【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 455 Concealment

Ace ignored Sabo's advice. He needed to make Luffy understand the seriousness of the matter because he knew that Lucci would still set sail with Luffy. If something like this happened again, the only one who could stop Lucci in the end would be Luffy.

Since concealing the truth can reduce more pain and trouble, why let the impact of this matter expand? Just like the little bird that Luffy raised when he was a child that couldn't survive the winter, Luffy will never know that the bird didn't leave, but was buried in the sea by him. Therefore, Luffy will never feel the pain of the bird's departure. He will accept it easily and continue to move forward with a smile.

This time is no different. He doesn't think there will be any difference this time, except that there is a different brother to hide it from.

“But…” Luffy hesitated; he didn’t want to deceive his brother.

“This is not deception, Luffy.” Ace could tell what Luffy was thinking just by looking at his expression, and said softly, “We are helping Lucci to prevent this from happening again. You saw it, Lucci’s loss of control was terrible and painful.”

"You don't want to see Lucci get hurt again, right?"

Luffy nodded hesitantly.

"So we're just trying to prevent this from happening again, to stop Lucci from hurting himself." Ace patted Luffy's head again. "Can Luffy not tell Lucci what happened today?"

Looking at the determination in Ace's eyes, Luffy looked up at Sabo and saw his encouraging gaze. Then he looked at Lucci, who was lying unconscious on the bed. He could see the bloodstains on Lucci's hands and the wounds on his fingers, as well as the bloodstains on his face. Luffy lowered his head. He didn't want to lie to his brother. Lying was terrible, but if it was for Lucci, it was worth it.

"Okay." Luffy finally nodded and looked at Ace, who was always right.

Ace smiled and patted Luffy's head. He knew Luffy had made a promise, and Luffy always valued promises the most. Ace turned to Sabo, who had been standing silently to the side, and said, "Come and help."

……

Lucci suddenly woke up, his eyes wide, and looked at Ace in a panic, "Ace—"

"Lucci, you're awake!" Ace exclaimed in surprise. He was holding Lucci's hand and trying to apply medicine to the small wound on his finger when Lucci suddenly opened his eyes.

"Ace, the gun, the gunshot wound!" Lucci said urgently. "I saw you get shot, you're bleeding! You almost..."

"Hey, hey, I'm fine," Ace quickly reassured the incoherent Lucci. "It only grazed my arm."

“But I saw him shoot it into your heart.” Lucci was still somewhat panicked.

"I'm fine, it's just a small wound, you can see for yourself." Ace said, grabbing Lucci's hand to touch the bandage on his arm, where the wound had already begun to scab over.

Lucci touched it briefly and immediately withdrew his hand, but his body relaxed slightly because Ace's smile and nonchalant attitude made him realize that Ace was indeed alright.

But his hand... Lucci winced in pain; his hand seemed to be cramping.

"Is your hand alright?" Ace noticed the pain flash across Lucci's face and asked.

"It's nothing, just a little sore and cramped." Lu Qi asked, frowning, as he rubbed his fingers. "Did I do anything?"

"Nothing much, don't you remember? You suddenly fell asleep, and Rayleigh brought us back," Ace said casually. "I've already taken care of that Marine who pointed a gun at me."

Lucci nodded hesitantly, not recalling what Ace had said, but his last memory was that he had indeed fainted, though he didn't know why. Lucci looked around, but this was indeed Shakky's tavern. "Where are Luffy and Sabo?"

“They’re outside chatting with Rayleigh and the others,” Ace explained.

“I see.” Lu Qi nodded, but something still felt off. He lowered his eyes and looked at his palms. They were clean, except for some small cuts on his fingers. When did he get them?

"Do you want to take a shower?" Ace suddenly asked.

Lucci's thoughts were instantly interrupted, and he looked at Ace with a puzzled expression.

“You look exhausted. Maybe a hot bath will make you feel better,” Ace said with a smile. “I don’t want to see you fall asleep on me again.”

Only then did Lu Qi realize that his body was indeed very tired and weak. "Then I'll go take a shower."

"Hmm." Ace nodded and watched Lucci slowly enter the bathroom next door.

Has Lucci woken up?

Ace turned to look at the doorway, where Luffy and Sabo were standing watching him. He then turned his gaze back to the bathroom door. "Hmm, he's taking a shower."

"he……"

“He’s fine.” Ace interrupted Luffy’s question and said directly. He knew what Luffy wanted to ask, but now was not the right time. Lucci seemed to be fine and did not doubt what he said. He just needed to make sure that Lucci wouldn’t think too much about what happened today.

Luffy and Sabo exchanged a glance but said nothing. They had already promised to leave everything to Ace, so there was nothing to worry about. They just needed to act as usual.

……

Lu Qi closed his eyes, standing under the showerhead, letting the hot water soak through his hair and wash over his body. Even though the hot water stung his skin like countless needles, he didn't flinch. Although he was puzzled by the intense heaviness in his body and the burning pain in his muscles, he really didn't have the strength to think. The heaviness and fatigue in his body seemed to freeze his thoughts, making him unwilling to think or do anything.

After soaking his hair completely, he began to wash it with toiletries, rubbing his hair casually with his eyes closed. He only opened his eyes after rinsing off the foam, staring blankly at the red stains on the shower floor. Ace's shocked face flashed before his eyes, and in the image, Ace's feet were also covered in red stains. Lucci's eyes widened instantly, and he subconsciously took a step back, knocking over the toiletries on the side. A series of sounds of bottles and jars falling brought Lucci back to his senses.

Lu Qi quickly touched his hair, looked at the red marks on his hands, and realized that the red liquid on the ground was not blood, but the disposable hair dye that had fallen off his hair.

Lucci sighed softly, somewhat puzzled by his sudden frightened reaction. He could only attribute it to being too tired and having strange hallucinations. He had never seen Ace show such an expression before.

"Lucci, are you alright?"

Hearing Ace knocking on the door, and knowing that Ace must have been attracted by the noise he had just made, Lucci immediately replied, "It's nothing, just the shelf for toiletries fell over."

"Oh, then hurry up and finish washing up and come out. We'll wait for you outside."

Lucci responded and then began to speed up the cleaning process.

After washing up, he didn't feel much better; in fact, he felt even more tired. After putting on his pants, Lu Qi pressed his temples in confusion. Although he felt exhausted, he had no desire to fall asleep and was overly sensitive to his surroundings.