Sherwin watched regretfully as Haibara Meow tore the small slip of paper Stussy had given him into tiny shreds.
He then turned toward the Heixiu Panda shop clerk he had been ignoring for quite a while, pinching the membership card he had obtained from Miraboor Island between his fingers and handing it over.
"Please take measurements for all of them," Sherwin said, pointing to the Felynes beside him, and finally indicating Haibara Meow, who had just hopped down from his shoulder.
"Especially this little one—make a few extra outfits for her."
"No problem!" Hearing that it was a large order, the clerk instantly pushed aside whatever they had been thinking about earlier and replied with extra enthusiasm,
"Heyshaw Panda is at your service!"
After the Felynes had all been measured for their custom outfits, Sherwin finally had time to ask Haibara Meow about her Observation Haki.
"Haibara, when did you awaken Observation Haki? Or was it just now?"
"Observation Haki?" Haibara Meow froze for a moment, then closed her eyes to feel this suddenly emerging ability.
Realization dawned on her and she exclaimed, "So this is what you call Observation Haki? That really amazing, meow!"
It did seem like she had only just awakened it…
Sherwin rubbed her head as she was absorbed in the new ability and reminded her, "Don't overuse it right after awakening, or you'll easily exhaust your mental strength."
"Hmph! I know! I'm not stupid, meow!"
After enjoying Sherwin head rub for a while, Haibara Meow finally turned her head away in a rather "tough" manner to dodge his fingers.
After warning Haibara Meow, Sherwin looked over at Seijuro Meow and Huamei Meow, teasing,
"Now the only ones in our team who haven't awakened Observation Haki are you two. At least Seijuro Meow can use Armament Haki, but you don't even have one, huh?"
"I am ashamed, meow…" The serious Seijuro Meow didn't fall for the teasing at all. Instead, he lowered his head with a face full of guilt.
Boring.Sherwin curled his lips and turned his gaze to Huamei Meow.
However, this cat wasn't fazed in the slightest. Instead, she put on a look of surprise and replied, "Huh? I never told you, Admiral? I awakened Observation a long time ago, meow~"
"…," Sherwin was silent for a moment. "So when I tricked you with Klee Meow back then, you had already awakened it, right?!"
"Huh? What about Klee Meow?" The little ragdoll cat looked confused.
ω"So you really did it on purpose back then, Admiral, meow!" The tabby cat grabbed Sherwin hand and gave it a firm bite.
(=`皿=)
After leaving several deep tooth marks on Sherwin palm, Huamei Meow finally explained,
"Nope, back then I hadn't awakened Observation yet. It was later, when we ran into that tornado, that I suddenly awakened it, meow."
Just like Sherwin and the other Felynes each had their own areas of expertise, Huamei Meow Observation Haki was particularly good at sensing temperature, humidity, and other weather-related factors.
At the same time, her perception range was the largest among everyone.
When Sherwin and the others returned to the ship, loaded with large and small bags, they had also managed to gather all the details about the auction.
As a "tourist paradise" with an enormous flow of visitors—especially wealthy patrons—and conveniently connected by the sea train, the Queen of Spring City naturally had a strong commercial atmosphere.
Auctions here were nothing unusual. Participating was simple: just prove you had the spending power, and you could enter.
Of course, if you were already a well-known pirate, a loan shark king, a big name in the news, or a high-ranking Marine officer, you didn't need any proof at all to attend.
In the past, auctions held in Queen of Spring City mostly featured rare shipbuilding materials, high-grade ingredients, and specialty goods from other islands—common enough commodities. The appearance of a Devil Fruit this time was said to be an accident.
According to the auction house, the consignor was just an ordinary island resident. He had been about to eat some fruit when, right before his eyes, a Devil Fruit formed.
Whether that rumor was true or not didn't matter—what was certain was that a Devil Fruit would be going up for auction.
Thanks to the auction house deliberate publicity, quite a few pirates had already rushed over upon hearing the news, and even more people were on their way. The competition this time would likely be fierce.
In addition…
Sherwin gaze stopped on one particular item in the auction list—Treasure Tree Adam. Both the Pirate King of the past and the Pirate King of the future had used it to build their ships.
Compared to the Devil Fruit with its unknown ability, Sherwin actually wanted this item more. If he bought it, he could head straight to Water 7 and have Iceburg and his group of CP agents use the material to upgrade the Explosive Black Cat Maria—or even build an entirely new ship.
However, Sherwin didn't want to give up the Devil Fruit so easily either. But in that case, the Beli he had might not be enough, especially since he still needed to set aside money for upgrading the ship in Water 7…
Sigh… I really shouldn't have been so careless with my spending…
Thinking back to the amount of Berries he spent shopping today, Sherwin felt a slight pang of regret.
"Hua Mei, do you have any suggestions?"
Feeling a bit troubled, Sherwin turned to the most business-savvy of them, Hua Mei Meow, for advice.
Along the way, aside from turning pirates in for bounty money, Sherwin and his crew had also tried doing some trade runs.
Although not having a fixed route meant they sometimes took a small loss when selling, under Hua Mei Meow management, they still managed to make a few small profits.
"Admiral, don't you still have some unused named blades and Devil Fruits, meow? You could totally hand them over to the auction house to sell, meow."
"Oh, right!"
Sherwin smacked his forehead, suddenly remembering that in his bag he still had a Reindeer Fruit, the two Grade Blades Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu, and a former Famous Blade called Manticore…
The two Grade Blades together wouldn't fetch even ten million Berries, so it was better to keep them for dual-blade use.
As for the outdated Famous Blade, it was worth even less, but he could still keep it for great sword use. That Reindeer Fruit, however, could be taken to the auction house to sell.
…
Time quickly passed, and the day of the auction arrived. For safety and other considerations, Sherwin did not bring along any of the Felynes this time. Instead, he left them all on the ship and headed to the auction house alone.
Showing the doorman the admission ticket he had acquired earlier, Sherwin stepped into the venue.
With a casual glance around, he quickly spotted Stussy, who was currently surrounded by a group of men trying to win her favor, as well as several well-known pirates he'd seen before on wanted posters.
Tsk… all of these are money…
On the verge of a major financial downsizing, Sherwin looked at these "bounties" and unconsciously ran his fingers over the hilt of his Longsword.
Once the auction over, I'll use them to refill my wallet!
Happily deciding the fate of those pirates, Sherwin withdrew his gaze and casually found a seat, quietly waiting for the auction to begin.
After Water 7, there wouldn't be much reason to change ships anymore. From then on, even if he summoned shipwrights, it would only be to upgrade the current vessel or to build a few smaller crafts like the Spark Knight or the Angler Submarine.