As mentioned before, Area 40 was the sightseeing and specialty zone, so naturally, Sherwin had to bring the Felynes here for a big round of shopping.
But before that, they first got to experience Sabaody Archipelago unique "bubble culture."
"Sherwin-nii! Those bubble cars look so fun, meow! Klee Meow wants to play too!"
(=ω=)
The little ragdoll jumped onto Sherwin shoulder, tugging at his ear and acting all spoiled.
Purah Meow and Haibara Meow were quite interested at first too.
However, after the little kitten took a closer look and realized the thing was basically just a simple pedal-powered wind contraption attached to a bubble, she immediately turned up her nose in disdain.
"It just a modified pedal boat, meow. Nothing special at all."
Even so, Klee Meow still wanted to give it a try. Joining her with equal enthusiasm were Sharmi and Jinx.
Sherwin could only sigh helplessly and rent three small-sized bubble pedal cars for the trio, letting them ride on their own.
After all, with such limited power output, even if they pedaled with all their might, it would only reach the speed of an ordinary person jogging. He wasn't worried they'd get too far.
Besides, while Sharmi could be a bit childish, she was already an adult cat and knew her limits when it mattered.
Klee Meow was clingy, so as long as there were no bombs for her to throw, she wouldn't stray far either.
The only one who might've been troublesome was Jinx, but she wasn't as reckless as Sherwin had expected.
Plus, since she'd just arrived in the pirate world and her strength wasn't anything special yet, Sherwin could easily rein things in before they got out of hand. There was really no need to restrict them too much.
"Meow-hahaha! Sherwin-nii! Come play with us too! Let have a race, meow!"
Just as Sherwin had predicted, Klee Meow hadn't gone far before she quickly pedaled back, circling around him while urging him to join the bubble car race.
Sherwin glanced at the other Felynes...
Purah Meow and Haibara Meow, the two researcher-type Felynes, were crouched on the ground, studying the resin bubbles that occasionally emerged, as well as the Yarukiman Mangrove trees that produced them.
Meanwhile, Meowjuro was resting one paw on his sword hilt, standing guard beside the two weakest Felynes.
Sanji Meow, who normally would've been hovering around the Beautiful big sister Felynes, was for once not doing so.
Instead, he had wandered over to a food stall nearby. The stall had signs that read "Mangrove Specialty," "Great Bun," and "Great Pancake."
"This says 'The First Half of the Grand Line,' so a lot of people buy them as souvenirs to bring to the New World,"
the vendor explained while pushing a small sample plate toward Sanji Meow, enthusiastically promoting his wares.
"They can last up to three months, so you can buy them with peace of mind!"
Sanji Meow sniffed the sample twice, then immediately frowned in distaste.
"These are just regular buns and pancakes, meow. And you've put too much sugar in the filling."
As for Link Meow, who always loved collecting little trinkets—
He already had a bubble pouch floating beside him like a balloon, packed full to the brim with souvenirs.
"I'll go after Klee and the others. I'll leave this place to you two," Sherwin said, patting Huamei Meow on the head before turning to Robin, who was dressed in a Felyne outfit.
Then he pointed toward a distant mangrove labeled No. 45, covered in huge hanging bubbles.
"If you've finished shopping and we're not back yet, meet me at the viewing platform under Tree No. 45. After that, we'll head to the famous amusement park here together."
"Don't worry, Admiral. Odelia and I will take good care of them," Huamei Meow said as she rubbed her head against Sherwin palm.
Then she turned to the three mischievous kittens on the bubble cars and said seriously,
"You three, be good and listen to the Admiral, understand, meow?"
All three little troublemakers, including Jinx, nodded frantically.
Then Sherwin rented a standard-sized bubble car and joined the three Felynes in their "racing" competition.
...
Although the three little troublemaker Felynes were full of excitement at first, the "racing" competition ended rather quickly.
After all, the bubble cars had a very limited top speed. Once the brief novelty wore off, the Felynes quickly lost interest in this "snail-paced" race.
So, what had started as a "high-speed race" soon turned into a casual bubble-car stroll.
"If we're just going for a ride, why not head back and join the others?"
Sherwin was still somewhat concerned about the rest of the group. On top of that, he was worried that the easily bored Jinx might start causing trouble again.
So, when Klee Meow and the others began losing interest in the race, he immediately made the suggestion.
At first, the little ragdoll didn't really mind the idea, but just as she was about to agree, the most troublesome of them all—the little blue cat, Jinx—suddenly jumped in and said,
"Don't do that, Klee! We finally got away from Sister Huamei supervision. Isn't this freedom great, meow?"
Even Shermie started to waver at that...
"Sherwin dear~ let us play outside just a little longer~"
Shermie leapt onto Sherwin bubble car, rubbing her cheek against his affectionately while adding in a hurry,
"It not that I don't like Huamei, it just… it just…"
"Just that we wanna have some real fun, meow!" Jinx cut in, finishing her sentence.
"That right! Just like that, meow~"
Actually, even if Klee Meow was punished by Huamei Meow, she wouldn't take it to heart.
In fact, she would even take the initiative to admit her mistake. So she didn't feel like she couldn't have fun just because Huamei Meow was around.
But since Jinx and Shermie both said so, Klee Meow decided not to spoil the mood.
With three little cats staring at him with sparkling eyes, Sherwin naturally surrendered right away and could only continue to take them around Area 40… while opening up the map along the way.
On the other side…
"Great! The Hunter and those Felynes have split up!"
Not long after Sherwin and the others left, a sleazy-looking middle-aged man put down the telescope in his hand a few hundred meters away.
He was one of the slave traders in Sabaody. Even before Sherwin arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago, he had already set his sights on the group of "Felynes" by his side.
"Such young Felynes—we're going to make a fortune this time!"
"That right. Now there only one adult Felyne with them. It'll be easy for us to capture all of them in one go!"
The two equally ugly and crooked men beside him echoed excitedly.
"No time to waste, let report to the boss right away!"
The sleazy middle-aged man quickly led the two of them toward the lawless area under Trees 1–29.
But the three of them had hardly gone a few steps before they all collapsed to the ground foaming at the mouth, which sent everyone nearby into a scream.
"What going on?! Someone suddenly passed out!"
"Quick, call a doctor!"
Huamei Meow calmly withdrew her gaze and Conqueror Haki — this was already the fifth batch of ill-intentioned snoopers she had secretly stunned.
Even so, a few people still slipped past her.
After all, Huamei Meow Observation Haki wasn't particularly strong at sensing malice, and she also had to split her attention keeping an eye out for any Celestial Dragons, so some well-hidden slave traders still managed to sneak back to the lawless area to report what they'd seen.
In truth, Huamei Meow knew she couldn't find every watcher. What she was doing served two purposes: first, to intimidate their fellows and scare them off — though that was unlikely — and second, to buy as much time as possible so the other Felynes could enjoy themselves a little longer.
Then…
she'd make an example of those slave traders who might come back later looking for a fight.