3 Chapter 3: Hiruma Tries to Whitewash Himself.

This was something that Hiruma never expected.

Bullying the seven-year-old Luffy, he was able to receive an orange loot drop!

With a thought, he directly opened the loot.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, for gaining +1 strength by opening yellow-grade loot]

Although it was only a slight increase in strength attribute, for Hiruma at the moment, the increase was not insignificant.

The increase in strength was not only about physical strength, but also the strength of muscles and bones.

This meant that his attack power and defense power had both been strengthened to a certain extent.

Similarly, when the speed attribute was increased, it enhanced the body's agility, reaction speed, and maximum speed.

The same applied to the constitution, which is related to endurance, energy, and the ability to adapt.

"I never thought this was possible!" Feeling the changes in his own body, Hiruma's eyes sparkled.

At this moment, Luffy had become a walking ATM in his eyes.

"You brat, do you feel the difference in strength now?" Hiruma grabbed Luffy's face and stretched it out, then threw him aside.

"You bastard, I'll knock you out with one punch when I grow up!" Luffy gritted his teeth.

He had already eaten the rubber fruit, so Hiruma's attack just now did not cause any harm to him, not even any pain.

But although the damage was small, the insult was strong.

Hiruma sneered, "You mean to say that I'm bullying you just because I'm older than you?"

As he spoke, he saw that the Red Hair Pirates had already come nearby.

"Great, I can use this opportunity to whitewash myself." Hiruma's plan was a stroke of genius. He could both establish a relationship with Luffy for future loot drops from either him or Garp, and successfully whitewash himself, creating an image of a hidden master who deliberately gave guidance to Luffy because he saw his potential.

Luffy was undoubtedly important to Shanks.

Shanks had placed all his hopes for the new era on Luffy, and even went so far as to sacrifice his left arm.

As long as Hiruma could successfully create an image of a hidden master, Shanks would have maximum goodwill towards him!

"Isn't that right? You bandits who only know how to bully the weak!" Luffy didn't back down.

Hiruma pointed to Luffy and said, "If that's the case, when you grow up, won't I have to eat a rubber fruit too to make it fair?"

From that one sentence, Luffy stood still, dumbfounded on the spot.

Hiruma continued: "Weakness will always be a weakness, and the weak will only give excuses for his own lacks. Age, strength, devil fruit, none of these can be an excuse for you to be weak. I heard you want to become a pirate? Ha, a little brat like you who only knows how to make excuses, how can you conquer the sea? When you encounter sea kings, are you going to say to them, 'Your size is too big, it's not fair. When I grow up to be as big as you, I'll be able to knock you out with one punch'?"

Hearing these words, Luffy's young and naive heart was hit by a thunderbolt. He suddenly understood why Shanks didn't take him out to sea. A person who needs to find excuses for his own weakness was not trustworthy. At the same time, looking at the silent Luffy, Shanks showed a satisfied expression on his face. He also looked at Hiruma.

This mountain bandit seems to be a bit different. Did he actually misjudge him?

"Brat, since you've eaten the devil fruit, you should use its full power." Hiruma was very satisfied, it seemed that he successfully showed off.

Thinking of this, he became more excited: "The most basic power of rubber is elasticity. If you can't even use this, you might as well jump into the sea and commit suicide!"

"Elasticity...the elasticity of rubber..." Although Luffy was only seven years old, Shanks saw his potential, which was evident. Hiruma's words woke him up. "I understand now, in that case, let's fight again!" Luffy suddenly looked up, his eyes shining.

Hiruma couldn't be happier; he could just brush up on his loot. "Brat, that's more like it. I'll stand here. As long as you can hit my body or make me take a half-step back, you win. I'll apologize to those stupid pirates immediately."

Luffy didn't rush to attack but looked at the ground beside him, then picked up a palm-sized stone. He placed his left hand on his right shoulder and began to swing his right arm around his shoulder as the center. Because of the stone, his arm became longer as it swung faster. "I said before, my fist is as powerful as a gun, so this move is called Gumo-Gumo no: Pistol!"

With a loud bang, Xie Ge easily caught Luffy's fist. "Brat, you're interesting, but your strength is still not enough. You can't beat me like this." With that, Hiruma pulled hard and threw Luffy aside. The yellow light flashed again.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, for gaining a +1 speed by opening yellow-grade loot.]

Hiruma almost moaned comfortably.

This feeling was too great, bullying a child can make one stronger.

With the increase in speed, Hiruma felt that he had improved in both reaction speed and physical agility.

Luffy's stubbornness arose as he got up and found a larger stone.

"Gumo-Gumo no: Pistol!"

Although the stone was larger, the Gumo-Gumo no: Pistol was faster, but because Hiruma had just improved his speed attribute, he felt that Luffy's fist was slower.

"Kid, this still won't do."

Xiege threw Luffy out again.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, for gaining +1 constitution by opening yellow-grade loot]

Oh my, it feels so good.

Hiruma tried to suppress his expression so that he wouldn't look too abnormal.

To torture a child and even get pleasure from it, it seemed somewhat obscene.

"Gumo-Gumo no: Giant Pistol!"

"Kid, still not good enough. It looks like I, Hiruma, don't have to apologize."

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for gaining +1 constitution by opening yellow-grade loot]

Ah~ so satisfying~

...

Luffy charged up again and was thrown out again and again by Hiruma.

Luffy's fighting spirit became stronger, while Hiruma became more...pleased.

Eventually, he could only cover up his uncontrollable pleasure with a burst of mocking laughter.

"I will make you apologize!"

Although Luffy's stamina was almost at its limit, his fighting spirit was even higher.

He ran to a distance, grabbed onto the corner of a wall, and slowly made his way towards Hiruma.

One meter, two meters... five meters, six meters...

Luffy's arm had stretched to as much as ten meters long, but his physique was not enough to support such an action.

Thin cracks had already appeared on his elongated arm.

However, Luffy had no intention of giving up, his eyes were filled with determination, and he continued to walk towards Xiege step by step.

"Luffy, let go!"

"If you keep going like this, your arm will break!"