Divine Departure, a technique that coats a weapon with Conqueror's Haki and unleashes it in the form of a sword slash.
This wasn't the first time Hammer had encountered this move.
He understood very well just how terrifying Conqueror's Haki coating truly was.
But now that Hammer himself had awakened Conqueror's Haki, how could he possibly retreat?!
As the saying went: "Divine Departure? I won't dodge! I'm more badass than that!"
As long as he held onto the determination to charge forward fearlessly,
And combined all the defensive abilities aboard the Warhammer.
Mm.
Yeah.
Still couldn't block it.
The slash wrapped in black lightning smashed through Hammer's first line of defense, the Iron Clouds, with overwhelming force.
"AAAH! MY CLOUDS!"
The wave-like Iron Clouds were instantly split apart by Divine Departure.
Seeing this, Hammer hurriedly recalled the Iron Clouds while simultaneously slamming both hands onto Hina's iron branches.
Jet-black Armament Haki instantly spread forward, covering both the iron branches and Shirley's Adamant Shield in the blink of an eye.
"Stop watching the show! Everyone with Armament Haki, get over here and help!"
Lance and the others immediately rushed forward, also channeling their Armament Haki into the defenses ahead.
In a flash, Divine Departure slammed into the second defensive line.
The Shield-Shield Fruit's Adamant Shield.
And this time, it was coated in Armament Haki.
BOOM!
Terrifying force exploded against the shield.
The Armament Haki covering the shield instantly suffered catastrophic damage and shattered almost immediately.
But after all, it was Armament Haki supplied jointly by multiple people.
It still managed to weaken Divine Departure's power somewhat.
The Adamant Shield forcibly held off the attack for several seconds before finally beginning to crack apart.
Hammer understood this clearly.
Although Divine Departure was technically a slash.
Its true destructive power came from the Conqueror's Haki coating.
The sharpness of the slash itself was secondary.
The Haki coating was the real terror.
"Everyone fall back!"
"Air Hammer!"
The moment the Adamant Shield shattered, Hammer alone stepped forward alongside the iron branches.
The Hammer-Hammer Fruit was pushed to its limit as the Air Hammer appeared once more.
"I SAID I WON'T DODGE!!!"
"HOLD THE LINE!!!"
Hammer had completely gone all-in.
The Slacker King aura erupted simultaneously.
Although it only slightly boosted his presence, for Hammer, even that counted as support!
BOOM!
Another explosion rang out.
Countless iron branches shattered apart, blasted into ash under Divine Departure's destructive force.
Thick black smoke instantly engulfed the stern of the Warhammer.
DUANG! DUANG! DUANG!
Immediately afterward came countless hammering sounds.
Roger simply stared ahead silently, a trace of admiration filling his eyes.
It was as though the Marines before him weren't enemies, but instead passionate young men.
Roger had always admired capable youths.
Especially those who faced adversity head-on without retreating.
They inevitably reminded him of his own life.
When the smoke finally dispersed, the hammering sounds ceased.
"Huff... huff..."
Hammer stood at the stern of the ship, gasping heavily for breath.
His right hand trembled slightly.
All the iron branches had vanished.
But neither Hammer nor the Warhammer had suffered even the slightest damage.
"We blocked it!"
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
Hammer burst into excited laughter.
That's right, he had blocked Divine Departure.
Even if it had required layer upon layer of defense to barely manage it,
He still blocked it!
"Roger! See?! I told you! Divine Departure? I won't dodge! I'm more badass than-"
"WAIT, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT STANCE?! No no no, big bro, grandpa, don't do it again!"
Hammer's laughter hadn't even lasted long before he saw Roger slowly raising Ace once more.
Black-red lightning erupted again, scaring Hammer so badly he could barely speak properly.
'What the hell?!'
'Was this guy cheating?!'
'Since when could Divine Departure be spammed repeatedly?!'
'Wasn't one enough?!'
Roger grinned broadly, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.
"Arghargh! Brat, you're really interesting!"
"Come join my crew!"
"I'll take you to explore the mysteries of the world!"
A second ago, Hammer thought another Divine Departure was coming and had fully braced himself.
But after waiting, this was the sentence he got instead.
The sudden invitation completely stunned not only Hammer, but everyone on both sides.
The Marines were filled with question marks.
'Was Roger mentally ill?'
'Trying to recruit a Marine Vice Admiral to become a pirate?!'
Meanwhile, the Roger Pirates were covered in black lines of embarrassment.
Their captain seriously tried recruiting anyone and everyone into piracy?
But honestly, Hammer himself was the most irritated.
First Whitebeard wanted him as a son.
Now Roger wanted him as a crewmate.
What had a simple blacksmith done to deserve this?!
"You want me to become a pirate?"
"Yep! Join my crew! I'll make you the weapons specialist!"
The excitement on Hammer's face slowly faded into calmness.
As though he were genuinely considering it.
"Alright."
Everyone froze.
All eyes instantly turned toward Hammer.
Nobody had expected him to agree.
Meanwhile, Roger was grinning happily.
"I have conditions."
"Name them!"
A sinister smile appeared on Hammer's face, making everyone feel a chill down their spines.
"Go give old man Sengoku fifty Divine Departures, and I'll join your pirate crew! I'll even be your weapons expert!"
"I'm telling you, I've been sick of that old geezer for ages! He exploits me every single day! You deal with him first!"
'Ohhhh.'
Now everyone understood.
Hammer never intended to become a pirate at all.
He simply wanted revenge against his superior.
"Sengoku, huh?"
"That's... not impossible, I guess. But he stays at Marine Headquarters all the time, so I can't really reach him."
"Can I slash someone else instead?"
The next second, everyone was even more shocked.
One dared to ask.
The other actually considered agreeing.
Especially the Roger Pirates, even Rayleigh covered his face helplessly.
Their captain's thought process was definitely abnormal.
"Nope! It has to be Sengoku! If you don't slash him with fifty Divine Departures, then there's nothing to discuss!"
Roger fell silent.
Hammer smiled happily.
"Hammer, that's too much! Sengoku is your superior officer! And this is how you treat him?!"
"Hmph, none of your business! I'll do whatever I want!"
Roger became unhappy.
Ace started rising again.
"Hmph! Roger, I'm done playing with you! Don't think you're the only one with propulsion systems, my Warhammer has one too!"
"Become a pirate? Get lost! I've got hundreds of billions worth of assets! Why the hell would I become a pirate?!"
"Lance! Prepare to run!"
"Bring out the heavy firepower!"
"Load everything and blast them!"
Feeling his trembling hands finally recover, Hammer instantly changed expressions.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Besides Garp, Hammer, you're the second Marine who's made me this happy!"
"Take another Divine Departure as a souvenir!"
Roger laughed happily.
Of course he knew Hammer had been messing with him.
But facing such a carefree and ridiculous Marine.
Roger genuinely found him interesting.
As for fighting to the death?
Forget it.
He didn't have many years left anyway.
Why bully a youngster?
"Can't you use a different move for once?! Are you bullying me because I don't know Conqueror's Haki coating?!"
"If you love using Divine Departure that much, go fight Whitebeard instead!"
The moment he heard "Divine Departure" again, Hammer panicked all over.
This guy, Divine Departure this, Divine Departure that.
The meaning behind Divine Departure wasn't "even gods must dodge."
It meant: "The death of gods."