Although earlier, it was only after Shirahoshi joined their team that her entry appeared in the Hunter Manual, while Zunesha merely showed up after being seen and even appeared on the same page as Shirahoshi, which seemed a little different in terms of how the program worked.
But…
Wasn't this a good thing?
So Sherwin didn't care about that at all. Besides, with this cheat of his that came without a manual and without a system spirit, even if he did care, it would be useless. In the end, he still wouldn't be able to figure it out anyway.
Instead of wasting effort on that, it was better to think about where to use this Universal Fragment.
Actually, Sherwin didn't hesitate much about this either.
At present, he already had two-thirds of a summoning ticket in hand, corresponding to the two general pools—the map pool and the monster pool—as well as the special card pool for Zoan-type Devil Fruits, which could narrow the summoning range.
So there was no need to think much. Sherwin was definitely going to use it on the Zoan-type pool.
What more, he still had a powerful Devil Fruit like the Sakura Dragon Fruit in his possession.
However, Sherwin didn't rush to summon immediately. After all, just thinking with his knees, he could guess that when choosing to summon with the Sakura Dragon Fruit, the entrance of the new kitty would most likely be extremely spectacular.
So it was safer to wait until after leaving Zou and then find an uninhabited island to carry out the summoning.
As for the new kitty missing out on the trip to Zou because of this, that wasn't a big problem either.
After all, Zou would stay here and wasn't going to run away… uh… more precisely, it would stay within the latter half of the Grand Line and wouldn't go too far. At worst, he could just bring him or her here again in the future.
Sherwin put away the Hunter Manual and the summoning ticket fragments, then lightly patted the side of the ship.
"We can land now, Dodo Advance."
"Got it, meow~"
Dodo Advance, which had been hovering above Zunesha and flying along with it at an unhurried pace, responded, then controlled its floating dragon form and slowly descended toward Zunesha back.
As Dodo Advance drew closer, the scenery on Zunesha back came into clearer view before Sherwin and the others.
Within the lush, verdant forest stood a city built largely of stone structures. Beside the city was an enormous tree shaped like a whale even with clouds partially obscuring it, its presence could still be seen clearly.
Inside that stone city, many figures of the Minks could be seen moving about. As Dodo Advance descended, the Minks also noticed Sherwin and his group, lifting their heads to look up at the sky.
"Mm… Dodo Advance, let land over there."
After observing carefully for a moment, Sherwin pointed toward the conspicuous gate at the edge of the city and said.
After all, they were here as guests, so there was no need to do anything too out of line.
Dodo Advance obediently changed direction and landed on the open ground in front of the enormous stone gate near Zunesha backside.
"Do you want to go into the city with us?"
Once Dodo Advance had settled, Sherwin patted the side of the ship and asked.
"I–I'd better not, meow… I can't leave my main body…"
Dodo Advance replied somewhat dejectedly.
But this had already been tested earlier by Haibara Meow and the others, so Sherwin continued,
"It fine. You can just switch to the Furious Rajang or Zinogre form, right? If you think the size is too inconvenient, you can also have Suika help you shrink down a bit."
"Meoww…" Dodo Advance main body swayed slightly, but it still rejected Sherwin suggestion.
"I–I don't really want to meet other people, so just leave me here, meow."
Although the ship spirit Dodo was somewhat different from the others, the trait of "shyness" still existed.
It was just that, compared to other ship spirits who would even hide from their own people, Dodo shyness was only directed at those who were not part of the crew.
So Sherwin did not force the issue and only reminded it, "If you really get bored, just come find us."
"Mm! I know, meow!"
After finishing his exchange with Dodo, Sherwin led the Felynes down. At this moment, several Minks had already come out of the city gate and were walking toward Dodo.
"Waaah! So many cat Minks! And I've never seen any of them before!"
Carrot, who was still a rabbit Mink loli, immediately shouted the moment she saw the Felynes.
The little rabbit casually pushed off the ground and leapt more than ten meters in a single bound, landing in front of Sherwin and the others.
"Were you Minks born outside? I've never heard the adults mention you before! And that big guy over there—could that be a mermaid? I've seen them in the book Wanda gave me!"
It was hard to tell whether it was because of a rabbit three-part mouth making her words unclear, but when Carrot spoke, she always seemed to carry a bit of an accent.
It was like the difference between a regional dialect and standard speech—nothing was actually hard to understand, yet it still sounded a little strange.
"They're the Felyne Research Commission, the only one among the Seven Warlords of the Sea that isn't a pirate force."
Wanda, the dog Mink whose figure was in no way inferior to Robin, walked up beside Carrot, patted her on the head, and said irritably,
"I keep telling you to read the newspapers more. They've been very famous lately."
Hmm, it seemed it wasn't Carrot problem after all, because Wanda had that same strange accent when she spoke… even though Lindbergh, Bepo, Pekoms, and the Minks from Totto Land didn't have it at all.
So was this the local "dialect" of Zou?
That aside, Morgans group of News Birds really had an impressive service range, didn't they? They even managed to deliver newspapers to a place like Zou, which wandered around without any fixed pattern and was constantly shrouded in mist…
So that bird really is the true Pirate King, isn't he?!
Just as Sherwin thoughts started drifting off in all directions again, a lion Mink dressed just like Zoro also stepped forward.
Unlike Pekoms round and goofy appearance, Sicilian looks perfectly matched most people expectations of a lion Mink. A well-proportioned physique paired with the head of a wild male lion made him look extremely handsome.
"Welcome to Zou."
Sicilian spoke words of welcome in that same strange accent, yet his eyes were filled with vigilance as he stared at Sherwin.
Weren't the Minks supposed to be very warm and hospitable? And with so many cats on their side, why was the situation developing completely differently from what he had imagined?
Sherwin looked at Sicilian in confusion.
In fact, it wasn't just him. Aside from Carrot, the little rabbit, the other Minks who had come out to greet them all carried traces of wariness to varying degrees…
And Jack wasn't attacking Zou right now.
Then Sicilian next words made Sherwin understand where their caution was coming from—
"…The Nox Pirates have long since disbanded, and Pedro is no longer a pirate!"
"Uh… you might have some misunderstandings about us because of the World Government reports," Sherwin explained with a wry smile.
"I don't kill every pirate I meet. This time coming to Zou is purely to bring Klee Meow and the others here to have some fun."
"I knew it! Anyone surrounded by so many cat Felynes has to be a good person! Garchu!"
Carrot immediately bounced over and leapt onto Sherwin, rubbing her face hard against his face with enthusiasm.
Then she casually picked Klee Meow up from his shoulder and pulled her down, giving her an affectionate cuddle together with the little ragdoll.
Sicilian expression also relaxed at once. He turned toward the city gate behind them and shouted loudly, "Ring the 'Bell of Welcome'! We have guests!"