci." Ace grinned and looked at Sabo. "He is our Sabo."

"How is it possible..." Lucci covered his eyes and said weakly, "Ace, do you know what you are saying?"