With a bruised and swollen face, Hammer rubbed his cheek and said in a muffled voice:
"My Devil Fruit ability lets me transform my whole body into a hammer. Every attack I make delivers hammer-type damage."
"At the same time, if I'm lucky, I can modify objects, granting them certain abilities."
"But this ability is entirely random. I have no idea how I accidentally gave that device a rebound ability."
"Ouch, Zephyr sensei, you hit way too hard, it hurts like hell."
The three-meter-tall man sucked in a cold breath from the pain, looking utterly ridiculous.
The sight was so amusing that even the Marine high command snickered
"So it's random, huh? Seems like your Devil Fruit potential isn't fully developed yet."
Vice Admiral Tsuru pondered for a moment and gave her opinion. After all, among the top brass present, only she and Sengoku were Devil Fruit users, and hers was also a Paramecia-type, the Wash-Wash Fruit.
She was well aware of the development potential of Paramecia fruits.
Take her own fruit, for example, it might seem like an ordinary ability, but under her mastery, it could cleanse a person's soul and psyche.
This had made her a figure of terror in the eyes of countless pirates.
"Well, that's troublesome. Tsuru, you know we old folks here don't care much for Devil Fruits, let alone developing them. It's up to him now."
"Oh, except for glowy over there...bwahha ha ha!"
Garp, usually carefree, actually used his brain for once.
He was speaking the truth about their generation's view of Devil Fruits.
"Damn it, Garp! What do you mean by that?!"
"Nothing much...whoever here glows, I'm talking about him."
Garp's words stabbed right into Sengoku's heart.
As the user of the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Buddha, a mythical Zoan, Sengoku stormed up to Garp, grabbed his collar, and unleashed a torrent of spit and insults.
Garp was completely unfazed. The two of them just stood there, spitting and insulting at each other.
Fleet Admiral Kong looked on helplessly, finally raising his thick right hand and slamming it onto the table.
*Boom!*
With a loud crash, the table shattered into pieces.
Garp and Sengoku quickly settled down.
"All right, let's leave it at that for now. Put that device aside. Get a new one and retest."
"As for you, Hammer…"
Hearing that they were going to deal with him, Hammer trembled slightly, he'd been thoroughly terrified by Zephyr.
"I heard you want to be a blacksmith?"
Although confused, Hammer still nodded.
"Good. Zephyr, take him to the logistics department. Since we can't start training yet, have him forge a hundred standard longswords for me. That'll be his punishment."
So, after getting beaten up, Hammer was now stuck doing hard labor he was frustrated.
And so, poor Hammer, on his first day after transmigrating, went right back to his old trade.
After Zephyr and Hammer left, the rest of them quickly stood up.
*Click*
Sengoku locked the door, while Fleet Admiral Kong took off his shirt and approached the device.
"Garp, are you really sure this thing can reflect damage?"
Garp, picking his nose, replied, "Kong Kong, my son's still in the hospital, you know."
Fleet Admiral Kong exchanged a glance with Sengoku.
Sengoku nodded, rolled up his sleeves, and punched the device.
"Ahh! Damn it!"
The next second, Sengoku was squatting on the ground, clutching his arm.
The device wobbled and displayed a number: 3800
"Pfft, hahaha! Sengoku, you're not even as strong as Zephyr! Hahaha!"
Garp's teasing mode was back on, his loud laughter making Sengoku want to slam his face into the device for a rebound hit.
"What a fascinating ability. One hundred percent force rebound, how is this even possible?"
A flash of sharp light crossed Tsuru's eyes, she became even more curious about Hammer's power.
"It really is amazing. Why else do you think I'm making him forge longswords?"
Fleet Admiral Kong sat back down proudly, his face full of calculation.
Garp curled his lip disdainfully and resumed mocking Sengoku.
"This is the logistics department. You, bastard, are going to forge one hundred longswords. These swords are for the training camp, so get to work!"
Zephyr threw Hammer into a factory, causing the staff inside to look at each other in confusion, unsure of what was going on.
"Where's Lisk? Tell him Fleet Admiral Kong ordered this bastard to forge a hundred standard longswords. Have him supervise."
After saying that, Zephyr turned to leave, but paused after taking just one step. He turned back and added:
"Oh, this bastard's name is Hammer."
With that, he left without looking back.
Hammer helplessly got up and patted the dust off his body.
Soon, a soldier fetched Vice Admiral Lisk, the head of the armory.
"Zephyr sent this guy over? Whoa, look at that build, that's a blacksmith's body if I've ever seen one."
Vice Admiral Lisk was just as his name suggested, a true muscleman. Though only two meters tall, his bulging muscles were impressive.
"Hammer, right? Since Zephyr wants you to make a hundred longswords, get to it."
"Hey, someone, show him to a workbench."
An unnamed Marine soldier obeyed the order and led Hammer to an unused workbench.
"Hammer, right? This is your station. Judging by your looks, you're probably a blacksmith, so I won't stick around to teach you. Just start when you're ready."
And with that, he left without wasting a second.
Hammer gazed at the workbench, his mind wandering.
In his past life, he had been a master blacksmith, skilled in all kinds of forging techniques.
Whether it was free forging, die forging, ring rolling, or special forging, he was a pro.
But that was in his past life, with better tools.
Looking at the workbench now, it had just an anvil, a hammer, and a forge.
Pretty shabby, honestly.
The materials weren't much better, though processed Tamahagane steel, they were rough and crude.
Hammer was speechless.
He thought, You want me to forge standard longswords, and you don't even give me a mold?!
Still, he called up the image of a standard longsword from memory.
These weapons, meant for chaotic battles, were usually 60–75 cm long, with a slightly curved blade 3–4 cm wide. Only the top 10 cm or so were double-edged.
With the design clear in his mind, Hammer didn't waste time.
He first tested the forging hammer and found it a bit light, but it was better than nothing.
Then he began heat-treating the Tamahagane steel.
He fired up the forge and tossed in the steel.
Once it turned red-hot, he pulled it out, placed it on the anvil, and began hammering and refining it.
*Dong*
*Duang*