"Ha ha ha!"
Commander Hammer threw his head back and laughed, the emotions he had suppressed for so long finally bursting forth:
"If you'd just taken the money and kept your mouth shut, that would've been one thing!"
"Who knew you'd be so greedy? You're practically asking to die!"
The smile on Hammer's face gradually twisted from delight into something grotesque:
"Don't worry. I prepared pirates to take the blame long ago!"
"'Pirates in Loguetown incite a riot; Colonel Smoker dies in the line of duty due to negligence.' What do you think of that headline?"
"Ha ha ha! When the time comes, I'll personally kill those pirates to 'avenge' you, Colonel Smoker!"
Nami, however, looked at him strangely.
"Are you insane?"
"You dare kill even a Headquarters colonel? Do you think the Marines won't uncover anything suspicious?"
"Ha ha!"
Hammer's grin grew even more savage. "So what if they do?"
"By then, I'll have already moved all my assets and gotten away clean!"
"People die for wealth, birds die for food."
A cold voice sounded beside Hammer once more:
"At a time like this, you're still thinking about moving your assets before running away?"
"Hm?"
Hammer sensed that something was wrong.
The wind suddenly howled, and a massive sword gleaming with brilliant golden light came smashing toward him.
Commander Hammer was, after all, an elite officer who had come out of the Marine Headquarters training camp. His years of being posted to Loguetown had not made him neglect his training. On the contrary, anger and repression had tempered this proud and unruly man into someone even stronger.
He reacted in an instant, naturally raising both arms to shield his face as he pushed off the ground and leaped backward.
But it was completely useless.
The greatsword's edge still struck Hammer, carving two deep bloody gashes into the arms he had raised in defense.
Hammer staggered back several steps. Only after barely steadying himself did he finally see his attacker clearly.
His expression instantly turned from shock to terror:
The "Smoker" he had shot to the ground had somehow gotten back up. He had also acquired a magnificent suit of armor from nowhere, and he tightly gripped a broad greatsword in his hands.
How had shooting him somehow equipped him with a full set of gear?
"How is this possible?!"
Hammer said in disbelief, "I clearly hit you with Seastone Bullets!"
"You did hit me. It hurt."
Garen chuckled, a trace of pain still lingering on his face.
Just moments ago, he had still been in his normal flesh-and-blood state, and he had genuinely felt the pain of being shot.
But almost at the same instant, the external damage had automatically triggered his Data Mode.
"You..."
Hammer's gaze sharpened as he finally realized something was wrong.
"You're not Smoker at all!"
"Ha ha."
Garen could not help revealing a mocking smile.
"I never said I was!"
"Commander Hammer, I really have to thank you for your generosity!"
"D-Damn it!"
Hammer trembled with rage, nearly grinding his teeth to pieces.
He reached beneath the conference table beside him and pulled out a long blade he had prepared there beforehand. "Die!"
Soru!
Though his talent was not particularly outstanding, Hammer had still mastered the fundamentals of Rokushiki as an officer of Marine Headquarters.
Terrifying force erupted beneath Hammer's feet. Riding a gust of wind, he dashed before Garen in an instant and brought his blade down toward Garen's mocking face.
Garen's expression did not change. Instead, he seemed even more confident.
Having witnessed Garp's Soru, a movement technique like Hammer's—one that his dynamic vision could still track—was not enough to frighten him.
"Garen" showed no intention of dodging at all. He merely stood there blankly and let Hammer's blade fall.
The long blade came down upon his head, directly embedding itself in "Garen's" forehead before continuing downward under the tremendous force.
It looked like an utterly savage scene from a gruesome battlefield.
Although Nami had already seen Garen get shot and fall over countless times without suffering so much as a scratch, she still could not accept such a horrifying sight. She covered her mouth and cried out in concern for him.
But Hammer, who held the blade, had already noticed that something was wrong—he had chopped straight into his opponent's forehead, yet not even a single drop of blood appeared?!
But it was already too late. A phantom figure abruptly emerged from invisibility and swung another sword at Hammer's back.
Caught off guard, Hammer was sent flying several meters by Garen's blow, crashing straight through the conference room wall.
Bricks and rubble scattered everywhere, leaving Commander Hammer's meticulously neat appearance covered in dust and grime.
Yet not long afterward, Hammer steadily rose from the pile of ruins.
Though his arm and back had both been injured, his breathing had stabilized, and his gaze had grown even sharper.
Everyone in this world possessed astonishing vitality. Those who specialized in physical combat were even harder to kill, as though they had locked health bars.
"What a pain."
Garen let out a soft sigh.
"Looks like this will be a long fight."
Hammer was an elite from the Headquarters training camp and had many years of combat experience. Though he was only a commander, his mastery of physical combat was in no way inferior to Colonel Smoker, who relied too heavily on his Devil Fruit Ability.
As for Garen, although he claimed to be evenly matched with Garp, even his glorious feat of instantly defeating Smoker had been achieved through trickery.
If Smoker had taken Garen seriously and guarded against his underhanded tricks, he would not have lost to a Garen who had only reached Level 4 based on physical strength alone.
"Kid!"
Hammer had already seen through Garen's true strength.
"With your level of skill, you dare try to deceive me?!"
Garen said nothing and charged toward Hammer with his sword raised.
The enraged Hammer also gripped his long blade tightly and slashed at the underhanded opponent before him.
At first, Garen could occasionally gain an advantage through the sneaky guaranteed-hit property of his attacks.
But after Commander Hammer noticed something was wrong, he began directly blocking Garen's sword strikes with his blade.
With his absolute advantage in strength, Hammer was not afraid to block Garen's attacks head-on. On the contrary, whenever Garen's sword momentum was spent, Hammer could pull away and slash him in return.
Garen immediately experienced the frustration of being completely suppressed by a high-level physical combat expert:
His Judgment spinning attack could not catch up because he lacked speed. His guaranteed-hit Normal Attack could be forcibly blocked head-on, and the only thing that threatened Hammer was the unpredictable Mirror Image.
But the stealth skill had a cooldown of more than ten seconds. Its low frequency and insufficient damage meant Garen could only grit his teeth and fight a war of attrition against Hammer.
After the two battled for a while, more than half of Garen's Health Bar had already been depleted.
"Wait!"
Garen knocked aside Hammer's incoming attack with one swing, retreated several steps, and finally spoke in a low voice:
"You're a Marine commander with a respectable rank. Why are you willing to sink so low?"
Hammer carefully examined Garen, secretly stunned as well.
He was already showing signs of fatigue, and several bleeding wounds had been carved across his body. He had only barely maintained the upper hand through his own strength.
Yet his opponent was clearly weaker than him, but after such a prolonged battle, he remained energetic and completely unscathed.
Intimidated by this strange phenomenon, Hammer did not dare act rashly. He could only follow Garen's lead and temporarily cease fighting, taking the chance to recover his strength and consider how to deal with him.
"A respectable rank? Sink so low?!"
Hammer cooperatively began trading words with Garen.
"Do you know how long I've carried the rank of commander?"
Hammer pointed at his already graying temples and spoke indignantly:
"Ten years! It's been ten whole years!"
"Not only was I never promoted, I was even sent to a backwater like Loguetown to guard the gates!"
"Just because I don't have a Devil Fruit Ability and don't have an admiral as my teacher?!"
"You..."
Garen spoke again in a low voice:
"You were clearly promoted by Marine Headquarters because of your 'excellent achievements.'"
"Headquarters trusted you so much, yet you kept taking bribes and breaking the law, betraying justice! Doesn't your conscience hurt?"
"Promoted?"
Hammer sneered disdainfully.
"Kid, are you truly that innocent, or are you pretending to be stupid?"
"They promote me to lieutenant commander, then transfer me to the instructor camp at the West Blue branch? Everyone knows the instructor camp is a cushy retirement post with no real power!"
"You think such a clumsy trick of promoting me in name while demoting me in reality can fool me?!"
The more Hammer spoke, the more agitated he became. Clearly, he was speaking from the heart.
"Marine Headquarters ignores me like this!"
"If I skim a little money here and save up something for the rest of my life, what's wrong with that?!"
"..."
Garen fell silent for a moment, then put on an indignant expression and rebuked him:
"You still have the nerve to say that!"
"Are you worthy of the word 'Justice' on your back?"
"Ha ha ha!"
Hammer laughed without restraint.
"You're still too young! Too naïve!"
"Justice?"
The muscles on Hammer's face twisted under his intense emotions. He spat disdainfully.
"What justice, what fairness, what law."
"To put it bluntly, it's just a way to make stealing money look prettier!"
Hammer waved the long blade in his hand again and said furiously:
"I was selected for the Headquarters training camp at sixteen. I graduated at eighteen and went to war with the fleet. What country on the Grand Line haven't I visited?"
"I—"
Before he could finish, Garen's greatsword silently slashed toward him again.
Holding the greatsword of justice, Garen wore a righteous expression.
"Sorry!"
"My health's full. We can talk next time."
Before you continue