【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 386 I'm going to save Ace!

"A captain named Whitebeard has been captured by the navy and is about to be executed." Granny New continued to mutter to herself, "Whitebeard will definitely go to war with the navy to recapture his crew. Snake Princess has also been asked to help the navy fight during the execution, which makes her very distressed."

"The Seven Warlords of the Sea and the Navy Headquarters are going to go to war with the Whitebeard Pirates?" Luffy listened to what Granny Newt said, and a claw of worry climbed up his chest. Although he felt there was no reason to worry, fear continued to spread in his heart.

Granny Niu nodded. "That's almost certain. Whitebeard won't let his son be executed by the navy."

Lucci was with Ace, they were hunting down a traitor together, his brothers had never lost when it came to cooperation, the two of them had been winning since they were kids, although he shouldn't have been worried, Lucci and Ace's life sheets did show they were not in good shape.

But Ace never lied to him. Thinking of what Ace said to him in Alabasta, he said he would not be defeated by a dirty traitor.

Even so, Luffy couldn't stop the fear from creeping up his throat. Luffy reached for another piece of food and asked nonchalantly, trying to ignore his shaking hands, "Which Captain Whitebeard?"

"Well, I don't know what happened, but it seems Portgas D. Ace was captured by the Admiral and imprisoned, and the newspapers announced his public execution. His execution is scheduled for..."

Ace...Execution...

Everything around him vanished before his eyes. Only these few words kept bouncing around in Luffy's mind, but he couldn't comprehend what they meant. How could this be possible? He was Ace, his brother, the one Luffy had never defeated. He was captured? How could this be possible? Lucci was there too. They had each other. How could they fail? How could this be possible? This was the only thought in Luffy's mind.

Suddenly he rushed towards Granny Nyu, grabbed her shoulders and shook her. Luffy ignored her discomfort and shouted urgently, "That's my brother! Ace is my brother!!"

"What? Really? He's your brother!?" The two women looked at Luffy in amazement.

Luffy let go of Granny Niu, frantically trying to comprehend what she had just said. "I had no idea he was arrested... How could he be executed? Doesn't that mean he can't escape?"

"Well, if Whitebeard wins this war, maybe he still has hope." Granny New regained her composure and said with a frown.

"What should we do? Where should we publicly execute him?" Luffy tried hard to regain his sanity and tried to get more information.

"In the square of Marineford, where the Navy's headquarters is located, it's said to be a week from now, but in fact, there are only six days left!"

"Isn't that quick!?" Luffy asked anxiously. "How many days will it take to get to the Sabaody Archipelago from here?" His friends might be there.

"At least a week."

"If it takes that long, then Ace will be finished before he can reunite with his friends?" Luffy asked anxiously. "Then how long will it take from here to where Ace is being held?"

"If we want to get to Impel Down, where he's being held captive, it would take a week on a pirate ship, but only four days on a navy ship."

"Why? Are navy ships that fast?" Luffy asked, comparing in his mind, trying to come up with a way to save Ace without abandoning his companions. Luffy thought with some despair that there was simply not enough time.

"Because the World Government has its own dedicated ocean currents, pirate ships must avoid them, but navy ships don't need to avoid them at all, and this allows them to go faster," explained Granny New.

"Then what should I do..." Luffy grabbed his straw hat and took out the two life sheets his brother gave him from the ribbon. He was stunned when he noticed that Ace's life sheet had shrunk to a smaller size. Lucci's was still burning, but not as fast as Ace's. He remembered that Ace's life sheet was bigger than Lucci's when he took it out on the Terror Ship last time.

Luffy kept ruing in his mind that it was a stupid decision for him not to care about his brother's safety. He knew they were injured, but he didn't do anything to help them.

Luffy closed his eyes, forcing himself not to fall into regret, and frantically tried to clear his mind, but Ace's promise kept ringing in his mind.

"I won't die, Luffy!"

Memories flashed before Luffy's eyes, he couldn't lose Ace, he trembled at the thought of losing his brother again.

Luffy opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and whispered, "I'm sorry everyone, I have to take a detour."

Luffy turned to look at Granny Nyu and shouted, "I'm going to save Ace!"

"What a reckless decision... You should have an idea of ​​the scale of this war... It's like an ant caught in a storm..."

"No matter what the result is, I must go!" Luffy said firmly. He must rescue Ace no matter what.

"If you want to rescue your brother before he is executed, you can only rescue him from Impel Down before he is taken to Marinford. If you wait until he is taken to Marinford for execution, you will not have even a ten-thousandth chance of survival. The Admirals and the Seven Warlords will have it firmly guarded."

"If Snake Princess is willing to accept the call, then you can take the opportunity to board the warship. This is the only way to reach Impel Down before your brother is taken to the execution platform."

"Really? Then I'll go and beg that woman!" Luffy said immediately.

……

Luffy tightly grasped the newspaper in his hand, carefully looking through all the details on it, trying to find some news about Lucci, but it only mentioned the news about Ace's execution, and everything revolved around this topic. He really wanted someone to jump out and tell him that this newspaper was fake.

"Luffy, what's going on?"

Luffy immediately turned to look at Hancock and said anxiously, "I want to ask you a favor." Then, remembering that they said she was sick, he softened his tone and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I will not be at the mercy of illness."

"The Whitebeard pirate who is going to be executed this time is actually my brother. I want to save him! But I heard that it will be too late to take the pirate ship. Can you take the navy's warship to pick you up and take me to Impel Down?" Luffy requested, ignoring the angry voices of others, staring at Hancock waiting for her reply, until he heard her agree, Luffy instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Great, thank you. Now we can get there before the execution date." Luffy said happily, then stared at the newspaper in his hand, lost in thought. Maybe Lucci wasn't in the same predicament as Ace, but he also wanted to make sure he was safe. "Do you have a Den Den Mushi I can use?"

Luffy took out the piece of paper stored on the other side of the ribbon. A string of scribbled numbers was staring at him quietly.

'This is my friend's private phone number, he'll pick it up anyway.'

Luffy swallowed nervously, thinking of what Lucci had said then, hoping it would be helpful "I want to make a phone call."