Momonga rushed to the forging district without stopping.
Unlike the steel fortress of the main base, whose walls were made of reinforced steel, the entire forging district was surrounded by tempered glass.
In Hammer's words: "I'm forging here, not serving a prison sentence!"
All of the tempered glass had been produced by Hammer himself.
After entering, the district was divided into three sections:
Core Forging Area, Component Processing Area, Smelting Furnace Area
Most of the Tontattas worked in the Component Processing Area, while a smaller number worked in the Smelting Furnace Area.
Most of the human blacksmiths worked in the Smelting Furnace Area.
Not a single one worked in the Component Processing Area.
After all, everyone had their specialty.
Tiny precision work was perfectly suited for the Tontatta Tribe.
The Core Forging Area contained only a single building.
Made entirely of refined steel, it was Hammer's personal forge.
Listening to the rhythmic sounds of hammer strikes, Momonga shouted toward the building:
"Hammer! Hammer!"
"Something huge has happened!"
"The Roger Pirates have conquered the Grand Line and reached the final island!"
"The entire sea has acknowledged Roger as the Pirate King!"
As soon as Momonga finished speaking, the hammering stopped.
"So that bastard finally reached Laugh Tale."
"The gears of fate have finally begun to turn."
Hammer slowly pushed open the door and walked out.
His face showed no emotion whatsoever.
It was as though Roger's achievement meant nothing to him.
"Momonga, I'm heading to Marineford."
"Contact Lance and strengthen patrols around Green Bit."
Leaving only those words behind, Hammer shot into the sky.
His massive wings spread wide and carried him toward Marineford.
Marine Headquarters, Marineford
At this moment, the entire headquarters was in chaos.
The reason was simple: Roger had reached Laugh Tale.
He had become the first pirate crew in history to reach the final island.
As a result, Roger had been elevated to the throne of Pirate King.
This enraged the World Government.
After all, Roger now possessed what they considered the most dangerous power in the world.
He knew the locations of the Ancient Weapons capable of destroying the world.
As a result, the World Government had fully committed itself to eliminating the Roger Pirates.
Marine Headquarters received an ultimatum from the Five Elders:
Within one year, the Roger Pirates must be destroyed and Roger must be captured.
Inside the conference room, more than half of the Marines' high-ranking forces had gathered.
Branch commanders and vice admirals sat on the left side of the hall.
The most eye-catching among them was Garp, who was currently sleeping while holding a donut.
The younger generation sat on the right side, led by: Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan.
The intelligence division occupied the center, headed by Vice Admiral Tsuru.
Only one chair remained empty.
The seat beside the Admirals.
"Regarding the Roger Pirates' actions and the World Government's orders, we must begin operations immediately."
"The purpose of today's meeting is simple."
"To deal with the Roger Pirates."
Fleet Admiral Kong's expression was terrible.
He had spent the morning being viciously scolded by the Five Elders.
Anyone would be in a bad mood afterward.
Beside him, Admiral Sengoku looked remarkably relaxed.
He sat there carefully polishing his two gauntlets.
Ever since receiving his exclusive weapons, he had become a second Zephyr.
Every day he either polished them or maintained them.
"Sengoku, you idiot!"
"Put those gauntlets down!"
"Or I'll throw you out the window myself!"
Seeing Sengoku's behavior, Kong felt his blood pressure rising.
"Oh... okay... I won't polish them anymore..."
"Where were we?"
"Oh right, Roger."
The moment Kong threatened his weapons, Sengoku instantly sobered up.
He could tolerate attacks on himself.
But nobody was touching Laughing Buddha and Seeing Ghosts.
Those were his treasures.
Just then, BOOM!
The conference room windows shook violently.
A loud crash and a scream sounded simultaneously.
BANG!
"Oww!"
"Damn it! Which idiot replaced the conference room windows with tempered glass?"
"And why is it the tempered glass I made myself?!"
Everyone in the room turned toward the window.
A human figure was plastered against it.
"Hammer!"
"I've told you how many times already?!"
"Use the door!"
"Use the door!"
"Stop coming through the windows!"
"Are you doing this on purpose?!"
Kong stormed over, threw open the window, grabbed Hammer by the collar, and dragged him into the conference room.
"Old man! Stop pulling!"
"I can walk on my own!"
"Hey! Somebody get me some tissues!"
"Can't you see my nose is bleeding?"
The serious atmosphere instantly disappeared upon Hammer's arrival.
Sakazuki frowned.
He felt that after the meeting, he absolutely needed to spar with Hammer.
Kuzan was thoroughly impressed.
He looked moments away from summoning ice sculptures to celebrate.
Borsalino was literally glowing.
His own exclusive weapon still wasn't finished.
He was very unhappy.
Hammer accepted some tissues from a nearby soldier, wiped the blood from his nose, and casually dropped into the seat beside Sengoku.
As Marine Headquarters' Chief of Logistics, a Vice Admiral, and a branch commander, Hammer's position was now incredibly high.
One could say he stood beneath only two people and above everyone else.
After all, everyone's military supplies required his approval.
Who would dare offend him?
"Continue the meeting."
"Hammer, perfect timing."
"Why don't you give us your opinion?"
Hammer had barely sat down before Kong called on him.
He rolled his eyes.
"What am I supposed to talk about?"
"The Roger Pirates?"
"Just arrest them."
"Vice Admiral Garp has been chasing Roger for years without catching him."
"I don't think it's because he's incapable."
"I think Heaven simply isn't cooperating."
"Look at Admiral Sengoku now."
"He got an exclusive weapon and instantly became arrogant."
"So here's my suggestion."
"Why not assign the mission of capturing the Roger Pirates to him instead?"
That single statement shocked both senior officers.
Garp stopped sleeping.
Sengoku stopped polishing his gauntlets.
Both stared at Hammer.
"Kong, what do you think?"
The terrifying thing was that Kong actually considered it.
That immediately stunned both men.
"Fleet Admiral Kong, don't listen to Hammer's nonsense!"
"I'll go capture Roger myself!"
"He won't escape!"
After chasing Roger for years, how could Garp hand his rival over to someone else?
The moment he finished speaking, he rushed out of the conference room.
Sengoku merely shot Hammer a helpless glance.
He said nothing.
"Fine."
"If Garp's handling it, we'll leave it at that."
"Next topic."
"Roger's knowledge of the Ancient Weapons."
"What are your thoughts?"
"Hammer, you first."
Hammer: '...You old bastard.'
"What do you want me to say?"
"What kind of person is Roger?"
"He's a simple-minded idiot."
"Even if you handed him an Ancient Weapon, he wouldn't use it."
"Not to mention that the Ancient Weapons haven't even appeared yet."
"Instead of worrying about that, you should worry about how to kill Roger."
"Because once he's dead, all of these problems disappear."
"Fleet Admiral Kong, I didn't come here to discuss Roger."
Hammer hadn't come to Headquarters because of Roger at all.
Roger becoming the Pirate King only signified one thing:
The Great Age of Pirates was about to begin.
And his G-88 Branch needed to begin its final preparations.