Just at this slightly serious moment, Luffy, who was covered in bumps on his head, jumped out again at an inappropriate time. He couldn't understand the complex conversation between the adults, but having heard the keyword, he shouted his dream at the top of his lungs.
"You bastard, you still dare to say it!!"
Garp's anger was instantly ignited, and the bit of elder demeanor he had just established toward Lorne vanished completely.
He dashed over in one step and unleashed a storm of punches on Luffy's head.
"Thud!"
It was another crisp and loud Fist of Love.
"Waaaaah! It hurts! You hit me again!"
Luffy's screams rang out through the forest once again.
Watching the grandfather and grandson start a new round of "intimate interaction," Lorne felt that this was no place to stay long.
He had achieved his goal; not only had he seen young Luffy, but he had also unexpectedly probed Garp's attitude. It was time to leave.
"Old Man Garp, since there's nothing else here, I'll take my leave!"
Lorne interrupted the one-sided beating, clasped his hands in a salute to bid farewell, and prepared to continue his training journey.
While pulling Luffy's cheeks to both sides, Garp responded without turning his head.
"Yeah, go on!"
He paused for a moment, as if remembering something, and added another sentence.
"Kid, let me remind you: the Grand Line, especially the second half, the New World, is very deep. Don't rely too much on your devil fruit ability; that thing is not invincible."
Lorne's footsteps paused. He knew that he had been completely misunderstood as a Logia-type devil fruit user, but he didn't care and didn't speak up to correct the misunderstanding.
"Thank you for the reminder, senior."
He nodded in thanks and was about to turn and use magic to leave when he was called out by Garp again.
"Wait!"
Lorne turned around in confusion to see that Garp had already let go of Luffy, who was being tormented to the point of rolling his eyes.
He slowly raised his fists in front of Lorne.
The next second, Lorne saw the surface of Garp's two fists being covered by a layer of profound pitch-black at a speed visible to the naked eye, becoming as hard as iron and black as ink.
This aura was more solid and pure than when he had attacked Luffy earlier, allowing Lorne to clearly sense the essence of that power.
"See clearly, this is Armament Haki."
Garp's voice was steady and powerful.
"You kid have good talent; you can already clearly perceive the existence of Haki. Then the next step is to try to coat yourself with it."
"Wrap it around any part of your body or even the weapon you use, to greatly enhance your attack power and defense. If you can do this, you've reached the entry level!"
Garp paused, his pitch-black fist moving slightly as if to demonstrate the fluidity of that power.
"However, to master coating, you need a long period of practice. As for the later stages of flow, which is letting Haki flow out of the body, and even more advanced internal destruction, that is not something that can be learned in a short time, so I won't go into detail today."
As soon as he finished speaking, Garp's figure flickered, and he was already in front of Lorne.
Lorne instinctively wanted to retreat, but found that his body was firmly locked by an invisible aura.
Garp walked up to him, and that fist covered in Armament Haki struck Lorne on the head, seemingly lightly.
"Thud!"
"Hiss~!"
Lorne gasped in pain, feeling a sharp, stinging sensation shoot straight to the top of his head, with stars dancing before his eyes.
He instinctively clutched his head, a brand-new bump swelling up at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In the end, he still couldn't dodge this old man's fist!
However, compared to the pain, a strange sensation was imprinted even more clearly in his perception.
He could feel the sensation of that solid Haki energy breaking through his body's magical defense and acting directly on his body.
So that's how it is... This is Armament Haki!
Lorne fought through the intense pain in his head, carefully savoring the feeling of the Haki remaining in his body, and then bowed deeply to Garp from the bottom of his heart.
"Thank you for your guidance, senior!"
This time, he was truly convinced and impressed.
Garp withdrew his fist, looked at the bump on Lorne's head, and grinned in satisfaction, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.
Lorne stood up straight and did not linger.
His body began to become illusory under the bright sunlight, then disintegrated into billions of glittering ice crystal specks that, blown by the mountain wind, completely disappeared into the depths of the forest.
Only Garp and Luffy, who was still on the ground rubbing his head with a wronged expression, remained.
Garp looked in the direction where Lorne had disappeared, reached out to touch the brim of his dog-head hat, and muttered in a low voice.
"Hmph, another troublesome brat..."
He paused, as if thinking of something else, and a meaningful smile spread across the corners of his mouth.
"However, that kid Kuzan... might be very interested in him."
------------------------
There are already 70+ chapters available on my Patreon!
The story will continue to update 1 chapter per day on Webnovel,
while early access chapters are posted on Patreon.
Maybe it's not worth it today but it could be later
[email protected]/Kazenova223
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"