The seawater that had just fallen surged upward once again, blasted high into the air.
Along with it flew countless fish, shrimp, and crabs, as well as the bright red blood of the elephant lord.
Although there was an entire forest on its back, there was very little soil covering the city ground, so it was easy to directly touch the elephant lord skin. Even with the seawater cushioning the blow, Klee Meow bombs still blasted a massive wound into it.
"Baaa-ooo-ooo-ooo—!"
Feeling the intense pain from its back, the elephant lord let out a tremendous cry of sorrow.
The back that had always been very steady began to shake violently, making it impossible for the Mink tribe living on it to keep their footing.
But this actually wasn't the main problem. When the elephant lord shook from pain, most of them had already been knocked over by the shockwave created by Klee Meow bombs.
"Waaah… so this is how fishing is done in the outside world? It terrifying!"
Carrot lay flat on the ground, clutching her head with both hands, her butt sticking up as she wailed with tears and snot streaming down.
Sherwin and the Felynes had no time to worry about her for the moment. Once the shaking eased a little, he and the Felynes immediately jumped up.
"Haibara Meow, go check the elephant lord injuries! Shermie Meow, search to see if anyone is still trapped in any corners! Everyone else, with me—move the nearby rocks first!"
Sherwin issued orders skillfully, and then tapped the drooping-headed, drooping-tailed Klee Meow lightly. "Don't just stand there spacing out—come help!"
"Oh…" The little ragdoll replied weakly, repeatedly glancing toward the elephant lord injured spot. "Sherwin, did Klee cause big trouble, meow…"
"Uh… it should be fine. The elephant lord is huge. This level of injury shouldn't be too serious for him…"
Sherwin actually wasn't very sure either, and the elephant lord meant more to the Mink Tribe than almost anything else.
They might blame him later for what had happened. But seeing Klee Meow pitiful expression, Sherwin still couldn't help comforting her.
Although Klee Meow often caused trouble and blew things up, maybe because of her good luck, up until today no innocent person other than Sherwin had ever been hurt.
From that perspective, the elephant lord should be Klee Meow first—no, her second "victim."
Yes, the first was of course Sherwin.
Thinking of this, Sherwin immediately shot the little mischievous cat a glare, though his tone wasn't harsh at all as he continued, "But later, you really have to apologize to them properly."
"Mm, Klee understands, meow…"
(=Φ︵Φ=)
The little ragdoll also knew that the trouble she caused this time was different from usual. She obediently followed along, helping to clear the ruins in the city that she herself had blown apart.
Fortunately, Klee Meow good luck was still working. Other than the elephant lord, no members of the Mink Tribe were injured.
Everyone had been badly frightened, but with Sherwin and the others comforting them, they soon calmed down.
After reassuring the Mink Tribe, Sherwin and the others immediately hurried over to Haibara Meow, who was examining the elephant lord injuries.
"Haibara, how the situation?"
"No big problem," Haibara Meow pushed up the frames of the glasses custom-made by Kuma and said,
"the seawater cushioned it, and Klee also promptly controlled the power of the explosion, so Zunesha injuries aren't serious. For it, they're only superficial wounds.
It just that the wounds caused by the blast will sting more after being soaked in seawater, so that why its reaction was so intense just now, meow."
As the little kitten spoke, she also pulled from her bag a large jar nearly half her height.
"Zunesha is far too large. Even if we fed it all our stock of recovery medicine, it wouldn't do much. It better to apply these salves directly to its wounds, meow."
"It just that…" The little kitten pushed her glasses up again, twitching her ears as she said, "its wounds need to be cleaned before applying the medicine, and putting the medicine on will hurt as well. It might be stimulated and thrash about, so it best to inform the other Minks first and have them make preparations in advance, meow."
"Well, actually…"
'Meooowww! Who is it! Who dares cause trouble in Zou?!'
Just as Shirahoshi was about to say something, Nekomamushi charged out from the Whale Forest with his Musketeer Squad, cutting her off.
On the other side, Inuarashi arrived on the scene with the Rifle Squad.
"It not your time yet! Stupid cat! Get back to the Whale Forest immediately!"
Seeing Nekomamushi, Inuarashi couldn't even be bothered to ask what had happened and just roared at him.
"Shut up, you old dog! Is this really the time to be saying that?!"
"I can handle this! Just do your own job!"
"Tch! Who knows if you're the one who lured the enemy here again this time!"
"You… you thick-headed single-cell cat!"
"Die, you disloyal dog!"
After the cat and the dog traded a few insults, they simply ignored everything else and started brawling with crackling blows.
Emmm… Sherwin, who had only just revised his opinion of Inuarashi a little before, couldn't help but roll his eyes when he saw this scene.
As expected, these two really were completely unqualified as rulers.
"Suika, I'm leaving it to you. Calm those two down."
"Got it, meow~"
The little drunken cat staggered into a wobbly run and slipped between the fighting Nekomamushi and Inuarashi, then unhurriedly offered them each a cup of wine.
"Don't get worked up. Have a drink first, meow!"
"Ha—great wine!" ×2
"??!!!" ×2
"So, that how it is…"
Sherwin briefly recounted everything that had just happened to the still-glowering cat and dog who continued "killing each other with their eyes." He had no idea how much of it actually got through to them.
"Hahahahaha! So it was just a misunderstanding? Then there no problem at all!" Cat Viper laughed heartily.
"No one was hurt anyway. Even though Zunesha was injured, it isn't serious, and you're planning to treat it, right? That good enough!"
Uh… fine. That kind of big-hearted reaction really was very "pirate-like."
But even if the other side didn't plan to pursue the matter, Sherwin and the others couldn't just brush it off so casually.
"We'll also help with rebuilding the city, and…" Sherwin gently patted the head of the drooping little doll. "Klee Meow?"
"I'm sorry, meow… Klee knows she was wrong…"
The little doll took two steps forward and admitted obediently, "Klee will organize her backpack properly from now on. Next time she definitely won't mix up the bombs again, meow…"
Sherwin rolled his eyes, but he also knew it was unrealistic to expect this mischievous little cat to give up her love of blasting fish.
The previously silent Inuarashi looked back and forth several times between Klee Meow and the vast stretch of ruined city in the distance,
then finally raised his voice and asked, "You're saying… this was caused by explosives you made yourself?"
The little doll tilted her head in confusion.
Sherwin had explained everything very clearly just now, so why hadn't this dog uncle understood yet, meow?
Although she didn't really get it, the little doll still answered honestly, "Mm, actually, if it had been a buzzing bomb, it wouldn't have caused any real damage, meow.
Klee has experience with that! It just… just that the compressed-type bouncing bomb was only made recently, so Klee picked up the wrong one, meow…"
Then she immediately defended herself, "But Klee already managed to control the power of the bouncing bomb in time, meow!"
"So this still isn't the full power of the bombs you made?!"
Inuarashi took an excited step forward.
"Meow? Of course not!"
(=ω=)?
The little doll blinked, then started counting on her fingers. "The bouncing bomb can only be counted as ranking first, second, third… it ranked fifth in terms of power among the bombs Klee has, meow! And this compressed-type one comes even further back, somewhere after the top ten…"
"When that bomb made for blowing up the big mud eel is finished in the future, it'll be pushed down to sixth place, meow!"
<(=`=)>
As soon as the topic of bombs came up, the little plush doll perked up again.
She completely shed her previously droopy demeanor, planting her hands on her hips with swagger, tilting her little head back in pride.
"You're actually feeling proud about it!"
Seeing the sparkle in Inuarashi eyes, Sherwin quickly stepped in. He lightly knocked Klee Meow on the head in exasperation, making the overexcited girl shrink her head back, then swiftly changed the subject:
"This isn't the time to be talking about that, right? Shouldn't we treat Zunesha injuries first? Could I trouble the two of you to go notify the others?"
Not realizing that the "big loach" Klee Meow mentioned referred to Kaido, Cat Viper sneered from the side,
"You don't care about Zunesha condition at all. As expected, you're a disloyal dog!"
"What would a single-cell cat like you understand?!"
Seeing the cat and dog about to start fighting again, Suika Meow didn't even need Sherwin reminder. She immediately offered them more sake.
"Come, come, have a drink first, meow~"
"Ha—great booze!" ×2
"??!!" ×2
Under Suika Meow mediation (and alcohol), Inuarashi and Cat Viper calmed down once more and were about to follow Sherwin suggestion to go notify the other members of the Mink Tribe to prepare for the tremors.
"Sherwin, boss! I have something to tell you!"
Shirahoshi finally found a chance to cut in. She gathered all her strength and shouted, startling Sherwin.
"I think… I can hear Zunesha voice!"