【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 486 Princess White Star

Luffy sighed, stretched out a hand and touched his stomach. He was so hungry, and why hadn't Lucci woken up yet?

Luffy looked at Lucci, who was sleeping on his shoulder, with some confusion. Why hadn't he woken up after sleeping for so long? Lucci wasn't Ace. It was really strange. Oh well, he'd just have Chopper check on Lucci later. Luffy grinned, then noticed a fragrance in the air and immediately carried Lucci towards the scent.

"The aroma is coming from this side." Luffy sniffed and looked at the huge iron gate in front of him with surprise. "Could this be the venue for the banquet?"

"This door is so big and sturdy! I wonder how much delicious food is hidden inside!" Luffy pushed open the door with great anticipation and went in, only to look at the dark room with some disappointment.

However, he noticed a large amount of food on the other side of the room, and Luffy ran towards it without hesitation, muttering to himself in confusion as he went, "There's coral everywhere on this island? What's this?"

Luffy stopped in confusion, feeling the soft texture under his feet. He jumped up and down excitedly, but not very high because Lucci was sleeping on his back. He still shouted excitedly, "Lucci, this coral is like pudding!"

"Luffy, what are you doing?" Lucci yawned, rested his chin on Luffy's shoulder, and sleepily felt Luffy bouncing up and down on his back in the dark.

"Lucci, you're awake?" Luffy exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and down happily. "This coral is as soft as a trampoline!"

"Really? Weren't we invited to the Ryugu Palace for dinner?" Lucci asked doubtfully, struggling to get off Luffy who was bouncing up and down. He frowned at the soft texture under his feet, unlike Sango. "I'm hungry. Let's go eat."

"Oh! Food!" Luffy remembered, and excitedly jumped up from the ground. He then wrapped his arm around Lucci, who was unsteady because of his movement, and flew towards the pile of food with him. However, before Luffy could grab the plate containing the food...

A sudden burst of white light shone before their eyes, and Luffy, carrying Lucci, instantly crashed down halfway down the road.

"What's going on?" Lucci lay on the ground, covering his eyes with his arm, while Luffy, sitting on him, also shielded his eyes from the blinding white light with his hand.

"What are you doing on her!?"

"Wow!" Luffy grabbed his hat, looked up at the giant mermaid in front of him, and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow...what a huge mermaid!!"

"Excuse me, who are you? Are you here to take my life too?" As she spoke, the giant mermaid suddenly burst into tears, and huge droplets of water instantly slammed down on Luffy and Lucci, who were sitting there.

"Even the tears are this big!?" Luffy exclaimed in surprise, pulling Lucci away to avoid them.

Only then did Lucci get a clear look at the giant mermaid. He had heard that the Little Mermaid was enormous, so this must be her. "Are you the Little Mermaid?"

"Do you recognize me?" Bai Xing stopped crying, looked at the blond human with a puzzled expression, and then started crying again. "Are you here to take my life too!? Waaaaaah, Father, Brother, two humans have come to my room to take my life!"

"Wait, we're not here to take your life!!" Lucci shouted, covering his ears. His crying was incredibly loud!

"Shut up, I can't stand you!!" Luffy covered his ears and yelled at the crying mermaid.

"Ugh, Luffy!" Lucci, annoyed by the crying, slapped Luffy on the head and yelled, "Where did you take me?!"

"I don't know either!" Luffy exclaimed in frustration, then looked at the still-crying mermaid and angrily shouted, "Hey, hey, stop crying! I just came to ask for some food!!"

Lucci turned to look at the doorway. Something was coming. The moment it flew over, he leaped up and kicked it away with his foot, which was infused with Armament Haki.

Looking at the huge axe that had crashed into the wall and shattered into pieces, Lucci asked with some confusion, "How did it fly over here?"

"How come there's an axe?" Luffy asked疑惑地问道, "Where did it fly from?"

"I don't know, I didn't find the person who launched it." Lucci said with a frown, but he also breathed a sigh of relief. The mermaid princess had finally stopped crying. Lucci rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. Even when Luffy cried the hardest, he hadn't felt that crying could be this headache-inducing.

Bai Xing stopped crying and stared in shock at the blond human. He had just kicked that huge axe away? It was so small.

"Look, the door is open! What happened?"

Hearing the commotion outside the door, Lucci realized that someone had been attracted by the noise. He immediately grabbed Luffy's wrist and tried to leave. Although he didn't know why, they had broken into the mermaid princess's room, and being seen would definitely not be a good thing. However, before Lucci could make a move to leave, he and Luffy were grabbed by a giant hand.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Luffy shouted at the giant mermaid, annoyed.

"Princess, have intruders appeared?"

"I'm sorry to have worried you." Shirahoshi hid the two humans she had just grabbed behind her back and said softly to the guards at the door, "Nothing's wrong, it seems like I had a nightmare."

Listening to the conversation between the mermaid princess and the guard, Lucci blinked in confusion. Why would the mermaid princess help them?

Hearing the conversation, Luffy calmed down and realized that the crying mermaid was helping him and Lucci. But what were those guards saying? What were they saying about being an uncertain factor in the future? Had Zoro been captured?

After the guards left, Shirahoshi took out the two humans she had been hiding behind her back and asked them, "Are you the Straw Hat Pirates they were talking about?"

"Mm." Luffy nodded.

Lucci stood up and calmly introduced himself to the giant mermaid princess in front of him, "I am Lucci, and this is my younger brother, Luffy. My brother was a bit rude, and I apologize for offending you just now."

"You saved me," Shirahoshi whispered her thanks. "If you're pirates, are you bad people?"

"Hmm? I don't know, that's up to you." Luffy grinned and stood up, asking, "What was that axe all about? Who threw it?"

“It’s a gentleman named Vander Deacon who holds a grudge because I rejected his marriage proposal,” White Star explained. “That gentleman is cursed by the Target Demon, who seems to be able to target me anytime, anywhere.”

"He must possess a Devil Fruit," Lucci said thoughtfully. "Was that the guy who fired the axe when you were doing that?"

“Yes, I haven’t been outside for ten years because I’ve been constantly targeted by weapons and other dangerous objects. My father also stipulated that the soldiers can only stay here for five minutes.” Bai Xing said sadly, “Only Megaro can stay here with me. It’s an important friend of mine. Thank you for saving it.”