At this point in time, Moria was still in his prime; his demonic appearance alone was intimidating enough.
The rest of the names on the list were pirates Hammer didn't recognize, but judging by their bounties and abilities, they were all formidable.
"Hammer, take a copy of this list. Familiarize yourself with it."
Even though he didn't want to, Hammer had no choice but to accept the list.
Once the meeting ended, he left the job of distributing the treasure to Lance, while he himself went to experiment with the Jewel Ice Sheet.
Late at night – Armory
Hammer was chiseling off a chunk of Jewel Ice Sheet with his nail, trying to figure out how to forge it.
Suddenly, his Observation Haki flared, a presence was rapidly approaching his forging room.
With lightning reflexes, Hammer activated Absolute Space inside the small room.
The sound of hammers filled the space instantly.
A sharp shout rang out from the intruder, trying to counter the flurry of blows.
Hammer's barrage swallowed the figure whole.
The strikes were too intense to escape from. The person had no choice but to yell out their identity.
The moment Hammer heard CP0, he halted.
Eyes narrowed, he glared at the intruder.
The person was dressed in white, wearing a fox mask, clearly CP0.
"Late at night, CP0 suddenly shows up at my forge. What do you want?"
Hammer was clearly annoyed by having his mood interrupted.
But just as the CP0 agent opened their mouth to speak, crack!
A crisp sound split the air.
Cracks spread across the fox mask.
The agent tried to salvage it, but the mask shattered completely.
Beneath it, a stunningly beautiful woman's face was revealed.
A woman… A beautiful woman…
'Wait a second. What the hell?! It's Stussy?!'
Yes. Standing before Hammer was none other than Stussy, the future "Queen of Pleasure District," clone of former Rocks Pirate Miss Buckingham Stussy, the first successful human clone from MADS, and current CP0 intelligence agent under the Celestial Dragons.
'Egghead… espionage… Vegapunk's protector… betrayal'
Every identity she had was significant and dangerous.
"What are you looking at, you bastard!?"
Stussy snapped, furious at being ogled by Hammer after having her mask broken.
"Ah... spaced out a bit. Sorry."
"So… what does CP0 want from me at this hour?"
Hammer reigned himself in and got to the point.
"I've been ordered by the Five Elders to collect the first batch of devices."
'So it's the self-destruct devices after all…'
"Got it. Wait here, I'll get them."
Hammer grabbed an iron box.
"First batch. Fifty units."
"And next time, don't show up at night. You'll scare people. Or worse, get killed. Understood?"
His flat tone sent a chill down Stussy's spine. The memory of that instant, the Absolute Space, and the attack had her too rattled to argue.
She took the box without a word and left.
Hammer watched her go, scenes flashing through his mind.
With a deep sigh, he muttered:
"Whatever… I don't care about pirate or CP0 drama. Isn't it nice just being the Marine's Logistics Chief?"
Over the next few days, Hammer stayed holed up in the armory, trying to refine the Jewel Ice.
But he soon realized this wasn't ordinary material. While hard and durable, it was still ice. Using high heat to forge it would melt it into water.
Its properties also reject fusion with other precious metals.
Even Hammer, a seasoned blacksmith, was stumped.
"Ugh! So annoying! This damned ice!"
"Forget this, I'm taking a break!"
No sooner said than done, Hammer threw down his tools and stormed out, heading for the harbor.
He used a Den Den Mushi to call Lance.
"Oi! Lance! Set sail! I'm going out for a spin!"
"What? Why can't I sail?! Just wait, I'll report to Old Man Kong!"
Fleet Admiral Kong was stunned when he got the message.
"Did I hear that right? Hammer… is going to sea?!"
"The sun must be rising in the west today…"
"Approved. Definitely approved."
And just like that, Hammer took his troops out to sea.
None. Just sail. Wherever.
Lance was speechless.
'How do you manage someone …?'
Eventually, Hammer set course for the New World.
Why? Because he still remembered that Sakazuki owed him some special ore.
And since he was entering from the Calm Belt, he wasn't worried about running into pirates.
"What? Hammer is coming here?!"
"Special ore? Uh… I totally forgot! What do I do?!"
Sakazuki froze when he got the news.
He'd been having a blast lately, smashing pirate groups with his Divine Axe like they were nothing.
Even his most recent fight against Big Mom had gone better than expected. Though he was still injured, it was better than before.
But what did the ore Hammer ask for?
Totally slipped his mind.
"Onigumo! Doberman! We're setting sail, NOW!"
"We're going to Lightning Island! We need that ore!"
For the sake of his next weapon, Sakazuki made an immediate move.
"So in the end… the Dog completely forgot about me, huh?"
Hammer's face was blank as Lance reported the situation.
Lance could feel something brewing, but why did he still seem so calm?
"Hehehehe… well played…"
"Change course. We're heading to Punk Hazard."
"It's been a long time~, WHammer-kun! What wind blew you to Punk Hazard?"
The sleazy voice belonged to none other than Borsalino, now powered up by the Creep-Creep Fruit.
Despite his sarcastic tone, his face showed real excitement.
"Monkey Bro~ long time no see~ Has Dr. Vegapunk cooked up any new weapons lately?"
"I feel like my firepower's lagging again. You know me, I've got firepower anxiety. If I'm not packing enough heat, I don't feel safe at sea~"
Hammer wasn't some rookie anymore. He'd mastered the fine art of passive-aggressive sarcasm, often driving Sengoku and Kong up the wall.
"Oh~ Our great blacksmith Hammer is still lacking weapons?"
"Everyone in the Marines knows about the Divine Axe Rhitta and the Fist of Tekko, what could YOU possibly lack?"
Hammer smirked. 'Oh-ho. Someone's jealous.'
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu