【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 510 Cooperation

Caesar frowned as he looked at Lucci, who was locked in fierce combat with Law. "Stop it!" he said, tightening his grip again to try and stop his two subordinates from fighting amongst themselves.

Before he could even exert any force, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his lower back, and he flew backward in an arc. At the same time, a figure suddenly rushed towards him, and Caesar immediately panicked and turned into smoke, flying into the air.

Qi leaped up and delivered a flying kick that struck Caesar hard on the head, sending him crashing back to the ground.

"Who are you?" Caesar stared at the man who looked exactly like Lucci with a twisted expression, then glanced at Lucci fighting Law, and instantly understood. His face darkened. "It seems you still don't understand the current situation!"

"boom!"

A figure suddenly flew over from the other side, interrupting Qi's preparation to attack again. After seeing who the figure was, Qi was somewhat surprised and shocked to see Lucci lying on the ground in a sorry state, trembling. Trafalgar should not be a match for Lucci. "Are you alright, Lucci!"

Lucci pressed his hand to his chest, feeling the sharp pain spreading from it. He gasped for breath, and hearing Qi's words, he gritted his teeth and said, "Don't... don't worry about me, take care of him first... Ugh!!"

"Lucci!!" Seeing Lucci clutching his chest in pain, Qi instantly understood and angrily attacked Caesar, yelling, "Stop right there!!"

"You're the one who should stop!" Caesar laughed maniacally, feeling the pain from the blows on his face. His expression twisted for a moment, but then his face darkened as he looked at the man charging towards him. "If you want to die, then keep going!"

Qi instantly stopped his attack, gritting his teeth as he stared at Caesar's actions. Caesar was squeezing Lucci's heart and even pointing a dagger at it. Qi glared angrily at Caesar, "Let go!"

"Don't push your luck!" Caesar chuckled darkly, clenching his fist even tighter around his heart, the dagger in his hand dangerously sinking into the gel protecting it. "Who do you think you are to talk to me now?"

Qi clenched his slightly transparent fist in anger, glaring at Caesar's hand movements through gritted teeth.

“Caesar is in charge.” Law frowned as he looked at the blood gushing from Lucci’s mouth from the ruptured blood vessels caused by the pressure from his heart and reminded him, “If you still want him to work for you, you should stop now.”

"Oh, of course, but he's just too disobedient, hehehehe!" Caesar loosened his grip on the heart and pulled the dagger back a little, but it was still dangerously pointed at the heart.

Looking at Lucci lying on the ground, trembling with pain, and Qi glaring at him angrily but his figure flickering, Caesar couldn't help but laugh triumphantly, "As expected, this guy was created by you. Your Devil Fruit ability is really strange, Lucci, you can actually create clones. It's a pity he fell into my hands."

“Lord Lucci, you should understand your current situation. Don’t be so stubborn.” Luo looked down at Lucci, who was lying on the ground, struggling to breathe and covered in cold sweat, and warned him in a cold tone, “Your wound has reopened. Instead of making a futile struggle, you should save your strength to recover.”

Lucci was breathing heavily, his breath unsteady. He stood up, supporting himself with his trembling arms, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, gritted his teeth, glared at Trafalgar Law, and said in a slightly trembling voice, "You did it, didn't you? My heart."

"Hehehe! Don't be so cold. You should thank Luo for saving you," Caesar said smugly.

Luo looked at Lucci expressionlessly. "He probably doesn't want me to save him right now."

Suddenly, a loud alarm blared throughout the entire floor, breaking the increasingly tense atmosphere in the room. Ignoring the shrill sound of the alarm, Lucci stared at Trafalgar Law, looking directly into his eyes. "I remember you're already a Shichibukai. Why are you helping this guy?"

“Same reason as you.” Luo glanced at Caesar, who was shouting at his men outside the door, and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Cooperation.”

“Why should I believe you?” Lucci frowned at Trafalgar Law. Lucci frowned back at Law, but he knew this was the only option now. This guy’s ability to swap objects was disadvantageous to them no matter what. If it were just Caesar alone, they would definitely be able to get the heart back.

"Do you think you have a choice right now?" Luo looked up at Lucci, his eyes filled with determination. "I also have something to take back. As long as the heart is in his hands, we will be at a complete disadvantage. Trust me, don't make any rash moves before we get the heart back."

"Hehehe! Have you thought it over? Are you going to work for me, or do you want this to end like this?" Caesar looked at Lucci, who was still standing there confronting Law, and grinned, his hand dangerously clutching the heart in his hand. "As long as you listen to me, I can get you anything you want, and I'll even keep your heart safe for you!"

Lucci ignored Caesar and stared intently at Law. After a moment, he looked at Caesar expressionlessly and asked, "What do you want me to do for you?"

"Hehehe! Very well, you made the right choice!" Caesar laughed loudly. "You will be my proudest..."

A sudden ringing interrupted Caesar's smugness, and he answered the phone with displeasure.

"Is the master here?"

"I am here."

"Master, the G-5 navy has intruded onto the island! They're right outside the research institute!"

……

Central Lake

Ace looked around. After crossing the lake, they were surrounded by snow and ice. However, he didn't mind because he had the Flame-Flame Fruit. Luffy and the others didn't feel cold either, but they still took the clothes of the group of guys he had defeated on the ground to keep warm.

"Come on up, everyone!" Luffy excitedly sat on the back of a brown-bearded man with crocodile legs.

"Luffy, didn't we defeat that guy?" Ace asked in confusion.

"Yeah, I woke him up again!" Luffy shouted excitedly. "He said he's willing to take us to find Lucci!"

Zoro twitched his lips as he looked at the scars on the brown-bearded man's face and the swollen bump on his head.

"Luffy!" Brook waved excitedly at Luffy, who was sitting on the crocodile man.

"Oh! Brook!" Luffy waved excitedly. "What are you doing here? Come on up, we're about to set off!"

"Brook, why are you taking off your clothes too?" Usopp complained, sitting on the back of the half-human crocodile and looking at Brook's clothes. When Luffy called Brook to come up, he actually ran over and started taking off the clothes of the people on the ground. "You don't have skin, you can't be cold!"

“That’s the atmosphere we’re after!” Brooke retorted. “Besides, Mr. Ace didn’t need it, but he took off his clothes anyway.”

“This is for Lucci.” Ace chuckled and scratched his head. “Just in case he comes up dressed like you guys.”

"That must be really cold." Everyone except Ace and Luffy shivered.

"If Nami and the others were kidnapped like that, it would be terrible... I hope they didn't lose their hands and feet from frostbite!" Robin said calmly.