Reading, training, drawing—Luffy spent a peaceful month honing his skills. His drawing had improved remarkably; he could now draw hearts perfectly, even adding some flashy embellishments. Uta's progress was even more evident; she'd mastered control over her facial expressions while singing and was now venturing into dance.
The pirates, meanwhile, had expanded their activities beyond the palace, often wandering into the city's casinos.
One morning, Luffy woke up with an odd feeling, something different about his body. He glanced down, only to find that he had… grown taller.
"Nice, growing up!" he thought with satisfaction. However, his usual training had begun to feel a bit stale.
After breakfast, he spotted Beckman and approached him with a request. "Hey, Beckman, can I borrow your lighter for a bit?"
Beckman, who often smoked cigars, handed over his lighter, curious.
Luffy reached out, covering his hand with Armament Haki, and carefully plucked the flame from the lighter. The small fire flickered in his hand, burning calmly within the confines of his Haki-covered palm.
"Whoa, this is amazing," Luffy marveled, feeling the warmth but no pain. The Armament Haki allowed him to touch the flame, creating a connection with the elemental force—one of the primary strengths of Armament Haki when confronting Logia Devil Fruit users.
Beckman stared, taken aback. "How… are you doing that?"
"Cool, right?" Luffy grinned. "Check it out, Beckman—this is my new move, the 'Inferno Punch!'"
Although Luffy hadn't actually consumed the Fire-Fire Fruit, he was using the lighter as a makeshift source of fire, coating it with his Haki to maintain the flame. It was, in essence, a clever workaround.
As he held up his fiery fist, the flame danced along his knuckles, creating a brilliant effect. "The next step," Luffy continued, "is to ditch the lighter and make a real fire punch on my own!"
Beckman took back his lighter, giving it a try himself, though his attempt to manipulate the flame ended in a quick extinguishing of the fire.
Seeing Beckman's curiosity, Luffy demonstrated. "It's all about controlling the flow of Haki to keep the flame steady, like feeding it air and fuel." He picked up another small flame and let it flow across his fingers until it engulfed his hand.
Beckman, intrigued, kept experimenting, while Luffy grew more determined to take his new technique to the next level.
With a burst of excitement, he grabbed a small flame and launched himself toward the palace library, flying through an open window. Uta, in the middle of a graceful dance pose, looked up in surprise as Luffy barreled in.
"King Gordon! I need science books!" Luffy said, still holding a flickering flame in his hand.
"The library is next door," the king replied with a knowing smile, having grown accustomed to Luffy's unorthodox entrances.
Luffy hurried over and entered the grand library. Rows of scientific books lined the shelves, along with comics that had collected a layer of dust, revealing their status as decorative pieces.
He finally located the physics and chemistry section and picked up a volume with the title Physics of the Pirate World.
Skimming through the book, he stopped at a chapter on energy sources.
"Fire is a state of matter—a burning gas that emits light, heat, and rises while glowing. It's humanity's first energy source…"
Reading carefully, Luffy gripped a tiny flame in his right hand and used his left to generate heat through friction, applying Armament Haki. His hand began to turn red-hot, radiating warmth into the surrounding air. He watched as the rising heat increased the air's movement, amplifying the flame until it burst into a small, controlled fireball.
In that moment, Luffy's gaze sharpened as the realization set in.
He had created his own "Fire Punch."
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