Shimotsuki Kozaburo never imagined Gungnir divine steel would be this stubborn to melt. He'd even tapped into the underground magma flows, but after two full days, it still wouldn't budge. Anxiety gnawed at him.
Brook and the crew's arrival turned the tide. Brook had Redfield channel lightning metallurgy, using the electric furnace principle to slowly soften the Gungnir steel for Kozaburo.
The instant the lightning struck, temperatures soared higher than magma—up to ten or twenty thousand degrees Celsius. Even basic welding torches hit six to eight thousand.
Regular magma topped out at nine hundred to fourteen hundred degrees, while flames varied wildly, from paper burning at two hundred all the way up to over three thousand.
Flame color made all the difference!
Dark red around six hundred degrees, deep red at seven hundred, orange-red at a thousand, pure orange at eleven hundred, golden-orange at twelve hundred.
Golden-yellow hit thirteen hundred, gold-white fourteen hundred, pure white fifteen hundred, and white-blue pushed beyond that.
No wonder, during the Summit War, Fire Fist Ace's orange flames stood no chance against Akainu, who'd awakened his magma powers.
Even Straw Hat Luffy in his Sun God Nika form rocked white-flame hair, shrugging off Kaido's scorching Fire!
Under Brook's guidance, they rigged up a makeshift lightning furnace. Even Kozaburo, a master swordsmith, was floored—lightning melting steel? This was uncharted territory for him, a whole new world of knowledge and tech!
With the full might of the Hell Pirates pitching in, Kozaburo could finally forge the Gungnir divine steel.
Redfield's high-voltage lightning did the melting, Golden Lion Shiki's Float-Float Fruit handled the transport and flips, Whitebeard Newgate pounded the iron, and Charlotte Linlin's Sun Prometheus kept the heat steady!
Kozaburo stepped back to direct, only jumping in with Newgate to hammer the sword blank when key fusions of rare metals demanded it.
Weeks of grueling work later, a ten-thousand-forged blade emerged—a naginata with a razor edge gleaming like a mirror, its chill bite sharp enough to cut the air, reflecting Newgate's face in stark clarity!
The god-tree handle from the War God wasn't even attached yet, but Newgate couldn't wait. He snatched up the blade like a butcher grabbing a cleaver.
In that instant, Newgate felt his Haki surging wildly into the naginata, turning the steel pitch-black. His barrel-thick arm withered to a skeletal frame, drained.
Whitebeard Newgate roared, unleashing a terrifying kilometer-long slash that bisected a distant mountain. Kozaburo's eyes bulged—this was a divine weapon?
The crash of the collapsing peak echoed through the back hall, startling two-year-old Kōshirō into a wailing fit. Chaos erupted!
"This has to be Supreme Great Grade Sword level—we did it!"
Kozaburo broke down in tears, unleashing his pent-up joy. Sure, he hadn't forged it solo, but he'd led the charge. This was his triumph!
"Jahaha! Newgate, I'm half-jealous. A Supreme Great Grade Sword!"
Shiki buzzed with excitement too. Over those days, he'd flipped the blanks, Newgate hammered them—seamless teamwork that sped them to ten thousand forges. Every pattern on that naginata bore his mark!
"Come back!"
Newgate cursed again, yanking his Haki free from the blade. His arm bulked back up, but the thrill lit his face like a bonfire.
"Easy there, Newgate. Let's mount the handle—this is the toughest, best chunk of treasure wood Adam we saved just for you."
Brook handed the naginata back to Kozaburo for final assembly.
"Hey, hey, Newgate—time to name this Supreme Great Grade Sword. You pick, or Kozaburo? Or should Brook do the honors?"
Linlin's words hit home, stirring Newgate and Kozaburo. Naming one of the world's rarest Supreme Great Grade Swords? That was legend-level prestige!
"Gurarara, this blade's mine for life now. Let Kozaburo name it—let his legacy ride with my naginata across the world!"
Newgate grinned. The weapon would shadow him forever; he didn't need the fame. Kozaburo, though? This would cement his mastery for the ages!
Once Kozaburo fitted the handle, he didn't hesitate. After bouncing ideas off the boss Brook, they settled on Murakumogiri.
Supreme Great Grade Sword · Murakumogiri: A naginata forged in Wano, at the Isshin Forge under Shimotsuki Kozaburo's lead, with the Hell Pirates' crew lending their hands!
"Woo-hoo! Party time to celebrate!"
Brook's shout plunged the Isshin Forge into revelry.
Even Ringo Daimyō Shimotsuki Toramaru showed up to toast, and Kozuki Oden had rolled in days earlier, rejoining the Hell Pirates at last. Now he and Kaido scrapped daily—Brook just let 'em at it.
...
In the weeks that followed, Redfield's noble sword, Shiki's Oto and Kogarashi, and Linlin's Blade all got melted down and reforged, infused with Gungnir divine steel. Each emerged as a Great Grade Sword—top-tier, standout blades!
Material limits kept them short of Supreme Great Grade, but the crew was thrilled. They vowed to infuse their own Haki and elevate them to Supreme status!
Gungnir divine steel ran dry after that. As for Brook's Shichiseiken? It was already a eerie Supreme Great Grade Sword, nurtured to perfection. Pushing it further meant scheming for King Harald's Gungnir stash.
While the Hell Pirates joyfully upgraded their arsenal in Wano, Aokiba and the Marines stewed in frustration on Elbaf. Brook had ghosted them—no chance for a showdown!
After dragging their feet for over a week, the Navy brass had no choice but to limp back to New World G-1 Branch. But "genius strategist" Buddha Sengoku floated a plan: swing by and ambush the Rocks Pirates, gut-punch Rocks while they could.
Aokiba bought in. Three Admirals together? Even Rocks would kneel!
The top brass swapped into grunt disguises and commandeered a plain supply warship to back up Fleet Admiral Kong. The main fleet, meanwhile, sailed bold as brass straight to G-1.
-----------
+400 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg