[Brother Sherwin, the map of Kuja Island has been completely unlocked, meow!]
(=ω=)
Lying on Sherwin chest, Dodo pressed at his mouth with her little paws while reporting to him.
"Since it done, let head back," the Hunter, who was sprawled in a chair like a salted fish, opened his mouth wide and pretended to bite, "scaring" Dodo into pulling her paws back before he continued, "They didn't come looking for trouble while we were mapping the area, so it wouldn't be right for us to be too disrespectful of their rules here."
[Okay, meow~]
(=`=)
Dodo rolled over on Sherwin body, exposing her soft little belly, then controlled her main body to fly toward the coastline Hancock had previously assigned to them.
Sherwin, being very perceptive, raised his hand and gently stroked Dodo soft belly…
Then, a fluffy big tail swept across his face again and again.
Sherwin hurriedly raised his other hand and reached toward Shermie Meow, who was lying above his head, stroking along her back.
Only then did the jealous little forest cat withdraw her tail in satisfaction, and she even licked Sherwin hair as a reward.
However, holding that posture for too long was really awkward, so Sherwin simply sat up straight, pulled both cats onto his lap, and started petting them—one in each hand.
While he was enjoying the cat-petting, Sherwin suddenly heard a series of "boom boom boom" explosion sounds coming from below…
"…No way, did Klee Meow start blowing things up already?"
Sherwin hands stiffened mid-pet, and almost reflexively he tried to stand up to go take a look—
to see whether Kuja Island was already missing a chunk.
"It not Klee Meow, dear~" Shermie Meow rubbed her head against Sherwin palm. "It Jinx fighting the Kuja people in the arena. Don't worry, she didn't cause trouble, meow~"
(=ω=)
"Jinx? Competing obediently in an arena?"
It wasn't that he didn't trust Shermie Meow Observation Haki—it was just that the scene she described was far too hard to imagine.
"Yeah, meow~ and it seems Jinx has awakened Observation Haki too… ah, she won, meow."
Shermie Meow, who was using Observation Haki to probe the situation below, twitched her ears, then relayed everything she had just "heard" to Sherwin.
[Sister Jinx is amazing, meow!]
(=ω=)
Dodo, whose personality was quite similar to Klee Meow, cheered immediately.
"Mm… now it Shirahoshi turn to enter the arena, meow~"
Shermie Meow continued to "commentate" on what was happening below.
[Waaah, I also want to watch Sister Shirahoshi fight in the arena, meow.]
(=`н=)
Unable to see the match, the unhappy Dodo started scratching at Sherwin clothes.
"You were the one who refused to go into the city with us earlier."
Sherwin looked helplessly at his clothes, which had been scratched into tatters, and knocked the little troublemaker on the head with annoyance.
[I just don't like meeting those strangers!]
(=`3=)
Dodo puffed out her cheeks, crossed her arms, and started throwing a tantrum.
[But I still want to watch Sister Shirahoshi match, meow!]
Sherwin first pinched the little naughty cat cheek, then rubbed his chin…
"Actually, it not like there no way."
He set the two little kittens in his arms down, then ran into the cabin and brought out two Transponder Snails.
One of them had a black background with red cloud decorations on its shell. It was the video Transponder Snail that Klee Meow had named Dodo You.
The other one was decorated like a Venus flytrap, a surveillance Transponder Snail capable of directly transmitting video, and its name perfectly carried on Klee Meow usual naming style—Dodo Jue.
"Here," Sherwin said as he handed Dodo Jue to Shermie Meow. "Take this to Shirahoshi and the others. That way we can watch the live broadcast directly from the ship."
"Oh right, we still have Transponder Snails~"
After taking Dodo Jue, Shermie Meow cutely gave Sherwin a salute. "Mission guaranteed to be completed, meow~"
∠(=ΦωΦ=)
With that, she took the Transponder Snail with her and vanished from the deck in a flash of electricity.
A moment later, Dodo You eyes lit up, and the light it projected fell onto a nearby wall, revealing the image of the arena below.
[It Sister Shirahoshi, meow!]
(=`=)
Seeing that familiar fish tail on the screen, Dodo immediately began dancing around excitedly.
Right after that, Shermie Meow, who had gone to deliver the Transponder Snail, returned as well.
After thinking for a moment, Sherwin ran off to call out Purah Meow, who had been curled up in the laboratory, as well as Seijuro Meow, who had been sitting in quiet meditation in the silent room. Everyone then sat together on the deck to watch Shirahoshi arena match.
Shirahoshi opponent was a powerfully built woman. Although her physique couldn't compare to Shirahoshi, purely in terms of appearance, she looked far more ferocious than the soft and gentle mermaid princess.
By the time the video feed connected, the fight in the arena had already been going on for a while.
That didn't affect Sherwin and the others much, though, because from the very beginning Shirahoshi had been dodging her opponent the whole time, without launching a single counterattack.
Although Shirahoshi had followed the investigation team and taken part in several battles, her so-called participation mostly amounted to taking a few sneaky shots from the rear.
While she had plenty of sparring partners for close combat, training was still different from real combat. So when the Kuja warrior on the other side let out a bluffing roar, the mermaid princess—who had almost no real combat experience—immediately panicked…
"Waaahhh—! Why is this big sister scarier than a huge tiger?!"
Shirahoshi flailed her fish tail and scurried around the arena in blind panic, which made Jinx, who had returned to the spectator seats, feel utterly humiliated.
"You idiot! Fight back!" Jinx stuffed Dodo Jue into Kaido Meow hands beside her, then shouted at the arena at the shameful little lackey sister. "Use your Fish-Man Karate on her, meow!"
(=`Д=)
Watching all of this in real time from the ship, Sherwin covered his face with his hand, utterly speechless…
After spending so long helping Shirahoshi build up her confidence, was it really completely useless?
"Aiya~ Shirahoshi little sister performance is a bit too cute, meow~"
Shermie Meow covered her mouth and giggled. "We even specially used a Transponder Snail to cheer for her, meow."
"Shirahoshi-sama just didn't react in time. I believe she'll adjust very soon, meow," Seijuro Meow said, showing far more confidence in her.
"Although Shirahoshi-sama personality looks soft, she actually very strong-willed, meow."
The ship spirit of Dodo stared unblinkingly at the image playing on the wall, her little paws gripping Sherwin arm tightly, so nervous she didn't dare move at all.
Yet her true body was constantly circling in the sky—despite being in a floating wyvern form, her speed was already approaching that of a Valstrax-like form.
Just as Sherwin was starting to feel a bit dizzy from it all, the Shirahoshi on the screen finally adjusted herself, just as Seijuro Meow had predicted.
The "small" mermaid dodged another attack, then suddenly twisted her upper body and hurled a straight punch forward—
"Fish-Man Karate · True Punch!"
Along with Shirahoshi sharp cry, an invisible shockwave blasted out from her fist, sending the Kuja warrior at point-blank range flying away.
"A good choice. When combat experience is severely lacking, a higher hit rate is far more valuable than stronger attacks, meow."
Seijuro Meow nodded his head in satisfaction. "Shirahoshi-sama really did take our teachings to heart, meow."
And after landing that hit, Shirahoshi seemed to suddenly have an epiphany. She completely shed her earlier panicked retreat and actively launched a pursuit against her opponent.
"Fish-Man Karate · Two Thousand Tile Hand Chop!"
Don't be fooled by how soft and timid Shirahoshi looks—when it comes to raw strength, she actually no slouch at all.
After all, she carries the royal bloodline of the Ryugu Kingdom, has an overwhelming size advantage, and not to mention, she also bears the identity of an Ancient Weapon.
So even though she could only be considered a beginner, the force she could exert was still far beyond those small-time lackeys from the Arlong Pirates.
In Jinbe words, as long as Shirahoshi could gain a basic grasp of the techniques of Fish-Man Karate, she would at least be at the level of seventy dan.
Although there was that Fish-Man in the Revolutionary Army who claimed to be a hundred-dan master and ended up breaking his own hand with a single punch against the Barrier-Barrier Fruit—making seventy dan sound not particularly impressive—that was only because the Barrier-Barrier Fruit was excessively restrictive against barehanded combat, and because that Fish-Man had been completely unprepared.
In reality, seventy-dan Fish-Man Karate was already enough to be nearly unbeatable in the first half of the Grand Line…
And that naturally included Kuja Island in the Calm Belt.
Even though Shirahoshi had yet to awaken Armament Haki, Armament Haki itself wasn't some cure to all solution either—the key still lay in the user own abilities.
As for Shirahoshi current opponent, even with Armament Haki, there was no way he could withstand her Fish-Man Karate.
So, once Shirahoshi overcame her psychological barrier, the outcome of this battle was already decided. If not for her severely lacking combat experience, the winner would have been determined much earlier.
Even so, as Shirahoshi methodically executed techniques from Fish-Man Karate and Fish-Man Jujutsu, her opponent gradually began to show clear signs of defeat.
In the end, that burly Kuja warrior was struck squarely in the face by Shirahoshi Fish-Man Karate · Upper Palm Burst. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious.
"Ah! Y-you're not hurt, right?!"
After defeating her opponent, Shirahoshi instinctively asked in concern—only then did she realize what had happened…
"I won? Yay! I won!!!"