【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 364 Pushing forward the city

"Lucci." Ace called out immediately, keeping an eye on his brother's movements. He saw Lucci moving slowly, as if trying to move his body, but failed. "Are you okay? Lucci."

"Ace?" Lu Qi took a breath, his voice vague and hoarse.

"Yeah, I'm here," Ace responded immediately, not wanting his brother to feel uneasy "How are you?"

"There's fire..." Lucci said weakly, barely below a whisper.

"Huh? What fire?" Ace asked in confusion. "We don't have fire here, Lucci, you..."

"The fire... is huge..." Lucci frowned weakly, a painful expression on his face. "I want to escape..."

Ace frowned. Was Lucci talking about Banaro Island? Unsurely, he replied, "Uh, yes. The fire was pretty intense."

Ace sighed deeply, Lucci was clearly a bit concussed but at least he still remembered recent events and the last thing he needed right now was the possibility of losing more of his memory.

"Lucci." Ace called out softly again. He wanted to ask if Lucci could open his chains. He waited for a moment until Lucci responded, indicating that he might have heard him. He didn't want to do this, but this might be their chance. If possible, "Can you get rid of the chains?"

He tried to fight it, but failed. Lucci's devil fruit was well hidden. Maybe the navy didn't know that Lucci had the ability of the fruit, especially when he was already weak. The navy might not give Lucci the Seastone like they did to Ace.

It took a long time for Lucci to respond, seemingly processing what he had said. He moved his arms, but Ace could see they were shaking. Even so, the movement wasn't much, and his expression looked painful. Ace hurriedly stopped him, saying, "No, don't try again."

"Don't worry, I'll find another way out!" Ace comforted again.

"I'm sorry." Lucci's voice was weak.

"It's okay, just get some rest." Ace soothed softly. Although he really wanted to find someone to chat with, sleeping was Lucci's best choice right now. Ace could only hope that Lucci would be more awake next time he woke up. The more awake he was, the more it meant that Lucci's body had recovered. Once Lucci woke up, they might be able to come up with an escape plan soon.

Ace leaned against the wall, watching anxiously as his brother fell into a deep sleep again. Even in his sleep, his brows were still furrowed, as if he was trapped in some kind of nightmare. The expression on his face was always one of pain and uneasiness. He didn't know what kind of dream would make Lucci look so vulnerable.

Ace closed his eyes, shaking off his restless thoughts, and before falling completely asleep, he glanced at his brother one last time and then fell into a deep sleep.

After an unknown amount of time, there was a loud bang from the cabin door, and Ace was instantly awakened. He was startled and came to his senses in an instant. Several marines approached him, and Ace could only glare at them. As soon as his chains were untied from the wall, he tried to attack, but was quickly stopped by the hateful marine admiral. Ace struggled unwillingly, but it was of no use. The marine just pressed him down with an expressionless face and had more chains put on him.

"Bastard!" Ace roared, unable to suppress his trembling. If he was the only one caught, he might have quietly waited for death, but with Lucci around, that wouldn't work. He couldn't let his brother die again no matter what!

"Behave yourself, your end has come." Sakaski looked expressionlessly at Ace of Fire Fist who was tied up but still struggling. He preferred the attitude of the Son of Dragon who didn't struggle.

"Take the Dragon's Son with you." Sakaski ordered the navy next to him, and then left the cabin.

Ace was pushed and staggered to catch up with the admiral. He could hear the faint gasps coming from Lucci who was carried by the navy behind him, as well as the heavy footsteps coming from Blackbeard's team further behind. Although he was happy that Blackbeard and his team encountered the same situation as them, he was more worried about the future of him and Lucci. Are they going to be taken into Impel Down?

Judging from the way the Navy Admiral addressed Lucci, the Navy obviously knew Lucci's identity, and he was not sure whether the Navy already knew who his biological father was, but he knew that when the Navy knew all this, the Navy would be more likely to execute them rather than wasting cells on them.

As soon as he stepped onto the deck, the dazzling light made his eyes sting. Ace couldn't help but close his eyes. After a moment, he opened them again and looked around, trying to determine where they might be. At this time, his eyes fell on something in the distance on the left. He squinted his eyes and looked up. A fog almost blocked his sight, but he kept looking up. The thing was very high. It wasn't until he saw the label that he reacted, and his heart suddenly sank.

It was the Gate of Justice, which meant they had reached Impel Down, and any hope they might have found escape was completely shattered, not to mention that he was now powerless to resist, and Lucci was unconscious.

Ace was pushed forward a step, and a tall man with a pair of towering bat wings stood in front of him. Unlike the other navy men who wore white uniforms, he was dressed in black, with a thick black beard, sharp teeth, and a pair of horns on his head.

"The Blackbeard Pirates, Dragon's Son, and Fire Fist Ace are now in your care, Magellan." Sakaski said casually. His mission was completed, but his work was not yet finished. Every time he left the headquarters for a mission, there would always be a lot of documents piled up on the desk in the office, even though he had almost dealt with them before he left.

"Thank you for your hard work, Admiral Akainu. They won't appear outside again." Magellan pulled the chain that locked Ace and said to Sakaski.

Sakaski quickly left on a warship, leaving his prisoner at the gate of Impel Down. He also needed to take Blackbeard to headquarters to report.

After watching Admiral Akainu's warship leave, Magellan looked down at Fire Fist Ace and said in a calm tone, "Welcome to Impel Down, Fire Fist Ace."

……

The sun was almost setting on the horizon, and the sparkling sea and sky were almost dyed into deep amber and soft lavender. Below this, a brightly colored sloop was swaying quietly on the waves, and the skeleton sail with a straw hat made a gentle sound in the sea breeze. The sea seemed to be embracing it and gently pushing it forward. Some joyful laughter came from the childlike ship from time to time.

"Qi! Look, we caught a super fat shark!!" Luffy cheered and showed the shark he caught to Qi who was lying on the lounge chair. After getting a response, he happily stuffed the fat shark in his hand into the fish tank.

"Let's go and take a look at the fish tank!" Luffy ran down the deck with a smile.

Qi did not go with Luffy and Usopp, but continued to lie on the chair, rubbing Luffy's straw hat with one hand, and holding up a small piece of white paper with the other hand, frowning as he looked at the burning paper in front of him. It was almost burned to a size smaller than the palm of his hand.

He didn't know what this meant. The only thing he was sure of was that Lucci must have been in trouble, otherwise his fruit ability would not have suddenly disappeared.

"boom!!"