In just a short span of time, Perona had gone through a roller coaster of emotions.
At first, she was overjoyed when she saw Moria appear. Then, she was shocked when Klee Meow revealed that she possessed a Logia-type Fruit.
When the two sides fought to a standstill, neither gaining the upper hand, Perona began to worry again — would she really be rescued?
But before she could fret for long, the entire castle was blown apart by Klee Meow explosion.
Fortunately, although Perona had been restrained with Seastone handcuffs, she was still in her ghost form.
So even though she was buried under piles of rubble, all that really happened was that she got startled during the fall.
In fact, while trapped beneath the stones, Perona even prayed quietly that maybe Sherwin and the others would just forget about her completely...
And then, they really did forget her.
However, before Perona could even celebrate that stroke of luck, she was horrified to find that Sherwin and the others — who had all seemed calm until now — suddenly looked as if they were facing a terrifying enemy, hastily retreating far from the battlefield.
Even though Perona knew her ghost form made her immune to most attacks, she couldn't help but panic...
After all, she hadn't forgotten that every single one of those cats — Sherwin included — had ways to strike even negative ghosts like her!
So without hesitation, Perona shouted at the top of her lungs, "W-wait a second! What about me?!"
Her cry was instantly drowned out by a deafening explosion. Watching the massive burst of flames not far away, Perona felt despair flood her heart.
"Waaaahhh! I'm gonna die!!! Somebody help me!!!"
Crying and screaming, Perona was blown away by the blast amidst the flames and chain of explosions.
Convinced she was about to die, her eyes rolled back midair, and she fainted before she even hit the ground.
Actually, in her ghost form, Perona wasn't affected by the explosion at all.
Even though Klee Meow bombs were incredibly powerful, they didn't contain any Haki.
The Bouncy Bomb she detonated this time also didn't have any Seastone fragments or anything else that could harm a Devil Fruit user.
It was just that Perona still had Seastone handcuffs on her wrists — so she was simply flung away because of the weight dragging her, not because she was injured.
She had just scared herself half to death and fainted out of sheer terror.
Sherwin, of course, had no time to worry about a comic-relief character like Perona at the moment.
Faced with Klee Meow bomb, he didn't dare lower his guard even slightly. He planted his stance firmly, arms crossed in front of him, fully braced for the impact.
A massive shockwave, carrying clouds of dust and countless shards of debris, blasted outward in every direction.
Sherwin and the cats who weren't behind cover — including Meowjirou and the others — held out for only a few seconds before the violent gust sent them all flying.
Even the ones farther away — like Haibara Meow and Robin, who had taken shelter behind cover — weren't spared.
Their cover was blown away right along with them…
Klee Meow bombs had grown even stronger!
Thanks to his Armament Haki, Sherwin wasn't injured despite getting pelted with rubble, thrown skyward, and slammed back into the ground.
As soon as the explosions subsided, he brushed off the dirt and stones covering him and sprinted toward Haibara Meow and Purah Meow — the two weakest among them — to check on their condition.
Fortunately, no one was stupid. While dodging, everyone had already put on their combat suits.
So although they were all dizzy and battered from the blast, no one was seriously hurt…
"Help! I think my bones are broken!" shouted an unlucky skeleton pinned beneath a huge chunk of stone.
Ah, yes — except for Brook, who didn't have a combat suit.
Sherwin stepped forward and lifted the stones off Brook.
What he saw made his eyelids twitch — beneath the skeleton suit, both of his legs were bent in ways that should've been physically impossible, and several cracks ran across his skull as if it might shatter at any moment.
"Haibara, come help Brook!" Sherwin quickly called over the medical cat of their investigation team.
Haibara Meow, ever fond of acting like a proper professional, had somehow put her glasses back on at some point. She crouched beside Brook and examined him carefully.
"The problem isn't too serious, meow. As long as we set the bones properly and let him rest for two or three months, he should recover naturally, meow…"
Haibara Meow gave her diagnosis, then tilted her head toward Sherwin. "The only issue is… Brook just a skeleton. Does he even have self-healing ability, meow?"
(=ω=)
Sherwin rubbed his chin, thinking back for a moment…
"No problem. In fact, his recovery rate might even be faster than normal. Just make sure he drinks plenty of milk."
"…Are you messing with me again, meow?"
(ω)
Haibara Meow narrowed her eyes at Sherwin, baring her tiny fangs in suspicion.
"I can prove it to you," Sherwin said confidently.
Sherwin reached out and rubbed the little Felyne kitten who was still sizing him up, trying to decide which part of him to bite first.
He decided to let his actions do the talking — pulling a bottle of milk from his bag, he poured it straight into Brook mouth.
A moment later—
"Yohohoho! I feel much better now!"
Brook, whose skull had once again become smooth and spotless, raised a hand and gave Sherwin a thumbs-up.
"What the meow?! He already recovered, meow?!"
(=⊙Д⊙=)
Seeing Brook head return to normal in the blink of an eye, Haibara Meow was so shocked that all her fur stood on end.
Sherwin reached out to pat her little head again and, in a tone full of experience, said earnestly,
"You'll have to get used to things like this. In this world, there are far too many unreasonable existences. Brook case isn't even close to the strangest."
"Hmph! What the big deal about that, meow!" The proud little kitten, having recovered from her surprise, immediately puffed herself up with disdain.
"His recovery speed is impressive, but compared to what written in the records about the Fatalis, he still far behind, meow! I wasn't scared at all, meow!"
"Yes, yes, our little Ai is such a well-read genius Felyne — there nothing she hasn't seen before, right?"
Sherwin scratched Haibara Meow chin, half coaxing her while pointing helplessly at Brook, who was still lying on the ground.
"But before that, shouldn't we take care of Mr. Brook first?"
"Hmph! I don't need you to remind me, meow!"
(=`Д=)
The little kitten turned her head, gave Sherwin wrist a quick bite, then pulled out splints and bandages.
She planned to first fix Brook broken bones, and then pour a few more bottles of milk into him so he could use that strange self-healing ability of his to recover fully.
While Haibara Meow was tending to Brook injuries, Sherwin turned his attention back to the battlefield...
During that violent explosion, a full third of Moria castle had vanished, leaving behind a massive crater in the ground.
Compared to the explosion back on Skypiea, the little doll had clearly held back this time. For a being capable of altering the very landscape, this level of blast was merely an appetizer.
Of course, that was also because the power limit of her Jumpty-Dumpty Bomb was far below that of the Golden Rathalos Bomb.
This time, however, Klee Meow had learned her lesson — after throwing the bomb, she quickly transformed into her elemental form, avoiding being blown away by her own explosion again.
As for Moria, his situation was downright miserable. Though he reacted instantly upon realizing something was wrong — summoning his Shadow Mage to shield him and gathering as many shadows as he could for defense — he still couldn't withstand the blast.
Now he lay battered and unconscious at the bottom of the crater.
To be honest, taking a direct hit from Klee Meow newly evolved Jumpty-Dumpty Bomb without the protection of Haki, and still not dying or losing any limbs, showed just how tough his body still was...
As expected from someone who had once "kicked the king habit" under Kaido-sensei and lived to tell the tale — even if his strength had declined, his physical endurance remained impressive.
"Meow-hahahahaha! Sherwin-nii, Klee won, meow!"
ヾ(=`=)
The little doll stood proudly atop Moria round belly, waving her tiny paws at Sherwin from the edge of the crater.
"Klee the best!"
Sherwin jumped down into the crater, catching the little doll who leapt into his arms.
He rubbed his cheek against hers for a moment before turning his gaze toward Moria lying before him.
Considering he was currently in the middle of his "candidacy" for the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Sherwin naturally had no intention of killing Moria.
However, just letting the guy go like this felt a bit of a loss for a Hunter who never missed a chance to collect spoils…
After all, he had already captured two of Moria officers and taken one of the Great Grade Swords.
But aside from the black blade Shusui, it didn't seem like Moria had anything else of real value…
"Buru buru buru…"
Just as Sherwin was thinking about how to carve something out of Moria for profit, the Den Den Mushi on him suddenly rang.
Once connected, two very familiar little mustaches appeared on the Den Den Mushi face.
Sherwin eyes immediately lit up.
Wasn't this the perfect sucker calling at just the right time?