"Waaah!"
"Ow!"
"That hurts!"
As Jinx pulled the trigger, cries of pain immediately rang out from all around. The palm-sized figures that had leapt into the air came crashing down one after another with a clatter.
The Tontatta tribe possessed great strength and were quite fast. Their palm-sized bodies also made them difficult for ordinary people to notice. But in front of Jinx, who had mastered firearms and Observation Haki, those advantages were utterly useless.
Fortunately, crazy as the little lunatic cat was, she still remembered Sherwin instructions. The gun was loaded with rubber bullets—the same kind she used when sparring with Shirahoshi—and the electromagnetic pulse gun output had been deliberately lowered. Otherwise, this group of Tontatta would have been completely wiped out by her.
"Hmph~ With just this little strength, you dare come looking for trouble with us, meow!"
After easily taking down all the Tontatta, Jinx blew on the muzzle of her gun. Once she put her "friends" away, she stepped forward with a vicious grin and grabbed one of the Tontatta by the collar. Judging by his appearance, it was clearly Leo.
Then the little blue cat raised her paw and delivered a rapid and fierce flurry of kitty punches straight to the obvious leader head, questioning him as she beat him:
"Now! Do you! Recognize! My! Friends! Meow?!"
After finishing with Leo, the little lunatic cat pulled out a rope from her ammunition pouch and skillfully tied him up into a tight bundle. She then proceeded to bind the dozen or so other Tontatta as well, hanging them all from a giant flower nearby.
From a distance, they looked like little sunny-day dolls, or perhaps sausages being hung out to dry.
"Let us down!"
"That right! Let us down!"
"You liar!"
"Exactly! You're not a good girl at all!"
"You're a bad kitty!"
Even though they had been captured, the Tontatta still refused to submit. They struggled desperately as they dangled there, shouting provocations at Jinx.
"You tried to steal our things—that bandit behavior! You're the bad guys, meow!"
(=｀Д´=)
Being called a bad kitty didn't make Jinx angry at all. The innocent remain innocent—whether in the village or in the Research Commission, she was very popular!
What truly angered the little lunatic cat was that these tiny runts actually dared to bite back.
"If you don't hand over your weapons, we'll strip you! That a rule the Tontatta Kingdom made together with King Riku back then!"
Leo retorted as if it were only natural.
"Then the rule of our Felyne Research Commission is that anyone who tries to steal our things gets a good, hard beating, meow! Hmm…"
The little lunatic cat tilted her head and thought for a moment, then added, "Now we'll add another one—anyone who dares to steal our things will get stripped completely by us, meow!"
＜(=｀=)＞
Jinx put her paws on her hips and nodded in satisfaction, very pleased with the idea she had just come up with.
"Liar! What kind of rule is that?!"
"You have a rule about stripping other people, so why can't we have a rule about stripping you, meow?!"
"…Makes sense. Then there no helping it."
The Tontatta, led by Leo, fell silent for a while, then readily accepted Jinx reasoning. They stopped struggling and even urged her on, "Then hurry up and do it. Strip us quickly, then let us go."
Jinx: "..."
"Meowhahaha! Big Brother Sherwin, they're just like you said—so interesting, meow!"
(=`=)σ
The little ragdoll tugged on Sherwin ear to keep herself from laughing so hard that she would fall off his shoulder, while pointing at the little people hanging there and asking, "Can Klee Meow keep them as pets, meow?"
"Of course not."
Sherwin directly lifted the little one down, rubbed her fluffy cat head, and at the same time rescued his poor ear.
"Alright, that enough joking."
He walked forward, undoing the ropes on Leo and the others as he said, "Let have a proper talk."
"So that was a joke just now?!"
The little people were collectively shocked.
Sherwin: "..."
"Hahaha! You're all so interesting! My name is Klee Meow, what your name, meow?"
(=ω=)
The little ragdoll picked up one of the little people and held her up in front of her face.
"M-My name is Wicca. I'm a member of the Tontatta Recon Squad."
The blue-haired little person sniffed as she answered. Compared to the other energetic little people, this one seemed a bit shy…
A little like Shirahoshi used to be.
"Hello, Wicca. Can you be friends with Klee Meow, meow?"
(=ω=)
As she spoke, the little ragdoll affectionately rubbed her cheek against the other girl face.
"Eh? I-I can? I'm so clumsy and stupid…"
"Of course you can! From now on, you're Klee Meow good friend, meow!"
(==)
After licking Wicca cheek twice, the little ragdoll tilted her head and studied her for a moment, then suddenly placed her on her own shoulder…
"So this is how it feels for Brother Sherwin all the time, meow? So strange… Why won't you stay on, meow…"
"S-Sorry! I'm just too clumsy!"
The little person named Wicca apologized over and over.
Felynes have larger head-to-body proportions, and their shoulders are relatively narrow, so the little person simply couldn't stay on Klee Meow shoulder at all.
"Oh my, that has nothing to do with you, meow."
Klee Meow, the little angel, naturally wouldn't blame her. After several failed attempts, she simply copied Haibara Meow and placed Wicca on top of her own head instead.
"Mm… a bit heavy. Not very comfortable, meow."
(ω)
Klee Meow gently shook her head, then put Vika down from her arms.
On the other side, Haibara Meow had also grabbed hold of a Tontatta. While pulling out her little notebook and scribbling in it, she fired off questions like a barrage: "Is that a tail behind you, meow? What do you usually eat, meow? Can you let me draw a little blood for research, meow?"
(=ω=)
The little milk cat stared at the other party with shining eyes, her gaze brimming with curiosity.
Although they had encountered Tontattas in Totto Land before, that had been on enemy territory, and there had only been very few of them. Haibara Meow had only run into them a handful of times in total. Now that there were so many "captives" in front of her, she naturally wanted to conduct a thorough study.
The Tontatta she had set her sights on was trembling nonstop…
What frightened him even more was that the blue cat who had single-handedly defeated all of them earlier was standing behind Haibara Meow, baring her teeth and claws while making all sorts of ferocious expressions.
"L-Leo, these cats are so scary!"
"Ahem! You two, tone it down a little!"
Sherwin quickly pulled back the little milk cat who had once again entered research frenzy mode, along with the mischievous little crazy cat who loved pranks.
To prevent this group of restless little troublemaking cats from interrupting again, he decisively got straight to the point with Leo, the one in the lead. "We mean you no harm. On the contrary, I came to Dressrosa this time specifically to deal with Doflamingo."
"Really?!"
Leo and the other Tontattas immediately became excited.
"Of course. If you usually read the newspapers, you'd know my relationship with him isn't exactly good." He pointed to Trafalgar Law beside him. "And he has a deep grudge against Doflamingo as well."
"That wonderful! We finally have a chance to drive that big villain out of here and rescue Princess Mansherry!"
The Tontattas didn't show the slightest hint of doubt and immediately accepted Sherwin explanation.
Sherwin, who had prepared several different lines of persuasion, smacked his lips without any sense of accomplishment. But that was simply the Tontatta nature.
Just as he was about to ask them to cooperate with his plan, his Observation Haki suddenly sensed the Heavenly Yaksha presence rapidly approaching.
And then…
Under the Tontatta furious and shocked gazes, Doflamingo landed right beside Sherwin.
"Fufufufufu! Sorry about that, Sherwin. I was dealing with other matters earlier, so I couldn't personally go to the port to receive you!"
Doflamingo put on a familiar air, stepping forward as if to sling an arm over Sherwin shoulder—
Sherwin dodged without hesitation.
Doflamingo didn't get angry after being avoided. He continued warmly and enthusiastically, "I've already prepared a banquet in the royal palace and have been waiting for you to arrive. And… you've come at just the right time. The people from CP0 are currently visiting me as well."