"Alright, everyone take a break."
Sherwin clapped his hands to signal Nami and the others to stop training.
"Sherwin, are you really sure I can't learn demon mode?"
Drenched in sweat, Nami walked over, dragging a long staff behind her. Following right behind was Nojiko, equally drenched and also dragging a staff.
Sherwin tossed a towel to each of the sisters and reassured them, "Didn't I already tell you? It okay even if you can't learn it. Instead of wasting energy on a power you can't grasp, it better to focus on awakening Haki. You've seen what Haki can do, haven't you?"
"But I feel like Haki is even harder to learn than demon mode..." Nami muttered, pouting.
"Of course it is. That kind of power is rare even in the first half of the Grand Line. If you actually manage to master it, not just the East Blue—even across all four seas, you'd be able to come and go freely."
"Why is it that, between two powers we're equally clueless about, you're so sure we can learn Haki but not demon mode?" Nojiko chimed in.
"That because, unlike demon mode, Haki isn't exclusive to me—others have mastered it too," Sherwin replied smoothly, pulling an excuse out of thin air.
"It like how Sanji can generate electricity across his whole body by rubbing his fur. Some things can't be achieved through effort alone. But Armament Haki, on the other hand—if you train your body hard enough, there a good chance you'll awaken it."
"Alright! I'm going to do ten more sets of weighted frog jumps!"
With a fist raised high, Nami shouted with renewed energy, then pulled Nojiko along to resume training.
Sherwin didn't stop them—people in the pirate world were sturdy anyway; they could handle a bit of rough treatment.
Just then, Sanji Meow came trotting over. After habitually kicking Sherwin shin twice, the little yellow cat finally said, "Sherwin, we're running low on ingredients, meow. You'd better head out to sea and catch some fish. If you can snag a Sea King, even better, meow."
Forced by Hua Mei Meow to undergo some physical training, Klee Meow was now lying sprawled on the wall pretending to be dead. But upon hearing the news, she immediately sprang up and darted straight to Sherwin shoulder.
"Sherwin-nii! Klee wants to go bomb some fish, meow!" The little plushie tugged on Sherwin ear, pouting in a soft, childish voice.
"Huh? You're not tired anymore?"
"Meow!" Klee Meow fur instantly puffed up, then she flopped limply onto Sherwin shoulder.
"Klee really tired, meow... but Klee wants to help Sherwin-nii! And throwing bombs doesn't take that much energy, meow."
While loudly answering Sherwin question, the little plushie cautiously glanced sideways at Hua Mei Meow from the corner of her eye.
Hua Mei Meow shot her an unamused glare, then shook her head with a helpless smile. "Relax, your morning training is already done. I won't ask you to do any extra, meow."
"Yay—! Then Klee not tired anymore, meow!" The little plushie instantly perked up again and tugged on Sherwin, urging him, "Sherwin-nii, let go bomb fish, meow!"
(=ω=)
Honestly, even if Klee Meow hadn't asked, Sherwin would've brought her along to sea anyway. After all, with this lucky little kitty around, they were sure to catch more fish and better ones too.
"Sherwin big bro, can we come along too?"
The two sisters, who had originally planned on extra training, turned back with eager expressions and asked, "Nami navigation skills are amazing—she could really help out."
"Uh… I don't think your navigation will actually come in handy, but if you're curious, then come along," Sherwin thought for a moment and didn't turn them down.
Probably because she didn't have any other duties, Nami was the most hardworking among them all. Though pirates were basically "Iron Men" by default, it wasn't a bad idea to let her relax once in a while.
So, Nami and Nojiko ended up boarding the Explorer No. 1 along with Sherwin and Klee Meow. With the two sisters around, there was no need to bring along any other Felynes to help steer the ship.
"Klee, which way do you want to go?"
"Hmm… that way, meow!"
"Alright. Nami, Nojiko, we're heading southeast."
Nami had just been about to check the weather when she overheard the casual exchange between Sherwin and Klee Meow.
"You're not even going to check the sea conditions?!" Nami, unusually fired up when it came to her area of expertise, shouted at Sherwin.
"We don't know how…" Sherwin spread his hands with a look of utter nonchalance. "I don't understand anything about weather stuff."
"Then how did you even make it this far?!" Even Nojiko was shocked. "Weren't you afraid of running into a storm?"
"Hmm…" Sherwin thought for a moment, then answered honestly, "Luck."
Nami: "..."
Nojiko: "..."
"You better wait for me to finish checking the weather before we go anywhere!" Nami snapped, suddenly exuding the authority of the future navigator of the Straw Hat Pirates.
Sherwin just shrugged indifferently. "Go ahead."
A moment later, Nami stammered, "…S-Southeast."
"See? You should've just listened to Klee from the start," Sherwin said with a teasing grin.
"Exactly, exactly! Klee instincts are always spot on! There definitely a ton of fish that way, meow!" The little plushie nodded her head eagerly in agreement.
(=`=)
By the time they came back from their little sea outing, Nami and Nojiko were mentally shattered…
Not only had the two sisters witnessed Klee Meow absurdly unreasonable luck, they also got a taste of what "art is an explosion" truly meant.
They had originally thought Meowjirou—with that longsword at his waist and daily training that rivaled Sherwin—was already insanely strong.
But who would've guessed that the seemingly lazy, soft, squishy Klee Meow, who was always trying to slack off during practice, was actually the most terrifying of all the Felynes?
No… wait… Klee Meow always seemed to be afraid of Hua Mei Meow. Maybe she the strongest one!
Well… in a sense, the sisters weren't wrong.
Sherwin and his group stayed at the Conomi Islands for quite a while. Even though the map had already been fully charted, they remained for a bit longer—just until the villagers started showing some progress in their training, and Nami had learned all the techniques she could. Only then did Sherwin take his leave.
Naturally, the villagers tried to persuade him to stay. But when they saw he had truly made up his mind, they pooled their efforts from both villages and threw a farewell party for him...
Yep, this time the banquet was hosted by Cocoyashi Village and Gosa Town specifically for Sherwin. As for the other villages—aside from a few villagers who had participated in the training—most of them acted like nothing had happened.
Sherwin didn't really take offense. He simply couldn't help but sigh with a bit of admiration: everything Lu Xun ever said was absolute truth…
Before leaving, Sherwin also had Klee Meow leave a few Boom Boom Bombs for Ajian and Bournte.
At first, the two of them didn't take it seriously. It wasn't until Nami and Nojiko explained the power of these bombs that they finally realized the danger, their faces filled with fear as they carefully put them away.
They decided that unless it was absolutely necessary, they would never touch these "little things."
With these few gadgets around, forget about Arlong coming back to life—even if ten more Arlongs showed up, they'd all just die again.
As for whether Ajian and the others would dare to actually use those Boom Boom Bombs when the time came, that was something Sherwin couldn't control.