"Meow! The ghost ran away, meow…"
(=＞△＜=)
Klee Meow, who had chased after it right away, returned dejectedly.
She leapt into Sherwin arms and rubbed against his chest, purring coquettishly.
"Sherwin-nii, that ghost ran off to that island over there! Let go catch it, meow?"
It was obvious that the eager little ragdoll hadn't heard Brook exclamation earlier and didn't realize that the suddenly appearing island was actually their intended destination.
Since they were going to land on the island anyway, Sherwin naturally wouldn't refuse.
Besides, even if they didn't plan to go ashore, the waves surging below them were already pushing their ship toward the island.
Looks like Moria whole "hunting" process has become quite refined, Sherwin thought as he gazed down at the turbulent sea below.
In his memory, aside from waiting for victims to wander into the Florian Triangle on their own, Moria also used to send out "drifting barrels" disguised as offerings to the Sea God.
If anyone picked one up and opened it, a bright signal flare would shoot out from inside—alerting him that new "prey" had arrived.
"Hm?"
As they gradually approached the massive Thriller Bark—an entire island converted into a gigantic three-masted ship—a nearly invisible figure secretly slipped aboard the Dodo Advance and lunged straight at Robin.
Monster Hunter Style: Inner Fist!
With a flash, Sherwin appeared in front of Robin and threw a punch at the air ahead of him.
"Waaah—!"
With a shriek and a series of crashing sounds, a figure materialized on the Dodo Advance deck, sprawled flat on the ground.
"Sherwin-nii, this person smells so weird," Klee Meow twitched her nose.
"He got scents from several animals… doesn't smell like a Mink, meow."
"Because at his core, he human," Haibara Meow said as she flipped the fallen Absalom onto his back.
She pulled open his shirt and examined him briefly, then nodded knowingly. "He stitched parts of different animal bodies onto himself.
The technique is a bit crude, but managing to suppress the rejection reactions between so many animals and his own body…
the doctor who performed this surgery actually had decent medical skill, meow.
This should be the same person Sherwin mentioned—the one who created that zombie army."
As she spoke, Haibara Meow pulled out a Seastone chain and tossed it directly onto Absalom.
The invisible man, who had been preparing to strike again, instantly lost all strength and collapsed.
"As expected, the Clear-Clear Fruit," Haibara Meow said with a satisfied nod, then turned to Sherwin.
"I'm rather interested in the transplant techniques used on this guy, so can I have him, meow?"
"No problem," Sherwin replied with a casual wave of his hand, granting Haibara Meow full control over Absalom fate.
Although the Clear-Clear Fruit was considered a "god-tier" Devil Fruit—one even capable of assassinating someone like Garp—it still wasn't as important as satisfying a cat curiosity.
Brook quietly breathed a sigh of relief on the side. Thankfully, he hadn't gotten on the bad side of these terrifying Felynes.
Otherwise, being caught and used as an experimental lab mouse would've been a nightmare.
Before long, the Dodo Advance and Brook nearly wrecked ghost ship were both pushed by the waves into what looked like an abandoned harbor.
A massive spiderweb stretched across the area, ensnaring both vessels and holding them in place.
Not far from where they were stuck, the coastline revealed a very obvious entrance leading onto the island.
How should he put it… if this wasn't a trap, then the hospitality was top-notch. But if it was a trap, the malice behind it couldn't be more obvious.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu, meow!"
Klee Meow spat a burst of flame toward the spiderwebs entangling their ship, burning them away in no time. Unfortunately…
"My ship!!!" Brook screamed, clutching his bony face in despair.
"Don't worry, Klee knows what she doing, meow!"
Completely unaware of how destructive she'd just been, the little ragdoll waved her paw cheerfully.
The flames that had spread onto Brook ghost ship instantly reversed course, flying back toward her and disappearing into her body.
Since they were about to enter Moria castle, it wouldn't be convenient to bring the Dodo Advance ashore in its Magnamalo mode.
Sherwin switched it to Sky Wyvern mode instead, letting it hover above them in the air.
He also had Klee Meow leave behind a few flame sentinels to guard the ship from above.
"Yohohoho! What a marvelous ship!" Brook exclaimed in awe.
"Has shipbuilding technology in this era advanced this far?"
"No, our ship a little… special," Sherwin said, shaking his head with a proud smile. He lifted Purah Meow high into the air.
"This vessel was personally designed by Purah Meow, and it requires Klee to provide the power.
Even if someone got hold of the schematics, they couldn't build it—and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to make it move!"
"Check-it~"
(ゝω)~☆
"And don't forget me! I can power the Dodo too, meow!"
A slightly annoyed Shermie shouted, puffing up her cheeks after being completely ignored.
"Yes, yes, my bad—sorry about that," Sherwin said quickly.
Sherwin reached out his hand, intending to pat her head as an apology—but Shermie quickly stepped back.
Oh, right. She was still being punished by Huamei Meow.
Speaking of which, Sherwin couldn't help but wonder—Huamei Meow strength within the Investigation Team was, at best, mid to lower tier.
Yet somehow, neither Klee Meow, Haibara Meow, nor Shermie had ever shown the slightest thought of rebelling against her.
Of course, Sherwin wasn't about to remind them of that. He was more than happy to see Huamei Meow keeping all the little Felynes in line.
Once they returned to Ghost Island, Sherwin and the others entered through the wide-open gate along the outer wall.
"Even though I haven't seen that zombie army you mentioned yet, Sherwin," Sanji Meow said, covering his nose,
"I can already smell a faint stench of decay everywhere around here… and something that smells like weird potion meow."
"That the smell of preservatives," Haibara Meow replied, picking up the conversation.
"But it seems to have been modified somehow—it a little different from regular preservatives, meow… Still,
even with the power of the Shadow Fruit backing it up, stitching a fox and a dog together like that is just too bizarre. That doctor sense of aesthetics is awful, meow."
As the little kitten mocked the grotesque scene, a three-headed "dog" appeared before them.
"Woof! Woof!" "Woof! Woof!" "Grrr!"
Each of its three heads, covered in stitches and bandages, growled menacingly at Sherwin and his group.
Seeing such a strange creature, Klee Meow eyes instantly lit up. "It a three-headed dog! Sherwin-nii, can we catch it and keep it as a pet, meow?"
(=ω=)
"Better give up on that idea," Haibara Meow said calmly, pointing at Brook beside her.
"Even though it looks 'alive,' it still just a corpse—just like this skeleton, meow."
"That so rude!" Brook protested indignantly.
"I also wouldn't recommend taking it back," Seijuro Meow advised from another angle.
"It probably being controlled through Moria Fruit ability. In other words, the enemy can turn it back into a corpse anytime they want, meow."
Finally, Huamei Meow gave the decisive verdict. "No. It too ugly, meow!"
"Is that so? I actually think it kind of cute."
Robin gave her honest opinion.
Sherwin couldn't help but complain, "That because your sense of aesthetics is too weird!"
"Even I think this thing kinda ugly, meow~"
"Agreed! Check it!"
(ゝω)~☆
(ω)
Link Meow also shot the three-headed "dog" a disdainful look.
"Woof! Woof!" "Woof! Woof!" "Grrr!"
The completely ignored three-headed dog stood there dumbfounded, listening to Sherwin and the others chatting for quite a while.
It wasn't until it caught sight of Link Meow expressive face that it finally snapped out of it—then, enraged, it charged straight at them.
=(==(=ω=(=ω=)
In a flash, Link Meow moved. In the blink of an eye, his sword slashed through all the stitches on the creature body.
The three-headed dog instantly fell apart into several pieces—yet it didn't die. The dismembered chunks of flesh continued to writhe grotesquely on the ground…
The sight was pure sanity loss.
Even Robin, who usually had rather unique tastes, couldn't help showing a disgusted expression.
"Ugh—so gross, meow!"
(= =)
Klee Meow immediately gave up on the idea of keeping the three-headed dog. "Link-nii, stop attacking it, meow!"
As she spoke, she quickly tossed out several fireballs. The still-squirming pieces of flesh were instantly reduced to ashes.
From within the ashes, a pitch-black shadow emerged, then swiftly flew off into the distance.
(=ω=)
Even Link Meow hadn't expected things to turn out like that. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly and gave everyone an apologetic smile.