"Forge! A custom piece of armor!"
"Something that can resist mental attacks, no, resist all attacks!"
After leaving the Fleet Admiral's office, Hammer charged straight to the armory's forge.
"Hey, Lance, just so you know, I'll be locked in the forge for a while. You and Shirley do whatever, set sail or hang around HQ, up to you."
"Huh? Me? I'm gonna forge the ultimate defense gear, hahaha!"
Ending the call, Hammer stepped into his personal forge.
But he didn't start hammering immediately.
Instead, he sank into a chair and began thinking.
'Armor? I never really made special defensive equipment before; any defensive properties were always side effects triggered by chance.'
So forging something purely for defense was new to him, and honestly, he felt a bit out of his depth.
Given his current situation, the most critical feature was protecting him from mental influence.
'In that case, should it be a headpiece? Maybe a crown?'
'But then again, defense gear didn't have to be armor in the strict sense. In plenty of fantasy stories, necklaces, amulets, brooches, they could all shield the mind.'
"Mental interference, huh…"
Hammer had no clue where to start, so he took out all the rare ores he'd stockpiled.
Gazing at the rainbow pile of minerals, a spark of excitement crossed his face.
This was his true wealth. Not money, not weapons, but these precious ores.
To a blacksmith, this was treasure.
In his left hand, he picked up some Mithril. In his right hand, a glowing Light Crystal.
"Sengoku sure hooked me up. This chunk of Light Crystal is huge. A crystal that can store elements, rare as hell."
"I bet even that Vegapunk hasn't seen one this big, props to Sengoku for finding it, tsk tsk."
"Can light elemental energy really block mental attacks, though?"
"Feels kinda… sketchy."
"Mental defense… why does this remind me of the Ice-Heart Sutra."
'When the mind is as clear as ice, even the sky falling brings no fear. In all changes, the spirit stays calm, unshaken…Water flows, the heart stays still. Clouds pass, thoughts slow. A mind unburdened by the world, free across time….'
As Hammer chanted the Ice-Heart Sutra, the Light Crystal in his right hand suddenly glowed silver, catching his eye immediately.
"Huh? Silver? Why that color?"
Every element had its own color.
Even Haki had colors.
And now, with this silver energy flowing through it, the Light Crystal shimmered with a silvery aura. Hammer clicked his tongue in amazement.
"Forget it. Better split this thing up before the silver spreads and drives Sengoku nuts."
No hesitation, he grabbed a cutting tool and sliced the Light Crystal in half.
In an instant, he had one piece glowing silver and one still glowing gold.
"Enough thinking. Let's hammer out a test circlet first."
He put the gold crystal away, setting the silver one aside to see if it would soak up more energy and deepen its silver hue.
Hammer settled on a design inspired by his favorite gear from that Big Pineapple game, something like the headband Sun Wukong wore.
A circlet covering a headpiece, crown, triple crown, or coronet, something that looked good.
No way he'd slap a full helmet on his head, too weird. Just imagining it made him shudder.
'So, start with a simple circlet.'
'Material? Plain steel for a test.'
With his plan set, Hammer got to work.
He pulled out a glowing steel billet and started hammering.
In his Forging Mode, an aura radiated from him, and the silver crystal next to him greedily absorbed that aura.
The silver glow flared brighter.
Time flies when you're forging.
In the blink of an eye, Hammer had been in that forge for a month.
Inside the forge, countless circlets were scattered all over the floor.
And Hammer himself looked like a scruffy mess of a man.
Covered in grime, reeking of rust.
"Damn it! What is this crap?!"
"A whole month! Don't tell me it's actually impossible to forge a defensive circlet?!"
Yes, every single circlet littering the ground was a failure. Special properties? Sure. All kinds of bizarre properties? Absolutely.
One made your hair change color. One made you shrink. One even boosts your brain capacity.
Just none that actually blocked attacks or strengthened the mind.
One especially cursed coronet with Ice Crystal embedded would literally freeze the wearer solid, yet still let them walk around…
A true Ice-Man Transformer.
"At least this crystal's fully silver now…"
In his pitch-black, calloused hand sat the same Light Crystal, now completely turned silver.
A whole month of forging, all while chanting the Ice-Heart Mantra, had transformed it.
"Silver… so is this linked to forging or the Ice-Heart Mantra?"
"What element is this anyway? Spirit element?"
"Eh, whatever. Let's just use it and see what happens."
"After so many failures, what's one more?"
Hammer slapped the silver crystal onto his anvil, then grabbed every material he could pair with it, mithril, wrought iron, and more.
Marineford Conference Room
Meanwhile, a meeting was underway, convened by Fleet Admiral Kong himself.
"According to intel, that samurai on Roger's ship used to be on Whitebeard's crew."
"Looks like Roger really intends to reach the Final Island."
"What's your take on this?"
This meeting focused entirely on the Roger Pirates.
Not only were the Marine's top brass there, but the up-and-coming generation had been called in too.
Akainu, Kizaru, and Aokiji sat on one side of the room like a new wave rising.
"The Final Island… Roger…"
"This is tricky. One ship, drifting all over, we'd be hard-pressed to catch them even if we tried."
"Garp, Roger's always been your problem. Any thoughts?"
Sengoku dumped this headache on Garp, who else had chased Roger halfway around the world?
"Huh? Thoughts? Nah, same plan, I'll just keep chasing him."
"Hahahaha! Wherever Roger goes, I'll find him. I'll nab him sooner or later."
'Useless. Might as well have not asked.'
"I agree with Vice Admiral Garp. They're pirates, just catch them!"
Aokiji was already sick of hanging around the Grand Line. Just hearing Roger Pirates fired him right up, memories of past clashes reignited his fighting spirit.
But before he could finish his sentence-
A sudden blast of silver light shot up from the ground, shattering the clouds above.