With Borsalino around, the rest of the journey was completely safe, so Hammer was ready to handle his second task.
"Momonga, Yamakaji, remember I said I'd need you for something once we got to Punk Hazard?"
Momonga and Yamakaji both nodded; they hadn't forgotten.
"I want you two to make a trip to Dressrosa for me, deliver something to King Riku."
As he spoke, Hammer pulled out two small boxes from his ring and handed them to Yamakaji.
As for why he gave them to Yamakaji instead of Momonga, hehe, well, Yamakaji was the honest one.
"Inside this first box is an Iceheart Pendant. It blocks negative influences; just hand it over to King Riku. No need to ask about anything else."
"The other box has money in it. Dressrosa's wrought iron is absolutely one of the best in the seas. This money is for purchasing wrought iron from King Riku. I already spoke with Sengoku ahead of time, and this money comes from HQ."
Momonga, who'd been about to ask something, instantly shut his mouth.
"Handle this well, and I promise you both, you'll get first pick from the next batch of weapons."
At that, Momonga and Yamakaji's eyes lit up instantly.
The mission didn't matter; what mattered was weapons!
And not just any weapons, weapons forged by Hammer! There was no way they'd let this mission fail.
"No problem, leave it to us, just delivering something and buying iron? Easy!"
"Yamakaji, let's go, we'll change course for Dressrosa right now!"
Leaving those words behind, Momonga dragged Yamakaji with him, stepping on Geppo back to their battleship. The next second, the ship turned its heading.
The whole series of actions was so smooth that Hammer's eyes went wide.
.....
When he set foot on Punk Hazard again, Hammer no longer felt that same excitement as before.
He dragged Borsalino straight to Dr. Vegapunk.
"Hm? You again, what is it this time?"
Shaka looked at Hammer with a trace of helplessness.
Hammer basically treated him like a living encyclopedia; anything he didn't understand, he ran straight to Shaka to ask.
"Hehe, Dr. Vegapunk, remember I mentioned those crystals that store light energy?"
"I found one."
As he spoke, Hammer took out the Light Crystal.
Shaka's gaze immediately fell on the clear, sparkling crystal.
"Hm! Very good, this is exactly the kind of crystal that can store and release light energy."
"Uh? But why is the side of this crystal so smooth?"
Shaka ran his finger along the crystal's side, frowning slightly.
"Logically, this kind of crystal should be fully natural. How could it have a flat side like this?"
Hammer: "…"
"Uh… Dr. Vegapunk, is it possible I… cut it open…?"
Shaka: "…"
"Where's the other half? What did you do with it?"
Hammer pulled out the Iceheart Pendant from his chest.
"That's what I wanted to ask you about, too, the other half absorbed some kind of silver energy and turned into this."
"When I wear it, it blocks negative energy."
Even with his helmet on, Shaka's eyes flashed brilliantly with interest.
"Silver energy? Are you sure it was silver?"
Hammer nodded.
"You should know, every element has its own color."
"Flame is red, ice is blue, lightning is purple."
"And silver, based on my research, silver represents a type of mental energy."
"You know about the three types of Haki, right?"
Hammer nodded again, and even Borsalino beside him looked uncharacteristically serious.
"Conqueror's Haki is basically a manifestation of one's spirit and will."
"Different users understand and wield it differently, causing all kinds of unique phenomena."
"The silver energy in your necklace is a direct embodiment of mental energy. Unlike Conqueror's Haki, which is a show of spirit, this silver energy is likely formed when your mind focuses intensely on something. It's similar to Conqueror's Haki but fundamentally different."
"Hammer, you're just a blacksmith, but you really are fascinating."
Hammer didn't care about Shaka's curiosity at all.
What interested him was this mental energy concept.
If he remembered right, back then he'd been silently reciting his Iceheart Mantra while forging, completely immersed in a sage-forging state.
'Could it really be that his intense mental focus had accidentally created this energy?'
Well, now that he knew it was mental energy, he didn't feel like overthinking it.
He'd even awakened Conqueror's Haki at this point. Why fuss over this?
"Mental energy is fine, I'm already wearing it, anyway."
"But Dr. Vegapunk, about the Light Crystal. If I want to use it as a forging material, what should I do?"
"This thing can store light energy, but it can't be forged directly, right?"
Light energy was a strange thing; unlike magma or ice, which could solidify, light didn't work that way.
Once gathered to a certain point, if he tried to forge it directly, Hammer would probably get vaporized on the spot.
High-density compressed light was basically a laser beam.
"Hm… you want to make a weapon from light energy?"
"I have to say, that's quite an idea."
Shaka scratched his chin, his tone intrigued.
It really was a good idea. After all, light energy was incredibly powerful; if you could weaponize it, the results would be devastating.
But how to use it, that was the real challenge.
"Have you considered splitting the Light Crystal?"
"If you can't forge it directly, then refine it, divide the crystal into equal small pieces. Each one would contain the same amount of energy, keeping things balanced."
"Then, make a matching conduction device that integrates with the crystal, letting you channel and extract the light energy."
Hammer fell into deep thought.
'A conduction device? Channel light energy?'
"You mean, make a device that triggers the light energy? And use that instead of forging the crystal itself?"
Shaka nodded.
"You know about Seastone, right? It's so hard it can't be forged, only carved or embedded."
"That's how certain weapons or tools gain Seastone's effects."
Hammer was starting to get it, but then sank into thought again.
If that was the case, he could just craft a piece of gear that extracted light energy.
Then embed the Light Crystal into it, and channel the light energy to attack.
In an instant, Hammer pictured two weapons in his mind.
One for Borsalino, the Flash Human who ate the Glint-Glint Fruit.
And one for Sengoku, who ate the Human-Human Fruit: Mythical Type, Buddha form.
Just thinking about it made the corners of Hammer's mouth curl up in a grin.