"What was that? Sword aura or something?"
Lance stood dumbfounded, staring at the sliced ocean surface, eyes full of disbelief.
"It's not sword aura… well, almost! It's air slicing! Ah, whatever, it works the same."
Slicing Cloak: Swinging or flicking it creates a slice of air. Damage unknown. Test it yourself.
"This cloak's insane, right? The first time I tried it, I laughed so hard, HAHAHA! There's more! There's more!"
Hammer was so excited that he strapped a black watch onto Lance's wrist, then immediately darted far away.
"Lance, there's a button on the left and one on the right. You can press either or both at once. Up to you!"
Lance saw Hammer's mischievous grin and suddenly felt like the thing on his wrist wasn't a watch, but a bomb.
But driven by curiosity, he chose to press a button. 'Let's start with the left one.'
As Lance raised his hand to press the left button, Hammer shouted:
"Point it at the ocean, you idiot!"
Lance rolled his eyes and turned toward the sea, then pressed the left button.
A thunderous boom erupted. A bolt of blue lightning shot from the watch face, striking the sea like a thunder dragon.
"HOLY SHIT! LIGHTNING?!"
"This watch is insane!"
Lance looked at the device on his wrist, absolutely thrilled. This wasn't just a watch, it was a divine weapon! He felt guilty for ever suspecting it was a bomb.
That thought didn't last long.
After trying the left button, Lance immediately pressed the right one.
In the next second, a torrent of electricity erupted.
The electric current spread from the watch, sparking everywhere.
The crew scrambled away in panic. A few unlucky souls who reacted too late were instantly turned into human lightning rods, twitching violently.
With the watch strapped to his wrist, he became the primary conductor. Electricity coursed through his body, smoke rising from his hair, sparks flying out of his ears, his body convulsing.
He tried to curse, but the electricity garbled his words into incomprehensible sounds.
"Hahahaha! Can't let me be the only one electrocuted! How was that, Lance?!"
When the current finally stopped, Lance's tongue barely worked. He glared furiously at Hammer with eyes full of rage.
With trembling hands, he reached for both buttons.
"Holy crap! You're actually pressing both?! Quick—use the iron block!"
"Air Hammer: fly through mountains!"
Seeing Lance press both buttons at once, Hammer panicked. With a powerful punch, he sent a shockwave that blasted Lance clean off the ship.
As Lance soared through the air, activating his Tekkai, his face was a mix of confusion and dread. Then he noticed the buttons were both fully pressed.
The watch face turned pure white. Arcs of terrifying lightning danced across it.
A bolt of lightning from a clear sky struck him down.
Lance, along with the watch, was fully engulfed in the lightning strike.
When the lightning cleared, he was completely charred, pitch black.
Hammer quickly dashed forward using Geppo and brought him back aboard.
"Medic! Quick, get over here! Lance is gonna die!"
Lance: ..You're the one who's gonna die. I'm still alive, damn it!!'
"So you're saying, the clothes and gear you made have totally different properties now?"
Hammer nodded seriously and began introducing the gear's abilities.
Hat: Leg-locking. Simple and brutal.
Watch: Thunder Watch. Left button = attack, right button = defense. Press both = mutual destruction.
Shield: Explosion. Touch anything and it blows up. Including the person holding it.
Boots: Flaming. Yep, wear them, and your feet catch fire. The flames were so intense that they nearly burned through the deck. Also, the boots don't insulate heat... so yeah, walking with burning feet, experience it for yourself.
Lance looked at all the gear lying around, utterly speechless and suffering a headache.
"And after days of testing, I've found these abilities are completely random. Totally uncontrollable."
"But if you get something useful, it's really good, like the cloak!"
Shirley looked like she wanted to say something, but seeing Hammer's excited face, she held back.
"Anyway, try it out yourselves. I still haven't finished reforging that halberd, I'm heading back to the forge to see if I can awaken some new attribute!"
With that, Hammer zipped back to the forging room, leaving the crew on deck looking at each other, speechless.
"Alright. Everyone, back to your stations. Let's keep sailing…"
"As for this gear, leave it here. If anyone's feeling brave, feel free to try them. No need to ask me."
Lance spoke as smoke rose from his charred body. After that, he walked alone to the bow of the ship, deep in thought.
The familiar sound of hammering resumed, making the entire ship tremble. The crew exchanged nervous glances, praying their Rear Admiral wouldn't forge something so catastrophic it would wipe them all out.
"Just some small-fry pirates... they really think the Marines are easy prey?"
"I just entered the New World, and already you're lining up to die?"
Fleet Admiral Kong's battleship had already entered the New World. Just as he arrived, some clueless pirates picked a fight.
Needless to say, it was like throwing eggs at a rock.
Suddenly, the lookout shouted in alarm.
"Fleet Admiral! Enemy sighted ahead! That silhouette—it's RED!"
"It's the Red Count! Patrick Redfield!"
Kong's face instantly turned serious.
"Hmph! Doesn't matter who it is! Full speed ahead!"
"Since when do Marines make way for pirates?!"
"Admiral Sengoku! Emergency!"
Sengoku, buried in paperwork, immediately looked up to see a communications officer rush in, gasping for air.
"Fleet Admiral Kong has entered the New World and run into the Red Count Patrick Redfield!"
"They're already fighting near....near—"
The soldier stammered, unable to say the location, which infuriated Sengoku.
"Near... near Biso Island in the New World!"
Sengoku grabbed a Den Den Mushi and called without hesitation.
"GARP! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu