【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Qi continued, "Because I am a part that Luffy separated from his shadow using a devil fruit. He created me using a devil fruit and placed me next to Luffy in a protective form. Although I am independent, there has always been a certain connection between us. I also have the skills that the main body has, because my abilities were given by the main body."

"Protective form?" Ace frowned in confusion.

"Well, when Lucci was ten years old, he separated his only clone, which was me, to protect Luffy." Qi said with a smile, "By the way, Luffy couldn't know this, because he was afraid that Luffy would be angry."

The corners of Ace's mouth twitched involuntarily. This was indeed something that Lucci would do before he lost his memory. However, Ace suddenly thought of something, and his expression gradually became angry.

"Since you knew everything, why didn't you tell us earlier? You knew Lucci wasn't dead." Ace grabbed Lucci's collar and said angrily, "Do you know how long Luffy and I have been grieving over Lucci's death? Luffy even refused to eat for a week because of his sadness."

Qi's expression froze, and he felt as if the blood in his body was frozen. He knew what this meant. Without them knowing, Luffy might still be suffering from Lucci's death. He whispered, "I... I don't know."

"Why don't you know? Aren't you Lucci's clone?" Ace looked at him in disbelief.

"I have no memory of Lucci since I was created. I only know a little bit when I gain new abilities, like knowing that you sailed with Lucci." He explained weakly. "When Lucci was a child, his Devil Fruit ability was not strong, so I was always asleep. Until two years ago, I always thought that Lucci went to sea like you."

Ace let go of Qi's collar in shock, and then he hurriedly said "I'm sorry"

"Is Lucci still alive!?"

Ace and Qi's expressions froze instantly, and Qi didn't know how to tell Luffy.

He reacted and turned around slowly. When he met Luffy's eyes, he subconsciously avoided them and whispered, "Luffy... why are you here?"

"Because Ace feels something is wrong." Although Luffy was eager to know the answer, he subconsciously answered Qi's question. Then he continued to ask in disbelief, "So brother is still alive?"

"Luffy...Lucci is still alive." Ace reacted and said softly, a smile appearing on his face.

"Really?" Luffy looked up, tears streaming down his face "Is Lucci really still alive?" He sniffed, ignoring his wet face, and looked at his brother pleadingly.

Ace's face showed a bright smile uncontrollably, ignoring his own equally wet eyes, and nodded firmly. Only Luffy could understand how important this news was to them. Ace reached out and grabbed the boy's shoulders, pulling him into his arms, hugging Luffy tightly, burying his head in his hair, his voice choked with sobs, "Yes, Lucci is still alive!"

After hearing this, Luffy struggled to raise his head from Ace's chest, a look of joy on his face, and said excitedly, "Where is Lucci now? I want to see him!"

"Wait a minute, Luffy, listen to the rest first!" Ace let go of Luffy, grabbed his shoulders and said, "This is very important!"

"Okay." Luffy tilted his head and looked at Ace curiously "What about the rest?"

Ace took a deep breath and began to speak, "Lucci has lost his previous memories, so he doesn't know that we are his brothers now. Even though he is now a Whitebeard Pirate like me, the brotherly bond between the four of us is different, so it's great to have Lucci back."

Ace smiled and continued, "Our Lucci is the Whitebeard partner who tracked Teach with me. He left before you, Luffy, came."

"Ah, so I can't see Lucci for a while?" Luffy said disappointedly, and soon he showed a bright smile again, "Since Lucci is still alive, then I will meet him on the sea one day! Nihehehe!"

"That's right!" Ace ruffled his brother's hair and then laughed softly. "After losing his memory, Lucci has always wanted to restore his memory, so I have to tell him in person everything about us."

Qi has been looking at Ace and Luffy in silence. Luffy must have heard it, but he didn't know how to explain it all to Luffy, nor did he know how to respond to Luffy's questions, and he also didn't know how to explain his identity.

Qi was silent for a long time, and finally looked up at Luffy's eyes as if giving up, "Luffy, you know everything, right?"

Luffy tilted his head, then grinned and said "I know, Qi is my partner."

Qi looked at Luffy seriously, then smiled, he was indeed Luffy.

Luffy stood between Qi and Ace, chattering about how delicious the food was and how warm it was when he hugged Chopper. As he spoke, Luffy put his arms around Ace's neck and jumped on his back, saying to Qi excitedly, "Qi, Ace is so warm too."

"It's a body made of flames after all." Qi said with a smile.

"That's right, but, Luffy, get off me!" Ace grabbed Luffy on his back and tried to pull him off him, but it was obvious that he failed.

"Nihihihi, no!" Luffy grinned, "It's so cold at night, I want to stay with Ace!"

"Hey, hey, you guy, why are you still so fond of acting like a spoiled child! You haven't changed at all!" Ace complained, but he didn't chase him away. Not long ago, he was still happy that his younger brother, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, became the captain of the ship. Although he didn't look very reliable, he didn't expect that this guy would start acting like a spoiled child again so soon.

When they got back to the camp, the tents were already set up, Nami and Vivi said goodnight to them, the others started getting their blankets ready, and everyone except Luffy settled in.

"Luffy, go to bed early. We need to keep moving forward tomorrow." Vivi couldn't help but remind him as she looked at the excited Luffy outside the tent.

"Luffy, try to sleep." Zoro couldn't help but complain. Because of Luffy's abnormal excitement, they couldn't fall asleep.

"I know, I know." Luffy grinned. He lay on the blanket next to Ace, looking up at the starry sky, and couldn't help but smile.

……

"Wake up Luffy, we need to keep moving!"

Luffy rubbed his eyes and saw Qi Zheng standing next to him picking up things on the ground. Feeling the still hot desert, he couldn't help but complain, "It's getting hot again."

"Stop complaining. We need to get to Yuba as soon as possible." Qi sighed and comforted, "Yuba is an oasis. It shouldn't be so hot there."