【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

"It's okay, now that you're here, there's no need for an old man like me to help here." The old man had a amiable smile on his face. He knew that they were pirates, but they were also Princess Vivi's companions, so he didn't care about their identities.

Qi carried the sleeping Luffy back to the room, and then they officially began to fight Crocodile.

.......

The next morning, everyone packed their bags and said goodbye to the last resident of Juba.

"Little Weiwei... I'm so sorry for letting you see such a desolate Yuba..." The uncle apologized to Weiwei.

"No...how could that be..." Weiwei quickly shook her head and continued, "...Then, we'll go first, uncle..."

"By the way... Luffy, take this." The uncle handed Luffy a small pot of water. "Soon after you fell asleep yesterday... I dug up some moist soil and filtered out this water through distillation. Although it's a little, this is the real water of Yuba."

"Great, although it sounds a bit complicated, thank you." Luffy smiled happily, "I will definitely drink it carefully."

Shortly after saying goodbye to the uncle, they left Yuba. After walking for a while, Luffy suddenly stopped and sat under a dead tree, putting his hands on the back of his head with the water bottle given by the old man hanging around his neck.

The Straw Hat Pirates immediately noticed Luffy's abnormality and stopped to look at him in confusion.

"Luffy, what's wrong with you?" Nami asked confusedly, getting down from her eyelashes.

Luffy thought for a while, then said directly, "I quit!"

"What?!" Except for Qi and Zoro, everyone looked at Luffy in amazement, not understanding why Luffy suddenly said that.

"You're saying you don't want to do it anymore?" Nami asked in surprise and confusion.

"Luffy, what do you mean?" Vivi asked with a frown.

"Ah, Luffy and I are together." Qi smiled and sat next to Luffy.

"Qi! Why are you following Luffy in making trouble!" Nami shouted in disbelief. Qi was the most common-sense person among them, except her.

"Aren't we going back?" Chopper asked doubtfully.

Sanji and Zoro saw that the captain and the vice-captain had expressed their opinions, so they stood aside and silently supported their captain. Although Sanji didn't know why Luffy and Qi did this, since the captain and the vice-captain had done this, they must have their reasons.

Zoro's position was very clear. He completely understood what Luffy and Qi meant. Before they entered the desert, he already knew the result through the communication in that meeting. How could they end the war just by persuading the rebels?

"Why are we going back to Cattleya?" Qi asked.

"Of course it's to stop the rebels. It would be terrible if the 100 million people in this country started fighting each other." Usopp said loudly.

"That's boring," Luffy deadpanned.

"Weiwei, even if we succeed in stopping the rebels, can Crocodile be stopped?" Qi continued, "Besides, we are pirates, and not everyone is as tolerant of pirates as Uncle Toto, so even if we go to Cattleya, we can't stop the rebels. Who will listen to pirates?"

"Vivi, I want to beat up that Crocodile!" Luffy said angrily.

Vivi was shocked at the anger in Luffy's tone.

"Vivi, I know you don't want anyone to die in this battle! Those citizens... and us pirates!" Luffy looked at Vivi and said seriously, "But our opponent is the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and it's a battle of 100 million people. You hope that everyone will be safe. Don't you think it's too naive?"

"Hey, Luffy! Please consider Vivi's feelings!" Nami tried to stop Luffy, but Sanji stopped her.

"What's wrong with this!?" Weiwei clenched her fists and shouted angrily, "I hope no one will die, what's wrong with this!?"

"People will die!" Luffy told Vivi calmly.

"Shut up, stop saying that!" Vivi raised her fist angrily and hit Luffy, trying to stop Luffy from continuing.

But Qi stopped Weiwei, hugged her, and said seriously, "You are right, Weiwei! All this is caused by Crocodile. It's all Crocodile's fault. Your only problem is that you shouldn't risk your own life!"

"But what else can I use to fight them!!" Weiwei growled while struggling in Qi's arms.

"You should at least take our lives into account!" Luffy yelled "Aren't we partners!?"

After hearing this, the others stood up silently and walked behind Luffy.

Hearing this, Vivi stopped struggling. She covered her mouth with her hands, looked up at Luffy and everyone with tearful eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks uncontrollably.

"Actually, you're the one who's most unwilling to accept this... You want to beat that guy up!" Luffy held down his straw hat, his eyes full of determination. "Tell me... Where is Crocodile!?"

Weiwei nodded heavily. She had made up her mind that they must defeat Crocodile.

"This seems to be the quickest shortcut," Nami said.

"This means we don't have to resort to roundabout tactics anymore," Zoro agreed.

"So where is that damn Crocodile?" Sanji asked, lighting a cigarette.

Weiwei cheered herself up, wiped the tears from her face, took out a map from her pocket and put it on the ground. Everyone came closer and looked down at the simple map on the ground.

"The rainy oasis where Crocodile is is right here." Weiwei swiped her finger on the map. "We can go north from Yuba and arrive in one day."

"Will there be water there?" Chopper asked impatiently, as they had already finished their water.

"Yes, it has not been affected by the riots at all. It is a very peaceful gambling city." Weiwei explained.

"Wow - gambling?" Nami's face changed instantly when she heard the word gambling. She seemed to hear the sound of money falling into her pocket.

"There's such a leisurely place in Alabasta?" Sanji said in disbelief.

"You haven't finished fighting yet?" Qi looked at the two people who had been fighting over the bottle of water on Luffy since they started their discussion.

"Just give me a sip, what's the big deal..." Usopp kept trying to take the water bottle from Luffy's hand.

"No, this is the water that the skinny old man spent the whole night digging for. We can't just drink it up like that, you bastard!"

"Ah, you can actually be patient sometimes!" Nami said in surprise.

"I can tolerate it, but you are so rude!!" Luffy yelled at Nami angrily.