"I really have to hand it to Zoro and his terrible sense of direction..."
Sherwin looked at the island that had appeared ahead and didn't even know where to begin complaining.
The large island in front of them was called Dawn Island—it was home to the Goa Kingdom and Windmill Village...
That right. Coming all the way from Shells Town, they were finally about to reach Windmill Village, the starting point of the pirate story.
And yet, they still hadn't come across a village named Shimotsuki. Who knows from which remote corner of the East Blue Zoro had originally gotten lost?
Oh well. Even if he couldn't meet Zoro or Koushirou, meeting Luffy and Ace first wouldn't be bad either.
But before that, he still had to unlock the map of the Goa Kingdom.
And the Goa Kingdom certainly lived up to its reputation as "the most beautiful country in the East Blue."
Even the Celestial Dragons had come here for a visit. The streets weren't just spotless even the public facilities were among the few in the East Blue that could rival those on Mirapar Island.
Of course, that level of development only applied to the central area of the Goa Kingdom. Even the central street where commoners lived had one of the best living environments in the East Blue.
As for the High Town where the nobles resided—needless to say—if Sherwin didn't have the press badge given to him by Morgans, he wouldn't even be allowed in.
As for the royal palace area that only the royal family could enter, Sherwin didn't have clearance either, but he could still catch glimpses of it from the outside.
It was hard to compare in terms of facilities, but in terms of sheer luxury, Mirapare Island couldn't hold a candle to it.
Meanwhile, the outskirts—Grey Terminal—were much more rundown and chaotic. But even there, you wouldn't see much garbage, because it had all been dumped outside the great wall.
That massive garbage mountain outside the wall was known as the "GreyTerminal." It was inhabited by a group of living corpses who didn't even qualify as beggars.
Even though the Goa Kingdom had set it on fire a few years ago, those people still numbly remained.
Unable to force their way into the central area, and too weak to compete with the other poor folks in the Grey Terminal, they could only barely survive by scavenging for usable items in those heaps of trash.
"Sherwin-nii, Klee doesn't like this place, meow." As they left the city center and arrived at Grey Terminal, the little plush doll quickly furrowed her brow and whispered in Sherwin ear,
"Can we hurry and leave, meow?"
(ˇˇ)Klee Meow Observation Haki could clearly sense the emotions of the residents in each area. The stark contrast between these emotional zones made the little plush feel deeply uncomfortable.
"I don't want to stay here either," unexpectedly, the first to agree was Seijuro Meow. His paw rested firmly on the hilt of his sword.
"If I stay any longer, I fear I won't be able to stop myself from drawing my blade, meow."
"That right, that right," Sanji Meow nodded along, looking disgusted.
"Some humans in other places are bad too, but the ones here are the worst, meow!"
"Seems like we're all on the same page," Hua Mei Meow swished her tail and raised her paw to tap Sherwin ear, urging,
"Has the Admiral finished mapping, meow? If so, let get out of here quick. I don't like it either, meow."
Sherwin didn't like this place either, but since he had read the manga and already knew what the Goa Kingdom was like, he wasn't too shaken.
Still, since all the cats didn't want to stay, he naturally picked up the pace. After quickly completing the map, he returned to the dock and set sail from the area.
Thankfully, his "vision" range had expanded quite a bit, and with the handbook built-in watchtower system, he didn't have to make a separate trip out to the garbage mountain outside the city.
Following the coastline eastward, Sherwin and his group soon arrived at Windmill Village. At the port, he spotted a Marine ship with a dog-headed figurehead…
He hadn't expected to run into Garp on this trip—that was quite a surprise.
Still, he didn't feel much of a reaction inside. After all, he wasn't a pirate, and he'd already learned a good deal about Haki training from Chinjao.
There was no conflict of interest or enmity between him and Garp. Just treat him like any other story character—nothing special.
Windmill Village was even smaller than Syrup Village, the kind of place you could see end-to-end in a single glance. The bar run by Makino was located right by the port.
When Sherwin pushed open the door and walked into the bar, he saw that it was already filled with Marines.
However, Garp wasn't among them—he had probably gone up the mountain to "play" with his two grandsons.
"Welcome! What can I get for you?"
The proprietress, Makino, came over to ask, though her gaze remained fixed on the cats.
"Klee wants grilled fish, meow!"
"Alright, one grilled fish. Anything else?"
As expected of the woman who had served both Shanks and the Mountain Bandit King—she remained completely calm even after seeing Klee speak.
Sherwin marveled at that as he casually ordered some food and drinks.
"Fur-folk? Are you the cat swordsman who been making waves in the East Blue lately?"
Not long after Sherwin and the others had found an empty table and sat down, a man walked over—he wore a classic gray detective suit, draped with a Marine coat over his shoulders.
At his waist hung a tachi sword as long as the Longsword… though it was unclear whether it was a famous blade.
Sherwin eyes shifted from the tachi at the man waist to his face…
Hmm. Didn't recognize him.
Not recognizing the man, Sherwin simply nodded and said, "Just call me Sherwin. And if you guys could help change my nickname to 'Hunter,' that would be even better."
"Isn't 'cat swordsman' a cool name, meow? Why change it, meow?" Klee Meow tugged at Sherwin clothes in protest.
(=`н=)
"Ahem, that title suits Seijuro better. And besides, I'm originally the Hunter," Sherwin said, hurrying to calm her down, ignoring the Marine for now.
"…That kinda makes sense, meow…" Klee Meow was once again easily swayed by Sherwin words.
Bogard was probably used to his own Vice Admiral usual unreliability, so this level of nonsense didn't even faze him.
Bogard expression didn't change in the slightest as he answered seriously, "That sort of thing isn't under the Navy jurisdiction."
"Well, forget it then," Sherwin shrugged, then asked curiously, "So why did you come find me?"
"No particular reason. I just wanted to take a look at the rising star of the East Blue."
In truth, Bogard figured that since Sherwin had taken down both Arlong and Kuro, he was probably a bounty hunter with a sense of justice. He was thinking of seeing whether he could recruit him into the Navy.
But before that, he needed to confirm Sherwin true character, so he intentionally kept a distant, businesslike demeanor—neither warm nor hostile.
"You two probably have a lot in common, meow," Sanji Meow suddenly elbowed Seijuro Meow and whispered.
Bogard instinctively turned his head at those words and looked at Seijuro Meow, who also looked up at him.
Despite being different species, the expressions on their faces were strangely similar at that moment.
"..." The corner of Bogard eye twitched slightly. Whatever he had intended to say about recruiting Sherwin suddenly stuck in his throat.
The other Navy members in the tavern were barely suppressing their laughter.
Seeing the man fall silent for so long, Sherwin scratched his head in confusion and asked, "Is there anything else?"
Bogard, who wasn't good at this kind of thing to begin with, opened his mouth but ultimately gave up on trying to recruit him.
With a stern face, he gave Sherwin a brief nod, then turned and left—leaving Sherwin and the Felynes completely baffled.