【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 482 Charging into Fishman Island

"It's a cliff face, are you sure?" Usopp exclaimed in horror. "It's darker than darkness itself! Is there really a Fishman Island inside?!"

“Yes,” Ace said with a smile.

"It's a mudslide!" Nami exclaimed in horror as she watched the sand and rocks rolling down the cliff. "The trench collapsed because of the recent volcanic eruption!!"

"Avoid it, dried squid!" Luffy grinned and shouted.

"I'll go outside the bubble and cleave it open!" Zoro said, gripping his sword. "Luffy, hold on tight!"

"No." Lucci grabbed Zoro's shoulder, stopping him. "We can't go out now."

“Lucci is right,” Robin added. “We’re already 8000 meters deep here. Once we’re out of the water, the pressure will crush us.”

"Ultimate Kill - Green Star!!" Usopp gritted his teeth and shot seaweed seeds towards the cliff face. Instantly, a large amount of seaweed sprouted from the cliff, slowing down the mudslide. "Let's get out of here now, dried squid!"

"Usopp, you're really something!" Luffy patted Usopp on the shoulder happily.

The others relaxed as they dodged the mudslide. Just as everyone was celebrating, Lucci noticed a rock falling from above, which, if all went well, would hit... the octopus.

The next second, the stunned octopus, carrying the Sunny, plummeted straight down into the trench, and everyone screamed again, "Waaaaaah!!"

"Honestly, we've been to Fishman Island so many times, but none of the times have been this thrilling." Lucci gripped the railing, once again feeling the weightlessness around him.

"Hahaha, isn't this interesting!?" Ace grinned, excited about this unknown adventure.

Qi steadied himself and calmly asked the terrified screaming crowd around him, "Are we going to be smashed into mud?"

“No.” Lucci said calmly, looking at the light below. “After all, there’s a giant octopus below that acts as a cushion for us.”

"You're still thinking rationally about this at a time like this?" Ace shouted. "That's taking away a lot of the excitement!!"

"You mean fright?" Lucci retorted, then closed his eyes to greet the impending blinding white light. After a jolt, the Sunshine flipped over onto the octopus.

"Light? How can there be light in such a deep sea?" Robin asked in confusion.

“It’s related to some kind of tree,” Ace said, stroking his chin. “I remember Marco mentioning it.”

“That’s called Sun Tree Eve,” Lucci remarked, then looked at the smaller bubble island above the giant bubble and reminded him, “We’ve arrived at Fishman Island!”

"Great! We're finally here!!" Luffy excitedly raised his arm.

“That’s right, that’s Fishman Island.” Nami raised the Log Pose on her wrist and said with a smile, “The pointer is pointing right at that island.”

"A famous landmark on the Grand Line!!" Franky shouted excitedly.

"Do you remember the first time we came to Fishman Island?" Ace grinned as he watched Luffy and the others shouting excitedly on the deck.

“I was just as excited as they were.” Lucci said with a smile, recalling the scene. “Deuce and the others were drooling over the mermaid, their eyes practically glued to her, and we even teased them about it.”

"Yeah, I really don't know why they're so interested in mermaids," Ace retorted. "I prefer the meat from Fishman Island."

"That's a mermaid!!" Sanji, who was lost in his fantasies about mermaids, immediately shouted excitedly upon hearing Ace's words, "Every man's dream!!"

Lucci shrugged, neither commenting nor responding to Sanji's excited words. He had no interest in those mermaids or fish-men, and to him they were no different from normal people.

"I can't wait! What kind of meat will they put in the Fishman Island cuisine...?" Luffy drooled with anticipation.

"The meat on Fishman Island is indeed quite good, but you have to go to the fishmen's restaurants or taverns," Ace said seriously. "Luffy, this is your brother's advice; mermaid restaurants don't have any meat at all!"

"That's a mermaid cafe, where would a cafe get meat for you?" Lucci retorted.

"Ah, that won't do! Let's go straight to the Fishman Restaurant!" Luffy immediately exclaimed. "I want meat!!"

"No, I have to see the mermaid as soon as possible!!" Sanji shouted angrily, then turned to Ace and asked expectantly, "Are there many mermaids in that mermaid cafe?"

“That’s right.” Ace nodded, looking at Sanji, who was so excited that he had a nosebleed and collapsed, with a puzzled expression.

"Sanji!" Chopper and Usopp cried out in horror as they saw Sanji fall to the ground. "He still can't do it. It's just a fantasy and it's turned into this mess!"

"Someone's coming." Lucci looked towards Fishman Island. Several large sea monsters carrying a few fishmen were swimming towards them. "Luffy, tell the octopus to pull to the right! The entrance to Fishman Island is over there!"

"Oh!" Luffy shouted excitedly, "The entrance to Fishman Island with dried squid!"

"Why do you obey the orders of humans, Kraken!?"

A sinister voice shouted this, and upon hearing it, the octopus flung the Sunshine away.

"Wow ah ah!"

"What are you doing, dried squid! Give us another ride!!" Luffy shouted angrily as the octopus ran away.

"Hold on tight! Don't get thrown off!!"

After a violent shaking, the Sunshine finally stabilized, but they were now surrounded by sea monsters.

"Did this group deliberately block the way here?" Lucci said, looking at the three malice-like fishmen on the sea monster's head. "They don't seem to have any good intentions."

"We're really in a tough spot right now." Flames appeared on Ace's hand, then he extinguished them a second later to reduce oxygen consumption inside the ship. "We can't go out and fight."

"Frankie, go refuel!" Nami turned to Frankie and said.

"Can the Wind Cannon be used twice in a row?" Qi asked, looking at the double-layered bubbles on Fishman Island.

“Sure, but that would use up all the air in our ship,” Franky said through gritted teeth.

"Then let's go! Charge into Fishman Island!" Qi grinned. "If we're lucky, we'll make it to Fishman Island; if we're unlucky, we'll just end up drowning in the ocean at 1 meters."

"Don't say such terrifying things with a smile!!" Usopp shouted at Franky in terror, then ran down below deck. "Franky, I'm going to refuel. You're in charge of the helm!!"

After the fishmen made a series of threatening remarks demanding to join them, Luffy laughed and shouted, "No way! You idiots!!" As he spoke, Luffy kept pulling at the fishmen's faces and making faces at them, "Why should we be your subordinates?!"

Chopper, tears streaming down his face, tugged at Luffy's clothes as he continued to provoke the fish-men, pleading, "Luffy, please stop adding fuel to the fire..."

Luffy's words undoubtedly enraged the fishmen, who immediately ordered the sea monsters to attack them.

"I'll leave it to you, Qi." Lucci ignored the sea monster that was charging at him with its mouth open, and patted Qi on the shoulder, saying, "I can only tell you that the ship's bubble will melt the moment it touches the Fishman Island's protective bubble."

"Hahaha, Luffy, you guys are really crazy!" Ace grinned and laughed.

"What!? Why didn't you say so sooner!" Nami and Chopper shouted in horror. Before they could say anything more, Franky had already activated his Wind Cannon and rushed through the sea monsters toward Fishman Island.

“It’s over!!”