Although Zou position kept changing, the Elephant Lord movement speed was not fast.
Moreover, because it frequently changed direction, its overall "forward" progress was instead slowed down.
So, only a few days after Sherwin told the cats the stories of the "Sailing Cat" and the "Overlord Dog," they saw the figure of the Elephant Lord within a thick sea fog.
"This size… it way too exaggerated, meow!"
(=⊙Д⊙=)
Haibara Meow stared wide-eyed at the slowly moving Elephant Lord, so shocked that she nearly fell off Sherwin shoulder.
Even though dense fog surrounded them, preventing everyone from seeing the Elephant Lord full body, its gigantic size—so enormous that it defied common sense—was already more than enough to leave people (and cats) stunned, even with just a partial view.
Even Raviente, the officially largest monster by size in Monster Hunter, would be no different from a loach in front of it.
"With such an outrageous size, how does it even stand and move, meow? If it has enough body density to support such a massive body, then because of the weight it should sink straight into the seabed, meow! And with such a gigantic body constantly moving through the sea, wouldn't it cause disasters like tsunamis, meow?! I can't even feel any obvious difference between the current waves and before, meow!"
After the initial shock, the scientifically minded Haibara Meow began clutching her head and fell into a cognitive breakdown.
The other science cat, Purah Meow, was not doing any better. Her cute big eyes had long since lost focus, and the whiskers by her mouth trembled slightly, as if she were muttering something under her breath.
"Alright, alright. There are plenty of strange and bizarre things in this world, so don't think too much about it. As for tsunamis… is the Grand Line really lacking in those?"
Sherwin pulled both Haibara Meow and Purah Meow into his arms. With his comfort and the all-around service of the Kato Cat Hands, the two research cats—who had already begun doubting their cat lives—finally recovered.
"Sherwin, hurry up and make the Dodo go faster! I can't wait to study that big elephant, meow!"
(=ω=)
After regaining their spirits, Haibara Meow and Purah Meow immediately plunged back into a state of research fanaticism.
"Got it, got it…" Sherwin affectionately pinched her cheek, then gently shook his head. "Dodo, it up to you."
[Sailing Cat! Transform, meow!]
(=＞＜=)
After hearing the modified version of Transformers, Dodo excitedly stood up, then leaped down from above Sherwin head.
When she landed on the deck, she didn't stand there as usual. Instead, like diving into water, she "burrowed" straight into her own main body.
Immediately after, the Dodo Advance beneath Sherwin feet began to transform on its own, quickly switching into its floating wyvern form.
[Sailing Cat! Transform and launch, meow!]
As the massive white balloon rose up, Dodo hull gradually lifted away from the sea surface and slowly ascended into the air.
"Oh—! We're going to see a super huge elephant and other fluffy Mink Tribe beastfolk, meow!"
(=`=)
"Meow hahaha! I wonder if the Mink Tribe of Zou can hold their liquor as well as the ones in Totto Land, meow~ hic!"
(●￣ω￣●)
"Yahoo—! Mink Tribe cat big sisters, your guardian knight Sanji Meow has arrived, meow!"
(==)
Well, whether it was the adventure-loving Klee Meow and Huamei, the research-focused Haibara Meow and Purah Meow, or Suika Meow who wanted to find someone to drink and spar with…
None of them were as full of anticipation and excitement as Sanji Meow, that little yellow cat.
"Sanji Meow! How do I usually teach you, meow?!"
"S-sorry! Huamei big sister! I know I was wrong, meow!"
The little yellow cat who had been waving his paws around immediately snapped to attention, standing straight and shouting his apology.
Fortunately, Lord Huamei, the ship "discipline committee member," was still on board. Otherwise, by the time they reached Zou, Sanji Meow would definitely end up disgracing the investigation team (and the cats).
Amid the cat noisy shouting, the Dodo floating dragon quickly caught up with the steadily advancing Zunesha.
However, the Dodo did not land right away. To allow Haibara Meow and Purah Meow to observe more clearly, Sherwin deliberately had the Dodo circle around Zunesha massive body several times, flying from bottom to top.
Zunesha itself seemed completely unconcerned with this "little bug" constantly circling around it, maintaining its steady pace as it continued to wander aimlessly across the sea.
"So, were you able to communicate with Zunesha?"
Sherwin, of course, did not forget about Shirahoshi.
"S-sorry, Boss Sherwin… it seems I can't talk to Zunesha…"
Shirahoshi twisted her fingers guiltily, looking as though she was about to burst into tears.
"Alright, alright. If you can't reach it, then you can't. I'm not blaming you."
Sherwin gently patted Shirahoshi fish tail, soothing her repeatedly.
Although she had already changed a lot under the influence of Sherwin and the cats, this habit of crying was deeply ingrained. On an ordinary day, she could even cry so hard over Demon Slayer that she was nearly short of breath.
As for Shirahoshi failing to communicate with Zunesha, Sherwin had actually expected this outcome.
After all, even communicating with Sea Kings was still difficult for her now, so being unable to contact Zunesha was only natural…
So what exactly allowed Kozuki Momonosuke to talk to Zunesha? The bloodline of the Kozuki family? Then why did Hiyori have no reaction at all? Even if she had never been to Zou, Zunesha later came to Wano, didn't it? Momonosuke was able to communicate with it from far away.
Could it be that, to talk to Zunesha, you first have to join its "chat group"?
"B-but I also want to help Boss Sherwin…"
Just as Sherwin was internally complaining about the original setting, Shirahoshi muttered unwillingly, "How about I try that device Little Haibara Meow and Big Sister Purah Meow made again?"
Besides the "Sea King Translator," the two research cats had also made a "Shirahoshi-exclusive brainwave amplifier." After using that thing, the signal between her and the Sea Kings could indeed be strengthened a little…
It was just upgraded from cutting out every two or three seconds to cutting out every three to five seconds, but it worked quite well in reducing Shirahoshi burden, extending the maximum duration of communication by quite a bit.
"No rush. Maybe it just because we're still too far away right now. Let try slowly after we get up there."
While calming down the restless Haibara Meow and Purah Meow, Sherwin took out the Hunter Handbook.
Compared to everything else, whether they could obtain fragments was the top priority of this trip.
He flipped open the handbook, but the familiar white light did not appear…
Instead, a new seven-colored rainbow light emerged!
After the light faded, a small slip of paper that Sherwin recognized appeared in the gap between the pages…
No, that wasn't right—something was different.
Sherwin pinched the paper fragment between his fingers and discovered that this piece was unlike the fragments he had obtained before.
First of all, the newly appeared paper fragment was perfectly square, without the jagged edges typical of ordinary fragments. Second, aside from a black cat paw print, there was nothing else on it.
"This is… a universal fragment?"
After coming into contact with the fragment, information related to it quickly surfaced in Sherwin mind.
Just as the name implied, this fragment could substitute for any fragment in any position within any card pool.
If that was the case, then the elephant lord definitely wasn't recorded in the "Large Monster Encyclopedia," was it?
Sherwin flipped the handbook to the page that recorded the Shirahoshi and Sherry.
Sure enough, a new entry belonging to the elephant lord had appeared there—
[Naitamie-Norida elephant ]
A special individual among the Naitamie · Norida Elephants, a super-giant elephant that had lived for over a thousand years.
…
What?! Bro?! This insane thing isn't just a single one—it an entire species?!
Sherwin was completely stunned. He had always assumed that the elephant lord was most likely some kind of ancient technology product, or perhaps a Devil Fruit creation or something along those lines…
After all, Kaido already existed as an exception, and with the elephant lord being so enormous, even if a Devil Fruit user merely soaked their feet in seawater, there wouldn't be much of a reaction anyway.
However, he quickly forced himself to calm down again.
In this world, even human body sizes could vary wildly, so for an unknown Naitamie · Norida Elephant population somewhere out there to produce an ultra-giant mutant individual…
That was actually… normal?
…