Shrrk!
While everyone was still staring in shock, Lance himself was completely dumbfounded.
The saber remained embedded in his body as streaks of blue light suddenly flickered around the wound.
Everyone's eyes were instantly drawn toward the faint blue glow.
"I... don't feel any pain..."
"But this is definitely a real saber, right?"
Lance stared at the changes happening to his body in confusion before casually grabbing the saber's handle.
Shrrk!
With a crisp sound, he pulled the blade straight out.
"Holy crap! He pulled it out!"
"There's no blood?!"
"Lance, doesn't it hurt?!"
Shirley and the others were completely stunned.
"Doesn't hurt at all..."
"Look..."
As he spoke, Lance shoved the saber right back into his own chest.
That instantly broke everyone's brains.
What kind of lunatic was this?!
He'd already pulled it out, and now he was stabbing himself again?!
But this little demonstration definitely proved one thing,
Lance really was completely unharmed.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Of course he's fine! What do you idiots think I fed him?!"
Hammer's manic laughter instantly attracted everyone's attention.
Even Lance looked over.
He desperately wanted to know what exactly he had eaten and what had happened to his body.
"You bunch of idiots! You've all been sailing the seas for this long!"
"Don't tell me you've never heard of Logia-type Devil Fruits?!"
"What Lance just ate is the so-called strongest Logia Devil Fruit, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit!"
The words "Rumble-Rumble Fruit" exploded in everyone's minds like a hammer strike.
'Logia!'
'Strongest!'
'Rumble-Rumble Fruit?!'
'My god, Hammer actually gave a fruit like that to Lance?!'
Even Lance himself was stunned.
'What?
'I ate a Logia?'
'And supposedly the strongest one at that?'
"Hammer... are you serious?"
"The hell kind of question is that? You already ate it. Do I look like I'm joking?"
Looking at Hammer's completely serious expression, Lance instantly froze.
"No, but... why didn't you discuss this with me first?"
"A fruit this powerful should've gone to someone stronger!"
Lance believed his own talent and potential were fairly average.
He felt completely unworthy of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
"Tch, what's wrong with giving it to you?"
"How long have you been following me? If I got you a fruit, then just eat it and stop overthinking."
"Seriously, don't think I'm scared of you just because you're lightning now."
"Since you ate it, make proper use of it. Future Devil Fruit development lessons now include you."
"If you don't train it properly, I'll smash you to death with a hammer."
Hammer heavily patted Lance's shoulder, his tone unusually serious.
Within the Warhammer crew, the strongest combatant was obviously Hammer himself.
After him came Shirley.
Especially after eating the Shield-Shield Fruit, Shirley's strength had increased rapidly.
She had also mastered both Armament and Observation Haki.
Although both were still at beginner level, combined with the Mink Tribe's racial abilities, her combat power had officially stepped into Vice Admiral territory, even if only at the early stage.
Now compare that to Lance.
Although he also possessed both types of Haki, the speed of his overall growth had slowed significantly.
He was already beginning to struggle.
Even Hina had exploded with potential thanks to Hammer helping her plan out Devil Fruit development directions, combined with years of training.
As the vice-captain who had followed Hammer from the very beginning,
How could Hammer bear watching Lance fall behind?
Hammer had spent a long time carefully choosing the Rumble-Rumble Fruit specifically for Lance.
The shield was already there.
The hammer was already there.
Wasn't lightning the only thing missing?
Just imagining Lance turning into lightning while Hammer turned into a hammer.
Perfect Thor's Hammer setup.
While Hammer lost himself in this beautiful fantasy.
Lance fell silent.
Feeling the changes within his body, he suddenly felt deeply moved.
He knew very well what his limits were.
No matter how hard he trained, he understood the gap between himself and true geniuses.
'Hammer... you really...'
'That was...'
'Moving...'
"Woooow, little Hammer really treats his subordinates well. Makes me want to join the Warhammer too."
Gion hugged Konpira while teasing him with a smile.
Tokikake nodded wildly beside her.
That was the Rumble-Rumble Fruit!
Of course they were jealous.
"Oh please, you and Tokikake can go cool off somewhere else."
"My ship's too small to hold two big shots like you."
"I'll just keep entertaining myself with my little bunch of nobodies."
"Lance, stop standing there spacing out. Try using your powers!"
"You're lightning now! Hurry up!"
Hammer laughed while teasing him, then shoved Lance directly in front of everyone like some talent-show performer.
Usually carefree and bold, Lance instantly panicked.
"This... uh... it's my first time being a Devil Fruit user. I don't know how to use it!"
"Hammer, how do abilities work?"
'...'
'Seriously?'
'Did this guy really have to panic this hard?!'
Everyone nearby burst into laughter.
"Lightning, come forth!"
Lance forced himself to act calm, dramatically waving one hand as he shouted loudly.
CRACK!
The moment he extended his arm, a bolt of lightning exploded outward.
It was literally thunder from a clear sky.
The sound was incredibly sharp and loud.
Lance's arm instantly turned blue as electric currents surged around it.
Feeling himself become lightning, he suddenly became excited.
"So this is the Rumble-Rumble Fruit?! Lightning!"
"Hahaha!"
Even if he'd never seen a pig run, he'd at least eaten pork before.
There were already three Devil Fruit users aboard the Warhammer.
After interacting with them constantly, Lance already had a decent understanding of Devil Fruit abilities.
First, he transformed his right arm into lightning.
Then his left.
Then finally his entire body transformed into electricity.
The blinding electric glow forced everyone nearby to cover their eyes.
Too bright!
Especially for Hammer.
The moment he saw the blue light, the first thing that came to mind was old man Sengoku.
One glowed blue.
The other glowed gold.
Later he should make Lance and Sengoku activate their powers together and compare which light was brighter.
Oh right.
There was also Borsalino.
He glowed gold too.
"Lance, how do you feel? Think you can punch Whitebeard to death now?"
Lance had been happily playing around with his powers, but Hammer's sentence instantly broke his brain.
'What?'
'Whitebeard?!'
'Hell no I still wanted to live a few more years.'
"Hahaha! Lance, work hard from here on out."
"The Rumble-Rumble Fruit can absolutely raise your upper limit to top-tier Vice Admiral level."
"As for whether you can enter Admiral level, that depends entirely on you."
"Don't worry, Hammer! I'll absolutely give it my all!"
After obtaining the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Lance instantly became much more spirited.
"Mm, good."
"Once we return to Headquarters, I'll remodel the Warhammer and build a lightning conversion device."
"At that point, you'll become the Warhammer's power source."
"Wonderful!"
'...'
'Wait.'
'Did I just get tricked into more work???'
"But little Hammer, how did you know the Rumble-Rumble Fruit would be here?"
Gion's sudden question instantly made Hammer the center of attention.
Fortunately, Hammer had already prepared a response.
He immediately pulled out a circular disc from his ring.
"See this? My masterpiece, the Treasure Compass!"
"Once activated, it can search for nearby treasures."
"The only downside is the cost."
"After each use, it enters cooldown for ten years."
'What?!'
'A ten-year cooldown?!'
'Good lord.'
Everyone who knew about Hammer's abilities immediately believed him.
Even Gion nodded before giving Lance a look that basically said: "You lucky bastard."
As for whether the compass was real or fake?
Heh.
Who cared?
As long as the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was secured, that was all that mattered.