The oppressive pressure came as quickly as it went, but a few mountain bandits who had been standing closer were still affected— their eyes rolled back, white foam spilled from their mouths, and they collapsed unconscious.
Those bandits who weren't caught in the range just stood there looking utterly confused, having no idea what had happened to their companions.
As for Sherwin and the others, who were also standing close by, they were basically unaffected.
"Oh~ Conqueror Haki."
Sherwin raised an eyebrow, not feeling the least bit surprised—after all, in the manga, Ace had already awakened his Conqueror Haki when he was just ten years old.
However, Klee Meow was startled, her fur puffing up all over. Her little claws instinctively popped out completely, piercing through Sherwin clothes…
Only to be stopped by his Armament Haki.
Although she had experienced Conqueror Haki before from old man Chinjao, the little ragdoll still hadn't fully adapted to it.
And… Ace Conqueror Haki actually felt just a little bit stronger than Chinjao in terms of oppressive force.
"So this is Conqueror Haki? It really does feel similar to those big guys, meow."
"In my opinion, it average—nowhere near Teostra level, meow."
Sure enough, the two more experienced adult Felynes were almost completely unaffected by the Conqueror Haki.
While gently patting the puffed-up Klee Meow to soothe her nervousness, Sherwin turned to Seijuro Meow and asked, "You've seen Teostra before?"
"I was fortunate enough to see him once, but unfortunately, at that time, my strength was insufficient, so I couldn't fight him, meow." Seijuro Meow shook his head, speaking with clear regret.
Defeating a Rathian wasn't enough—you actually wanted to fight a Teostra too…
Sherwin mouth twitched slightly, then he consoled him, "Don't worry, there are plenty of beings in this world stronger than Teostra."
With that said, he turned his gaze back toward Sanji Meow.
Just like Klee Meow, Sanji Meow had also been startled by Ace Conqueror Haki, so when he was kicking at Luffy, his movement stalled for a moment.
Luffy combat instincts needed no explanation—seizing the chance, he finally landed a punch on Sanji Meow, sending the little yellow cat flying far away.
Strange… Luffy didn't seem to feel anything at all? Was it because he had the aptitude for Conqueror Haki?
But no, even if he had the aptitude, he should still be able to sense another person Conqueror Haki.
Besides, later on, when he fought doflamingo and Kaido, didn't Luffy actively unleash his own Conqueror Haki to clash with theirs?
It couldn't be that Luffy nerves were just too thick for him to notice… Wait, actually, that didn't seem impossible…
Once again, Sherwin head started to itch from the bewildering logic of the One Piece world.
Meanwhile, Ace—having just unleashed a burst of Conqueror Haki—used the momentum to get back on his feet.
But his condition was far from good after all, being "electrocuted" by Sanji Meow for so long, the fact that he could still move at all was thanks to the naturally superhuman physique of people in the One Piece world, along with the strength of the Pirate King bloodline.
That said, when it came to physical prowess, humans and Felynes from the Monster Hunter world weren't exactly far behind.
"Puh! Puh! Puh!" Sanji Meow shook his body, scattering the leaves and dust stuck to his fur, then spat out the grit in his mouth.
He glared furiously at Luffy, who had just sent him flying. "I'm super mad right now! I'm gonna kick you into a pizza, meow!"
As soon as the little yellow cat finished speaking, arcs of electricity lit up around his body again, and he made a movement that Sherwin found very familiar—
He raised both of his little paws high above his head…
"Eight Gates, meow!"(=`Д=)
The hell—this was obviously just demon mode! The only difference was that he wasn't holding a weapon in his paws!
Feeling Sanji Meow aura rapidly surge, Sherwin turned his head toward Seijuro Meow beside him.
After all, this was the genius Hunter Felyne who had created the Flying Cat Sword Style by combining techniques from many Hunters. Sanji Meow demon mode could only have been learned from him.
It wasn't that Sherwin didn't want to teach Sanji Meow these skills—rather, before summoning Seijuro Meow, he had never even considered the possibility that a Felyne could learn Hunter techniques.
And after summoning him… well, naturally, it was far more efficient for Sanji Meow to learn directly from this far more experienced Felyne.
After all, the physical structure of humans and Felynes was still different. Even though Sherwin had a deeper and broader understanding of Hunter techniques, when it came to teaching Felynes specifically, he was still far inferior to Seijuro Meow himself.
"Sherwin, you guessed right. The demon mode was indeed taught to Sanji Meow by me," Seijuro Meow nodded in satisfaction. "Looks like he mastered it pretty well, meow."
As he spoke, Sanji Meow, who had activated demon mode, took the initiative to launch an attack…
"Omote Renge, meow!"
Ace and Luffy already couldn't beat Sanji Meow before, and now that he had activated demon mode, there was no way they could win.
Just like Sherwin back then, Sanji Meow could also temporarily awaken Armament Haki through demon mode. His already dark little paws turned even darker, instantly wiping out Luffy advantage.
"Ahhhh! Why can even you kick me so hard now?!"
"Cut the crap! Take this… Diable Jambe: Ura Renge, meow!"
After a brief but intense one-sided beating, both men and one cat were lying on the ground, unable to move…
Just like Sherwin in the past, activating demon mode consumed Sanji Meow stamina far too quickly.
So after kicking Ace and Luffy until they were unable to fight, he himself was completely drained and collapsed to the ground.
"You little fool, you went way too hard, didn't you?" Sherwin immediately rushed forward, scooped Sanji Meow into his arms, rubbed his little face, and praised, "Well done."
"Hmph~ I don't need you to say it, meow." Sanji Meow narrowed his eyes comfortably as he enjoyed Sherwin massage, all while trying to sound prideful and stubborn.
"Sanji-nii is amazing, meow!" Klee Meow, perched on Sherwin shoulder, chimed in loudly with praise. "You won, meow!"
"Your stamina management still needs some optimization. I'll be training you specifically on that next, meow."
As the teacher, Seijuro Meow was stricter, but he still showed concern for Sanji Meow. "But for now, it best that you get some proper rest, meow."
However, none of their concern could compare to one particular sentence from Beautiful big sister Felyne…
"You did great, little Sanji. Big sis sees you in a whole new light now, meow."
"Big sis Huamei~~~"
Sanji Meow, who had been "on his last breath" just moments ago, suddenly leapt out of Sherwin arms, twisting his body like a noodle, and shamelessly bragged,
"This kind of thing is nothing to me, meow! I could take on ten more without a problem, meow…?"
He didn't even finish his sentence before his body tilted uncontrollably to the side, and Sherwin caught him in his arms again.
"You little idiot, this really isn't the time to show off!" Sherwin lightly knocked the little yellow cat on the head, then pulled out a dried fish snack that Sanji Meow had cured himself and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Eat something and get your strength back first."
As soon as Sherwin took out the dried fish, Luffy—who had been unconscious—suddenly twitched his nose twice, then instantly woke up.
Although he was still lying on the ground, unable to move, Luffy kept trying to turn his head to see what delicious smell he had just caught, shouting loudly, "What tasty thing is that?! I want some too!"
Sherwin rolled his eyes helplessly. Luffy obsession with food was no less intense than Sanji obsession with the opposite sex.
Still, he pulled out another handful of dried fish and handed it to Dadan, who was in the process of helping the two brothers up.