"Assemble!"
Just as Hammer was still getting familiar with his new body, a sharp whistle and a booming voice cut through the air.
Instantly, all the Marines in the plaza began gathering toward the front.
Seeing this, Hammer quickly followed the crowd.
At the front of the plaza stood a raised platform, where a towering, muscular figure stood with his arms crossed—none other than former Admiral Zephyr, the instructor of the Elite Training Camp.
"I am Zephyr," his voice thundered. "Head instructor of the Marine Headquarters' Elite Training Camp."
"You are all elites handpicked from various branches."
"You are here to train, to push yourselves beyond your limits."
"But" His lips curled into a grin. "This camp only accepts one hundred recruits. And right now, there are five hundred of you standing in this plaza."
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
"So, we'll have a little test," Zephyr declared. "Those who pass stay. The rest? Go back where you came from."
"My camp has no room for weaklings!"
"Line up now for the Combat Power (Douriki) Test!"
"Top hundred stay. The rest out!"
"Move it! Now!"
In no time, a long line had formed.
As for our buddy Hammer, in the chaos of the crowd pushing and shoving, he was squeezed all the way to third place in line.
In front of him were two people: one was the fierce and intimidating future Red Dog — Sakazuki.
The other was Lance, the guy who had greeted him earlier.
Hammer was dumbfounded.
How did he end up in third place just like that? This made no sense.
But honestly, you couldn't really blame him.
While everyone else was secretly competing for a good spot in line, like a certain Yellow Monkey(Kizaru) who, thanks to his overwhelming strength, had forced his way to the very end and was now calmly resting with his eyes closed.
Hammer, being the big goof he was, just let the crowd push him wherever.
And just like that, he was here.
Zephyr, seeing how quickly the line was ready, nodded in satisfaction and waved for his officers to bring up the testing machine.
A massive battle power testing device was wheeled out in front of everyone.
Hammer squinted at it, It looked a lot like a giant boxing machine.
"You're Sakazuki from the North Blue, right? I've heard of you. They say you're quite strong. Come on, give it your best punch and show me what you've got!" Zephyr said with a smile, looking at the iron-blooded Sakazuki at the front of the line.
Sakazuki said nothing and calmly stepped forward.
He planted his feet wide, drew back his right arm, muscles bulging all over.
The next second—
BANG!
His right fist slammed heavily into the machine.
The numbers on the display skyrocketed rapidly before stopping at 2,600.
Zephyr's eyes lit up.
2,600 Douriki, which was a very high score.
For reference, an average soldier only had a Douriki of 10.
A marine soldier like Sakazuki, with 2,600, could already be an elite at headquarters.
In Zephyr's eyes, Sakazuki was a rough gem just waiting to be polished.
"Impressive," Zephyr said. "And you're carrying a sword too, your real combat power must be even higher. Stand aside."
Sakazuki, still silent, moved off to the side to watch the next tests.
Next up was Lance. He threw his punch.
300.
Lance's face fell, and without a word, he quietly moved to stand behind Sakazuki.
"Next, Hammer."
"Kid, you better hit it properly."
Zephyr had seen Hammer before and read his file, so he had high expectations for this three-meter-tall youngster.
Hearing this, Hammer gave an awkward smile.
He tried to imitate Sakazuki's stance, feet apart, right fist pulled back, and swung hard.
Deng!
A weird, underwhelming sound rang out.
The crowd felt like the sound was even weaker than Lance's earlier punch.
Hammer's fist had hit the machine, but the device barely registered the hit.
250.
Hammer's first test score was 250.
In that moment, Hammer felt like a total idiot.
Zephyr's face darkened, and Hammer suddenly felt like he was being stared down by a ferocious beast, every hair on his body standing on end.
Just as Zephyr was about to speak, Hammer sprang into action.
"Please, wait a moment!"
Hammer raised both hands and hurried over to the machine, turning sideways.
"Instructor Zephyr, please give me another chance! You know I'm just a blacksmith — punching straight on isn't really my thing."
"Please let me use my own style."
Zephyr slowly withdrew his now pitch-black fist apparently he had already activated Armament Haki, and relaxed slightly.
Hammer broke into a cold sweat. If he wasn't mistaken, that was definitely Armament Haki!
If he'd hesitated even a second, who knows what would've happened to him…
He quickly wiped his forehead.
Standing sideways, Hammer muttered to himself:
"My Hammer-Hammer Fruit… please, work with me here. My future depends on you!"
He silently called upon the Devil Fruit power in his body.
Suddenly, his right fist felt like it had transformed into a real hammer.
He wound up and smashed his right fist from left to right!
DUANG!
A massive hammering sound exploded across the square!
[Ding! Talent: Critical Crating activated.]
[Critical triggered! Final damage doubled. Attribute 100% rebound granted!]
The entire testing machine groaned and creaked.
The numbers spun wildly.
2400!
Hammer's strike registered 2400 battle power.
YES!
At least now Zephyr wouldn't kill him!
…Wait, what was that system voice just now?
Hammer pulled up his system panel and saw a new line at the bottom.
Critical Strike: One-time double damage, 100% rebound attribute granted.
Whoa, that critical had doubled his attack.
2400 battle power, doubled, meant his base attack was 1200.
But that didn't add up, his panel stats showed his power should've been at 2000.
Looks like he still needed to get used to this body… sigh.
"Excellent! Hammer, I knew I wasn't wrong about you. Your striking style is a little strange, but there's no doubt you've got talent!"
Zephyr beamed, showering Hammer with praise.
Little did they know, Hammer's blow had just thrown the rest of the testing session into chaos, and even he himself suffered from it.