"Who the hell wants your ugly clothes!"
Sanji Meow, who had been holding in his anger, was the first to charge forward. His small black paw struck out with explosive force, landing a solid kick right on Yonji face.
The blow sent Yonji flying back onto the Snail Ship, crashing into the buildings on deck until the rubble buried him completely.
Using the rebound from kicking Yonji away, Sanji Meow spun through several backflips in midair and gracefully landed back on the Dodo Advance.
"Your strength doesn't seem any better than that squid-tentacle guy," Sanji Meow sneered, his furry little face curling into a mocking smile. "In the end, none of you can beat me, meow."
"Hahahahaha! Yonji, you're so useless! To think you'd get kicked away by such a tiny cat!"
Instead of getting angry at their brother defeat, Ichiji and Niji actually laughed and mocked him together.
Then they heard Sanji Meow taunt provocatively, "You all look pretty much the same. I'm guessing your strength is about the same too, meow?"
"You damn cat, what did you just say?!" Niji, quick-tempered as ever, dropped his grin and glared viciously at Sanji Meow.
Meanwhile, Yonji shoved off the rocks that had buried him and, fuming with rage, stormed back to the bow of the ship.
"Winch Strike!"
"Electro Kick!"
The two brothers attacked in perfect sync.
"Electricity, huh? I can do that too, meow!" Sanji Meow tapped his paws lightly against the deck, sparks of lightning bursting across his body as he dashed forward once more.
"Diable Jambe · Thunder Cut, meow!"
Sanji Meow small black paw clashed first with Niji, who had the faster speed. Both used kicks, both were wreathed in crackling lightning, but despite his larger build, Niji couldn't even hold for half a second before Sanji Meow strike blasted him straight into the sea.
Right after sending Niji flying, Sanji Meow twisted midair, snapping out a whip-like kick that deflected Yonji fist. In the same motion, his other black paw came crashing down toward Yonji head.
Diable Jambe · Concassé.
And just like Niji, Yonji was also sent flying into the sea by Sanji Meow.
"Meow? That strange… the feeling when I kicked those guys didn't seem quite right, meow…"
Balancing in midair with graceful Geppo steps, Sanji Meow muttered under his breath. He had already noticed something was off when he first kicked Yonji, and after the most recent exchange, he was now certain of it.
"You two aren't going to attack together, meow?"
The chef cat, his curiosity piqued by the strange "flesh" of these opponents, deliberately provoked them again.
"Reiju, we'll strike together!" Ichiji, calmer than his two younger brothers, gave the order.
At that moment, the sunglasses over his eyes suddenly flared with a blinding flash.
"Meooow—! Using a flashbang? That so dirty!" Sanji Meow instinctively covered his eyes.
"Spark · Light Fist!"
"Pink Poison Arrows."
Taking advantage of the opening, Ichiji lunged at the airborne Sanji Meow, while Reiju—though reluctant—could only spit out several nonlethal venom arrows, sealing off Sanji Meow potential escape routes.
And it didn't end there. Niji and Yonji, who had been knocked into the sea earlier, burst back out of the water and joined Ichiji in forming a three-pronged assault on the dazzled Sanji Meow.
"Lightning Lightsaber · Sword of Light Speed!"
"Winch · Double · Heavy Strike!"
"Don't think this will work, meow!" Sanji Meow, who had already mastered Observation Haki, wasn't afraid of any flashbang.
Even while covering his eyes, he precisely kicked Germa siblings four times each.
"Day Tiger Meow!"
Sanji Meow, his eyes tearing from the flash, was furious. He no longer cared about "meat quality." He directly activated demon mode along with Armament Haki, intending to finish off these despicable fellows in one go.
However, this time Ichiji and the others had learned their lesson. Instead of clashing head-on with Sanji Meow "Day Cat," they used the jet boots under their feet to swiftly shift directions, dodging his attack.
"Jet devices, huh… I wonder if I could later 'ask' Judge to make me an Insect Glaive."
Sherwin muttered while rubbing his chin, watching Ichiji and the others maneuver irregularly through the air.
Although he had long been able to use the Moonwalk-style Dancing Step as a substitute for the Insect Glaive jet device—and usually wielded the Longsword—it wouldn't be bad to have an authentic Insect Glaive as part of his collection.
The problem with the Insect Glaive was always the Kinsects—they were troublesome to handle.
Sherwin wasn't sure if Judge could make a mechanical insect as a substitute. But even if Judge built one for him, Sherwin doubted he could fully trust it.
A better solution would be to someday obtain a Bug-type Devil Fruit and feed it to a boomerang or dagger, or simply catch a giant insect, tame it, and then give it a Zoan-type Devil Fruit. That would solve the problem much more easily.
As for Sanji Meow, who was still in battle, Sherwin had no worries at all. Germa jet boots did grant them impressive maneuverability, but now that Sanji Meow had activated both demon mode and his Mink Tribe form, he could easily overwhelm them with sheer speed.
Besides, when it came to agility, the little yellow cat—well-versed in Dancing Step and Moonwalk—wouldn't necessarily lose to them either.
"Demon Wind Kick · Hidden Lotus Meow!"
Sanji Meow figure vanished from sight in an instant. The next moment, a sharp crackling sound of rapid strikes echoed through the sky.
Ichiji and his two brothers looked as though they were being hit by a barrage of invisible attacks. In midair, Sanji Meow blindingly fast kicks struck them over and over, twisting their limbs and denting their armored bodies.
Moments later, each brother—battered, bent, and covered in deep indentations—was sent flying back to the snail ship by Sanji Meow decisive finishing kicks.
If it hadn't been for Reiju keeping her distance and only using ranged attacks, Sanji Meow would have taken down all four of Germa so-called "greatest masterpieces" single-handedly.
Of course, this was also because Ichiji and the others hadn't fully matured yet—their strength and speed were far from their peak. If this had been them at the same age as in the manga…
Sanji Meow would probably need at least ten more minutes to defeat them, and completely finishing them off wouldn't be easy.
As modified humans, their life force bars were much longer than ordinary people, and Sanji Meow lacked any real control-type techniques.
Unless he went for a lethal strike, making Ichiji and the others lose all fighting capability was never going to be simple.
Just like now—though Sanji Meow had kicked them back onto the snail ship, Ichiji and the others quickly stood up again.
Their limbs were twisted out of shape, yet after pulling and forcing each other back into place, they were basically able to recover.
"Sherwin! What the hell are these guys, meow?!"
Sanji Meow was startled by their recovery. What shocked him most was seeing them move around like nothing was wrong, even with faces completely deformed by his kicks—he nearly forgot he was the one who had done that.
"Even a jellyfish would be down after being kicked like that. Are they really human, meow?"
Feeling a chill in his heart, Sanji Meow leapt back onto the ship and instinctively moved closer to Sherwin.
"They should still count as humans, right? More precisely, they're cyborgs—just like what written in the comics." Sherwin explained to Sanji Meow while curiously glancing around.
He didn't believe for a second that with all this commotion, Judge would still be unaware. With Germa level of technology, Sherwin figured they had already been discovered long before they even got close.
The strange thing was that Judge hadn't shown himself at all, instead sending out Ichi and the others—guys whose emotional intelligence was basically zero—to negotiate with him.