【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 547 Super Delicious Meat

"Nami, wait for me~ Your knight is here to save you!" Sanji ran towards the coast, imagining in his mind how Nami would fall in love with him after he saved her.

Sanji, lost in his fantasy, was caught off guard when a soft, fragrant body actually embraced him. His mind went blank for a moment. Feeling the real, soft touch in her arms, Sanji finally snapped out of it and stared in shock, his eyes widening. "Huh? Huh? Huh?"

Please, please hold me tightly in your arms!

Where did that woman go?

"We absolutely cannot let her get away!"

As the sound faded into the distance, the woman who had thrown herself into Sanji's arms visibly breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. They seem to be gone. Please let go of me..."

Sanji was so excited by the beautiful woman throwing herself into his arms that he had a nosebleed. He was completely infatuated with her and let her touch him. He was so dizzy that he was led by the nose by her and completely forgot his purpose.

"My name is Violet. If it's alright, could you please protect my safety in this town?"

"And I also hope that you can help me kill a man."

Sanji, lost in his beautiful fantasy, was instantly awakened by the tears in Violet's eyes. Looking at the tears in Miss Violet's eyes, Sanji made up his mind in an instant: Miss Nami, please forgive me for temporarily entrusting you to the protection of that kid, Kinai. I really cannot ignore the woman who asked me for help, nor can I refuse the tears in her eyes.

"Please come with me..." Violet took Sanji's hand, whose expression was dreamy and whose eyes were constantly sparkling with hearts, and pulled him away from the alley full of passionate couples.

"The girls here are so beautiful!"

"Miss, please accept this flower of life from me~"

Upon hearing these flirtatious words, Sanji instantly snapped out of his romantic fantasy of eloping with Violet.

Sanji alertly shifted his gaze to the strange middle-aged man who brushed past them. He was wearing a dark-colored patterned shirt, sunglasses, and a cigarette dangling from his mouth. His messy black curly hair swayed wildly as he grinned so wide it almost split his cheeks.

He was presenting a bunch of brightly blooming flowers to a beautiful lady. What was most striking was the lush grass and flowers growing at his feet, even though it was on a stone path. Sanji frowned; that guy didn't seem like an ordinary person.

But when Violet let go of his hand, his thoughts instantly turned to dejection, and he completely forgot about the strange man from before.

“Let’s walk from here…” Violet released Sanji’s hand after leaving the street, calmed her breathing, turned to look at the dejected Sanji, and hesitated.

......

Dressrosa - Bull Arena

"The Corrida?" Luffy looked at the name on the sign above the building. The aroma of meat disappeared here, and he was excited by the cheers coming from inside. "What is this place? It looks like a lot of fun."

"stop!"

"Wanted toy soldier, you're practically the star of this arena, yet you always..."

"Huh?" Luffy looked at the toy being chased by the guards with a puzzled expression.

"Missing target! Missing target! Jet walking!"

"Damn it, they've gotten into the arena again!" The guards watched the toy soldiers standing on the edge of the arena window and left reluctantly.

"Oh, sir, let me help you with your luggage!"

Luffy looked at the one-legged toy soldier standing in front of him, who had suddenly become very polite, and burst out laughing while clutching his stomach. "Hahaha, what an interesting soldier!"

"Oh my god? You think I'm funny?" The toy soldier, hearing Luffy's words, started changing poses to make Luffy laugh. "How about this? How about this?"

"Hahaha, you're so funny!" Luffy laughed loudly, pointing at the soldier lying on the ground writhing and making all sorts of funny faces. After laughing enough, Luffy asked the toy soldier, "Soldier, do you know there's super delicious meat in this building?"

"Delicious meat? This is a dueling arena, how can there be meat? Today is all about killing each other!" The toy soldier suddenly remembered something and covered his face embarrassedly.

"I'm so sorry, I just jumped to conclusions. The prizes for this arena are indeed meat dishes specially arranged by Doflamingo. I heard they are meat from a very rare fish king, cooked by a top chef. Just smelling its aroma is enough to make one's mouth water. But more important is the other prize, a Devil Fruit called the Void Fruit!"

Luffy completely ignored the toy soldier's remaining words, his attention entirely captivated by the incredibly delicious meat. Just thinking about that aroma made his eyes instantly transform into the shape of large bones and meat, and he excitedly shouted, "I want to participate in the competition!!"

"Registration for regular participants is about to close!"

"Anyway, nobody really wants to sign up, hahaha..."

"I want to sign up! I want to participate!"

Luffy's excited shouts immediately attracted the attention of the crowd around the arena, who stared in disbelief at Luffy, who was clamoring to participate.

The moment Ace stepped into this area, he immediately spotted Luffy standing in the crowd. "Luffy, what are you doing here?"

"Ace! There's some super delicious meat here!!" Luffy excitedly waved to Ace.

"Meat? What meat?" Ace looked at the massive building in confusion, listening to the commotion inside. "Is this arena really that big? Luffy must be trapped..."

Before Ace could finish speaking, he saw Luffy preparing to rush to the entrance to register, and immediately grabbed his collar, saying, "Idiot, let me finish."

"What are you doing, Ace?" Luffy glared at Ace, who was stopping him from registering. "I want that delicious meat!"

"Wait a minute." Ace grabbed Luffy's collar and warned him. Now that Lucci wasn't around, only he could stop this brat. "I'll go with you."

"Is Ace going to participate too?" Luffy asked excitedly.

“It sounds interesting, after all.” Ace pulled Luffy toward the registration entrance. “But we’d better participate anonymously…”

......

"What are they doing?" Franky pushed his sunglasses up, staring incredulously at Ace and Luffy as they entered the arena. "Participating in a tournament at a time like this! Thank goodness they knew how to hide their identities..."

Franky looked around. "It seems I'll have to destroy the factory myself. Even though it's under the arena, how am I supposed to get in?"

"Spectators, please enter the arena as soon as possible! The first match is about to begin!"

......

Battle Preparation Room

"Wow! Helmets! Armor!" Luffy excitedly rushed to the wall filled with weapons and armor. "Can I pick anything I want from here?"

"All weapons except for flying devices can be used."

"A nearly naked warrior statue! I really want that~" Luffy said excitedly, looking at the statue in the center. "I must wear armor when I appear! I need to find armor that's even cooler than that old man's!"

“These short swords look pretty good.” Ace walked straight to the wall where the short swords were hanging, picked one up, grinned at the sharp blade, and twirled it a few times. Lucci would probably like it.