Just as Sherwin had expected, after hearing the story of Annie and her little bear, Klee Meow enthusiastically ran off to start crafting a "little bear" of her own.
As for her crafting skills, there was nothing to worry about. All those adorable bombs of hers were handmade by Klee Meow herself. In the original version, Klee had even helped Amber make and upgrade Baron Bunny.
Also unsurprisingly, while making the ragdoll she named "Dodo Bear," Klee Meow caused several fires.
Although she managed to put out each blaze in time with her fruit ability as soon as it started, she still managed to burn quite a few small items, and both the cabin and the deck were now marked with scorched black stains...
An enraged Huamei Meow once again sank her teeth furiously into Sherwin's palm. Sherwin had to cuddle the angry little tabby for a good RUB session before she finally calmed down.
Of course, Huamei Meow didn't actually stop Klee Meow from doing what she was doing. After all, it wasn't like bomb-making—this wouldn't cause widespread destruction. So as long as a tall enough platform was set up on the deck for Klee Meow to tinker on, it would be fine.
And the one responsible for building that platform was naturally the "culprit" himself—Sherwin. On top of that, Huamei Meow specifically ordered the other Felynes not to help him.
"Sherwin-nii, have a drink, meow~"
Klee Meow, who had quickly gone into hiding when Huamei Meow got angry, was now trotting over with a drink made by Sanji Meow, bringing it to the hard-working Sherwin.
Sherwin grumpily pinched the little ragdoll's cheeks and gave them a light shake. "You little rascal, where did you run off to just now?"
"Ehehehe~" Klee Meow giggled awkwardly and hugged Sherwin's leg, rubbing her little head against him as she cooed sweetly, "I'm sowwy~ Big Sis Huamei was super scary just now, Klee got a wittle scared, meow..."
(=ω=)
Of course, Sherwin couldn't really stay mad at little angel Klee Meow. He grabbed her under the arms and lifted her up to eye level, asking curiously, "You were making your little bear, fine—but why do you keep changing places?"
Then, the little plushie matter-of-factly replied, "Klee realized she'd caused trouble, so of course she couldn't stay in the same place, meow!"
Sherwin let out a long sigh. "But you're the only one on the ship who plays with fire, you little dummy…"
"Oh, right!" The little plushie suddenly understood, then flailed her tiny paws to slap Sherwin's arm and weakly protested, "Klee's not a dummy, meow!"
"Alright, alright," Sherwin gave Klee Meow a big kiss on the forehead before setting her back down on the deck. "Go play on your own. I still have to finish building the platform."
However, the little plushie didn't run off. Instead, she found a spot nearby and sat down.
"Klee wants to keep Sherwin big brother company, meow~"
And so, sipping the drink Klee Meow brought him and with her by his side, Sherwin found himself working with even more energy…
Wait a minute! Wasn't it because of this little dummy Klee Meow that I ended up in this mess?!
The shameless two-legged beast completely ignored the fact that the whole thing had started because he told the little plushie a story.
Of course, that didn't affect his work efficiency. So soon enough, the platform specifically built for Klee Meow to make her handmade teddy bears was completed. To increase its durability, Sherwin used various golden items from their loot to build the upper part of the platform…
After all, he normally wouldn't stuff useless scrap metal into his bag, so he had to use gold as a substitute… Luckily, pirate treasure usually contained at least some gold.
"This is way too extravagant, meow…"
Seijuro Meow looked at the glittering golden platform and couldn't help but complain.
On the other hand, Hua Mei Meow didn't say anything. She even nodded in agreement. "Anyway, gold doesn't burn. The Admiral is actually really smart, meow."
"If you hadn't stopped the other cats from helping me, Klee could've used her fruit powers to build a more delicate platform even faster," Sherwin said helplessly as he stroked Hua Mei Meow's whiskers.
After all, if Enel could use his lightning powers for super-efficient electro-metallurgy, there's no reason why Klee Meow, who could control fire directly, would be any worse.
Before Hua Mei Meow could respond, Sanji Meow jumped out beside them. "You totally deserved it, meow! If you had just warned Sister Hua Mei from the start, Klee wouldn't have ended up setting fire to so many places before getting caught, meow!"
"Cough, cough, cough…" Realizing he was in the wrong, Sherwin quickly faked a cough to interrupt the topic.
Well, what could he do? Teasing cats was just second nature to any cat owner! With such an amusing scene, even being punished and made to work like a mule was worth it! If there were a next time, he'd still do it all over again!
Sherwin felt absolutely no remorse.
"Admiral! Are you thinking something bad again, meow?!" Hua Mei Meow suddenly shot a dangerous glare at Sherwin.
(ˇˇ)"You really did awaken Observation Haki, didn't you?!"
"I'm gonna bite you to death, you bad Admiral meow!"
"Count me in! Count me in too, meow!"
"…I'm going to practice swordsmanship, meow…"
"What are you playing, meow? Klee wants to play too!"
Today, the Explosive Black Cat Maria, as always, was filled with laughter and chaos.
…
While Klee Meow was tinkering with her "Boom Boom Bear," Sherwin and the others continued on their journey.
Along the way, they arrived at two towns Sherwin remembered—Orange Town, which would eventually be occupied and destroyed by Buggy, and Shells Town, where Marine Branch 153 was located.
They even met the white puppy named Chouchou, who shared the same name as one of Klee Meow's bombs, as well as the "Axe King" Morgan, who was still just a hot-blooded Marine without his iron jaw or axe arm.
Sherwin even caught sight of Alvida before she became a pirate. She was one of the few women in the pirate world who, despite being in her prime years, didn't have a great figure—but after eating the Smooth-Smooth Fruit, she received an epic-level makeover.
As for the future "Diligent Admiral" Koby, Sherwin hadn't encountered him. But from his memory, Koby wasn't originally from Shells Town—he'd been abducted by Alvida while out fishing and forced into slavery.
Considering he was probably younger than Luffy and lacked any distinct features, even if Sherwin had bumped into him by accident, he likely wouldn't have recognized him.
He also hadn't run into Buggy, the king of Conqueror's Haki-level luck. But that guy didn't even have a 10 million bounty yet, so he was probably holed up in some random corner treasure hunting. Not seeing him made perfect sense.
However, there was something else bothering Sherwin—
It was one thing not to encounter Buggy or Koby, but he had already arrived at Shells Town and explored the surrounding islands thoroughly.
So why hadn't he found Shimotsuki Village, where Koshiro was supposed to be? Even asking the locals yielded no clues at all.
Wasn't Zoro supposed to have started out as a pirate hunter in this area?
Wait a minute…
As Sherwin stewed in frustration, he suddenly remembered one of Zoro's hilariously tragic traits.
That moss-headed swordsman had a legendary sense of direction so bad he could get lost just walking down stairs.
So the idea that he set out to sea and ended up drifting aimlessly to Shells Town—far from Shimotsuki Village—before starting his pirate hunter career… wasn't just plausible, it was highly likely.
"..."
Forget it. Better to just keep following the route he'd already planned. It's not like Shimotsuki Village or Koshiro were going to grow legs and run away. Eventually, he'd run into them.
Sherwin decisively chose to let things take their natural course. After all, with Zoro's sense of direction, who knew how far the real location of Shimotsuki Village might be from here?