After copying Garp into the simulation room, that very night Luffy immediately tried to fight him. The result was utterly miserable. He lost with just one punch from his grandfather, who was completely serious when facing him.
In the simulation room, all copied opponents always fought with their full strength, without holding back in the slightest. They attacked as though Luffy were their sworn enemy who had to be eliminated, every punch aimed as if they truly wanted to kill him.
Even though he already knew his grandfather was strong, he had not expected the gap to be this enormous. Before Garp could even attack, Luffy was already completely unable to move, held down by the pressure emanating from his grandfather's body.
That had to be the Haoshoku Haki Garp had explained to him a few days ago.
Unable to believe that he could not even withstand that pressure, night after night he continued trying to fight, spending six hours every day inside the simulation world just to face his own grandfather.
He spent an entire week doing nothing but being suppressed by Garp's Haoshoku Haki, his body frozen and unable to move, only able to helplessly endure attack after attack. Until, at one point, the frustration that had been building inside him finally exploded.
Something invisible emerged from his body, attempting to push back against his grandfather's Haoshoku Haki. Although he was ultimately still pushed back and defeated by a single punch, something was different this time.
That night, white moonlight passed through the window of his room, falling softly onto the worn wooden floor. Luffy sat cross-legged on his bed, his eyes wide open and sparkling with excitement.
"That just now... did I manage to activate my Haoshoku Haki?"
"Yahoo!" Luffy jumped up excitedly, unaware that his shout was loud enough to wake the entire house.
Disturbed from her sleep, Dadan immediately shouted angrily from her own room. "Luffy! What are you doing? Go to sleep already!"
"Ah, sorry!" Luffy hurriedly calmed himself and sat back down on his bed. He tried to release his Haoshoku Haki again, but he failed. In the end, he returned to the simulation, hoping that he could activate it once more.
However, until the time limit he had set for himself that night was over, there was not a single sign of the power appearing again. Throughout the following week, he continued trying, and during that time, he managed to activate it several times by accident, without truly understanding how he had done it. Every time it happened, he tried his hardest to remember the feeling that appeared immediately before the power emerged.
On the seventh day, after experiencing several unconscious activations, he finally accumulated enough experience to trigger it himself, consciously.
He spent the next two weeks training his control, until he was finally able to activate his Haoshoku Haki whenever he wanted.
At first, he had thought his grandfather's copy would be useless. How could he improve if the opponent he faced could make it difficult for him to move simply through the pressure it released, let alone withstand even a single punch?
But after successfully activating his own Haoshoku Haki, Luffy began thinking of another way to make use of Garp. After all, when would he ever find someone with Haoshoku Haki that powerful to use as a training opponent again? People who possessed such power were extremely rare, only one in a million.
For the next month, Luffy spent every night sharpening and improving his control over his Haoshoku Haki. Now, he could precisely choose who he wanted to knock unconscious without involving his allies or the civilians around him.
Even though he was already using his grandfather's copy as a training tool, he never gave up on actually defeating him. Every week, he made time to fight Garp once again, simply to see how far he had progressed. Until now, he still lost with just one punch, but at least he was no longer as helpless as before.
In between his Haoshoku Haki training, he also thought about various ways to awaken the other two types of Haki, based on the explanation his grandfather had given him. He even already had an idea of what kind of training he needed to do to awaken Kenbunshoku Haki.
Before he realized it, one year had already passed since he first obtained the System. And today, on his seventeenth birthday, was the day he would begin his journey.
The morning was bright. The cheerful chirping of birds could be heard from the direction of the forest, while the morning breeze blew gently, carrying the scent of wet earth. At Dadan's house, Luffy leaned casually against the doorframe, one hand holding his straw hat while a wide smile spread across his face.
"Hey, you guys really don't want to see me off?"
Dadan turned her back to him while several of her subordinates tried to persuade their boss.
"Go on, you brat," Dadan replied without turning around. "I've been waiting for the day you finally get out of this house!"
"Hey, you know what," Luffy said cheerfully, his signature smile spreading wide, "even though I hate mountain bandits, I like all of you."
Tears immediately fell from Dadan's eyes. She quickly pulled out a handkerchief and wiped her face while continuing to keep her back turned toward Luffy.
"What are you talking about, brat? That isn't going to make me happy!"
Luffy simply smiled widely, revealing his row of teeth, then said his farewell.
"Well then, I'm off."
"Be careful."
"Take good care of yourself."
Dadan's subordinates took turns saying their farewells while waving their hands, continuing to watch him until Luffy's figure finally disappeared among the trees. Dogra approached Dadan, who was still wiping away her tears.
"Boss, Luffy's gone."
"Yeah, I know." Dadan let out a long sigh. "That brat. Take good care of yourself."
Meanwhile, Luffy ran quickly through the forest and soon arrived at Foosha Village. He immediately headed toward Makino's bar.
The bar was still quiet that morning, with only Makino there, lifting a wooden box. Luffy pushed the door open, entered without making a sound, then quietly took the box from her and lifted it himself.
Feeling the weight in her hands suddenly become lighter, Makino looked up in surprise.
"Luffy!"
"Where should I put this?" Luffy asked while easily lifting the box.
"Ah, just put it behind the bar." Makino pointed toward the back, and Luffy immediately carried it inside.
After returning, Luffy sat on one of the bar stools. Makino was busy wiping the glasses lined up on the table.
"You're leaving already?"
"Yeah, but I want to eat your cooking before I go. And please add a glass of juice."
"You haven't changed at all, have you?" Makino smiled slightly as she began turning on the stove.
"I've changed, you know! Look." Luffy straightened his body, showing off his now much taller and more muscular physique.
"You've only changed by getting bigger and taller. Your personality is still exactly the same."
"Shishishi." Luffy chuckled while holding his hat.
"Here you go, Makino's special." Makino placed a plate of warm food in front of him, complete with the glass of juice he had requested earlier.
"Let's eat!" Luffy immediately devoured it quickly, as usual.
Makino watched him with a smile until the bar door creaked open. An old man stepped inside. Makino turned toward the door.
"Village Chief!"
"Oh, Makino." The old man was Woop Slap, the mayor of Foosha Village. His gaze then fell upon the figure eating on the bar stool. "Oh, Luffy, you're here too, I see."
"Yeah, today's the day I'm leaving," Luffy replied while gulping down his juice. Once his plate was completely clean, he turned toward Makino. "Thank you very much."
"So you're really going to become a pirate?" Woop Slap sighed helplessly. "I can't understand what Garp was thinking, letting both of his grandsons become pirates."
"Don't be so stiff, Gramps." Luffy chuckled. "Being a pirate is cool too, you know."
"What's so cool about it?!" Woop Slap shouted.
Before the argument could continue, the bar door opened again. A group of children came running inside.
"There he is! That's really Big Brother Luffy!" They immediately surrounded him.
"Oh, all of you. What are you doing here?"
"Big Brother Luffy, show us that magic trick from yesterday again!"
Luffy smiled widely. He raised both of his empty hands, clenched them tightly for a moment, then opened them again. In his left hand was already a small orange ball. The children gasped in amazement all at once.
He closed both hands again and asked them to guess which hand the ball was in. The children pointed to his left hand. Luffy opened it, but it was empty. His right hand was the same.
"Eh! Where did the ball go?"
"Here it is," Luffy said, as if pulling it out from behind the ear of a little girl. The children's eyes sparkled when they saw the ball suddenly appear from behind their friend's ear.
"Wow, that's amazing!"
"Again!"
"All right, all right."
Luffy repeated it several times, showing them a few simple magic tricks before finally saying goodbye and walking toward the pier. After saying goodbye to all the villagers who had gathered, he boarded his small boat. Under their watchful gazes, Luffy began rowing away from the pier.
"Take good care of yourself, Luffy!"
"Don't get sick!"
"Goodbye, Big Brother Luffy!"
"Goodbye, everyone! Let's meet again someday!" Luffy waved his hand enthusiastically.
Without him realizing it, a black shadow moved toward his boat from beneath the sea.
The shadow suddenly emerged directly in front of Luffy's boat. The seawater rose high, revealing the figure of a sea monster that looked like a giant eel. The villagers watching immediately shouted in panic, trying to warn Luffy. The monster's enormous shadow covered his entire small boat, while the waves it created caused the boat to shake violently.
The sea monster opened its mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth, then roared loudly.
RAAAOOORR!
Luffy smiled. One hand held down his straw hat so it would not be blown away by the wind and spray of water.
"Finally, you showed up."
"I'm not the same crybaby kid I was ten years ago."
His figure disappeared from the boat before suddenly appearing directly in front of the sea monster.
"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"
He pulled his arm far backward before releasing it with all his strength, landing a direct blow to the monster's face. The creature's face immediately changed shape from the impact of the punch, and its body fell into the surface of the sea, causing water to explode into the air, rising high before falling back down like heavy rain.
Luffy landed firmly on his boat, which was still rocking violently from the resulting waves. The villagers who had witnessed everything could only stand there in silence, unable to believe what they had just seen.
"How do you like that, you damn fish!" Luffy grinned widely, staring at the sea monster now floating helplessly on the surface of the water, whether it was still alive or already dead.