A few minutes later, three sneaky, cat-like figures slipped past the patrolling national guards and quietly sneaked back into Kuja City.
Through their long history of mutually tormenting the Hunter, the little Felynes might not have mastered other hunting techniques very well, but when it came to Void Soul Possession—used to greatly increase the success rate of sneak attacks—every one of them was exceptionally skilled.
It could only be said that interest truly was the best teacher.
"Don't rush. We'd better figure out the situation inside first, meow."
(=ˇˇ=)
After carefully sneaking into the royal palace, Haibara Meow stopped the impatient Jinx and Klee Meow, who were about to dash off to find Hancock.
After all, even with Void Soul Possession to block Kenbunshoku Haki, there was still the risk of being accidentally spotted by the guards. Being cautious was better.
Deeply influenced by Sherwin, Haibara Meow gently patted the white bat perched on her shoulder.
"Vermouth, send a clone ahead to scout the way first, meow."
"Ji~"
Vermouth responded, then split off a smaller bat from her body, which flapped its wings and flew toward the depths of the palace.
"Aren't you being a bit too careful, meow?"
(ω)
The more impatient Jinx flicked her tail and said irritably, "Even if we get discovered by accident, it not a big deal, meow."
Haibara Meow glanced at her and spoke calmly, "Being discovered really isn't a big deal, but afterward, Sister Huamei definitely won't let us off easily, meow."
The little crazy cat who feared neither heaven nor earth, but feared Lord Huamei, immediately shut her mouth.
Klee Meow, who had been nodding along beside Jinx, also instantly behaved herself…
"Sister Ai is right. It better to be careful, meow! Brother Sherwin also said that we should act steadily, meow!"
So the three little kittens obediently curled up in a corner not far from the palace entrance, quietly waiting for vermouth clone to return.
Empty Soul Possession belongs to a relatively high-tier power system in the Monster Hunter world. For vermouth, an existence that was "born" in the Pirate world and whose true body is still a dead object, it was naturally impossible to learn such a technique.
However, as an "animal" transformed from a "dead object," it also possessed a special advantage.
That was, when vermouth activated elementalization or semi-elementalization, it could completely eliminate biological reactions such as breathing and heartbeat, returning to the essence of a "dead object…," even though it could still move.
On top of that, it was only sending out a single clone at the moment, so its sense of presence was even more negligible.
This state was actually somewhat similar to Shermie Meow "No-Moon Thundercloud," except that "No-Moon Thundercloud" was far more complex on a technical level, and naturally had even higher concealment than vermouth relatively straightforward method.
Even so, using vermouth clone for reconnaissance was already more than sufficient. As long as the clone did not actively launch an attack, ordinary levels of Observation Haki found it very difficult to notice it…
A certain Hunter who had fallen for Haibara Meow tricks several times could testify to that.
Moreover, even if vermouth clone were discovered, it wouldn't really matter. The destruction of a clone would not cause any harm to it.
The only issue was that Haibara Meow had not concealed vermouth existence before, always letting it stay on her as usual. So if it were discovered, there was a chance someone might follow the trail and find her.
Fortunately, vermouth proved to be quite reliable—or perhaps it was simply that the Observation Haki level of Boa Hancock two younger sisters was just average.
After vermouth clone made a full circuit of the palace, it did not attract anyone attention and successfully returned to Haibara Meow side.
"Chi."
After retracting the clone, vermouth shook its wings. Without waiting for Haibara Meow to ask, it proactively raised one claw and gestured a "V" sign.
"The entire palace only has two guards, meow?"
Haibara Meow blinked twice in disbelief.
Then she nodded as if it were only natural. "That makes sense. If the rumor about the curse is true, then they really couldn't station any other guards here, meow."
"Chi."
At that moment, vermouth suddenly shook its head again, then split two wisps of gaseous clones from its body.
Next, after a bout of twisting and distortion, the two clones barely took on the shapes of what looked like some kind of animals.
After gaining the ability of the Bat-Bat Fruit, even though its true form was gas, it had instead lost the freedom of transformation that gas should have possessed, and was simply unable to shape itself into anything other than a bat.
Sherry and Gin were the same in this regard.
So even though vermouth had tried its best, all Haibara Meow could make out was that one of the two animals had four legs, while the other had wings.
Still, she had already understood what vermouth meant.
"You're saying that besides the two guards, there are also two animals with them, meow?"
"Chi-chi!"
vermouth nodded repeatedly.
"They really are lying, meow!" Jinx excitedly flicked her tail. "If the Gorgon curse really exists, it should work on other animals too, meow!"
Haibara Meow also nodded thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, back when we ran into the Kuja Pirates at sea, it seemed like there was a black panther on their ship, meow…"
As for the winged one, the little kittens had no clues for the time being.
But that wasn't important. What mattered was that the existence of these two animals further proved that the so-called curse was most likely fake.
And after confirming that the palace defensive presence consisted of only two people and two animals, the three little kittens immediately took action.
They first sprinkled themselves with a deodorizing agent Haibara Meow had casually concocted before, to prevent that black panther from picking up their scent.
Then, maintaining the state of empty-soul possession, they stealthily crept toward the room guarded by Boa Sandersonia and Boa Marigold under Vergo guidance.
With the kitten thorough preparations, the two Boa sisters standing guard, as well as the black panther and the eagle beside them, naturally had no chance of noticing the arrival of the three little kittens.
The main entrance blocked by the two sisters was obviously impossible to use, but that wasn't a problem for the kittens at all. They quickly arrived beneath a window on another wall.
Then—
Klee Meow summoned a cluster of blue flames, effortlessly and without making the slightest sound burning a hole in the window—made of wood and cloth—large enough for a Felyne to pass through…
Well, with the exception of Kaido Meow.
Right after that, Klee Meow lightly leapt through the hole she had burned open and landed soundlessly inside.
After a brief glance around, the little doll immediately noticed the massive bathing pool in the center of the room, billowing with thick steam, and within that steam, a tall, faintly visible figure.
Since she drove everyone out of the city every time she bathed, and had two younger sisters guarding outside, Hancock naturally had no need to set up any cover inside the room.
Thus, when Klee Meow approached, Hancock figure appeared before her without any concealment at all.
The Spark Knight good luck kicked in once again. At this moment, Hancock not only had her back turned to her, but was also just standing up, and had just lifted the hair that covered her back.
As a result, the little doll easily saw the thing Hancock had always wanted to hide—
A pattern composed of one large circle and four small triangles, resembling the paw print of some kind of animal.