【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

"Hey!" Ace became excited when he heard Lucci's voice. "Is there any news about Teach?"

"I guess so." Lucci's voice was uncertain. "Have you seen your brother?"

"Yes, I'm on Luffy's ship right now." Ace grinned, "What a shame, if you had left a day later you would have been able to see my brother."

"That's a pity, but I believe we'll have another chance to meet again." Lucci's smiling voice came from inside. "In that case, you shouldn't have left Alabasta yet, right?"

"That's right." Ace responded.

"Congratulations, Ace. If possible, I think you will have the opportunity to spend more time with your brother." Ace listened to Lucci's teasing voice coming out of the Den Den Mushi.

"What happened?" Ace asked confused.

"Well, I accidentally got a piece of news that Blackbeard had appeared in Yuba." Lucci's calm voice came from inside, "Ace, go to Yuba and take a look. If Teach did appear in Yuba, we can confirm his route."

"I see." Ace nodded.

"Oh, by the way, say hello to your brother for me." As Lucci finished speaking, Den Den Mushi lowered its head instantly.

"Ace, who is that?" Luffy asked impatiently. For some reason, he felt that the voice was a little familiar.

"Yes..." Ace was about to say it was Lucci, but when he thought of the hope and disappointment he felt when he first heard Lucci's name, he was a little reluctant to say it.

He knew what this name meant to Luffy, and he also knew that the death of Lucci and Sabo still had a great impact on Luffy now. Just like him, they could not forget it. He didn't want Luffy to recall the death of Lucci and Sabo again because of this, so he changed the topic and said, "My partner, the other Whitebeard partner I told you about."

"Huh?" Luffy looked at Ace in confusion. He felt that something was wrong with Ace, but if Ace didn't want to say it, then forget it. Ace had his own reasons.

"So is your next stop going to Yuba?" Sanji thought of Luffy's expectant look just now, so he asked. He remembered that they were also going to cross the desert to Yuba.

"That's right." Ace nodded and said with a smile. He was grateful for Sanji's words, which diverted Luffy's attention.

"Then your destination is the same as ours." Nami said as she opened the map of Alabasta. "We have now entered the San Dora River."

"We will land in Elmar first, go upstream in the interior of Alabasta, and then go here, Yuba." Vivi pointed to the map and added, "Because the leader of the rebels is in Yuba."

"I see, your next destination is Yuba." Ace looked at the location Vivi pointed out, then turned to Luffy and said with a smile, "Then Luffy, we can travel together for the time being."

"Great! Ace is sailing with us!" Luffy happily raised his drink and toasted with everyone, "Let's have fun together, Ace!

……

Sanji stood on the stairs and looked at Vivi who was lost in thought in the room. He said gently, "Miss Vivi, the tea is ready. Come to the kitchen."

"Thank you, Sanji." Vivi said with a smile, then closed the book in her hand and followed Sanji to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Luffy and Usopp were playing with rice balls in their hands. Sanji came to the kitchen and saw Usopp and Luffy playing with food. He immediately got angry and picked up the frying pan and hit the two of them, "Stop playing with food as toys!"

Ace sat aside and watched their interaction, and couldn't help but feel amused, Luffy was still the same as before.

"Really? I should prepare all the bento before crossing the river." Sanji turned around angrily and continued his work.

Qi brought Nami and Zoro to the kitchen. As soon as they came in, they saw Luffy and Usopp with a pot on their heads. Qi smiled and teased, "Luffy, Usopp, is this your new look?"

Luffy and Usopp looked at Qi resentfully.

"Haha, in that case, let's discuss our next plan." Qi laughed, then his expression became a little more serious. "Weiwei, what are you going to do next?"

"I'm going to the headquarters of the Yuba rebels first, find their leader, and tell them the truth that Crocodile is the culprit of all this, in order to stop the rebel riots." Vivi replied.

"You told us something about Alabasta before. Crocodile used dancing powder a long time ago to change the rainfall in Alabasta, concentrating the rain in the capital. He also deliberately misled the people to make them think that the king used the dancing powder to take away all the rain in Alabasta, which led to drought in various cities and the people's livelihood was in dire straits." Qi concluded.

"That's right, I won't let Crocodile go!" Weiwei said angrily, "This is all a trap set by Crocodile."

"This is also the reason for the formation of the rebel army, but I suspect that there may be people from Baroque Studio among the rebels. The riot of the rebels happened too quickly, as if someone was deliberately inciting it." Qi expressed his guess. "At the dock of Rapeseed Flower, I saw some guards deliberately fighting with some residents or vendors in order to cause conflicts."

"I don't understand." Weiwei said weakly, her face a little pale. She tried hard to process the information. She roughly knew what Qi wanted to express.

Qi looked at Vivi's nervous expression. Even though Vivi had been fighting for the future of the country and had worked in the Baroque Studio, and might be considered a Baroque commander with a certain status, she was still too naive. War could not be stopped by simply explaining it clearly. Only by getting rid of Crocodile, the boss behind the war, could all this be stopped.

"I heard some people's opinions about the rebels in the rapeseed market." Qi said, "In fact, most residents in the market support the rebels, even the King's Guards. In addition, I accidentally got a piece of news that the leader of this rebellion is a guy named Kosa."

"Kou... Kosa?" Weiwei exclaimed in surprise, "Are you sure it's Kosa?"

Qi nodded. He overheard the conversation between the two rebels.

"Do you know him, Vivi?" Zoro asked.

"Yes, we grew up together and he is one of my closest friends." Weiwei nodded in acknowledgement.

"How could this happen? It's not enough for us to fight Crocodile, we also have to fight your friends!" Usopp thought of the worst outcome and shouted in panic.