To be honest, Moria didn't really have anything good in his hands. Most of his energy was spent on grave robbing and stealing shadows.
Other than the black blade Shusui, which he'd stolen along with Ryuma corpse, all he had were some ordinary valuables.
So when Sherwin used Absalom and Perona to trade with Moria, all he got in return were a Log Pose permanently pointing to Marineford, a large amount of treasure, and a stack of Hogback research materials.
With a look of disdain, he took the Felynes and left the wrecked Thriller Bark, which they had practically torn apart.
Haibara Meow didn't particularly care about handing over Absalom. After all, her main interest had been in studying the transplant technology on his body.
Now that she had Hogback research notes, Absalom himself wasn't so important anymore.
As for Klee Meow, who wanted to raise ghosts, that problem was easily solved.
She usually lost interest in anything other than bombs within three minutes.
Sherwin simply found something random to divert her attention, and the little plush quickly forgot all about raising ghosts.
"Yohohoho! Finally… I can finally bask in the sun again! Even though I only have bones left… it feels so good to be alive!!!"
Brook, who had followed Sherwin and the Felynes out of the thick fog, spread his arms wide, savoring the warmth of the sunlight shining down on his skeletal body.
After quite a while, Brook finally calmed down from his excitement. Turning around, he bowed deeply to Sherwin and the Felynes.
"I truly thank you all! Not only did you bring me news of Laboon, but you also helped me reclaim my shadow! I really don't know how I could ever repay your kindness!"
Then, as he straightened up, he saw two pairs of cat eyes gleaming brightly at him...
"Uh…"
Brook hurriedly took two steps back, raising his arms defensively in front of him as he quickly added,
"Anything but that! Didn't I already cooperate with your research before?!"
Haibara Meow pouted. "Tch! What kind of research could we possibly do in that short amount of time, meow? We didn't even get to discover that your body can rapidly recover just by drinking milk, meow!"
"Exactly, exactly!" Purah Meow nodded in agreement beside her.
"And back then, for your safety, we still had a lot of methods we didn't use, meow! But now that we know you can heal by drinking milk, there are so many more directions we can explore, meow! Check it!"
(ゝω)~☆
"I never agreed to be your research subject!" Brook shouted in protest.
"You two, stop staring at him already," Sherwin stepped forward and scooped up the two research-obsessed little Felynes, one in each arm.
Then he turned to Brook and asked, "What are your plans next? If you don't mind, how about joining my investigation team?"
The two Felynes in his arms quickly nodded their heads in unison, their eyes full of eager anticipation as they looked at Brook.
But, as expected, Brook declined.
"Yohohoho, thank you for the invitation, but I plan to return to Twin Cape first to see Laboon."
Brook removed his top hat, gave a slight bow, and said sincerely, "Besides, I still want to be a free pirate."
Aside from his fear of being targeted by the two research-hungry cats, that was also one of his main reasons.
In Brook eyes, the Shichibukai, who were affiliated with the World Government, could no longer be considered "true pirates."
Sherwin wasn't particularly disappointed by Brook refusal. He had only invited Brook because of the skeleton proven character—just like in the manga,
he was someone trustworthy—and also because his Felynes seemed to really like him.
From Sherwin perspective, it would've been great if Brook had joined, but if not, it wasn't a big deal.
After all, their Felyne Investigation Team was never short on members.
Since Brook didn't plan to join, Sherwin naturally didn't summon any new Felynes in front of him.
Instead, they spent half a day helping Brook repair his ghost ship. After that, they gave him a permanent Log Pose pointing to Water Seven and a pouch of Berries.
Finally, following pirate world customs, they held a farewell banquet aboard the ship before parting ways.
"Mm… actually, I kind of wanted that skeleton old man to stay, meow~"
After chatting about music with Brook during the banquet, Shermie—who hadn't been very interested in him before—suddenly changed her attitude and murmured regretfully,
"His music is amazing. I really wanted to talk more with him, meow~"
Sherwin patted her head comfortingly. "Don't worry, there are plenty of musicians in this world.
Besides, who knows? Maybe someday we'll summon a Felyne who plays the Hunting Horn.
You might even be able to form a band with them. Then we wouldn't just be a mobile restaurant—we'd be a mobile stage."
"Mm-mm-mm~" Shermie rubbed her cheek affectionately against Sherwin face, then asked eagerly,
"Sherwin, didn't you just gather enough for a new summon ticket? Could it be that this time we'll summon a partner who uses the Hunting Horn, meow?"
"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you," Sherwin shook his head and explained,
"The summon ticket I just completed belongs to the weapon pool that only allows summoning of cutting-type or ranged-type Felynes.
If we want to summon a striking-type Felyne, we'll need to first obtain a well-known striking-type weapon."
"Pfft! What a buzzkill, meow~"
(=`н=)
Shermie puffed up her cheeks and flicked her tail unhappily.
However, the childish Felyne quickly bounced back, urging Sherwin to start the summoning.
Naturally, her reason was the same as every newly summoned Felyne—
"I haven't seen how Sherwin summons us yet, meow~"
Sherwin took out a summoning ticket from his bag and looked around at everyone.
"Which type of Felyne would you all prefer me to summon? Melee type or ranged type?"
As for Sherwin himself, he actually preferred to summon a ranged Felyne.
After all, there were already two melee Felynes in the Research Commission, and if you counted Huamei Meow, she also fell under the melee type.
So, summoning a new type of Felyne wouldn't be bad at all.
Besides, while the all-rounder Link Meow could fill in as an archer, both Klee Meow and Shermie Fruit abilities could also perform ranged attacks.
Still, the ship was indeed lacking a dedicated sniper.
But the advantages of summoning a melee Felyne were also obvious. The arrival of Seijuro Meow and Link Meow had significantly strengthened both Sherwin and the Research Commission overall power.
Moreover, at this point, they didn't really need to worry too much about the Felyne combat types—so naturally, Sherwin would prioritize their opinions first.
Aside from that, there was also another reason…
Felynes classified as Heavy Bowgun or Light Bowgun users inevitably made Sherwin associate them with dangerous traits like "explosions," "saturation fire," and "caliber is justice." If another arms-maniac Felyne like Klee Meow showed up…
Hmm? Wait—that would be Huamei Meow headache, not his. Never mind, then.
"Admiral, were you just thinking about something bad again, meow?!"
(=ˇˇ=)
The eyes of Lord Shouhiko suddenly turned sharp.
"No, no, I was just guessing which type of Felyne you'd prefer me to summon."
Thick-skinned as always, the Hunter lied without even blinking.
After several rounds of practice chatting with Cody, Sherwin acting had improved quite a bit, so Huamei Meow didn't notice anything suspicious.
But given Sherwin long record of mischief, she certainly didn't buy his excuse either.
Huamei Meow rolled her eyes and said, "Any type is fine, as long as it not another mischievous troublemaker, meow."
The three most mischievous little Felynes immediately shrank their necks in unison.
Sherwin then turned to the other members of the Research Commission.
Like Huamei Meow, both Shermie and Robin didn't have any particular preference for the type of Felyne to summon, while Sanji Meow, on the other hand, looked visibly conflicted…
"The valiant and dashing swordswoman big sister is great, but the cool and aloof gunner big sister is also amazing… it so hard to choose, meow…"
(=︵=)
Sherwin completely ignored the hopeless little yellow cat.
Naturally, Seijuro Meow and Link Meow, both being swordsman-type Felynes, leaned toward summoning a melee-type Felyne.
But Purah Meow, Klee Meow, and Haibara Meow were more eager to see a ranged-type summoned.
However, each of the three had their own reasons. Purah Meow wanted to use the new Felyne heavy bowgun to develop a new weapon that combined the strengths of both worlds.
Haibara Meow, on the other hand, wanted to test modifying her 1306 into recovery rounds that could attack enemies—just to see if it might have some special effect.
As for Klee Meow, her reason wasn't explosion-related like Sherwin expected. Instead—
"Klee already saw how Sherwin summoned big brother Seijuro before, so now Klee wants to see what'll be different when summoning a ranged-type Felyne, meow!"
(=`=)
It was a little unexpected, but that was undeniably the kind of reasoning that fit this little Ragdoll perfectly.
Following the principle of majority vote, Sherwin switched the summoning ticket in his hand until it turned into a blend of brass and silver-white hues, then silently recited in his mind—
Felyne, summon!