Developing Gear Second

Another six months passed, and Rubick's strength had truly grown by leaps and bounds.

Luffy might have used the Gum-Gum Fruit for laughs most of the time, but his rubber body gave him an enormous advantage in training.

For one thing, blows couldn't hurt him, so his muscles never suffered strains or sprains. They didn't even get sore. No matter how hard he pushed his body one day, he could recover completely by the next, provided he got enough nutrition.

That trait, combined with Garp's hellish training, was how Luffy had developed such formidable hand-to-hand combat skills.

By the sea, Rubick and Luffy stood beneath a tree in horse stances.

"Luffy, imagine your legs are two hydraulic pumps. Make them pulse and squeeze like rubber to speed up your blood flow and strengthen your body."

Rubick's skin slowly turned pink, and a faint mist rose from him.

Luffy watched Rubick closely, studying the changes in his body. Gradually, his eyes lit up and a smile spread across his face.

"Uncle, I've got it! Gear Second!"

Luffy's knack for learning went without saying. He had been eager to master Gear Second for six months and had been practicing it in secret all that time. Today was simply the first time he had shown it.

Rubick knew all he could do was envy Luffy's talent. It was downright absurd. Luffy was like the protagonist of Kung Fu Hustle—who would have thought someone could master the Buddha's Palm from a ridiculous little manual?

Rubick's physique had improved tremendously too, but he could only maintain Gear Second for about ten minutes, and he couldn't use it a second time in the same day.

Luffy, on the other hand, had used it several times on Enies Lobby.

Rubick slowly brought his blood flow back down and released Gear Second.

"Luffy, now that you've learned it, I'm planning to leave," Rubick said.

Luffy dropped out of Gear Second too. "Uncle, are you heading out to sea?" he asked, crestfallen.

"That's right. Remember our promise?"

"Of course I do!"

"Luffy, if you want to be the Pirate King, you'll have to show me what you're capable of. I hope you'll find a few good companions before Loguetown. If you've got at least three, I'll acknowledge you!"

Luffy had no money, so he couldn't hire cannon fodder like other captains did. Given his personality, he was bound to seek out companions he could rely on.

And when Rubick said "companions," he certainly didn't mean cannon fodder.

"Don't worry, Uncle," Luffy said at once. "I'll find my companions, then formally invite you aboard as one of us!"

"It's a deal, Luffy!"

"It's a deal!"

After spending more than half a year with Rubick, Luffy knew him well. He believed that with Rubick aboard, there would be far fewer obstacles between him and becoming the Pirate King.

Rubick often talked to Luffy about notable figures in the East Blue. He had made a point of introducing a swordsman with no sense of direction, a cook who fell for every pretty face, the Sniper King who had a connection to Luffy, and finally a navigator who loved money but could be counted on.

Luffy had already made up his mind: he would find those people, make them his companions, and then invite his uncle.

That afternoon, Rubick left Foosha Village.

He had arrived aboard Garp's warship and departed in a classic three-person boat, generously provided by the village chief.

Rubick left Foosha Village to consolidate his strength and practice his techniques, including the Six Powers: Geppo, Shave, and Tempest Kick.

Luffy had no need for those techniques. In Gear Second, he could move as fast as someone using Shave. Later, he would use his rubber body to launch himself through the air, achieving much the same effect as Geppo.

With someone like Luffy, all you could do was envy him.

Rubick was different. Right now, he needed Gear Second just to force his speed up to the level of Shave. But he could activate Gear Second first, then use his enhanced physique to teach himself the Six Powers.

That way, even when he couldn't activate Gear Second, he would still be able to use the Six Powers with ease.

That was why Rubick had waited until leaving Foosha Village to learn them. Otherwise, he would have had no way to explain where he'd learned them, and someone might accuse Garp of leaking the Six Powers.

Garp had let Rubick go outright, which was already difficult to justify to Marine Headquarters. Fortunately, Sengoku was still Fleet Admiral and had smoothed things over for him. Otherwise, those scientists in the Marines would have been clamoring for Akainu to arrest Rubick.

As he rowed away from Foosha Village, Rubick felt a little disappointed that the Lord of the Coast hadn't appeared to make a suicidal mistake. He had wanted to see the Sea King that had bitten off Shanks's arm in all its glory.

Because the Pirates of the East Blue were relatively weak, its kingdoms were somewhat stronger and held much firmer control over the region.

So after two days at sea, Rubick still hadn't found anywhere on the map suitable for training.

He needed food—a lot of it—and plenty of enemies to practice on. A place with both was hard to find in the East Blue.

After poring over the map, Rubick finally decided to take down Arlong Park on his own.

With his strength, he could charge straight in and fight without wasting a word. If he finished Arlong before he could flee into the sea, the rest would be small fry. A few threats would take care of them.

Back when Rubick had watched that part of the story, he had wondered: if Arlong had simply stayed in the sea and sunk Luffy's ship, wouldn't One Piece have ended right there? Luffy wouldn't even have made it out of the East Blue. How could he become the Pirate King?

"Arlong killed Nami's mother back then," Rubick muttered to himself. "If I scatter his ashes, maybe I could win Nami over on the spot?"

The thought gave him a little thrill, but he quickly shook his head. "No. She's still a child!"

Then another voice surfaced in his mind, whispering about little girls and raising one to fall for him.

Rubick hurriedly pushed those dark thoughts down, leaving only the righteous ones to repeat in his head: I'm doing this for justice!

His mind made up, Rubick kept rowing. At this pace, Arlong Park was still ten days to half a month away.

"When will this miserable slog end?"

Reading the manga had always made the world seem small and the ships seem fast. But a look at the world map of One Piece told a different story: Luffy and his crew could barely have made it from the Going Merry's launch to the Sabaody Archipelago in half a year.