"Huh? Old man Sengoku, what's wrong?"
"Why has your face turned green? Feeling unwell somewhere?"
Hammer held back his laughter as he looked at Sengoku's ashen face.
"You damn brat, Hammer! Are you trying to kill me from anger?!"
"Speak!"
"Did something happen to my exclusive weapon again?!"
Sengoku's instincts told him that anything capable of producing that sleazy grin on Hammer's face definitely involved his exclusive weapon.
Seeing that Sengoku had guessed it, Hammer spread his hands helplessly.
"You really can't blame me this time."
"How was I supposed to know that bastard Kaido would suddenly ambush me?"
"You know how terrifying Kaido is. If I didn't go all out, I wouldn't have been able to drive him off."
"Speaking of which, I need to file a complaint about that old bastard Garp."
"He watched me fight Kaido and didn't help at all!"
"That old bastard almost pissed me off to death."
"He doesn't respect me, the Minister of Logistics, in the slightest!"
The moment Garp was mentioned, Hammer became furious again.
But what could he do?
Faced with a guy like that, he had no way to deal with him.
There wasn't a normal person in the Monkey family.
"And then?"
"What does your fight with Kaido have to do with my exclusive weapon?"
"How does it not?"
"Didn't I already tell you?"
"I crippled Kaido's weapon."
"Why do you think his weapon got ruined? Because I used my ability on it!"
"To achieve the best possible effect, I had no choice but to use my power on him."
"And because of that, your exclusive weapon will probably have to wait a bit longer."
In reality, Hammer could have forged Sengoku's weapon right away.
But the random nature of the attribute assignment was too dangerous.
What if he ended up giving it some bizarre property?
Then all those rare materials would be wasted.
As a master blacksmith, Hammer wasn't willing to waste even a scrap of material, especially not high-grade materials.
"What?!"
"I have to wait again?!"
"Hammer, that's not what you told me before!"
Sengoku broke down.
Hadn't he suffered enough for a single exclusive weapon?
He'd searched everywhere for materials.
He'd endured Hammer's nonsense.
Now that he could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, he was being told to wait again!
Did everyone think he was easy to bully?!
Watching Sengoku begin to glow with anger, Hammer quickly sped up his explanation.
"I already said it's not my fault!"
"If you're angry, go beat up that bastard Kaido!"
"He doesn't even have a weapon anymore!"
"You could absolutely one-punch a little Kaido now!"
"It's all because of him that your weapon got delayed."
"Oh wait, no!"
"Actually it's because of that bastard Garp!"
"If Garp had beaten Kaido away, I wouldn't have needed to fight him."
"And your exclusive weapon would still be on schedule!"
At this point, Vice Admiral Tsuru couldn't hold back her laughter anymore.
Watching the old man and the young man glare at each other like two bulls preparing to charge was simply too much.
"Enough, Sengoku."
"What difference does waiting a little longer make?"
"You can't go out to sea right now anyway."
"Just wait a bit more."
Then she turned to Hammer.
"But Hammer, you need to pay close attention to Kaido."
"He's a cancer on the seas."
"Even G-1 and G-5 have suffered attacks from him."
"Although he's always been driven back, you know what his Devil Fruit is capable of."
"The damage he causes every time is tremendous."
"Your base hasn't even been built yet."
"If you're forced into repeated battles, think carefully about the consequences."
Did Hammer not understand that?
Of course he did.
That was exactly why he'd returned to headquarters.
He wanted reinforcements to suppress Kaido's activities.
Otherwise, if Kaido kept showing up at Green Bit looking for trouble, how was Hammer supposed to get anything done?
"Vice Admiral Tsuru, that's exactly what I mean."
"That's why I came back to headquarters looking for help."
"Is Sakazuki still in the New World?"
"Let him come with me for a trip."
When it came to holding grudges, Hammer was just as bad as anyone.
That damned Kaido had dared to come to Green Bit looking for trouble.
In that case, Hammer would make sure Kaido had a thoroughly unpleasant time.
"Hmph."
"Sakazuki's still in the New World."
"A while ago he ran into the Whitebeard Pirates."
"He should be recovering at G-5 right now."
"That bastard has completely let himself go."
"He's fought his way from the eastern side of the New World all the way to the west."
"No matter who he encounters, he rushes up and takes a swing at them."
'Sakazuki was injured?'
'Not surprising.'
'That guy was practically a living weapon of war.'
Ever since obtaining Divine Axe Rhitta, he'd become the Marine's version of a boarding maniac.
No matter who he ran into, axe resting on his shoulder, both hands turning into magma, his first words were always: "Get us alongside them!"
With behavior that reckless, it'd be stranger if he wasn't injured.
"G-5, huh?"
"Fine. I'll go find him."
Mentioning G-5 was painful.
Even now it had already become the Marine's dumping ground.
Every troublesome troublemaker got sent there.
It was already developing the characteristics of the future Marine delinquent base.
The branch was located near the exit of Fish-Man Island and served as an effective checkpoint against pirates entering the New World.
"Oh right, Hammer."
"You're Logistics Chief now."
"When do you plan to complete the transfer of responsibilities?"
Sengoku finally suppressed his frustration and calmly asked.
Hammer had been about to move, but suddenly froze and fell into thought.
"Hmm..."
"That is a problem."
"How about this?"
"I'll visit the Logistics Department first."
"The current Logistics Chief is still Vice Admiral Andre, right?"
At the mention of the position, Tsuru sighed.
"It's not him anymore."
"A while ago he submitted his resignation."
"Then immediately transferred himself to G-8 in the Grand Line."
"Huh?"
"He went to the front lines?"
"Why?"
At Hammer's question, both Sengoku and Tsuru stared at him simultaneously.
Their gazes were so intense it felt as if they wanted to swallow him whole.
"He left behind a message before he departed."
"What did he say?"
Hammer looked blankly at the two old veterans staring him down.
Yet a bad feeling suddenly rose in his heart.
"He said..."
"An old soldier like me is going to personally show the new recruits what a real Marine looks like."
'...'
'Damn.'
'That was aimed at me, wasn't it?'
"Fine."
"I understand."
"G-8 Branch, right?"
"I'll remember that."
Sengoku: '???'
Tsuru: '???'
'No, what exactly are you remembering?'
"That old man is already so old, yet he's still running to the front lines."
"When I return from the New World, I'll forge him a suit of armor."
"Otherwise, one careless mistake and he'll get himself killed."
"Hmph."
"A bunch of old geezers."
"Not a single one of them knows how to stop causing trouble."
Hammer had always had a good impression of Rear Admiral Andre.
He truly was a Marine worthy of respect.
"Alright, you two."
"If that's all, I'm leaving."
"I still need to drag Sakazuki along to go cause trouble for Kaido."
"See you later."
The cloud patterns lit up once more.
Hammer flew straight out through the window.
Leaving Sengoku and Tsuru behind, shaking their heads helplessly.
"These youngsters..."
"Not a single one of them lets us rest easy."
Tsuru's helpless sigh immediately earned Sengoku's wholehearted agreement.
Although the new generation possessed extraordinary strength, every single one of them had somehow wandered onto a path far from normal.