Cope #1: Joyboy and Luffy are DF "merchants". Prior to awakening, Luffy's DF was mediocre; he was mostly using his own physical strength augmenting it with the stretchiness of his body, having to max out his Hakis to survive in the new world.
1. Had to learn FS to best a YC
2. Had to learn internal destruction (lv 3 armament) to be able to harm Kaido
3. Had to learn barrier + CoC coating to amp his AP
4. Had to refine said CoC to sky splitter level
His newest mode pre awakening, namely G4, was purely based on fusing his rubber properties with Haki.
Luffy has nothing to do with being a DF "merchant".
And how does a DF user having maxed out Hakis disprove Haki > DFs?
![:Willight :willight: :willight:](https://cdn3.emoji.gg/emojis/9439_unsee.png)