"Navy?"
From a distance, Sherwin, returning fully loaded, spotted several warships docked at the harbor and froze for a moment.
On his shoulder, Klee Meow immediately perked up with excitement, ready to dig out a bomb again. "Is it more enemies, meow?!"
"No, no, no…" Sherwin quickly stopped the little one who was already in blasting mode. "Let head back and see what going on first."
"It should be that the Navy got word about what happened here, so they came to deal with those pirates, meow," Huamei Meow guessed.
Sherwin more or less thought the same. Curling his lips, he muttered, "Showing up only after we've taken care of everything… Looks like the North Blue Navy isn't all that impressive either."
Thinking back to that very polite Navy colonel he had met on Lighthouse Island, Sherwin felt more and more that the Navy here wasn't as reliable as the one in the South Blue.
He quickened his pace, leading the Felynes back to the ship. What greeted him there was an old man who looked like he'd be perfect for singing PPAP, along with a chubby man sporting a bowl-cut hairstyle.
At that moment, the old man in the yellow-striped suit was holding Sanji Meow, trying to press his face against him for a kiss and a rub.
The little yellow cat, however, resisted with all four paws, pushing desperately against the man head.
"What are you trying to do to my cat?!"
Even though Sherwin had already recognized the man, he didn't hesitate—he lashed out with a flying kick.
Having already suffered once at Sanji Meow paws, Kizaru wasn't about to take the hit head-on. He instantly shifted into light form to dodge Sherwin attack.
"Sherwin! You're finally back, meow!"
|`ω=)
Sanji Meow, rarely taking the initiative, quietly moved next to Sherwin and cautiously peeked out from behind him with half his head showing.
"This guy keeps pestering me, it so annoying meow!"
"So it really is an enemy, meow!"
Klee Meow, perched on Sherwin shoulder, immediately raised her paw, unable to hold back the ignition spark she had been refining and testing nonstop on the island earlier.
"C1 · Spark Beetle, meow!"
Before Sherwin could stop her, several flaming beetles buzzed their wings and shot toward Kizaru, who had already flashed to the side.
At this moment, Sentomaru—who had been busy eating the food made by Sanji Meow—finally reacted. With a quick step, he appeared in front of his superior, raising both palms to block the incoming flaming beetles.
"Boom, boom, boom—!"
"Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot…"
Sentomaru gritted his teeth, shaking his hands after blocking Klee Meow attack, blowing hard on his reddened palms.
Klee Meow ignition sparks weren't especially powerful in explosive force, but the heat was extremely high.
Even with Armament Haki protecting his hands, Sentomaru couldn't completely guard against the scorching temperature.
"Oi oi, how terrifying~ Turns out she a Devil Fruit user."
Kizaru first muttered his usual catchphrase, then secretly felt relieved. Luckily, he hadn't kept underestimating them just now—otherwise, he would've embarrassed himself again.
Sherwin held back Klee Meow, who was still eager to continue her assault, then turned to the more reliable Seijuro Meow to ask what was going on.
"Seijuro, what exactly is happening here? Why is a Marine Admiral here?"
"Because my uncle was on vacation at our hometown in the North Blue. We're now preparing to head to the Grand Line for a secret mission. By chance, we heard there was a pirate alliance here, so we thought we'd deal with it along the way."
The one who answered was Sentomaru, who carried the self-proclaimed title of "the world most tight-lipped man."
A secret mission, huh… Sherwin really wanted to ask Sentomaru what kind of secret mission would require an Admiral to personally take the field. But with Kizaru standing right there, he reluctantly gave up on that tempting thought.
Except, without Sherwin even asking, Sentomaru blurted it out himself:
"Of course, I definitely won't tell you that this time we're escorting Vegapunk to relocate to another island and set up a new laboratory."
Sherwin: "..."
Kizaru: "..."
Sentomaru: "!!!"
"So, since all these pirates have already been dealt with by us, why are you still staying on my ship? Planning to just hand over the bounty to us directly?"
Sherwin immediately pretended to look completely uninterested in that secret mission, asking instead.
Relieved, Sentomaru followed his lead and replied, "We're not in charge of redeeming bounties. It just that when we passed nearby and saw smoke rising from the island, Uncle got curious about the situation and flew over to check. We're not too sure what happened between you all, but anyway…"
Sentomaru glanced at Sanji Meow, who was still hiding behind Sherwin, "Uncle seems to have taken quite a liking to this cat Mink."
"But I don't like him! And I even kicked him once, broke his sunglasses, too—who knows what he thinking, meow!"
|`Д=)
Sanji Meow kept shouting from behind Sherwin: "What so special about a Marine Admiral anyway, meow! Tell him to stay away from me, meow!"
No wonder something felt off…
Sherwin suddenly realized—it was because Kizaru was missing his trademark sunglasses.
But still, Sanji Meow actually managed to kick Kizaru, the man known for his light-speed kicks… That feat was comparable to "Axe-Hand" Morgan in the original manga boasting about cutting down Garp.
"Little Sanji, your words really wound this old man heart." Kizaru seemed to genuinely like Sanji Meow.
Even after his embarrassing moment was exposed, he didn't get angry. Instead, he shamelessly tried to get closer, saying, "We got along so happily before, didn't we?"
"No way! It was completely you, you stupid old man, talking to yourself, meow!"
Even with Sanji Meow snapping at him like that, Kizaru still wore a cheerful, doting expression—just like a grandfather looking at his mischievous grandson…
Sherwin noticed that when Kizaru looked at the other cats, his expression was also kind, but that special warmth was missing. Clearly, Sanji Meow was being treated differently.
Could it really just be because Sanji Meow fur was mostly yellow, so Kizaru found him especially pleasing to the eye?
Well, considering the bizarre personalities in the world of pirates, that possibility wasn't too far-fetched.
"Alright, I've got the general picture now…" Sherwin spread his hands. "But if you don't head off to that so-called secret mission and waste time here instead, is that really okay?"
"Yeah, exactly! You Marines are supposed to be super busy, right, meow? Hurry up and leave already! At this rate, this big fat guy gonna eat all the food on our ship, meow!" Sanji Meow shouted in agreement.
"B–Big fat guy…" Sentomaru looked crushed, then snapped back furiously, "I'm not fat! I'm sturdy! Sturdy, you get it?!"
Sanji Meow curled his lip in disdain and said, "I'm a chef. I know the difference between fat and strong better than you, meow."
Such a convincing reason left Sentomaru momentarily speechless, not knowing how to refute. What frustrated him even more was…
His own direct superior and teacher actually chimed in: "Hehehehe, Little Sanji is right. Sentomaru, you really should keep your figure under control."
"Even if you defend me, I still won't let you touch me, meow!"
But Sanji Meow was completely ungrateful, his ears pinned flat, staring warily at Kizaru, who still wanted to move closer.
"Alright, Sanji. No matter what, they're still our guests. Don't be so rude, meow." Hua Mei Meow stepped forward to smooth things over.
"And Admiral Kizaru, as a Marine admiral, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to bully a child, meow?"
"Old man wasn't bullying him. I just wanted to get closer to Little Sanji," Kizaru muttered in his own defense.
"But Sanji doesn't like it, does he?" Hua Mei Meow replied calmly, reasoning with him.
"Even if that wasn't your intention, from your actions, it looks exactly like bullying a child, isn't that so, meow?"
Sure enough, an old rascal like Kizaru, who loved to crack jokes and play around, immediately lost his usual ability to muddle through when faced with Hua Mei Meow logical, fact-based approach.
"Alright, alright, it was this old man fault just now. Sorry about that, Little Sanji." Kizaru raised both hands in surrender, his demeanor becoming a little more serious.
"But the food you made was really delicious. So… it not too much to ask you to cook me a meal, right?"
"Hmph! At least you have some taste, meow~" The moment his proudest skill was praised, Sanji Meow attitude softened slightly.
"Cooking you a meal isn't impossible. But you'll have to replace some of the ingredients that this big fat guy already ate, meow."
After all, today he had carefully chosen some rare ingredients to reward Hua Mei Meow for her rare outing to the battlefield—only for most of them to be devoured by these two uninvited guests, Kizaru and Sentomaru…
Sanji Meow bad attitude earlier also had something to do with this.
"Of course, no problem. We still have some ingredients stored on the ship."
Kizaru said with a broad smile, then immediately ordered the Marines on the battleship to bring over the supplies.
Watching Kizaru constantly trying to squeeze up next to Sanji Meow even during the meal, and remembering how Garp had previously let Klee Meow scratch him without resistance…
Sherwin couldn't help but feel that sooner or later, just like how the Straw Hats always ended up receiving all sorts of "special treatment" from the Marines, the same kind of thing would eventually happen to his own investigation team as well.