On the vast, boundless blue sea, a dog-headed warship was sailing.
An occasional salty, damp sea breeze blew by, making one feel incredibly pleasant.
On the deck, Garp was wearing his dog-head hat, lying on a lounge chair, fast asleep, his snores resounding to the heavens.
On the lookout platform above, two small figures were sitting there.
"Kyle, didn't you say you would give me something delicious to eat?"
"Where is it?"
Luffy's eyes were shining, his gaze scanning over Kyle, searching for where the tasty food might be hidden.
"Don't be so impatient."
Kyle showed a smile, reached behind his back, and with a motion pretending to take something from behind, he brought out the Gum-Gum Fruit.
"Ta da."
"This is the good thing I'm going to give you to eat."
"Huh."
Luffy was stunned for a moment, then saliva uncontrollably flowed from his mouth.
He immediately took the Gum-Gum Fruit from Kyle's hand and took a big bite.
He had never seen this kind of fruit before. It was strangely shaped.
According to the rule that the weirder it looks, the better it tastes, this fruit definitely looked delicious.
So Luffy, without a second thought, took a big bite.
Kyle's mouth opened slightly, as if he wanted to say something but stopped.
What. Don't be in such a hurry. Can't you wait for me to introduce it first.
Luffy chewed in big mouthfuls, his mouth stuffed full, then suddenly his expression changed, turning extremely grim.
So disgusting.
This thought kept rising in Luffy's mind, making him instinctively want to spit out what was in his mouth.
But before he could open his mouth, Kyle pressed his hand over Luffy's mouth and punched him on the head.
The food stuck in his mouth and throat was instantly swallowed.
Luffy's limbs stiffened, and he fell down, as if a soul had risen from his mouth.
Two seconds later, he suddenly came back to life, jumping up, his hands tightly grabbing Kyle's clothes.
While shaking Kyle, he loudly roared in anger.
"Kyle. Is this the delicious thing you said you were going to give me to eat."
"Are you sure this damn thing has even the slightest connection to the word delicious."
"Tell me. Are you trying to poison me."
Luffy's face was full of anger. He had never eaten anything so disgusting. He felt his mouth had been polluted.
Kyle spread his hands.
"I don't think I ever said it was delicious, from beginning to end. I said I'd give you a good thing to eat, not that I'd give you something delicious to eat. You heard wrong yourself."
(⊙o⊙)...
Luffy's movements paused, a look of confusion appearing on his face.
It seems... that is true.
But Luffy was only confused for a moment before becoming aggressive again.
"I don't care. You made me eat something so disgusting. I."
"Thump."
"Ah."
Before Luffy could finish speaking, a dull thud sounded along with a cry of pain.
Kyle blew on his raised fist, his gaze calmly looking at Luffy, who was now squatting on the ground, holding his head with both hands, a few tears squeezed out. He spoke.
"Can't tell who's in charge now, can you."
"Am I someone you can question."
Luffy raised his head, looking at Kyle with an 'unyielding' gaze.
"Hmm. Not convinced."
Kyle made a move as if to punch Luffy again.
Seeing this, Luffy was instantly startled, retreating repeatedly until his back was against the cabin wall.
"Convinced, convinced. I'm convinced."
Darn it. My strength isn't enough. I'll endure for now. When my strength is enough, I'll definitely hang Kyle up and beat him, to repay the humiliation of being beaten every day during this time.
Looking at Luffy's expression, Kyle knew he was thinking about unrealistic things again.
He took a step forward and slapped Luffy on the head.
"Stop spacing out. Feel if there are any changes in your body."
"Changes. What changes."
Luffy stood up, his eyes filled with confusion.
Kyle explained calmly.
"What you just ate is a Devil Fruit called the Gum-Gum Fruit."
"Devil Fruit. What is that."
"A Devil Fruit is a kind of fruit that allows people to obtain various special abilities. For example, my purple lightning is an ability I got after eating a Devil Fruit called the Rumble-Rumble Fruit."
"You mean I can now release purple lightning like you."
Before Kyle could continue, Luffy eagerly interrupted, his eyes full of excitement.
The first time he saw Kyle release purple lightning, he thought it looked incredibly cool.
He originally thought that through training, he could become like Kyle too.
He only later learned that Kyle's purple lightning was his own special ability, something others couldn't obtain through training.
When he learned this news, Luffy was disappointed for a long time.
Something so cool, and he didn't have it. How sad.
And now he's being told he can have such cool purple lightning too.
Kyle showed a slight smile.
"Unfortunately, no."
"Also, when I am speaking. Do not interrupt me."
"Thump."
Luffy once again squatted down, holding his head.
But after squatting down, he discovered a strange problem.
It seems... it doesn't hurt.
Before he could figure out what was going on, Kyle's voice came again.
"I just told you, the fruit you ate is called the Gum-Gum Fruit. Its special ability is to stretch parts of your body, like rubber."
"Come on. Try throwing a punch with all your strength now."
"Ah. Oh."
Luffy stood up, clenched his fist, gathered strength, and threw a fierce punch towards Kyle's direction.
Different from before, Luffy clearly felt something unusual this time when he threw the punch.
Then, under his astonished gaze, his arm, which had extended to its furthest point, did not stop as it usually would. Instead, it kept extending, continuing to stretch forward.
Kyle sidestepped lightly, dodging Luffy's punch.
Luffy was still in a state of confusion until a sudden pulling force came from his arm.
Then he was directly sent flying.
At this moment, Luffy, feeling himself in mid-air, finally snapped out of his confusion and immediately screamed shrilly.
"Hel. Help."
His voice was still echoing above, but Luffy's body had already crashed onto the deck below, making a dull thud.
"What happened. What's going on."
Garp, who had been sleeping soundly, was jolted by the force and immediately jumped up.
He took off his dog-head hat and saw Luffy on the deck, grimacing and shouting, "It hurts, it hurts."
However, after only shouting for a few seconds, Luffy stopped yelling. Instead, he spread his hands, tilted his head, his face full of confusion.
When he crashed down, he instinctively shouted that it hurt. But now, carefully feeling it.
It seems like it doesn't really hurt.
Then, Luffy suddenly remembered, when Kyle hit him earlier, it didn't seem to hurt either.
"I. Have I become a superman."
Luffy murmured softly.
"Superman my foot."