【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

"What happened here?" Ace frowned.

"I don't know, maybe he was in trouble. Let's go look for treasure!" Lucci responded while looking at the situation around him.

Ace nodded after hearing what Lucci said and walked towards the door of the room on the ship.

Lucci looked around and walked in the opposite direction of Ace. He climbed the stairs to the second floor and saw a captain's hat logo at the door of one of the rooms.

He pushed open the door and saw a large room inside. He noticed that there was a large table near the window. Behind the table was an ornately decorated chair, on which sat a skeleton wearing a large hat. He was wearing a gorgeous cloak and his right hand was on the table, on which was a parchment book with words written on it.

Lucci picked it up gently and tried to read. The book described the sailing experience of this pirate ship. It was a navigation note, and the last few pages described the final story.

The storm and huge waves washed their ship ashore, and the hull was severely damaged. They could never return to the sea. They could not save themselves on this deserted island where no one approached, and there were no trees or food on the island. They could not repair the ship or build another one.

The pirates were desperate and came up with one plan after another, but nothing went smoothly and they were trapped. Eventually they mutinied and split into two teams. Comrades on the same ship began to kill each other and the deck was covered with their comrades' blood.

The Captain wrote in the final final moments;

I feel so sorry for my crew members. I wanted to die at sea together with my crew members and the ship we were sailing on. After all, it was he, the captain, who failed to protect his crew members. All he could do in the end was to bury them properly.

Lucci looked at the last sentence written by the pirate captain: "I want to die at sea."

Maybe he was just a villain, but he must have been proud of his life as a pirate.

"Hey, look Lucci! There are a lot of treasures here!" Ace rushed in with two boxes of treasure in his hands and gave him an excited smile.

"That's great!" Lucci put the notebook in his hand back on the table and said with a smile.

"Is this the captain's room?" Ace asked, looking at the skeleton wearing the captain's cloak.

"Yes, a lot happened to this ship." Lucci looked at the skeleton. "He buried his crew."

Lucci turned to look at the two boxes Ace was carrying. Ace grinned and said, "There are still a lot. I can't move them all by myself."

"Then call your crew over to help move it together later!" Lucci said with a smile.

Ace and Lucci were walking back with some treasures. They couldn't carry so much, so they planned to take some back to the ship and ask others to help carry it. After they moved all the treasures down, they pushed the ship and the captain off the coast together, so that their final destination would be in the sea.

……

By the time they moved all the treasures onto the ship, it was already night. Lucci sat alone on a rock and watched the pirates' revelry quietly.

He took out the life card from the space and stared at it. Distant memories kept emerging: the burning island, escape, Rayleigh, training, and so on.

He should have the strength now, right? Rayleigh's words when he left rang in his ears, 'I have taught you all the skills I can. What happens in the future depends on you. I can only teach you the basics. How far you can achieve in the future depends on your own training and exploration.

This is a life card. You can find me by following the direction this paper floats. When you have determined your goal and are ready to go out to sea, come find me.'

"Hey! Why are you sitting here alone?" Ace handed the wine to Lucci.

"Ah, it's okay." Lucci's thoughts were interrupted by Ace's voice. He took the wine handed to him by Ace and took a sip.

"Are you sure you don't want the treasure? I can keep it for you first and give it to you when you get off the boat." Ace said, looking at the dark sea.

"No, I told you this is your reward, no matter how much it is, it's yours," Lucci replied with a smile, "I'm not very interested in treasure."

"Is that barrel of wine yours? Where did you get it? It's pretty good!" Ace said with a grin.

"That one? That's what I brewed. It's made from a special plant. It's not like ordinary sake. The alcohol content of this wine is very high and it's easy to get drunk. But it won't hurt your body. Drinking it every day can strengthen your body and heal wounds." Lucci explained.

"Wow! How amazing! You can actually make wine, and you're so good at it!" Ace was a little surprised.

"Hahaha, there's nothing I can do. I have a master who likes to drink living with me." Luffy recalled with a smile.

"So where are you going next?" Ace took a sip of the wine in his hand and asked with a smile, "Would you like to get on my ship?"

"I'm going to the Sabaody Archipelago. Your next island should also be Sabaody." Lucci said with a smile, "Please take good care of me for the next period of time."

"Hey! You should know that's not what I meant, Lucci!" Ace said seriously.

Lucci stared at Ace's serious expression in a daze, and suddenly a picture appeared in front of him. A black-haired boy whose face could not be seen clearly pulled his hand and said to him coquettishly, "Lucci, Lucci, come on my boat!" With an extremely doting smile on his face.

"Lucci?" Ace asked in confusion when he saw Lucci suddenly stopped talking.

"It's okay, Ace." Lucci came back to his senses and responded with a smile, "I'm sorry, Ace, I can't get on your ship."

"Huh? Why?" Ace asked disappointedly.

"I promised a very important person that I would board his ship in the future." Lucci recalled the scene that just appeared. Although he still couldn't remember and couldn't see the boy's face clearly, he could feel that he was very important to him. He wanted to get back his memories before the age of 10 as soon as possible.

"Is that so? All right then!" Ace didn't insist any further, but he was very curious about who could get such a person on board. He didn't actually hold much hope that his invitation would be successful. His personality was actually very similar to his. Neither of them was the kind of person who would be inferior to others.

"However, if possible, I might sail with you for a while." Lucci drank the wine in his hand. "Are you going to the New World? If possible, I would like to take your ship."

"Of course!" Ace said happily, "You will be our companion from now on!!"

"Huh? I didn't agree to get on the boat!" Lucci grinned.

"But I've chosen you!" Ace put his hand on Lucci's shoulder and said seriously.

"Oh, so that's it!" Lucci looked at Ace's expression and knew that he was serious. He said seriously, "In that case, I can't refuse. Even if I don't get on the ship, you are a friend I recognize and my companion." Although they just met today, they are already true partners, and he will not let anyone hurt him.

"Hahaha, cheers!" Ace's face was already red from the alcohol, and he grinned and shouted, "Let's have a party!! Celebrate Lucci sailing with us!!"

Lucci smiled as he watched the fight between Ace and his crew.