They ended up waiting for an entire day.
Neither of the two battleships dared head straight to Punk Hazard, so they found a random deserted island to dock at temporarily.
After all, the New World's weather was absurd, rain, snow, hail, even if the ironclad ships could handle it, the soldiers certainly couldn't.
"Hey! You idiots, can you not eat right here?"
"Don't you know I can't eat right now? Watch it, or I'll smash you all with one swing!"
"Hahaha! We'll eat right here! It's not like I'm hungry anyway, you dumb hammer, you're killing me with laughter!"
They'd docked to rest, but thanks to Borsalino's instigation, everyone grabbed a bowl of delicious food and plopped down right next to Shiki to feast.
Yamakaji had initially felt bad about it, but when everyone else agreed, he couldn't be the odd one out.
So the scene now looked like this:
Hammer, transformed into a hammer, was pinning down Shiki.
Meanwhile, Borsalino, Lance, Shirley, Hina, Momonga, and Yamakaji sat around them, happily digging in.
Even though Hammer was in hammer form, he was still human.
The aroma alone made him instantly ravenous.
But he couldn't revert to human form yet, which infuriated him so much that he immediately started yelling at them.
The Golden Lion, however, just laughed and loudly mocked him back.
So a man and a hammer started cursing each other out.
Borsalino and the rest became the perfect bystanders, or rather, "bystander eaters."
Eating while listening to Hammer and the Golden Lion bicker, honestly, it had a certain charm to it.
"Lance! Where the hell is that old bastard Garp? I can't stand this anymore! Get this blonde bastard out of my sight!"
"He should be here soon. Just hang in there, let me finish this bowl first, then you can keep yelling…"
Hammer: '… Listen to this! Does this sound like human speech to you??'
Another hour passed.
Finally, the Dog-Head Battleship appeared on the horizon.
"Hahahaha! Hammer brat! I heard you caught that bastard Shiki? Where is he? Let me see!"
The voice arrived before the man did.
A second later, two figures dropped from the sky onto the Warhammer's deck.
It was none other than Garp and his aide, Bogard.
The two glanced at the massive hole in the Warhammer's deck, then jumped straight down without a second thought.
"Ho? Golden Lion! So you do have days like this, huh?"
"Huh? What're you lot doing? Eating? Old man's hungry too, get me a bowl!"
"Hey, Bogard, want some too?"
Bogard: "…"
Hammer: "…"
Shiki: "…"
The same thought popped up in all three minds at once: 'Should we just beat him up?!'
"Lance, you brat, what're you staring at, hurry up and get me some food! Chop chop!"
"But… Vice Admiral Garp, the Golden Lion-"
"Golden what? Lion who? Isn't that bastard pinned under a hammer nice and tight? Go on, I just finished a scrap with Roger and I'm starving."
"…Alright, fine."
Lance couldn't say no to Garp, so he got up to fetch food.
The others burst out laughing, Hammer nearly exploded.
"Seriously, Garp, you old fart, why are you eating?! Get this blonde bastard off me already, I'm still holding him down with my Devil Fruit power!"
"Hahahaha! Dumb Garp, still the same clown as ever. Ptooey!"
In that moment, Hammer and the Golden Lion were perfectly united, both despised Garp.
Hammer hated how unreliable he was.
The Shiki just plain hated this powerful nuisance.
"Hahahaha! Shiki, you've really fallen, huh? Can't even beat Hammer, hahahaha!"
"Roger and Whitebeard are leagues stronger than you!"
And what did the Golden Lion care about most? His reputation and strength!
Garp's jab hit him right in the pride.
"Damn you, Garp! What makes you think Roger's better than me? Back at the Battle of Edd, if that brat hadn't interfered, Roger would be dead by my blade!"
"And that damn Whitebeard, always going on about his 'sons,' embarrassing real pirates everywhere!"
"If you've got the guts, tell this brat to get off me, let's see if I don't cut you up!"
"Hammer, you bastard, get off me! I'm gonna slice up this IDIOT!"
The Shiki swung his arms furiously, but Hammer pinned him down so tight he couldn't move an inch, let alone get up to fight Garp.
Frustration burned in Shiki's chest.
Once, he'd been a top fighter under Rocks, with all three types of Haki plus the Float-Float Fruit, an absolute powerhouse.
Now he was in this pathetic state, it was enough to make him explode.
"Garp, hurry up and eat! When you're done, dump this blonde freak in the sea! Forget prison, just sink him!"
In Hammer's mind, sinking him was the safest option.
But Garp just shook his head.
"Sengoku already gave orders, we're taking Shiki to Impel Down. You know this, too, Hammer. If he dies, that Devil Fruit just reincarnates somewhere else."
'Damn it! That old fool Sengoku, still so wishy-washy!'
'Who cares if the fruit respawns, just solve the problem in front of you now!'
Hammer mentally jotted Sengoku's name down in his grudge book. Too much trouble!
In the end, the Shiki was taken away by Garp.
To make sure he didn't resist, Garp tied him up like a dumpling with a massive chain, which Hammer was pretty sure came straight off Garp's giant iron ball.
"Hahaha! Hammer, Borsalino, I'm off!"
"Oh, right, Hammer, lend me your ship's cook for a few days, yeah? His food's pretty tasty!"
A tic-tac-toe grid practically popped up on Hammer's forehead.
"SCRAM! Not a chance in hell!"
Back in human form now, Hammer stuffed his face, shooting murderous looks at Borsalino and the others, Garp included!
'How dare they gorge themselves while I was stuck in hammer mode?'
It pissed him off to no end.
He had to eat it all back!
As he watched Garp's ship sail off, Borsalino let out a satisfied burp.
"Hammer-kun, I'll just hitch a ride on your ship back, okay? I'm gonna nap, wake me when we reach Punk Hazard~"
Without giving Hammer a chance to object, he shimmered in golden light and vanished into the Warhammer's cabin.
"…That damned monkey, doesn't treat himself like a guest at all."
"Fine… I'll let it slide this time. He did back us up, after all."
Already lying down, Borsalino curled into a comfy position and drifted off with a faint smile.