When Sherwin reached the little crazy cat side, it was already too late.
The pirate ships that had rushed out from the port of Risky Red Island were now nothing more than splintered wreckage, scattered across the sea.
Sherwin: "…"
It wasn't that he felt bad about the money—after all, he had only spent a fraction of the Sky Island gold.
But a whole group of pirates capable of entering the New World would definitely have several Devil Fruit users among them,
and the chance of finding famed blades aboard their ships wasn't low either. Yet after Jinx sudden blast… nothing was left.
"Um… Sherwin, big boss, I can go underwater and help you salvage whatever left." Shirahoshi swam over,
speaking proudly, "Merfolk are the fastest beings in the world underwater. Salvaging those things is no problem for me at all!"
"Uh… then I'll trouble you."
Sherwin didn't reject Shirahoshi goodwill. The ones truly important to him—the ability users—were already beyond saving, but since such a shy little girl had volunteered on her own, he had no reason to dampen her enthusiasm.
Just as Shirahoshi dove in to recover treasures from the pirate ships, another dozen pirate ships left the port…
"Hm?" Sherwin raised a brow. "As expected of New World pirates. Their heads really are made of iron. I'm actually starting to admire them."
But as soon as he finished speaking, the dozen ships immediately swung their bows around, circled around Risky Red Island, and fled at full speed.
"Pufufu… truly admirable pirates, meow."
(==)
Beside him, Jinx covered her mouth with her paws, laughing so hard that even the tip of her tail trembled.
Sherwin: "…"
New World pirates were infuriating! They'd made him look bad twice in a row!
Fuming, the Hunter grabbed the little blue cat who was still laughing at him and started tickling her weak spots.
"Meow—hahahahaha! Stop it! Stupid Sherwin! Careful or I'll bite you, meow!"
"Hmph~ If you're not afraid of breaking your tiny teeth, go ahead and try!"
The shameless Hunter coated his arm with Armament Haki.
But Jinx? When she went crazy, she never cared about any of that.
"Ah—mrrf!"
(=◣皿◢=)
The little blue cat bit fiercely into Sherwin pitch-black, Haki-covered hand. She wrapped both arms tightly around his arm, and her two little cat legs kicked rapidly with surprising strength.
Of course, Sherwin couldn't actually let Jinx teeth shatter, so he deliberately weakened the intensity of the Armament Haki on his hand.
The little blue cat couldn't bite through anyway. He even diverted a portion of the Haki to his sleeve to keep her kicking legs from tearing his clothes.
At the same time, he reinforced the Haki on his legs, because…
Jinx kicking seemed to have triggered some kind of instinct in a certain little yellow cat. Sanji Meow was now gleefully kicking Sherwin calf with a bright, cheerful expression.
"You little idiot are looking for trouble!"
With Jinx hanging off him, Sherwin once again ended up brawling with Sanji Meow.
Then the little Ragdoll, who loved joining in on chaos, let out a cry and leaped into the fray.
"Jinx sis! Klee Meow is here to help, meow!"
(=`=)
"Then I'm standing on Sherwin-dear side, meow~"
Sharmie joined the fight as well.
And Sanji Meow started kicking even harder…
Then, Link Meow quietly joined too. As a leopard cat, he naturally loved this kind of rough play.
Even when Sherwin and Sanji Meow weren't fighting, he would go find other cats to wrestle with.
Don't be fooled by how silent Link Meow normally was—his energy actually surpassed even Klee Meow and Jinx, those two mischievous little furballs.
Otherwise, back in the Monster Hunter world, he wouldn't have been climbing onto Elder Dragons every few days just to play around…
"Ahem!"
Only after Shirahoshi finished salvaging all the scattered treasure from the seafloor did Huamei Meow finally approach Sherwin and the others with a helpless expression, clearing her throat.
Instantly, the Hunter and the Felynes—who had been tangled in a chaotic brawl moments ago—became obedient and quiet.
While helping smooth down Klee Meow messy fur, Huamei Meow shot a sharp glare at Sherwin and Jinx, the two main culprits behind the commotion.
"Let go. It time for us to head onto the island, meow." Lord Huamei decisively seized command from the Hunter.
Sherwin didn't mind having his authority "taken." Instead, he leaned over and began rummaging through the treasure Shirahoshi had brought up.
Knowing Sherwin enjoyed collecting famed blades, Shirahoshi didn't foolishly salvage only treasure chests.
She also retrieved many of the weapons the pirates had used. And, thinking of Klee Meow and Jinx interests, she even brought up some cannons and gunpowder.
Unfortunately, despite all the weapons she salvaged, Sherwin didn't find a single famed blade.
None of the blunt weapons were recorded in the Hunter Handbook like Cerberus had been, either.
To make matters worse, Shirahoshi had innocently mistaken beautifully designed weapons as famed blades—but many of those pieces were merely "treasures," not actual weapons.
And the cannons and gunpowder, after soaking in seawater, were essentially useless…
"Tch! A bunch of paupers!"
Sherwin clicked his tongue, then immediately turned and smiled at Shirahoshi.
"Still, it thanks to you. Otherwise, we wouldn't have earned even this much."
"I'm sorry, Sherwin… I couldn't tell which weapons were the famed blades you wanted. I'll study harder next time."
But Shirahoshi wasn't stupid. Realizing her salvage didn't help much, she looked down at her fingers, a bit dejected, and volunteered again: "Why don't I go down and salvage another round?"
"No need." Sherwin waved his hand.
"Judging from their strength, these guys probably didn't have anything valuable on them. What we have is plenty. And didn't you want to visit a human town?"
"Oh—right! We're about to enter a human town! Sherwin, do you think they'll like me?"
Shirahoshi immediately perked up again, launching into the same endless questions.
"Like…? I should like it, probably, but maybe not in the way you're imagining." Sherwin thought for a moment, then decided to give her a bit of warning first.
"This is a gathering place for pirates, and pirates… a lot of the time, they moonlight as slave traders."
"Ehh—?!"
Seeing Shirahoshi shocked expression, Sherwin pressed his fingers to his forehead in exasperation.
"Don't tell me you think all pirates are like Jinbe and Whitebeard?"
"A-aren't they?" Shirahoshi asked blankly.
Sherwin: "…"
He had overlooked this part—Shirahoshi had spent all those years inside the Hard-Shell Tower and had no proper understanding of what pirates really were.
Still, the definition of a pirate in this world was strange to begin with, so Sherwin didn't bother explaining further.
He simply said, "You'll understand once you reach the surface. Experience it yourself."
After all, Shirahoshi Observation Haki was similar to Klee Meow, capable of sensing other people emotions.
It just that…
Landing on an island full of ambitious, scheming pirates right from the start might be a bit too much of a shock for her.
So Sherwin continued preparing her mentally.
"If you really start feeling overwhelmed, stop using your Observation Haki immediately. The people on this island are not the kind you want to be peeking into."
"D-don't worry, Boss Sherwin!" Shirahoshi tightened her little face, both promising him and psyching herself up.
"I know fulfilling Mother wish won't be easy, but I won't back down!"