During the following period, whenever Zoro had free time, he would come over to challenge Seijuro Meow.
Seijuro Meow was just as dedicated, dealing with Zoro challenges while constantly giving him pointers.
Zoro might be tough and a bit of a directionless wanderer, but he knew when to respect others.
His attitude toward Seijuro Meow gradually shifted from stubborn rivalry to genuine respect. Even the way he addressed him changed—from "Seijuro" at first to "Teacher Seijuro."
As the Pirate World well-known genius at naming things, Zoro even developed a bunch of cat-themed techniques.
Borrowing from Seijuro Meow "Cat Claw" and "Cat Pounce" was one thing, but even his original "Tiger Hunt" and "Leopard Song Jewel" became "Cat Hunt" and "Cat Song Jewel," and his "Sword Wolf Style" even turned into "Sword Cat Style"...
Sherwin was completely speechless about this.
Even though the cat influence seemed to have made Zoro technique names drift off track, his swordsmanship itself was improving at an incredible pace.
Koushirou could see it clearly—Zoro had already built a solid foundation. What he needed now was to witness more sword techniques and gain more real combat experience.
If Zoro weren't still underage, Koushirou would have already let him go out to sea to broaden his horizons.
So aside from Seijuro Meow, Sherwin would also spar with Zoro from time to time. While his swordsmanship realm wasn't on par with Seijuro Meow, Sherwin knew more techniques.
In addition to the Monster Hunter–derived styles from various weapons, he also knew Brook fencing techniques and some sword skills he had cobbled together himself, inspired by anime he had seen in the past.
Sparring with Zoro not only broadened Zoro experience, but also allowed Sherwin to refine those self-invented sword skills. Both Koushirou and Seijuro Meow would offer him many suggestions for improvements.
In addition, Koushirou held the "Scarlet Heaven End" in high regard and even taught Sherwin some of the Iai techniques passed down in the Shimotsuki family.
That why Sherwin felt that Shimotsuki Village was the most suitable place for his training. Windmill Village might have Garp, who was stronger, and more story characters, but in terms of training effectiveness, Shimotsuki Village was definitely better.
But all good things must come to an end. After staying in Shimotsuki Village for quite some time, Sherwin and the others prepared to leave.
After all, there were still so many unknown areas waiting for them to explore, and more Felynes waiting for him to summon. Most importantly…
Klee Meow urge to set off firecrackers was also getting harder and harder to suppress.
Before leaving Shimotsuki Village, Sherwin hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he still handed over Choran and Kusunawa to Zoro.
After all, not only had he already taken Snow Walk, which originally belonged to Zoro, but he also had no intention of giving up on the yet-to-be-seen Sandai Kitetsu,
as well as the black blade Shusui and the proud swordsman blade Enma—all of which were part of Sherwin plans. So giving Zoro two high-quality blades as compensation wasn't a big deal.
As for whether these two swords would, like in the original story, end up broken by a Marine with the Rust-Rust Fruit ability—that was something Sherwin couldn't control. In any case, he didn't have much emotional attachment to them.
In fact, Sherwin could have directly given Snow Walk to Zoro, but at the last moment, a bit of mischievousness arose in him—he wanted to replace all the swords that were destined to belong to Zoro.
The only exception was Wado Ichimonji, which was far too special to Zoro; otherwise, even that one wouldn't have been spared.
Originally, this was just Sherwin little mischievous hobby mixed with a sense of reassurance, but unexpectedly, it brought an extra reward…
Out of courtesy and reciprocity, Koushirou handed Sherwin a booklet recording the training insights of generations of swordsmen from the Shimotsuki family.
It wasn't exactly a swordsmanship manual or secret technique scroll—more like an exchange of experience.
If Sherwin had received it before his Monster Hunter–style system had taken shape, this booklet might have offered him some useful guidance.
But now that his technique framework was mostly complete, it was more something to read out of curiosity.
Of course, it wasn't entirely without value. At the very least, it could provide inspiration for the sword techniques Sherwin had pieced together himself.
For a swordsmanship genius like Seijuro Meow, however, this booklet was much more useful.
The little black cat could even visualize scenes of himself fighting based on the insights in the book, thus broadening his knowledge and experience.
When Sherwin heard Seijuro Meow say this, he…
…was already used to it.
So what if his own talent wasn't as good as his cat? This kind of thing… this kind of thing…
I'm totally not jealous! QAQ
…
After leaving Shimotsuki Village, they first found a rather unlucky deserted island, where Klee Meow could thoroughly indulge her love for explosions, and only then did they continue their journey.After meeting Zoro, the East Blue no longer held any real appeal for Sherwin.
The people here were weak, the level of technology was low, the pirate bounties were small, and even the material suitable for making a Travel Guide was far less abundant than in the West Blue.
If it weren't for his curiosity about what changes might occur after submitting the map at 100% completion, Sherwin would have long since left for another sea.
As for that "Bridge Country" Tequila Wolf— even if he wrote about it, Morgans would block it anyway.
And, perhaps because it was considered a "bridge," although Tequila Wolf would appear on the handbook map, it wasn't counted toward the map completion percentage.
On the next leg of the journey, thanks to Klee Meow blessings, Sherwin successfully found the Sandai Kitetsu.
After coming into contact with it, he finally had a clear understanding of the concept of a "cursed blade."
It was clearly just a sword, yet it could influence a person emotions, making them feel an irresistible urge to cut someone down with it…This was one of those common Japanese-style tropes.
However, to Sherwin, the Kitetsu effect on him was negligible compared to demon mode.
So, after toying with it a bit, he casually tossed it into his bag to gather dust, thinking that he'd only take it out when he felt like playing with dual blades someday.
What really disappointed him was— after obtaining the Sandai Kitetsu, there wasn't even a single Summon Ticket fragment!Was the handbook rule system really this arbitrary?!
Later, they encountered Krieg, the one who, in the original story, was chased and slashed at by Mihawk.
At this point, Krieg didn't have such a large fleet yet, but all of his core officers were present, and he was wearing that flashy golden armor…
Then they were completely wiped out by the Felynes.After all, compared to Klee Meow bombs, Krieg so-called weapons and gadgets weren't all that different.
Among the pirates who were wiped out was, of course, Gin—the one who, in the original story, was given a slight redemption arc and often became a meme among fans.
But because he died so quickly, Sherwin didn't even have time to notice any of his redeeming qualities…Not that there was much to praise anyway. Dead was dead.
This way, almost all the pirates Luffy defeated in the original story had basically been taken out by Sherwin, leaving only Alvida, who hadn't set sail yet, and Buggy the Clown, whom Sherwin had never crossed paths with.
But since new pirates appeared in this world almost every day, there was no need to worry that Luffy would run out of "monsters" to fight in the future.
In comparison, Sherwin was more curious about where Buggy had gone.
He'd at least encountered Alvida near Shells Town, but Buggy—he hadn't even seen a shadow of him, not to mention hearing any news.
Sherwin didn't know whether Buggy simply hadn't come to the East Blue yet, or if his Conqueror Haki-level luck had let him avoid Sherwin entirely…
Sherwin felt the second possibility might be more likely.After all, if they really had met, there no way he would've let Buggy go.
He'd only tested the hunter dagger for extracting Devil Fruits once, and he couldn't care less about what Buggy might do in the future—he'd definitely stab first and think later.
Unfortunately, Buggy was nowhere to be found, and Sherwin hadn't even heard a whisper about those circus crew members of his.
"Looks like, Klee, your four-leaf-clover luck is still a bit worse than Conqueror Haki luck…"
Sherwin kneaded Klee Meow small cheeks, sighing with genuine feeling.
"Meow?"
ω
The little ragdoll cat had no idea why Sherwin suddenly said something so random, but she quickly put it out of her mind.
She turned her little head again, giggling as she opened her mouth to bite Sherwin fingers.
Meanwhile, Hua Mei Meow climbed onto Sherwin shoulder, rubbed her head against his cheek, and asked,
"The next island should be our last stop in the East Blue, right? Admiral, you should be able to gather a full Summon Ticket by then, meow?"
"That right." Sherwin continued playing with Klee Meow as he replied,
"Even if I only get one fragment this time, I'll still be able to piece together a full blue Summon Ticket."
"That great! I've never seen you summon another Felyne before, Admiral," Hua Mei Meow said with clear anticipation for the upcoming summoning.
The one looking forward to it even more, of course, was Sanji Meow.From the moment they started talking, the little yellow cat had been standing at Sherwin side, praying devoutly to the Klee Meow in his arms:
"We must summon a new big sister meow, we must summon a new big sister meow…"
Sherwin rolled his eyes, too lazy to bother with this little idiot.
Instead, Hua Mei Meow hopped down from his shoulder, patted Sanji Meow on the head, and said,
"If you want to meet a new big sister, then come help steer the ship so we can get there faster, meow."
Sanji Meow immediately stopped praying, twisting his body like a noodle as he followed after Hua Mei Meow.
"Hua Mei big sister, don't worry. Even if a new big sister Felyne comes, my love for you will never change, meow! …Ah… crap, meow…"
Only after saying it did Sanji Meow realize he'd gotten carried away.Before Hua Mei Meow could speak, the little yellow cat lowered his head and admitted his mistake:
"I'll take care of the deck cleaning for the next month, meow? Hua Mei big sister, I'm sorry, I was being too frivolous just now, meow."
No matter how many times he saw this kind of scene, Sherwin still found it amazing—Hua Mei Meow could make this little yellow cat completely obedient without using either force or charm… truly worthy of being the Soaring Scarlet Tiger!
With Hua Mei Meow around, Sherwin had no need to worry about summoning any disobedient Felynes in the future.