"What the hell did you make!? I told you to build a bomb, and you bring me a courier boat!?"
Sengoku stared speechlessly at the peculiarly designed speedboat in front of him, his face filled with confusion
Hammer, on the other hand, paid no mind to Sengoku's scorn and looked at his creation with great satisfaction.
"Listen here, old man. Don't underestimate my speedboat."
"I reforged it back in the day, and it gained the indestructible attribute."
"Even if you turned into your giant Buddha form, you still couldn't break it!" As Hammer spoke of the speedboat, a nostalgic look flashed across his face; this very boat had carried him across the open sea to reach distant shores.
Sengoku: '...Indestructible? That sounds... impressive.'
The next second, a golden light flared.
"HOLY—OLD MAN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! PUT THAT DAMN PULSE DOWN!"
To Hammer's dismay, Sengoku had transformed into his Buddha form and, without hesitation, struck the bottom of the boat with a precision shockwave.
Dei!
A weird sound echoed through the air. Sengoku froze in confusion.
'Why the hell did my shockwave make that noise?!'
Even Hammer was stunned.
It was truly indestructible, Sengoku's shockwave hadn't left a scratch, but what the hell was that "dei!" noise?
To verify, Hammer raised his fist and punched the boat himself.
Dei!
Another bizarre sound rang out.
Both Hammer and Sengoku twitched at the corners of their mouths. Then, without a word, the two began furiously pummeling the boat.
Dei! Dei! Dei!
Dei! Dei! Dei! Dei!
A chorus of weird "dei!" sounds filled the air, ranging from one to four per hit.
Sengoku: "…"
Hammer: "…"
"See!? I told you! My boat really is indestructible!"
"Yes. Very... sturdy."
After being thoroughly dei, the two quickly stopped and awkwardly glanced at each other.
"Alright, no more wasting time, help me lower the boat!"
"Yeah, yeah, got it."
As the boat was lowered into the sea, Hammer jumped into the cockpit and used a bent steel bar to wedge the throttle in place.
The boat engine roared to life and sped forward, but Hammer leaped high into the air and used Geppo to land back on the marine ship's deck.
He and Sengoku watched as the boat charged straight toward the heart of Shiki's fleet. They looked at each other and nodded.
"Wait, old man, I nodded because I know what's about to happen. Why did you nod?"
"Uh… I saw you nodding, so I just did the same."
Hammer: '...And they call this man the "Resourceful General"? More like "Resourceful Idiot"!!'
The three-way battle raged on fiercely.
Roger and Shiki were locked in an intense duel.
But over time, it was clear Roger's stamina was starting to wane.
Most of the strong fighters present could tell.
Dark King Rayleigh's eyes showed a trace of worry.
Shiki, on the other hand, was looking quite pleased.
Bullet looked faintly disheartened.
Even ship doctor Crocus had a flicker of anxiety in his eyes.
"We can't drag this out! Everyone, go all out, we're breaking through!"
"ROGER!"
Rayleigh's voice boomed as he unleashed all three Haki types at once.
Roger, mid-air with Shiki, understood immediately. With a roar, he swung his blade using his full strength.
"Divine Departure!"
Even Shiki didn't dare take that attack head-on, he released several slashes to counter and quickly retreated.
"Don't think you can run away from me, Roger!!"
"Lion Menace: Water Coiling"
Using his Devil Fruit powers, the raging sea instantly morphed into several massive lion heads that blocked Roger's retreat.
"Damn i-huh? What's that?"
Roger, just about to curse, suddenly saw something glowing with electricity speeding toward them.
"Roger! You're still the same damn idiot! Getting distracted during battle!" Shiki roared as he sent another slash.
"Shut up, Shiki! Look for yourself, there really is something incoming!"
Roger's furious expression made Shiki feel oddly satisfied. But he still used Observation Haki to check the situation.
What he saw wiped the smile off his face.
A fleet was appearing at the rear was Marine forces.
And the object speeding toward them? He could now sense it clearly.
"HOLY SHIT, ROGER, IT'S THAT DAMN TRIDENT!"
Rayleigh also noticed, and unlike Roger, he recognized it immediately.
"WHAT?! THE LIGHTNING ROD THING?!"
Roger turned pale with shock.
Hammer's Thunder Raider had now reached the center of the battlefield and was still accelerating.
The moment the boat started moving, the trident had activated.
In this stormy weather, its electric output was like a tactical nuke.
The closer it got to the storm's center, the more intense the electric charge.
By the time Roger and the others could see it, lightning was already starting to form around it.
"HELL NO! WE'RE OUT! RAYLEIGH, RUN!!"
Having sailed the seas for years, Roger's danger instincts were screaming. That trident was reaching peak charge.
In this weather, once it discharged, it'd be like hell raining down.
"GABBAN! POWER SYSTEM ON! GET US OUT!!"
Rayleigh cut down an attacker and shouted to Gabban.
As Shiki stared in confusion, the Roger Pirates began making a hasty retreat.
But he wasn't letting them off.
"You're not going anywhere, Roger! This is your grave!"
"Lion's Wrath: Tidal Dominion!"
Unleashing his full power, the sea surged upwards and even lifted the courier boat into the air, bringing it even closer to the storm.
Roger and Rayleigh's eyes nearly popped out.
'Is this idiot TRYING to get them all killed?!'
Finally, the Thunder Raider exploded in mid-air. The trident blazed with brilliant light, drawing everyone's attention.
All the lightning in the sky was drawn to it.
And then-
CRACK!!
The trident emitted a thunderous roar and shone pure white.
The lightning burst, unleashed by the trident, all of it poured down without discrimination.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?"
Shiki panicked, immediately canceling his power. The sea dropped, but the boat stayed suspended in the lightning storm.
At that moment, the fighting stopped. Everyone began scattering to avoid the incoming cataclysm.
But the trident wasn't the only thing Hammer had rigged onto the boat.
Underneath it was a special ore with golden veins, a mineral that stores electrical energy.
As lightning slammed into it, the ore began absorbing the charge.
But all things have a limit. And when that limit is reached?
Boom.
What happens when you overload the ore?
Hammer didn't know exactly.
So just in case, he also packed in plenty of Flameweave Stones.
Lightning + fire? That combo had to explode big.
And indeed, it did.
Kutsa ore, Flameweave, combined.
BOOM!
KRAK-KOOM!!
Even the ocean was blasted into a massive crater dozens of meters wide, forming a whirlpool on impact.
Massive winds tore through the air. Shiki mid-air, took the full brunt of it.
Countless pirate ships, unable to dodge, were instantly shattered.
Shiki, barely staying aloft, suddenly saw something fly toward him, then blacked out.
The Roger Pirates fared much better.
Thanks to Roger's quick return and their ship's jet propulsion, they managed to escape death once more.
Though the ship and crew still got hit by several lightning bolts as they fled.
Those struck were…
Roger… Bullett… and one poor, unlucky red-nosed kid…
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu