Sherwin knew Klee Meow, that little plush doll who loved setting off fireworks, all too well. After her first wave of attacks, the pirates in Reef Town had basically all GG.
Now, this mischievous little one was just taking advantage of the others being tied up with stronger pirates, constantly finding excuses to toss bombs everywhere.
"Ah! There movement over there! That must mean some bad guys are still around, meow! C1 · Spark Spider Meow!"
With a wave of her tiny paw, several little spiders formed from fire scuttled swiftly into a collapsed building, and then—boom!—they exploded.
This was an idea the plush doll had gotten from Deidara explosive clay, an imitation using her own abilities to create detonation sparks… In truth, she simply wrapped explosives in flames, shaped them into Dodo Bear–like flame puppets, and ordered them to charge out and self-destruct.
She had never really had a chance to test the power of these detonation sparks before, but now that such a perfect opportunity presented itself, Klee Meow was naturally going to blow things up to her heart content.
Moreover, the plush doll wasn't just blowing things up at random. Every place she bombed was carefully chosen based on surrounding materials, the environment, and the structure of the space.
At the same time, the explosives wrapped inside each spark varied and were constantly adjusted.
"Klee found more enemies! C1 · Spark Sparrow Meow!"
Another bird formed of flames flew into a leaning clock tower, blasting the huge bell hanging inside into the shape of a blooming flower.
"Ohhh—! Art is an explosion, meow!" Klee Meow waved her little paws as all sorts of flame-shaped animals spread through the town under her command. "Boom! Flames! This is so much fun, meow!"
While the plush doll was setting off fireworks all across Reef Town, Reiser and the other remaining "high-ranking" members of the pirate alliance were powerless to stop her—because several other cats had them completely tied down.
"Flying Cat Sword Style · Cat Claw Flash Meow!"
"Banquet Table Spinning Kick Meow!"
(=ΦωΦ=)┫
Even Haibara Meow drew her longsword, clashing against a pirate wielding a rapier.
And none of the cats—like Seijuro Meow—were even using Armament Haki. They were deliberately suppressing their strength, trading blows with Reiser and the others evenly…
Part of it was to sharpen their combat skills in real battle. But another part was simply their feline nature… when cats aren't hungry, they just love to play with their prey.
"D-Damn it! What the hell is with these cats?!"
Reiser, who had already transformed into a lizardman, struggled to fend off Seijuro Meow swift slashes while shouting at the captain of another pirate crew beside him: "Hughes! Didn't you say only that bounty hunter was troublesome?!"
"How the hell was I supposed to know what going on?!" Captain Hughes shouted back with a dark face.
"It not like you didn't read the intel! Up until now, the only one who ever made a move was that bounty hunter nicknamed the Hunter!"
(ω)
(=`ω=)┫
Link Meow, who was pressing Hughes and his first mate hard, saw that he still dared to get distracted.
His sword strikes grew even faster, and Hughes immediately shut his mouth, focusing all his strength on blocking Link Meow attacks.
"ROAR!!"
Reiser let out a furious bellow, swinging his tail at Seijuro Meow as he suddenly turned to flee—completely ignoring the fact that his tail had just been cut clean off by Seijuro Meow.
But for someone with the Lizard Fruit ability, losing a tail wasn't really that big of a deal.
"Looks like you've underestimated me, meow…"
Seijuro Meow narrowed his eyes, activated the Silent Step he had learned from Kuro, and his figure instantly vanished before everyone eyes—only to reappear a moment later right in front of the fleeing Reiser.
"Damn it!"
Reiser immediately tried to change direction, but just as he turned the corner, his body suddenly lurched against his will. An instant later, searing pain shot through all four of his limbs.
Flying Cat Sword Style · Meru Flash.
"Waaaaaahhhhhh—!"
Screaming in agony, Reiser rolled across the ground, his severed limbs spraying blood, but even so, he kept trying to crawl away. As a lizardman, as long as he could escape, his limbs could still grow back.
Unfortunately, Seijuro Meow wasn't going to give him that chance. The little black cat darted over and struck the back of his head hard with the blunt side of the blade, sending Reiser consciousness plunging into darkness in an instant.
Afterward, Seijuro Meow even found some rope to tie him up. To keep him from bleeding out and dying, he did a bit of simple bandaging… After all, he was a Devil Fruit user, so they needed to keep him alive and bring him back for Sherwin to try and extract the fruit.
Seeing that Seijuro Meow had already dealt with his opponent, the other Felynes no longer held back and began to fight seriously.
(=`ω=)┫
(ω≡ω)
Link Meow slammed forward with a shield bash, breaking through the defenses of Captain Hughes and his first mate. He spun around right after, unleashing a Whirlwind Slash across their throats, cutting them both down.
"Diable Jambe · Flambage Shot Meow!"
Sanji Meow body crackled with sparks of electricity. A flurry of electrified kicks took down the enemies in front of him, then he immediately leapt toward Huamei Meow opponent.
"Big Sister Huamei, I'll help you, meow!"
But before he could reach her, Huamei Meow body was already glowing with electricity as well. Entering demon mode, she coated her longsword in a layer of dark energy.
The longsword, which had struggled to make an impact before, now easily pierced through her opponent armor and drove deep into his heart.
"Don't underestimate me too much, Sanji Meow. Enemies of this level are something I can still handle on my own, meow."
Hua Mei Meow smoothly withdrew her longsword and, with a stylish reverse motion, slid it precisely back into its sheath at her waist.
"Ohhh! Sister Hua Mei, you're truly so heroic, meow!"
Sanji Meow immediately switched into praise mode.
"Alright, stop standing around. Tie up those Devil Fruit users, and then we need to go find that little rascal Klee, meow."
Hua Mei Meow covered her mouth with a satisfied smile before continuing, "If we don't stop that mischievous one soon, this whole island might be in trouble, meow."
(ˇˇ)
Hearing the occasional explosions in the distance and seeing thick smoke rising all around, Link Meow nodded in agreement.
So, a whole group of cats set off in a grand rush toward the latest direction of the explosions. But by the time they arrived near the spot, the blasts had already started coming from another direction, forcing them to change course again, and then…
After changing directions several times, they still hadn't managed to catch up to Klee Meow.
"That little rascal! She definitely doing this on purpose, meow!" Hua Mei Meow was so angry that she laughed.
If she couldn't figure out that Klee Meow was deliberately evading them by now, she might as well stop calling herself the Scarlet Tiger.
Hua Mei Meow decisively expanded her Observation Haki to its maximum range and immediately locked onto Klee Meow exact location. Without hesitation, she once again led the cats in pursuit.
Sure enough, as soon as they entered Klee Meow Observation Haki range, the little ragdoll instantly started running off in another direction. Naturally, Hua Mei Meow and the others quickly gave chase.
Realizing this, Klee Meow stubbornly tried changing directions several more times, but when she saw that Hua Mei Meow group wasn't shaken off, she resigned herself and came to a stop…
"Hua Mei sis~ Have you all finished beating up the bad guys, meow?"
●ω●
Once they regrouped, Klee Meow made the first move, pouncing into Hua Mei Meow arms and acting spoiled. "Klee already checked just now— all the other bad guys have already been dealt with by Klee, meow~"
Seeing the little ragdoll shameless demeanor, Hua Mei Meow flicked her forehead with a light knock, scolding, "Stop learning all this nonsense from the Admiral, meow!"