"Auntie hunger pangs really came on way too suddenly, didn't they…"
With Klee Meow around, they still ran into something like this? Was it because there was also "almond" involved?
Or was it that…
After causing such a commotion, something beneficial to them might happen?
After glancing at the small doll perched on his shoulder, a series of thoughts flashed rapidly through Sherwin mind.
Of course, he also knew that Klee Meow good luck wasn't omnipotent. Otherwise, they wouldn't have run into Kaido falling from the sky back then.
So after curling his lips in schadenfreude, Sherwin decisively led everyone to retreat.
He had no intention of stepping in to help.
Although with his and the cat assistance, there was a high probability they could rein in Auntie destruction inside the castle, but…
They had no real ties with the BIG·MOM Pirates, and there had even been some friction before.
Sherwin was barely done enjoying the spectacle—how could he possibly volunteer to help?
Well, if Perospero, Katakuri, and the others were willing to offer something like Devil Fruits to ask Sherwin to intervene, that would be a different matter entirely.
Unfortunately, anyone could tell just by thinking with Klee Meow tail that such a thing was impossible.
The BIG·MOM Pirates cared too much about their pride to ever ask Sherwin for help.
However, just as Sherwin was about to take the cats and slip away, Haibara Meow on his other shoulder tugged at his ear and suggested,
"Sherwin, why don't we take this chance to give it a try, meow? She doesn't look very clear-headed right now anyway."
Huh?
With the little kitten reminder, Sherwin immediately caught on as well.
After the battle with Kaido, everyone had been working hard in their own ways to avoid running into a similar situation again, and Sherwin was naturally no exception.
And right now was a perfect chance to test things out. Fighting Auntie wouldn't lead to any accountability afterward, and the Charlotte Family would even have to thank them for it!
At the same time, they could also show the BIG·MOM Pirates their own strength.
Even if Auntie still stubbornly insisted on keeping them afterward, having gone through this clash would at least give Sherwin a clearer sense of where he stood.
Although this would expose some of his methods, compared to the benefits they could gain, that drawback wasn't really much.
Besides, he only needed to hold Auntie back—there was no need to use everything he had.
And there was also…
Sherwin gaze landed on the two Homies beside Auntie, the ones called Prometheus and Zeus.
This was also a good opportunity for Klee Meow and Purah Meow to get a feel for elemental summons with "advanced AI." Even if they couldn't abduct them like Nami did in the manga, it should still help, at least somewhat, with the development of the two cat abilities, right?
After quickly weighing the pros and cons in his mind, Sherwin soon made his decision.
Let do it!
"Seijuro, Huamei, Suika, take Shirahoshi and the others farther back! Klee, Purah Meow, that fireball and that cloud are up to you two! Jinx, Haibara Meow, we're going in!"
Sherwin rapidly assigned tasks to the cats, then pulled out the spear "Astaroth," which he had seized earlier from the group of king soldiers in the South Blue who had been masquerading as pirates, along with a seastone shield, and charged straight toward the rampaging Charlotte Linlin.
In truth, he had originally planned to take out the "Earth Dragon," but considering they were still on Charlotte Family territory, it was better not to provoke them over something so trivial.
"Woah—!"
(=`=)
Klee Meow had long been curious about that constantly floating "little sun," so the moment she heard Sherwin order, the little ragdoll immediately stretched out her paw and made a grabbing motion toward Prometheus.
Prometheus, who had just been flung by Big Mom toward Katakuri, suddenly veered off in midair, his face full of confusion as he flew toward Klee Meow instead.
Then, under the little ragdoll paw, he was kneaded at will like a lump of rubber, squashed flat and rolled round.
On the other side, Zeus, who had been forced by Big Mom command to turn into a thundercloud, ended up in much the same situation.
He had only just struck Perospero with two bolts of lightning when he was involuntarily pulled toward Shermi.
"Mmm, this is a really comfy mattress, meow~"
Shermi hopped onto Zeus, stomped on him a few times, then curled herself up, clearly very satisfied with this "cat nest."
"Huh? You two idiots! Get back here at once!"
Big Mom was furious at the "betrayal" of the two Homies. In her crazed state, she didn't have the presence of mind to tell that Prometheus and Zeus were acting against their will.
Just as she was cursing the two Homies while continuing to shout about almond cookies, a barrage of bullets landed on her body before Sherwin could make his move.
"Meow hahahahahaha!"
(=`=)l▄︻╤
The little mad cat laughed wildly as she pulled the trigger, pouring bullets toward Big Mom.
With Kaido as a precedent, Jinx also knew that her bullets were most likely incapable of breaking through Big Mom defenses, so she simply spared herself the effort and did not coat the bullets with Armament Haki.
Instead, when the bullets fired by the little mad cat struck Big Mom, they exploded.
The smoke and thrust produced by the explosions more or less restrained some of Big Mom movements.
This was one of the results of Jinx hard work during this period.
Although the Explosion Fruit couldn't control other objects to explode the way the Bomb-Bomb Fruit could, as long as it was something related to the ability user herself—even the air she exhaled—it could be turned into a bomb.
So what Jinx had to do was actually very simple: when she normally made bullets, she just needed to stuff one of her own hairs inside.
Not to mention that cats shed a huge amount of fur every day anyway, even if cats didn't "lose hair," there was still the hunting skill with an effect similar to "Life Return," the "Breath of the Phoenix."
So even if Jinx consumed large amounts of ammunition in every battle, she didn't need to worry about running out of fur and being plucked into a Sphynx cat.
Beside Jinx, Haibara Meow quickly pulled out two bottles of potion from her bag and poured them respectively into Sherry main body and one of the clones it had just split off.
As the potions were poured in, Sherry main body and one of its clones turned blood-red and bright yellow respectively.
Immediately after, the main body of Sherry fired a drop of "potion" at Sherwin, while the yellow clone directly pounced toward Big Mom.
The red potion landed on Sherwin, granting him the "Demon Drug G" status, while the yellow clone landed on Big Mom and instantly exploded into a cloud of yellow smoke…
And then nothing happened.
"As expected, against an enemy this strong, even the ultra–highly concentrated paralysis drug is almost completely ineffective, meow…"
Haibara Meow muttered to herself while continuing to pour different potions into Sherry other clones. Under her direction, Sherry controlled the clones and fired two more drops of differently colored potion toward Sherwin.
Demon mode, Hardening, Dash—every single one of the three standard buffs of a potion-chugging Hunter was applied to Sherwin without missing any, and there was also a green clone that had swallowed a Potion, standing by at all times, ready to restore Sherwin health.
With Sherry as a support companion, Haibara Meow, a healing-type Felyne, finally no longer had to be limited to acting as mere logistics support.
"Almond—cookies—!!!"
Driven to utter irritation by Jinx harassment, Big Mom roared and charged toward the little blue cat, but was intercepted by Sherwin.
"Sorry, dear customer. Your order is being prepared urgently, so please wait patiently."
The Astalon in his hands swept horizontally and smashed into Big Mom body, and Sherwin didn't let his mouth rest either, spouting trash talk as he drew Big Mom attention onto himself.
"Go bring me the almond cookies—!"
A vicious guest like Charlotte Linlin was naturally not someone who would calmly communicate with sherwin. She chose to swing her fist straight at him instead.
sherwin raised his shield to deflect Big Mom punch, then slid to her side in a swift step, lifting Asteralon and thrusting straight toward her ribs.
Known as the "Iron Balloon," Big Mom surpassed even Kaido when it came to defensive power, so this ordinary strike—merely coated in Armament Haki—naturally failed to cause her any harm.
However, sherwin primary objective in this battle had never been direct damage in the first place. It was stalling.
Before fighting Kaido, sherwin had actually never experienced a truly grueling battle, so he had gradually forgotten the combat style Monster Hunters excelled at most—attrition fighting.
Although Monster Hunters possess all kinds of techniques capable of explosive burst damage, the prerequisite for all of them is being able to remain locked in prolonged combat with the monster, waiting patiently until an opening appears. Only then can those techniques truly take effect.
Even in the game, aside from those Hunter masters who are adept at exploiting mechanics, most Hunters still have to "grind" against monsters for quite a long time during a hunt.
Thus, after integrating the attrition techniques from his inherited memories, sherwin developed this combat style specifically designed to tie down enemies.
Moreover, this tactic was not limited to merely harassing and covering a retreat.
For example, in the current situation: Jinx was responsible for harassment and restraint, Haibara Meow handled support and recovery, and if they added other combat-oriented Felynes to deal damage, defeating a Yonko might be unrealistic—but it certainly wouldn't be as miserable as before.
Additionally, following his usual habit, sherwin gave it a name consistent with its lineage—
Monster Hunter Style · Hunter Dance Battle Melody.
…