One Piece: The Max-Level Blacksmith of Marineford

"In terms of combat ability, I am not as good as Sakazuki and the others, but I have my own advantage, which is blacksmithing."

"I want to shine in Marineford, fully demonstrate my forging abilities, and help the generals improve their combat effectiveness as much as possible."

A hint of relief flashed in Zephyr's eyes, but he still highly recognized Iron Hammer's strength. Letting him stay in Marineford would be a waste of his talent.

"You don't need to underestimate yourself. Your strength and talent are top-notch. It's just that your temperament needs more tempering."

"Your forging skills are indeed quite good; that sword alone has successfully led old man Kong astray."

Speaking of Old Man Kong, Zefa shook his head helplessly.

Now, whenever he has free time, the old man Kong goes to the training ground to spar with others.

He knew nothing about swordsmanship; he was just blindly slashing with that longsword.

But that thing could unleash sword energy just like a slash, allowing him to win repeatedly and making him feel incredibly good.

"Well, actually, Professor Zephyr, I was just too lazy to go out to sea. I also have a terrible sense of direction. If it weren't for Sherry's help, I wouldn't have been able to get back."

"Get out of here!"

"No, Professor Zephyr, please think about it again..."

"Are you leaving or not?"

A patch of black began to spread.

"Okay, I'm off..."

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Chapter 25 Graduation Speech

Two weeks later, in the square of the recruit training camp.

The Navy's top officials and management gathered together.

Standing on the high platform were Fleet Admiral Sora, Admiral Sengoku, Chief Instructor Zephyr, Chief of Staff Tsuru, Vice Admiral Garp, and several others.

The square below houses the trainees of the first training camp.

This does not include the three monsters. Apart from Dragon returning to Marineford with Garp, the other two are out there carrying out their own missions.

As time goes by.

The graduation ceremony began as scheduled, with groups of cadets walking up the platform and being awarded military ranks. However, Iron Hammer, standing in the ranks, looked extremely gloomy.

Of the original elite team of 100, only 77 have returned, and 7 of them have not yet completed their mission.

In other words, 20 people were killed in this assessment.

"Iron Hammer, you have completed the assessment objective: single-handedly killing a pirate with a bounty of 100 million Berries. In the name of the Fleet Admiral, I hereby confer upon Iron Hammer the rank of Colonel!"

Upon hearing this, Iron Hammer immediately stepped forward.

He noticed that Marshal Kong was very happy at this moment, and the long sword he had hammered was still hanging at his waist.

However, Iron Hammer showed no sign of joy, calmly accepting the badge. Marshal Kong could tell that he was preoccupied.

"Iron Hammer, you must know that this sea is cruel, and the justice we represent is heavy. Our fallen comrades sacrificed themselves for justice. All we can do is carry on with this burden and not let their sacrifice be in vain."

Subsequently, the Air Marshal personally draped the cloak of justice over Iron Hammer's head. It was a naval cloak representing the rank of colonel, and he was the only colonel among those taking the assessment.

Although it is an elite training camp, most of the trainees are only lieutenants after graduation, with only a few reaching the rank of major. After all, they are recruited from all over the country, and their ranks are uniformly allocated at headquarters.

Once upon a time, Hammer greatly envied and wanted this cloak.

But once he actually put it on, he realized that it wasn't an honor at all, but rather a warning, a reminder of how hard-won this cloak was.

After doing all this, Marshal Kong patted Iron Hammer on the shoulder and solemnly said, "Wearing the robes of justice, never fall into depravity!"

At this moment, Iron Hammer seemed to truly understand the meaning of justice, and nodded firmly.

"Yes, Marshal Kong!"

After saying this, Iron Hammer was about to step down from the platform, but he was stopped by Marshal Kong.

At this moment, Marshal Kong turned to all the graduating students and said, "Next, let's have our most outstanding graduate of this year give a speech!"

Iron Hammer stared blankly at Marshal Kong.

What's going on? Nobody told him about this beforehand.

Then he turned his gaze to Zephyr, who was standing to the side. Zephyr was looking at him with a sly grin.

He then realized that this was a deliberate attempt to keep him from being told.

"Iron Hammer, what are you dawdling for? Speak up!"

Well, it's like forcing a duck onto a shelf.

We can only face the challenge head-on.

Iron Hammer immediately stood where Marshal Kong had just been standing, adjusted the microphone angle, gave a military salute, and waited for everyone to return the salute before speaking:

"Good morning, colleagues and superiors. I apologize for taking up your time to hear some principles that you may already know."

A simple opening remark elicited chuckles from the audience, as this is the reality of most speeches: the speaker simply rehashs familiar truths, making it tiresome to listen to.

"Actually, I only just found out that I was going to give a speech. It's true, Professor Zefa never mentioned to me that I needed to give a graduation speech."

In an instant, the scene erupted like a pot boiling over, with bursts of laughter echoing through the air.

Marshal Kong's face immediately turned as black as the bottom of a pot, and he glared angrily at Zefa.

Zefa, who was still laughing, immediately stopped, but his twitching face meant he was still laughing.

"But since I'm already standing here, I'll tell you all about it."

The hammer's voice suddenly turned serious, causing the laughter in the arena to gradually subside.

"During this sea voyage assessment, I witnessed the chaos of this ocean, the suffering of the people, and the rampant activities of pirates."

"As a navy, we are a navy that wears justice, carries justice, executes justice, and defends justice."

"Our navy exists for the weak. When we uphold justice, more people survive because of us. Conversely, if we betray justice, those who could have survived may die."

This is the meaning of our navy's existence: to enable more people to survive. As the navy, upholding justice is how we prove our worth.

"Some people may think that what I'm saying is just empty talk, that anyone could say it."

"I want to tell you the truth, no, when I saved that girl, I felt proud and honored."

"But when I saw that our team of 100 people had dwindled to 70, my heart sank."

"The Air Marshal just said something to me that I deeply agree with: This sea is cruel, the justice we represent is heavy, and our fallen comrades sacrificed themselves for justice. All we can do is carry on with this burden and not let their sacrifice be in vain."

The air marshal standing to the side was filled with awe.

The entire square fell silent for a moment, and Iron Hammer's words pierced their hearts.

“Our individual capabilities are limited, which is why we have this place, this Marine Headquarters called Marineford.”

"With the elite training camp led by Professor Zefa."

"It is so that we can better unite our strength, become proof of the navy's existence, and become a long sword hanging over the darkness."

"This is the meaning of our existence, the meaning of the navy's existence: to carry on the wishes of our predecessors, to move forward with heavy burdens, to sweep away the darkness at sea, and to restore light to this vast ocean."

"well said!"

The air force marshal stepped forward and, without even adjusting the microphone, shouted loudly.

Although Iron Hammer's words were improvised, they were very powerful.

With Marshal Kong leading the way, the generals no longer held back and began to shout and cheer.

The trainees in the training camp looked excited as they watched the hammer on the stage, clapping their hands enthusiastically.

Why do they train so hard? Isn't it to gain greater strength and sweep away evil on this sea?

“Hey, Zephyr, what Iron Hammer said makes sense. Shouldn’t you consider letting him join my crew?”

Garp laughed as he patted Zephyr on the shoulder.

Zefa turned around and glared at him fiercely, then decisively shouted:

"Iron Hammer is my man, and no one should even think about taking him away!"

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