After securing her first victory, Shirahoshi didn't know whether she had gotten carried away with fighting or was planning to use the arena as a sparring ground. In any case, she didn't step down from the ring and instead stayed right where she was.
The Kuja warriors, having lost two matches in a row, were naturally unwilling to accept it and continued to accompany her.
Shirahoshi second opponent looked a bit familiar to Sherwin. If he remembered correctly, she should be a member of the Kuja Pirates—he had seen her back when they clashed with Hancock.
As someone who had gone to sea under Hancock command, her strength was naturally far beyond that of ordinary Kuja warriors, and her combat experience vastly exceeded that of Shirahoshi, who was still a novice.
So even though Shirahoshi might surpass her in raw attack power, not long after the match began, the mermaid princess gradually fell into a disadvantage.
Even so, Shirahoshi didn't give up easily and chose to grit her teeth and endure.
Fortunately, although she couldn't use Armament Haki, her Observation Haki was excellent. Coupled with the jet belt that Purah Meow had specially made for her, she wouldn't be defeated anytime soon.
"Mm, Shirahoshi didn't practice close combat before, so that belt is still a bit stiff when it comes to short-range dodging and repositioning. I'll need to help her improve it later, meow. Check-it!"
(ゝω)~☆
Purah Meow, who originally wasn't very interested in arena battles themselves, was now staring intently at the image on the wall, muttering to herself.
Meanwhile, Seijuro Meow continued to focus on Shirahoshi responses. "Still lacking experience, meow. When she runs into a tricky situation, she panics right away.
Right now, Lady Shirahoshi is just relying on her Observation Haki danger prediction to dodge, without considering counterattacks at all… even though there are still opportunities, meow."
"You're being way too strict~" Shermie Meow flicked her tail and said indifferently.
"How long has Shirahoshi been training? Running into an opponent this experienced and not much weaker than her, isn't it normal that she can't win, meow?"
[Brother Sherwin, is Sister Shirahoshi going to lose, meow?]
(=へ=)
Dodo Advance, who cared the most about the outcome, heard the conversation between the two battle cats and immediately puffed out her cheeks, tugging on Sherwin arm as she asked.
"Yeah. This person is faster and more experienced in combat than Shirahoshi. It hard to tell about strength for now, and her Observation Haki is a bit worse than Shirahoshi. For Shirahoshi to win against her would be very difficult."
Sherwin rubbed the little cat head and answered honestly.
Then he comforted her, "But this isn't a bad thing for Shirahoshi. That previous opponent didn't put any pressure on her at all, so from a sparring perspective it didn't have much effect. This match, even though Shirahoshi will most likely lose, will help her far more than the last one."
After hearing Sherwin explanation, Dodo Advance expression improved a little, but she was still puffing her cheeks in annoyance.
[Hmph! They're just picking on Sister Shirahoshi. If they've got the guts, they should go challenge Brother Kaido, meow!]
(=`н=)
The little kitten waved her cat fists as she muttered unhappily.
"Arena matches always have wins and losses—that normal," Sherwin said, gently patting Dodo Advance small head to soothe her childish temper. "How about we stop watching for now?"
[No way! I want to cheer for Sister Shirahoshi, meow! Didn't Brother Seijuro say there was still a chance, meow?]
(ω≡ω)
Dodo Advance shook her head with a rumbling purr, then clenched her fists, sending Shirahoshi her heartfelt support.
But even for the main cast to flip on some hot-blooded power-up, there still has to be someone on the sidelines shouting things like "friendship" or "bonds." So Dodo Advance long-distance moral support naturally had no real effect. After struggling on for a while, Shirahoshi ultimately lost.
At the same time, Meowx indignant complaints echoed from Dodo Advance mouth…
"That idiot Shirahoshi! All she does is run away, meow! Even if she going to lose, she could at least find a chance to punch that guy in the nose a couple of times! So useless, meow!"
Over here, Seijuro jinx also nodded in agreement. "When victory is no longer possible, it really is better to inflict as much damage on the enemy as you can, meow."
Sherwin rolled his eyes and ignored him.
After Shirahoshi defeat, jinx didn't step onto the arena again. Kaido Meow and Suika Meow were even less interested, so Sherwin group cut off the feed and returned to how things were before.
Dodo Advance also guided her main body, flying back to the original beach.
After being soothed by Sherwin expert cat-handling skills, Dodo Advance, who had been in a bad mood over Shirahoshi loss, quickly regained her lively demeanor. She used both hands and feet to climb onto Sherwin head, then, as usual, started messing with the palico Cat favorite toy—the Hunter ear.
Sherwin: "..."
I shouldn't have comforted this little troublemaker in the first place!
Just as he was silently regretting it, the ship main Den Den Mushi suddenly began to ring…
"Stop messing around. I've got something to take care of here—go play with Sister Shermie Meow for a while."
Sherwin decisively lifted the little fur cat off his head, stuffed her into the arms of a completely stunned Shermie Meow, then bolted straight into the captain cabin where the Den Den Mushi was kept.
Although it did look a bit like he was taking the chance to run away, Sherwin wasn't actually lying.
Because at this point, the only ones who would be calling the main Den Den Mushi were Morgans and Kuma, or people like Shakky, Coby, and Kizaru—figures whose relationship with Sherwin was rather delicate. Basically, there was no chance of someone just calling for a casual chat.
And considering he had asked Morgans for a favor not long ago…
"Wahahahaha! Sherwin! This is huge! Absolutely huge!"
Sure enough, the moment the call connected, Morgans familiar laughter burst out of the Den Den Mushi.
"I never thought we'd actually be able to influence the Marines… That piece of news wasn't the most popular one I've ever published, but the impact it caused was definitely the greatest! This—this is what a true 'big new really is! Wahahahahaha!"
"So what exactly happened?" Sherwin asked.
Although he was the one who had asked Morgans for help, he honestly wasn't sure what kind of consequences it would bring. Still, judging from the excitement in that birdman voice, it sounded like a good thing.
"You'll just have to wait for the latest issue of the World Economy News!" Morgans teased. "This is world-shaking big news!"
"…I'm still in the Calm Belt right now, okay? I can't even get a newspaper," Sherwin said flatly.
"Ah, right… I got too excited and forgot," Morgans replied.
Unable to keep up the suspense, Morgans clicked his beak in regret before explaining everything that had happened during this period—
The ambushed BIG MOM Pirates had indeed refused to let the matter go and clashed with the Marines several more times, though both sides exercised restraint and avoided an all-out war.
However, the World Government clearly couldn't tolerate BIG MOM continued harassment, so behind the scenes they likely reached some kind of agreement with her. As a result, the BIG MOM Pirates finally quieted down two days ago.
As for the Marines, although the plan to encircle and suppress the BIG MOM Pirates had been spearheaded by CP, Sengoku, as the overall commander of the operation, still took responsibility and resigned.
Just like in the original story, he chose Kuzan as his successor, who became the new Fleet Admiral of the Marines.
However, unlike in the manga, this time the World Government did not interfere with the choice of Fleet Admiral, and Akainu never fought Aokiji.
The reason for this situation was naturally related to the "small favor" Sherwin had asked Morgans to do.
All he did was have Morgans report the incident in which Akainu offended the Seven Warlords on Obestan Island, causing them to slack off and act passively during the operation.
Even though, with or without that incident, the Seven Warlords would have slacked off anyway, but…
Other people didn't know that.