On a morning when the wind was uncooperative and the sun was anything but beautiful—yet still an utterly ordinary morning on the Grand Line—the Hunter had just finished a sparring session with Seijuro Meow, Suika Meow, and several other battle Felynes.
Before he even had time to sheath the Longsword, Klee Meow came scampering over, took a hard leap when she was still three or four meters away from Sherwin, and flew through the air.
"Brother Sherwin, that Zou changed direction again, meow!"
(=＞ω＜=)
Klee Meow crashed straight into Sherwin arms. After happily burrowing her little head against him for a moment, she wrinkled her tiny nose and muttered,
"If it keeps changing like this, when will we ever get to see that super huge elephant, meow?"
Just as Sherwin caught Klee Meow, Dodo Advance also clambered up from behind, using both paws and feet to crawl onto the top of Sherwin head.
[That right, that right, during this time I've already followed it through twelve direction changes, meow!]
Dodo Advance complained in agreement while patting Sherwin head with its little paws.
"There nothing I can do about that," Sherwin said helplessly as he rubbed Klee Meow head and then pinched Dodo Advance paw pads.
"Zunesha has been moving without any purpose for hundreds of years. It never stops to rest."
"Why is that, meow?"
(=ω=)
Klee Meow lifted her head in confusion. "Doesn't it ever get tired, meow?"
"Who knows," Sherwin replied. "When we finally meet it someday, you can ask it yourself, Klee."
Sherwin vaguely remembered that Zunesha never resting had something to do with either a promise or a punishment involving Joy Boy, but as for the exact reason, he wasn't sure.
As for whether Klee Meow would actually be able to communicate with Zunesha…
Judging by the plot of the manga, at the very least Shirahoshi—who is also a "King" like Luffy—should be able to communicate with Zunesha.
And Klee Meow, who possesses a type of Observation Haki similar to hers, should likewise have a real chance of being able to communicate with Zunesha as well…
Worst case, they could always have Shirahoshi relay the message.
Besides, the "Sea King Translator" made by Purah Meow and Haibara Meow is already capable of converting ordinary language into the same wavelength that Shirahoshi used when communicating with the Sea Kings back then.
It just that, for now, the thing can only "output" and can't "input," so Sherwin and the others have no way of knowing whether the "translated" language is actually accurate.
Anyway, in the latest related experiment, the Sea Kings that were drawn over all looked rather angry.
If Shirahoshi hadn't been there, they probably would have ended up in Sanji Meow cooking pot.
The plan D that Sherwin hadn't been able to use before was actually to use that thing to lure nearby Sea Kings over and have them help restrain Kaido.
It was just that Sherwin wasn't sure , if he really did summon the Sea Kings, they would end up attacking him along with Kaido.
Mm… better not use Zunesha as the test subject after all.
Thinking about how Zunesha had sent Jack flying with a single swing of its trunk in the manga, Sherwin felt it was safer to play things steady.
"Alright then…" The little ragdoll pouted, but soon cheered up again. "Klee wants to hear a story, meow!"
(=`=)
"Boss Sherwin is going to tell a story?"
The moment there was talk of a story, Shirahoshi immediately drifted over as if following a scent.
Seijuro Meow, who had originally planned to return to the quiet room for blade meditation, made a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn on the spot and sat down beside Sherwin in a perfectly proper cat squat.
"This time, are you telling Demon Slayer again, meow?"
The little black cat flicked his tail, asking with a face full of anticipation.
(=ω=)
Beside him, Link Meow showed the same eager expression.
Suika Meow, on the other hand, hugged her gourd of liquor and rolled straight over to Sherwin side, then sloppily leaned against him and took a huge gulp, "glug glug."
"Ha—!" The tipsy little cat let out a long breath of alcohol, then rubbed her head against Sherwin. "I do like Demon Slayer, that kind of fighting story, but when are you going to tell a story about alcohol, meow?"
Jinx also chimed in with a suggestion: "There are already plenty of stories about slashing people with blades, like Bleach and Demon Slayer. It time to tell a story about gunfights, meow!"
"Hmph! What so good about stories full of fighting and killing, meow? Stories like Little Cat are much better, meow!"
Haibara Meow climbed onto Sherwin shoulder, tugging at his ear as she made a different demand.
But the moment her words fell, the little doll in Sherwin arms covered her own ears, scrunching up her little face as she protested,
"Little Cat story is too complicated… Klee Meow can't understand it, meow…"
In truth, with Klee Meow cleverness, it wasn't that she truly couldn't understand it. This little troublemaker simply didn't like having to use her brain to think about more complicated issues while listening to a story.
"It exactly because you can't understand it that you need to listen more, otherwise you'll end up becoming a dummy like Sherwin, meow!"
"But, Ai big sister, you've been tricked by brother Sherwin even more than me, meow. If brother Sherwin is a dummy, then Ai big sister, you're an even dumber super-dummy, meow!"
＜(=`=)σ
Klee Meow struck a "there is only one truth" pose, one hand on her hip and the other pointing straight at Haibara Meow, declaring with ringing clarity.
"I'm going to spank your little dummy butt until it blossoms, meow!"
(=`Д=)
Humiliated and furious, Haibara Meow leapt down from Sherwin shoulder and pounced toward Klee Meow, who was still cradled in his arms.
The two little cats immediately rolled into a scuffle right there in Sherwin embrace…
Only, most of their little paws ended up landing on Sherwin, who was holding them.
Sherwin: "..."
To keep himself from continuing to suffer, Sherwin decisively grabbed one kitten in each hand and separated them.
The little doll quickly settled down, but Haibara Meow clung to his arm and started gnawing on it, biting even harder than before.
Sherwin: "..."
"Um… actually, I kind of want to hear that story about that Little cat too, meow…"
At this moment, Sanji Meow also spoke up weakly from the side.
As if Sherwin list of options still wasn't long enough, Shirahoshi followed up in a small voice,
"And that Havoc in Heaven story… Sherwin boss didn't finish it either…"
Sherwin looked up at the sky in silence. Had he really dug so many holes already?
The main reason was that when he told stories, he never thought too much about it—if it felt suitable, he told it.
On top of that, every cat had different tastes in stories, so without realizing it, Sherwin had ended up telling bits and pieces of several different stories here and there…
And none of them were finished!
After spending some time calming down the noisy cats, Sherwin reached up and patted Dodo, who was sprawled across his head. "How about I tell you a story related to ships?"
Once you owe too much you stop worrying, once you have too many lice you stop itching. Since there were already so many holes, Sherwin didn't care about opening one more.
[Yes, yes, yes!]
Although Dodo ship spirit had never shown herself before, she had listened to Sherwin stories along with everyone else.
She hadn't had any particular preference before, but the moment she heard it was about ships, it immediately felt different.
The other cats exchanged glances with one another, then stopped arguing and all decided to show a bit of consideration for the "newly joined" Dodo.
Only Suika Meow looked unhappy, gulped down a mouthful of wine, and said nothing, just staring at Sherwin with a resentful gaze.
"Uh… it not appropriate with kids around right now. When there time, I'll tell you a Drunken Fist story especially for you—there'll be both booze and fighting, you'll definitely like it."
Sherwin hurriedly made a promise to Suika Meow. Only then did the little drunk cat cheer up and hand him a "bowl" of wine.
After drinking the wine Suika Meow passed to him, Sherwin turned to Jinx, who had already puffed out her cheeks, and said, "The story I'm about to tell has gunfights in it."
With Jinx mood finally clearing up as well, Sherwin at last began telling the cats his heavily modified version of the Transformers story…