Although the Felynes had spent quite some time pouting, whining, and fluffing up their fur in protest at Sherwin teasing behavior, the Hunter actually stood his ground for once and stubbornly refused to say anything.
"Sherwin, you're such a meanie meow!"
(=`н=)Klee Meow crossed her arms, turned her head away, and decided she wouldn't talk to Sherwin for the rest of the day…
Hmm, maybe half a day would be enough. But half a day still felt too long—an hour then! Yes, she would ignore that bad Sherwin for at least one whole hour, meow!
Sherwin hadn't even realized he was being "punished," and yet the little plush cat had already started reducing his "sentence" in her mind.
"Aiya, she just doesn't feel like showing up right now. We have to respect her choice, don't we? Come on, Klee, don't be mad. How about I tell you a story instead?"
"Okay~~~"
(=`=)
The "punishment" lasted less than a minute.
While the other Felynes weren't quite as easy to coax as Klee Meow, calming them down wasn't exactly difficult either. All Sherwin had to do was give them a few extra rounds of "cat" time.
Over the next few days, Sherwin and his companions didn't stay on the Sabaody Archipelago.
Instead, they found a nearby reef island and began discussing ways to optimize his technique, Crimson Sky End, together with Seijuro Meow and Link Meow.
With Sherwin hard work and the two Felyne high-level guidance, he finally managed to refine Crimson Sky End to the point where it could be unleashed instantly—without the need to charge up or activate Link Time.
Of course, this came with a trade-off. The move power was slightly reduced.
Without a Felyne merging with him, it was even a bit weaker than Haibara Meow Binding Clash.
Even so, the new version of Crimson Sky End had become far more practical in actual combat.
As Sherwin strength continued to rise, the move power would naturally increase as well. After all, even Binding Clash varied in strength depending on the user.
Moreover, compared to the straightforward and brute-force nature of Binding Clash, Sherwin Crimson Sky End still had room for further refinement and improvement.
In short, the future looked bright.
What more, the existence of this instant-cast version didn't mean Sherwin could no longer use the older form.
In fact, the charged version of Crimson Sky End had also grown stronger thanks to the overall refinement of his technique.
Especially the version that required slow charging without the aid of Link Time—its destructive power had skyrocketed, far beyond what it used to be.
However, this version was nearly impossible to use effectively in real combat.
Sherwin would need the Felynes to hold off the enemy while he charged it, and even then, landing a clean hit was uncertain. Its practicality was, essentially, zero.
While Sherwin and the Felynes were busy sharpening their skills and strengthening themselves, the "Slave Trader Extermination" incident on the Sabaody Archipelago had already spread across the world through the latest issue of the World Economy News Paper.
Unlike before, when reports carefully avoided mentioning the Felynes, this time was different. With Sherwin reputation growing, there was no longer any point in hiding it.
So in this report, Sherwin and Morgans decided to flip the narrative—defining the whole affair as "slave traders targeting the Felynes around Sherwin and suffering retaliation as a result."
This, in turn, served as a clear warning to anyone who dared harbor ill intentions toward the Felynes.
In truth, the real situation wasn't all that different—Morgan report had simply added a layer of exaggeration. The paper also made no mention of the slaves Sherwin had secretly released.
However, even though the World Economy News Paper didn't cover that detail, other newspapers did.
In those published under the World Government, Sherwin was portrayed as a righteous bounty hunter who despised evil—someone who wiped out slave traders and freed slaves purely out of moral outrage. They were practically painting him as a pirate-world version of Robin Hood.
But the problem was… wasn't the slave trade in the Sabaody Archipelago backed by the World Government itself? Even if they'd never openly admit it, why would they hand over such a noble reputation to themselves?
"The World Government is probably trying to build up your image, Admiral," Haibara Meow said seriously after reading the article.
"That way, when you officially become one of the Seven Warlords, people will recognize that you're different from the others, meow.
Look here—this part specifically highlights how none of the pirates who fall into our hands are left alive, and it even mentions that you defeated Crocodile, meow."
"They're doing this on purpose—to push you onto the fire and create tension between you and the other Warlords, meow."
Sherwin nodded knowingly. It was just another form of manipulation—praise as a weapon, incitement disguised as flattery. He had seen plenty of that in his previous life.
As for the so-called "rift" between him and the other Warlords, he wasn't too concerned. After all, aside from Mihawk, he already had bad blood with most of them.
There was no need to even mention Doflamingo—he'd just dismantled part of his business not long ago.
And even without that, Sherwin had always wanted Doflamingo String-String Fruit.
Moria was the same—he'd been beaten not too long ago, and Klee Meow had burned nearly his entire zombie army to ashes.
It was safe to say Moria wouldn't be looking for trouble with Sherwin anytime soon.
Sherwin wasn't afraid of the Empress who came looking for trouble. After all, his own Felyne naturally countered her Devil Fruit ability.
Even if Sherwin had to face her himself, he wouldn't lose — though he might be a bit restricted in battle.
As for Jinbe, Sherwin wasn't sure what he thought of Arlong and his crew, but judging from the personality Jinbe showed in the manga, his attitude would probably be similar to Rayleigh at most.
And even if he really did come to cause trouble, Sherwin wouldn't be afraid of him either.
So, if the World Government wanted to make him enemies, so be it. To Sherwin, that kind of thing didn't matter at all.
Besides…
He had sold information about the World Government plenty of times before — and he fully intended to keep doing it.
"Anyway, forget about that. The time I agreed on with Uncle Cody is coming up. We should head over to Marine Headquarters for a visit."
Sherwin set the newspaper aside and turned to Robin beside him. "How about you wait at the Sabaody Archipelago? After all, there are plenty of strong people and all sorts of weird ability users at Marine HQ. There still a chance you could be discovered."
"I wouldn't recommend that, Admiral," Hua Mei Meow interjected just as Robin was about to agree.
"Wouldn't that make Miss Robin stand out even more? Besides, Uncle Cody already knows about her identity.
Sure, he always acted friendly, but what if he changes his attitude? He never exactly been fond of Miss Robin, so I think it better if she comes along with us, meow."
"Mm, you've got a point there."
Sherwin, the Hunter, was always one to take good advice — so he immediately accepted the suggestion of Huamei.
And at that moment, he realized something else: if he sent Robin away on her own, wouldn't that make it look like he was treating her differently? Even if his intentions were purely for her safety, based on what he knew about how people in this pirate world thought...
There was a good chance — maybe even a high one — that Robin would think he still hadn't accepted her as a true companion.
After all, in this world, the ultimate meaning of companionship was "trust" and "facing things together."
Tch!
Since he had already crossed into this world, Sherwin figured he might as well do as the locals do. Worst case, he'd just
have to fight the Marines again. According to the information Garp had given him, all three Admirals were currently away from Marine Headquarters — especially Kizaru, who should still be with Vegapunk. So…
At the very least, escaping shouldn't be a problem.
Although Sherwin really wanted to act like a true hot-blooded manga protagonist and charge ahead without hesitation, his cautious nature was something he simply couldn't change.
As for the Dodo Advance ship spirit, it wouldn't be appearing anytime soon. According to how it was described in the manga, ship spirits were usually rather "shy."