"You expect us to believe regular steel plates can match Seastone?!"
Hammer knew they wouldn't believe it, so he casually took out a special steel plate and placed it in front of them.
Because Hammer was wearing his Windbreaker Gauntlets, which isolated his touch from the steel plate, he was fine. But as soon as the steel plate came out, his gaze started to wander, his eyes fixated on Dragon.
It made Dragon extremely uncomfortable.
"Hey, Hammer, can you not look at me like that? It's freaking me out..."
"Uh, fine. I won't look at you. Dragon, go touch it."
As soon as Hammer spoke, Dragon had a bad feeling. Just as he was about to step back, a large, powerful hand landed on his shoulder.
He looked back, it was his father, Garp.
"Dragon, why are you such a coward? You think a little steel plate can kill you? Gabban's two axes didn't even manage that. What are you afraid of?"
"Go!"
Before Dragon could argue, Garp pressed down hard and shoved Dragon straight onto the steel plate.
Don't ask why Dragon didn't just use his powers to turn into a storm and escape. The answer? Garp's hand was jet black.
Pitch black. Haki-infused.
"Ow..."
Pinned down by Garp, Dragon collapsed onto the steel plate, and in the next second, he turned into a puddle of water.
"No... good..."
"I... have no strength..."
"Quick, pull me... off..."
His whole body was weak and limp, and even his tongue was lolling like a beach fish. That was Dragon's current condition.
Seeing the brave "Test Subject No. 1" like this, Garp and Bogard's eyes lit up.
In the next moment, two ominous gazes locked onto Hammer.
"What are you two doing?!"
"Hey! Don't pull my pants!"
"Ahh!"
In that moment, Hammer became a helpless little lamb.
Even though he was three meters tall and had a burly physique, in front of Garp and Bogart, both just a head shorter than him, he looked so fragile.
Two dark, strong hands: one pulled his upper body, the other his lower.
They forcibly pinned him to the steel plate, turning him into another "masterpiece" just like Dragon.
"You... bastard... Gar...p..."
"Get... me... off... now..."
Hammer, now a puddle himself, was furious.
Meanwhile, Dragon was laughing joyfully next to him.
"Ha... ha... S-serves... you right..."
"You... bastard... Drag...on..."
The two limp and weak men stuttered and spat at each other, adding some "ink" to this masterpiece of misery.
"Leave them here. No one's allowed to move them!"
"Bogard, turn around. Find Hammer's battleship, and then we all head back!"
"Yes, Vice Admiral Garp!"
...
"Vice Admiral Garp, are those two really going to be okay like this?"
Lance and the marines, whom Garp had brought back, looked at their commanding officer, now like piles of soggy mud, and couldn't help but feel a little pity.
"What's the problem? This is training! As Devil Fruit users, they have no resistance to the sea, and even less to Seastone."
"You can't just stop physical training because you've eaten a Devil Fruit. Look at these two idiots, can't even handle a bit of Seastone."
"Hmph. Weaklings."
Garp's words made Hammer want to talk back, but his tongue wasn't cooperating. He simply shut his eyes and ignored him.
Though in his mind, he was furiously cursing Garp and swearing to get revenge with some weird contraption next time.
"Alright, you've seen it. Hammer's safe with me. No need to worry. Everyone, get ready to head back, destination: Marineford!"
"Yes, Vice Admiral Garp!"
.....
During the voyage
"Hu...huff... Dragon, how are you doing?"
"A... little better..."
The two marine elite, once like puddles of mud, now sat back-to-back, though still stuck on the steel plate.
"Seastone really is a Devil Fruit user's worst enemy... It's awful..."
Hammer spoke with a miserable face, and Dragon nodded hard in agreement.
"But I'll admit, this kind of training really works. I can feel the difference, from not being able to talk at all, to now slowly getting used to it."
Dragon's eyes lit up slightly as he raised his right fist and clenched it.
"Tch, all your fault for having such a ridiculous old man. Otherwise, would we be suffering like this?"
"I swear, after this, I'm never going to sea again. I'm going to focus on becoming the logistics chief."
It's too much. Going out to sea is just too much.
Danger everywhere, lightning, pirates...
Better to stay safely at the logistics center.
"I really don't get what's so great about being the logistics chief."
"You're always dealing with this or that. How's that more fun than the sea?"
"And you're a blacksmith! Do you even know how much a bullet costs?"
Hammer rolled his eyes and shot back instantly.
"Of course I do! One bullet costs 10,000 Beli. Ten thousand bullets are 100 million Beli!"
Hmph! Like, Hammer hadn't bought bullets before?
Someone at Hydra Society was happily counting money, sneezed.
Dragon: ????
"What? A bullet costs 10,000 Beli? Hammer, did that Seastone mess up your brain?"
"Want me to get the ship's doctor to check you out? The brain is important, don't let it break."
Hammer exploded.
"Shut up, Dragon! I bought bullets at Sabaody before, 10,000 Beli each!"
"Where did you buy them? Why didn't you just restock from a branch base?"
"Phil Jackson, that cheapskate, wouldn't give me any! So I went to the black market."
"...How many did you buy?"
"Ten thousand! 100 million Beli, 10,000 each!"
"You... @#￥!%, are you dumb or pretending to be? You got ripped off!"
Hammer: ??????
Dragon quickly explained the cost of bullets.
"Regular bullets don't cost more than 500 Beli to make. Market price is usually around 1,000 Beli."
"Even on the black market, they wouldn't go that high. Where the hell did you get the idea that they're 10,000 Beli each?? You totally got scammed!"
Hammer: !!!!!!
"SANTOS! You bastard! You actually conned me!"
"My money! My hard-earned money!"
At that moment, Hammer felt like his whole world had gone dark.
He'd trusted the Hydra Society so much...
After all, in his past life, that name meant top-tier villains.
Who would've thought that despite being smart his whole life, he'd fall for a simple scam.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Hammer, you idiot! I can't breathe!"
"Shut up, Dragon! Don't you dare tell anyone about this. I swear, if you breathe a word of this, I'll forge you into a wind chime!"