【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

"Ace! Ace! Look, there's a huge Atlas!!" Luffy pointed at a huge beetle that was resting on a tree.

Ace opened his eyes wide, looking at the giant beetle foraging in the tree, and he quickly blocked Luffy behind him to prevent him from passing.

Luffy stood behind Ace with shining eyes, staring at Atlas excitedly, "Ace! Let's catch it!" Luffy shouted excitedly.

"No! This one is too big. We will be carried away by it." Ace said seriously.

"Ah! He flew away!" Luffy sighed in disappointment.

"Okay, let's find dinner, Luffy!" Ace breathed a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that Luffy would catch it.

"Okay! Let's eat crocodile today, Ace!" Luffy said excitedly.

"Sure!" Ace touched his brother's head and responded with a smile.

Ace dragged the prey in his hand and looked around trying to find some fruit for Luffy.

"Ace! Help me!"

Ace looked back in Luffy's direction and was horrified to find that Luffy was caught by a huge centipede. Ace quickly threw away their dinner in his hand, quickly jumped onto the centipede's body, gritted his teeth, and used all his strength to insert the pipe into the centipede's body. "Let Luffy go!" Ace shouted loudly.

"Luffy, are you okay?" Ace rushed to Luffy and checked Luffy's body anxiously.

"Hehehe, I'm fine, Ace!" After Luffy was rescued, he looked at Ace with a bright smile again, "Ace, you're awesome!!"

"I'm glad you're okay!" Ace carefully checked Luffy's body and was relieved when he found no wounds on him. Then Ace and Luffy returned to their base with the prey they had caught.

"Ace, I miss Dadan, Makino and the others." Luffy muttered while lying on Ace's body.

"I miss them too, but I feel the old man will come to take us back soon," Ace stroked Luffy's hair and comforted him.

They have been on this island for two years. Except for the huge tiger and bear, which they have not defeated yet, other animals in the forest are no match for them.

The next morning

"Ace! Ace!" Luffy jumped on Ace and gave him a big hug.

"Luffy..." Ace rubbed his sleepy eyes. Luffy's hug made him completely sober. He hugged Luffy and took him to the place to wash up.

Today was the day for their annual height test, and Ace pulled Luffy over to where they usually tested his height, preparing to measure him.

Ace was holding Luffy's dagger, carefully preparing to mark on the wooden board for measuring height, when suddenly he noticed something was wrong with Luffy's expression, and when he looked down, he was speechless to find that Luffy was trying hard to tiptoe, trying to make himself taller.

"Stop standing on your toes, Luffy!" Ace said as he patted Luffy on the head.

"Okay." Luffy responded with a smile.

Ace watched him slowly rise up expressionlessly, "Don't even stretch your legs, Luffy!!" Then Ace pushed him down hard.

"Hey!" Luffy puffed up his cheeks and looked at Ace unconvinced.

Ace looked at the logo that had finally been carved, with a tired look on his face.

"Let me see, let me see!" Luffy said excitedly beside him, "Hehehe, Ace, I've grown taller!! Soon I'll be as tall as Ace." Luffy smiled proudly.

Ace looked at his brother's smug expression and couldn't help but put his hand on Luffy's head and laughed loudly "Then I'll wait!"

"You two ran over here! It took me so long to find you!" Garp said with a smile while moving his joints, then raised his fists and punched Ace and Luffy, one punch after another.

Ace and Luffy looked at Garp in horror as he suddenly appeared and then suddenly swung his fist at them. Ace reacted faster and hurriedly pulled Luffy and fled madly into the forest.

"boom!!"

Ace and Luffy jumped on their feet, barely avoiding Garp's blow, and Ace swallowed in horror as he watched the stone shattered by Garp's fist.

Ace and Luffy looked at the broken stones, and were glad that they had successfully avoided the punch, otherwise what would have fallen on the ground would not be broken stones, but their bodies.

Ace shuddered at the thought of that scene, and turned around and ran away with Luffy.

"Luffy, run!!"

"Ace, Grandpa is so scary!!"

"Bang, bang!" Cap continued to chase after the two of them. The area they passed was full of trees and the remains of animals that failed to escape.

"It seems that the two years I spent on this island have paid off. I've become much stronger. At least I can last three hours in his hands now!" Karp thought happily, and then he laughed while increasing his speed rapidly. After a while, the two brothers rolled their eyes, with two huge lumps on their heads, and lay on the ground, their life or death unknown.

'This old man is definitely the most dangerous creature in this forest! ' Ace thought in horror.

Ace and Luffy woke up when they smelled barbecue, and looked at the mountain of food on the ground in surprise. Although Garp was sitting next to them, it did not affect their eating at all.

"Listen carefully, when you eat, you should eat as much as you can. This is very important for Marines. Both of you remember this!" Garp said as he looked at his grandson who was eating madly.

"Who wants to be a marine? Stop acting on your own!" Ace retorted after swallowing his food.

"What did you say?" Cap said angrily.

"I want to be a pirate!" Ace said angrily.

"It's so delicious!!" Luffy quickly finished the food on the ground, then touched his bulging stomach and exclaimed loudly.

Ace and Garp turned around in surprise when they heard the sound, "Ah! It's all eaten!" There was no food left just now, and it was all eaten by Luffy.

"It's so delicious!" Luffy exclaimed happily, then fell back and quickly fell asleep.

"So fast!" Ace and Garp watched in shock as Luffy fell asleep so quickly.

"Oh!" Ace and Garp sighed helplessly, then sat on the ground and looked at the burning bonfire.

"Are you here to take us back this time?" Ace asked calmly.

"Hahaha, yes! You have stayed on this island long enough, it's time to go back." Karp said with a smile, "The animals on this island should no longer be your opponents."

"Except for the king of the jungle in this forest, the two of us can defeat all the other animals together," Ace said proudly.

"We will set off tomorrow. You can go back to see Dadan and Makino. I will bring you here for training later so that you can defeat the king of the jungle." Cap laughed.

"Can you tell us now?" Ace said to Garp.

"Ha!" Garp stopped laughing, looked at the determined expression on Ace's face, sighed, and said, "When I suddenly sent you to this island, the World Government decided to search Dawn Island. They suspected that there were still people related to dragons on the island. In order to prevent you from being discovered, I could only temporarily put you on this uninhabited island."

Ace was a little puzzled when he saw the inexplicable sadness emanating from Garp. Although he didn't know why, when he thought of the old man's identity as a navy, he could probably guess something, so he didn't ask.

"Dawn Island is safe now, right?" Ace asked in a low voice.

"Yes, they have been searching Dawn Island for a long time, and they have completely stopped paying attention to it recently!" Karp responded.

Ace nodded and didn't say anything else. He lay down with his head tilted back to sleep. He knew that the old man had done his best to protect them.

Garp covered the sleeping Ace and Luffy with a navy cloak, and looked at them sleeping soundly. For some reason, he suddenly thought of the dead Lucci, and dropped his shoulders sadly. If he was still alive, he would be the same age as Ace.