【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 395 I Remember

"Hey, Lucci!"

Lucci was completely buried in his blankets, trying to ignore Ace's calls, but an anxious sigh reached his ears through the thick blankets.

The boy strode into the tree house, the wooden floorboards vibrating beneath him, and he knew the battle was lost.

"Lucci!" Ace roared, his voice full of confusion.

Lucci sighed in frustration and pulled himself out of the blanket. It was already late, and moonlight streamed in through the window, creating pale shadows. "Do we really have to go?"

"Of course, if we don't repair it, our tree house won't survive tonight's storm."

Lucci noticed that Ace was stomping the floor anxiously with his arms crossed.

"Lucci, you've slept long enough." The blond boy stood outside the tree house, staring at him quietly.

Lucci turned his head away uncomfortably, he didn't know why he didn't dare to look at his brother.

"Don't you think you've had enough sleep?" Ace urged him impatiently, "You can't sleep like this anymore. You have to go out with us."

Lucci frowned and accused, "Ace, you yourself often fall asleep while eating."

"What? I didn't." Ace said angrily.

"You do." Lucci retorted with a frown, but he was a little confused in his heart. Ace didn't have it, no, he did.

"Hey, Luffy, come out quickly!" Ace arrived outside the door at some point and called out to him, "Luffy is getting impatient waiting!"

Lucci quickly glanced at the dark forest outside the door, then lowered his head. "I don't think we should go out tonight..."

A shadow covered him, and Lucci looked up in confusion. The blond boy was standing in front of him, looking at him worriedly.

"Why shouldn't we go out?"

Lu Qi immediately lowered his head nervously, not daring to look at the boy in front of him. "I..."

"Why don't you look at me? Are you afraid of me?" The boy tilted his head curiously. "Why?"

"I'm not." Lucci retorted subconsciously. How could he be afraid of his brother?

"Then look at me, Lucci."

"No..." Lucci's eyes wandered, refusing to look at him or the door. He swallowed, trying hard to swallow the lump in his throat. Why did his throat hurt so much?

"Lucci."

The boy seemed to chuckle and sighed "Do you really think I would blame you?"

Lucci flinched, closing his eyes tightly, his body frozen in place, unable to suppress his rapid gasps, "No..."

The sound of clothes rubbing against each other appeared in his ears, and something was squatting in front of him. Feeling the warm hand on his face, Lucci's body trembled.

"Lucci, please open your eyes." The boy said to him in a pleading tone, "Look at me."

Lucci didn't want to, all he could think of was the boy covered in blood, he didn't want to see that, but if Lucci had any weakness it was that he could never refuse any of his brother's pleas, especially since his voice was impossible for him to ignore.

Lucci slowly opened his eyes, and the boy's face suddenly came close to him. Lucci was startled. There was no blood, but his face was so pale.

"It's okay, we're together."

Tears suddenly flowed down his face. Lucci reached out his hand in confusion, but before he could touch his eyes, the boy had already stroked his cheek with his hand.

"Don't forget, we are brothers."

Lucci looked at the boy who was gradually becoming blurred and uttered his name with difficulty, "Sabo..."

He remembered his brother's name.

"Ace and Luffy are still waiting for us." Sabo smiled and held out his hand to him.

Lucci suddenly felt that the tree house was getting smaller. Sabo's outstretched hand was still hanging in front of him. He slowly raised his hand and held his hand tightly.

Sabo smiled and pulled him to his feet, he held his hand firmly and led him to the door before letting go, Lucci took a hesitant step forward and looked back at the bright smile on Sabo's face.

"Get out, Lucci, Ace and Luffy need you to get back to them." Sabo grinned and pushed him hard.

There was a flash of white light, and before he could close his eyes, everything rushed towards him, sounds, images, smells, and feelings, intertwined like a whirlpool, unbearable. He clenched his palms tightly to resist the emotional impact of each new memory.

He remembered the tree house, he remembered the clingy but warm body, he remembered the 100 fights every day, and the complaints of having to fight again.

He remembered his boy, the precious little brother he had raised since he was a baby, who always loved too much, trusted too easily, always had that infectious smile that brought unparalleled warmth to everyone, who was energetic, clingy but not suffocating, and constantly worked hard for big dreams.

He remembered the surly and lonely boy, whose eyes held nothing but anger, and who received nothing but hatred and malice from others. He remembered how Ace had opened his heart to them, to Luffy, how he had learned to laugh and love for them, and how he had been.

He remembered the lonely and noble boy, how he had bonded with the boy who knew nothing but hatred, how they had met, how they had worked together to break the boy out of that shell, how Sabo had hated his origins, how he had hated who he was.

He also remembered the way Sabo had opened up and developed after revealing his origins and swearing to be brothers, the way he had sacrificed himself for them, the way he had come to terms with being brothers.

He remembered everything, including the attack ten years ago that took away his memory and Sabo. It all terrified him and made him unable to accept it, but Luffy and Ace's smiling faces appeared before him.

Lucci took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His childhood memories flashed before his eyes. He seemed to be standing in a forest. Mottled light and shadows shone on them. Luffy and Ace had bright smiles on their faces. "Lucci, you slept for a long time!"

Lucci could feel that he was wearing the same smile as them. "I'm sorry, I slept too long."

Lucci opened his eyes and stared at the damp ceiling. The chaotic atmosphere around him and the shackles on his wrists and ankles instantly made him realize his current situation. "Damn it."

……

"Damn it! This prison is a maze!" Luffy cursed angrily. This place was terrible, a maze within a maze. At first he tried to find the stairs leading to the lower level, but he soon lost his way. Some stairs that were obviously going down turned into going up, and many stairs led to brick walls, forcing him to find his way again.

Then there was the fact that all the corridors here looked exactly the same and were filled with marines and guards. He listened to Hancock and tried his best to avoid being discovered, but the deeper he ran, the weirder the buildings became. He saw cells floating in the air more than once and was almost knocked down several times when turning.

The strangest thing was his companions, Buggy and 3. He was pleasantly surprised to meet familiar people here. Even though they were noisy and disrupted Luffy's quiet plan, they accompanied him through two floors and defeated several strange animals together. In the process, they proved to him that they were a useful team.

But he lost them just as quickly as he met them. He was now on the third floor. The stupid lion collapsed the floor and brought them down. This did allow them to reach the next floor faster, but he also lost Bucky and 3 in the process of evading the guards. Now he was alone again.

"What the hell is going on with these stairs? I was looking for stairs that lead down, but they're leading up!" Luffy cursed, dodging a sudden net by leaping to the left. "Another seastone net!"

Luffy stretched out his right arm and launched himself to the corridor above to avoid the stupid lion. The animals here were very difficult and smart. They could stand up quickly after being knocked down, and he didn't have time to fight them now.

"Little Straw Hat!! I'm here to save you!!"