My understanding surpasses yours

Luffy flung out his arm and clung desperately to the tree trunk. Afraid Rubick would throw him into the sea, he even stretched his arm out and wound it around the trunk several times.

Well, they were stuck in a stalemate.

Rubick was no Smoker. His physique was weaker than even Luffy's, so he had no advantage in a head-on contest of strength. Besides, he remembered the plot. Back then, Smoker hadn't been able to do much against Luffy either and had needed the Seastone weapon in his hand to end the fight.

But then again, if Smoker's weapon back then had been a sword or something similar, Luffy would have been done for.

Seeing the stalemate, Garp offered another bit of guidance from the sidelines.

"Rubick, let me see that ability of yours."

Rubick knew this was the moment that would decide his future.

He used Spell Steal on Luffy and instantly acquired the Gum-Gum Fruit's power.

The smoke restraining Luffy instantly dispersed, but Rubick's hand remained wrapped around him.

Without Rubick's pulling force, Luffy snapped back like a slingshot with a smack, crashing into the tree trunk. But an impact like that couldn't hurt rubber at all.

Luffy said excitedly, "Cool! Mister, your arm just stretched, didn't it? Do you have the Gum-Gum Fruit too, like me? That's amazing! You actually have several Devil Fruit powers!"

Garp silently noted Rubick's performance as well. Of course, he couldn't tell whether Rubick could only copy one ability or had copied several and was keeping the others hidden.

Feeling the change in his entire physique, Rubick finally understood why Luffy loved eating meat so much, and why eating it let him recover quickly no matter how badly he was injured.

The real reason was that the Gum-Gum Fruit wasn't a superpower-type fruit, but a Zoan. Among the powers of Zoan Devil Fruits were rapid recovery and a stronger physique.

Rubick settled into a horse stance and said with a smile, "Luffy, this is how you use the Gum-Gum Fruit!"

"Gulp~"

Two disk-shaped bulges swelled at Rubick's ankles, then quickly traveled upward and vanished at his waist.

"Gear Second!"

He used rubber's properties to turn his legs into pumps, speeding up his blood flow and enhancing his body in every way.

Faint steam rose from Rubick's body, and his skin turned slightly red. Feeling almost invincible, he punched the ground and instantly opened a ten-inch crack.

Luffy climbed down from the tree too. He watched Rubick intently, feeling that this was the direction he should work toward.

"Luffy, watch out!"

Rubick pushed off, driving tremendous force into the ground. The recoil propelled him forward, closing a distance of over ten meters in the blink of an eye.

Rubick struck Luffy with a Gum-Gum Bullet before he could react. His fist sank into Luffy's body, stretching his back far out behind him.

Only after Luffy had been sent flying into the air did he realize Rubick had hit him.

Luffy responded in time, flinging out both hands to grab the tree trunk. Once he had stopped his momentum, he used his rubber elasticity to launch himself back.

Luffy began unleashing Gum-Gum Gatling in midair. By the time he flew back, he had already thrown over a hundred punches.

But Rubick wasn't flustered at all. He could now make out almost every trajectory of Luffy's punches. His dynamic vision had become almost absurdly sharp.

Luffy's fists kept flying toward Rubick, but most struck the ground around him. That was the weakness of Gum-Gum Gatling: you couldn't control the trajectories of your punches. You could only aim roughly at an area, but whether they hit wasn't up to you.

The trajectories created by rubber's elasticity were hardly any different from random ones.

Smiling, Rubick dodged through the storm of fists as casually as if he were taking a stroll, simply taking any blows he couldn't evade. His body was rubber now too, so he had nothing to fear from Luffy's fists.

Just as Luffy finished his barrage and landed, Rubick shouted, "Take this..."

Before he could finish, Rubick's vision went black, and he pitched forward.

Before passing out, Rubick thought, Acting is exhausting. That was a pretty believable loss, right?

Luffy froze too. "Huh? Mister... passed out?"

Garp had seen everything clearly. Rubick's Gear Second had obviously drained him because he had forced himself to use an ability he hadn't yet mastered.

That raised a question: had Rubick invented a move even Luffy didn't know as soon as he acquired the power? Or did copying it give him complete knowledge of the fruit's abilities?

Garp said, "Luffy, I'm taking Rubick back to the warship. There's a doctor aboard."

Luffy smiled. "Okay! Once he wakes up, let me fight him again. I feel like I've figured out how to improve my Gum-Gum Fruit powers."

Garp nodded. "That's right. That Gear Second move was pretty good. Rubick's physique is just too weak to use it."

Luffy struck his left palm with his right fist and said delightedly, "Oh, right! I beat him! I can become a pirate now!"

Something suddenly occurred to Garp. He grabbed Rubick and carried him back into the warship's cabin with a dark expression.

Bogard had watched Rubick's fight with Luffy as well. Seeing the exhausted Rubick, he asked, "Vice Admiral Garp..."

"Put him in the quarters for now. Once he wakes up, I have some questions for him."

Bogard nodded, carried Rubick to the quarters, and tossed him onto a bed. Then he sat on the opposite bed and closed his eyes to rest.

It wasn't until night fell that Rubick groggily woke up.

Bogard opened his eyes and said, "Awake? Vice Admiral Garp has some questions for you."

Soon afterward, Bogard went into the village and called Garp over.

Garp's very first words filled Rubick with dread. "You brat, you lost on purpose, didn't you?"

"Well... how should I put it... it's just..."

Garp folded his arms across his chest. "Go on. Keep making things up."

In the end, Rubick could only mumble, "It was all fate's design."

Garp said grimly, "Rubick Hu, a native of Dragon Country. You left your country in the Grand Line and came to the East Blue, where pirates captured you and forced you to work in a mine. Smoker rescued you and brought you back to Loguetown."

Garp recited Rubick's background as if he knew it by heart. "You later traveled to Baratie, claiming you had come to the East Blue in accordance with the Prophet's prophecy to find the Child of Destiny and seek companions."

Garp exuded an imposing aura as he glared at Rubick. "Now tell me: who is the Child of Destiny? What exactly is your Dragon Country planning?"

Rubick looked at Bogard and said quietly, "Um, could this gentleman step outside for a moment? I think some things would be better discussed with the vice admiral in private."