After holding a welcome party for the newly arrived Haibara Meow—one with a very distinct flavor of the Pirate World—Sherwin and the others were preparing to leave the East Blue.
Just like when they had departed from the West Blue, they now had three possible routes: Reverse Mountain, the Red Line, or the Calm Belt + the Grand Line.
This time, however, things were different. After getting a piece of Seastone from Garp and with Huamei Meow now part of the team, Sherwin options were no longer limited to Reverse Mountain. He could now try crossing directly through the Calm Belt and into the Grand Line.
Although they only had one small piece of Seastone—likely less effective than the kind used on Marine warships—Sherwin felt that with Lucky Cat Klee Meow on their side, it was worth giving it a shot. Worst case, they could just turn back.
Judging from the general map of the Pirate World, taking this route toward the South Blue would mean passing through only the first half of the Grand Line.
With their current strength, Sherwin figured there shouldn't be too much danger. Even the only real concern—navigating—could be handled thanks to the Log Pose Garp had provided.
"What do you all think?"
Although Sherwin wanted to take the chance to see both the Calm Belt and the Grand Line, he still asked the Felynes for their opinions.
"Klee will listen to whatever Brother Sherwin says, meow!"
"At your command, Lord Sherwin, meow!"
As always, the little ragdoll cat gave her full support, and Meowjuro didn't question Sherwin decision at all.
"The Calm Belt should have a lot of Sea Kings, right? Does that mean your handbook might reward you with a fragment or two, meow?"
Sanji Meow, still sulking because he hadn't been able to summon the Beautiful big sister Felyne this time, had originally planned to ignore Sherwin.
But the thought of possibly getting new summon ticket fragments made the yellow cat speak up.
"How would I know something like that?" Sherwin shrugged.
"Tch! Useless Hunter!" Sanji Meow turned his head away again, continuing to sulk at Sherwin.
(〃｀3〃)
Finally, the new arrival Haibara Meow couldn't hold back any longer."There clearly a safer route, isn't there, meow? So why go out of your way to choose the more dangerous one, meow?"
Compared to the other Felynes who liked adventure, Haibara Meow was more cautious—or rather, a bit timid—which actually matched her original character.
Sherwin reached out, intending to scratch her chin, but Haibara Meow sidestepped to avoid him. He helplessly withdrew his hand and explained,
"Although the route through the Calm Belt is a bit more dangerous, it still within our controllable range. Besides, we can take this opportunity to get a taste of the Grand Line climate in advance."
Huamei Meow also nodded. "That right, meow. Even though I've read plenty of descriptions of the Grand Line in books and in that navigator diary by a man named Zeff, I still need to see it with my own eyes to get a clearer understanding, meow."
Then, Huamei Meow walked over to Haibara Meow, cupped her head, licked her twice, and softly comforted her.
"Don't worry. If I sense anything wrong, I'll immediately warn everyone to turn back, meow."
At this time, Klee Meow also ran over, hugging Haibara Meow tightly. "Don't worry, Sister Ai, meow! Klee will protect you, meow!"
With the two most affectionate Felynes working together, Haibara Meow had no more objections.
Thus, under Huamei Meow command, Meowjirou and Sanji Meow steered the Explosive Black Cat Maria toward the direction of the Calm Belt.
…
"Sigh… what a blunder…"
In the Calm Belt, Sherwin rowed the oars installed at the stern while sighing in frustration.
Earlier, he had been so focused on safety that he'd forgotten the most important thing—there no wind in the Calm Belt!As soon as they entered, the sails became completely useless.
Even more unfortunate was that the original flame propulsion device had been used to build the Spark Knight, so due to the East Blue craftsmanship and material limitations, the Explosive Black Cat Maria hadn't been fitted with a new one.
Fortunately, during the ship modification, Huamei Meow had the foresight to suggest adding oars as a secondary power source to replace the flame propulsion device. Otherwise, moving forward in the Calm Belt would have been even more troublesome.
However, the Explosive Black Cat Maria was a large ship, far bigger than what their small crew could fully handle. As a result, only Sherwin could comfortably operate the installed oars. He couldn't toss the work to the Felynes like before, so…
"Another blunder!" Sherwin grumbled in frustration once again.
Unlike Sherwin, who was stuck doing the hard labor, the Felynes were looking quite relaxed.
Huamei Meow lay at the bow of the ship, basking in the sun, occasionally opening one eye to check the weather and heading to make sure their course didn't drift.
Meowjirou, for once, wasn't practicing swordsmanship, but he wasn't idle either—he was training in the "Fur Tribe Mode" he had learned from Sanji Meow, and was already showing some results.
Sanji Meow, who had recently gathered some new ingredients on a remote island, was now in the kitchen using them to prepare snacks and drinks for everyone.
The slightly unsociable Haibara Meow was flipping through the medical books Sherwin had prepared for her, while helplessly putting up with Klee Meow clinging to her side.
Klee Meow wasn't trying to annoy Haibara Meow on purpose—her Observation Haki had sensed Haibara Meow closed-off heart and low spirits, so she kept sticking close in hopes of cheering her up.
Looking at them like this, it seemed that even if the Felynes could row, the one most suited for the job was still himself… Sherwin consoled himself with that thought.
Besides, entering the Calm Belt wasn't without its benefits.
The Sea Kings that occasionally surfaced—or, if unlucky, were blasted belly-up from the depths by Klee Meow—greatly enriched the monster entries in the Hunter Handbook.
At some point, though he wasn't sure exactly when it happened, Sherwin was casually flipping through the Hunter Handbook one day when a white normal pool summon ticket shard suddenly appeared between its pages.
Including the shard he'd obtained earlier on East Blue Rare Beast Island, all Sherwin had to do next was find time to visit the Twin Capes and meet the whale Laboon.
Then there was a good chance he could collect enough for a second white normal pool summon ticket.
If luck favored him, he might even gather a full ticket during their journey to the South Blue—or perhaps even while crossing the Grand Line.
If he dared to think even bolder… with Klee Meow blessing, suddenly obtaining a Logia-type Devil Fruit wasn't impossible either!
"Sherwin-nii, come eat, meow~"
Just as Sherwin was mechanically rowing the oars, lost in his daydreams, Klee Meow appeared carrying snacks Sanji Meow had just made and placed them in front of him.
The little ragdoll leapt onto Sherwin shoulder in a few quick hops, then brought the food right to his mouth.
"Thanks, Klee~"
Snapped out of his daydream, Sherwin beamed, happily accepting the angelic feeding from Klee Meow, even leaning in to touch noses with the little ragdoll.
After feeding Sherwin a few bites, Klee Meow hopped down from him and went running off to play with Haibara Meow again.
"Big Sister Ai, do you want to go blow up some fish with Klee Meow?"
"Uh... n-no, you go play on your own. I'm not really interested in bombs, meow..."
Haibara Meow body visibly stiffened as she held her medical book, quickly refusing in a dry voice.
Before this, she didn't have a proper concept of Klee Meow bombs. Then, under the gloating gazes of everyone else, she went with Klee Meow to blow up fish once...
It nearly scared Haibara Meow to death!Whose sonic bomb could blast seawater more than ten meters high?! And that huge patch of fish bellies floating white-side-up... if not for that exaggerated splash just now, Haibara Meow would've thought the small ball she threw was actually a poison gas bomb!
After that, Haibara Meow even had the privilege of witnessing several of Klee Meow daily experiments, as well as a few times when she went after Sea Kings...
Where on earth did this little kitten come from to be trained into such a bomb-happy Felyne?! The power of those bombs was enough to take on a Deviljho alone!And judging from the reactions of the other cats and the Hunter, that wasn't even Klee Meow most powerful bomb.
Haibara Meow stared with dead-fish eyes at the medical book in her hands, not taking in a single word...
Looks like even in another world, things are still just as dangerous!