The cloud dragon glowing crimson instantly burst into flames midair.
Wrapped within the Iron Cloud, the flames burned entirely inside the cloud structure itself.
A high-temperature, overwhelmingly destructive dragon rapidly closed in on Moria.
"Damn it!"
"Shadow Box!"
Moria sensed the terrifying power of the cloud dragon and immediately activated his Devil Fruit ability, attempting to imprison the dragon inside a giant container.
Pitch-black shadows instantly transformed into an enormous box, trying to block the cloud dragon.
Right before the cloud dragon collided with the Shadow Box,
The dragon suddenly changed.
A terrifying shockwave erupted from the dragon's head.
It was the impact force of the Impact Dial.
Under the overwhelming force, the Shadow Box was blasted open instantly, while the cloud dragon continued forward without losing momentum.
"Damn you!"
"AAAHHH!"
The moment the cloud dragon struck Moria, the terrifying heat caused him agonizing pain.
After all, although the dragon looked like clouds on the outside, it was actually iron.
'Red-hot iron touching flesh?'
'Tsk tsk.'
'Instant barbecue.'
And it wasn't over yet.
Under Hammer's control, the cloud dragon wrapped itself around Moria's body.
"AAAAAHHHHH!!!"
The miserable screams instantly made everyone present shudder.
Watching Moria's entire body smoke, everyone silently prayed for him.
But that still wasn't the true essence of this Dragon Fist.
Then everyone heard Hammer mutter: "Explode."
The already glowing red cloud dragon suddenly lit up even brighter.
Amid Moria's screams, the cloud dragon exploded outright.
A terrifying explosion and monstrous flames instantly engulfed Moria.
His screams stopped abruptly.
Then the shadow clone disappeared as well.
The disappearance of the clone meant one thing, Moria had already lost consciousness.
Meanwhile, the Iron Clouds scattered by the explosion slowly gathered back together under Hammer's command.
After all, no matter how violently they exploded,
They were still clouds.
Blow them apart, gather them again.
That was the proper way to use Iron Cloud.
When the explosion finally subsided and the smoke dispersed, Moria's entire body was covered in injuries, still smoking.
"That's it?"
"You're this weak?"
"Don't joke around."
"Get up, Moria!"
"Mind Hammer!"
Seeing Moria unconscious only irritated Hammer further.
How exactly was this guy supposed to fight Kaido in the future?
For a moment, Hammer genuinely suspected that the fat, lazy Moria from later years was actually the "real" Moria.
But for the sake of his own promotion path, this man had to pull himself together.
Even if Moria himself couldn't do it, Hammer would force him to.
Without hesitation, Hammer immediately activated Mind Hammer and began hammering away at unconscious Moria.
At the same time, he used the hammering ability to knock all of Moria's crew unconscious as well.
"AAAH!"
"Damn it! What is this sound?!"
The hammering that struck directly into the soul instantly jolted Moria awake.
He desperately covered his ears with both hands, trying to reduce the stimulation from the hammering.
Unfortunately, it was completely useless.
"Hmph! Hammer Hypnosis!"
Right after Hammering of the Soul came Hammer Hypnosis.
DUANG~
After the heavy strikes came lighter strikes.
Moria gradually became lost within the endless echoes of hammer sounds.
"Moria."
"I now deliver the World Government's invitation to you."
"You will accept the invitation to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea."
"You will become a Great Pirate officially appointed by the World Government."
"But you must remember this firmly."
"You only need to obey the orders of me, Hammer."
"At all other times, you are free."
"As long as someone says these four words to you: 'Hammer's Direct Order', "
"You will remember that the person you serve is Hammer."
"This command will be permanently engraved into your mind."
"You are forbidden from disobeying it."
Unlike before, this was the first time Hammer had combined Mind Hammer with Hammer Hypnosis.
And this was only possible because his Devil Fruit had awakened.
Otherwise, using two abilities simultaneously would've been pure fantasy.
DUANG!
DUANG~
Under the alternating heavy and light hammer strikes, Moria's mental defenses completely collapsed.
The words "Hammer" became deeply engraved into his soul.
"Yes, Vice Admiral Hammer."
"I accept the invitation to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea."
"And I will obey your commands."
With hollow eyes, Moria had completely fallen under Hammer's control.
Just as Hammer nodded in satisfaction,
An untimely voice suddenly rang out.
"Hmph."
"Despicable Marine."
"So this is how you manipulate pirates?"
"Hammer… you've fallen."
"In that case, die beneath my Supreme Grade Blade, Yoru."
"Die!"
A massive dark-green slash suddenly tore toward Hammer with terrifying force.
Along with the familiar singing: "You tore apart dreams for an entire night~"
Seeing the familiar slash and hearing the familiar melody, Hammer raised an eyebrow.
"Ohhh."
"And here I thought it was someone important."
"So it's the Prince of 'Tearing the Night,' Mihawk."
"What's wrong?"
"You don't like this song?"
"Chest-Breaking Hammer!"
Facing Mihawk, Hammer didn't dare act careless.
His fingers instantly coated themselves in Armament Haki as he launched a hammer strike directly into the slash.
BOOM!
The collision between their attacks instantly caused a violent explosion, smoke billowing everywhere.
When the smoke dispersed, a black-clothed Mihawk slowly walked forward while holding the Supreme Grade Blade Yoru.
His murderous gaze locked onto Hammer so intensely that it looked like he wanted to slice him into four pieces immediately.
"Damn you, Hammer!"
"It's all because of you!"
"You ruined my life!"
"I'm going to kill you!"
Enemies truly burned with hatred upon meeting.
Mihawk completely forgot about removing the singing effect from Yoru.
Right now, he only had one thought.
Kill Hammer.
"Hmph!"
"Hammer, I've hated this guy for a long time."
"Leave him to me."
"You continue dealing with Moria."
"10 Million Volts, Thunder Spear!"
Lance, who had been spectating the entire time, instantly became fired up when Mihawk appeared.
He had long wanted to deal with this arrogant Marine Hunter.
Lightning exploded across the battlefield as Lance appeared before Mihawk in a flash, his entire body crackling with electricity while wielding a blue lightning spear.
"Brat."
"You dare hunt Marines?"
"I think you've gotten too full of yourself."
"Armament!"
The lightning spear instantly became coated in Armament Haki before thrusting directly toward Mihawk.
"A Logia user, huh?"
"Hmph."
"One rainstorm soaked the entire night~"
Mihawk no longer even needed to sing.
Yoru itself now came with built-in sound effects.
The Armament-coated Yoru collided directly with the lightning spear.
Lightning exploded everywhere.
Hammer glanced once at Lance and Mihawk before ignoring them entirely.
After consuming the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Lance already possessed enough talent to roam the seas.
What he lacked now was combat experience against true experts.
For him, Mihawk was a perfect opponent.
"Moria."
"Your current strength still isn't enough."
"Hurry up and improve yourself."
"You wasted such a good Shadow-Shadow Fruit."
"Other than your clone, the rest of your techniques are trash."
"Why make spears and giant swords?"
"Wouldn't hammers be better?"
"Look at me."
"My hammer dominates the world!"
"Hammers are the true kings of the sea!"
Still trapped under hypnosis, Moria instantly memorized Hammer's words.
'Hammers!'
'From now on I'll use shadow hammers to smash people!'