"Hm? You know me?"
Rayleigh seemed a little surprised.
Then he heard Sherwin deliberately provoke him: "Well, I am a bounty hunter, aren't I? And your wanted poster as the Pirate King first mate—hasn't exactly been taken down."
"Hahahahahaha!" Rayleigh froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. "So youngsters these days are all this bold, huh?"
"Can't help it if I somehow ended up making an enemy out of you, right? Even if I tried to run now, you probably wouldn't let me, would you?" Sherwin shrugged with a helpless smile.
"But that said, I don't recall ever taking down anyone connected to you—or to the Roger Pirates."
"Hatchan has nothing to do with Roger," Rayleigh replied calmly.
"He just happened to save my life when he was a kid."
At that moment, an overwhelming pressure descended on Sherwin—
"Hmm… as expected of the Pirate King first mate. This might be the strongest Conqueror Haki I've ever felt."
Sherwin praised sincerely, though given his calm tone and relaxed expression, it almost sounded sarcastic.
In truth, he wasn't being sarcastic at all—he was just stating a fact.
Garp Conqueror Haki was powerful too, but his Armament Haki was where his real strength lay.
In terms of sheer oppressive presence, Rayleigh was a touch stronger.
Of course, it might also be because Garp hadn't gone all out during their sparring back then…
And it was likely Rayleigh wasn't going all out now either. This Haki was strong, but not that strong.
If compared to the "Dragon Aura" in the Monster Hunter world, this level would barely reach that of an elder dragon.
"Too bad for you—Conqueror Haki doesn't work on me." Sherwin grinned, flashing his white teeth.
"To think someone who defeated a Warlord wouldn't be easy to handle…" Rayleigh grin widened as well.
"But that just makes things more interesting, doesn't it?"
Just as Rayleigh was about to retract his ineffective Conqueror Haki and move in to give Sherwin a proper beating, a surge of Haki—slightly weaker than his own—suddenly burst forth from a "Felyne" barely a meter tall beside them, pressing back against him.
"Oh?!"
Even Rayleigh was genuinely startled.
It wasn't rare to find someone born with exceptional talent who awakened Conqueror Haki at a young age.
But someone so young who could wield it with such skill—those were one in a million. And for that someone to be a Felyne? That was unheard of.
It wasn't that Rayleigh looked down on Felynes rather, their natural temperament simply didn't lend itself to mastery of Conqueror Haki.
Though surprised, Rayleigh instinctively withdrew a portion of his own Haki.
As the two waves of Conqueror Haki clashed, black lightning crackled between Huamei Meow and Rayleigh, radiating no physical damage yet distorting the air—and even the very space—around them.
Sherwin subconsciously tilted his head upward…
Tch! The roof blocked his view—so he couldn't witness that iconic manga scene where the clouds split apart.
After the two auras wrestled for a while, Huamei Meow began to falter. The black lightning produced by the collision gradually edged closer to her side.
"Whoa! Huamei big sis actually lost to that old man, meow!"
|⊙Д⊙=)
Peeking nervously from behind Sherwin, Jinx couldn't help exclaiming.
Meanwhile, Klee Meow, perched on Sherwin shoulder, waved her tiny paws excitedly, cheering Huamei Meow on.
"Come on, Huamei big sis! Don't lose to that grandpa, meow!"
(=`ω=)
"Damn old man! Bullying Sister Huamei—what kind of skill is that, meow?! Sherwin, you idiot, let me go, meow!"
(=◣皿◢=)
Sherwin grabbed the furious Sanji Meow with one hand before he could leap forward, while the other gently rubbed Jinx little head as he explained,
"He is the 'right hand of the Pirate King,' after all. It normal that Huamei Meow can't match him. Don't worry, she'll be fine. So…"
He turned helplessly toward Haibara Meow, who was perched on his other shoulder. "Put that gun away already!"
"Hmph!"
(=`へ=)
The little kitten reluctantly retracted the sea bream-shaped gun, then bit Sherwin ear hard in frustration.
"..."
Hearing the commotion on Sherwin side, Huamei Meow rolled her eyes speechlessly.
She also knew there was no point in continuing the fight, so she slowly withdrew her Conqueror Haki.
"Hahahahaha! Living long enough really lets you see everything! I never thought I'd encounter a Mink with the qualities of a king here!"
Rayleigh, who had also withdrawn his Haki, burst into hearty laughter again.
Although he was still itching to give Sherwin a serious lesson because of the incident with Hachi, Rayleigh had always been lenient toward the Felynes.
After all, back when he sailed on the Oro Jackson, there had been a tiny, adorable cat Mink aboard as well...
Unfortunately, when that cat—Nekomamushi—grew up...
No, that not right. Even when he was young, Nekomamushi was never as cute as these little cats before him, and his strength and potential were far inferior to Huamei Meow, who had just unleashed her Conqueror Haki.
Feeling a strange sense of defeat, Rayleigh withdrew his gaze from Huamei Meow and shot Sherwin a slightly jealous glare.
"You're not planning to just hide behind them, are you?" Rayleigh said as he turned and began walking toward the open space outside.
"Relax, I'll let you keep your life. If word got out that I had to take things seriously just to deal with a rookie, my old friends would laugh me to death."
Beside them, Shakky added comfortingly, "Since Rayleigh said so, you might as well go and take a bit of a beating… serves you right for not listening to my advice earlier and leaving when you had the chance."
Sherwin rolled his eyes helplessly.
So they've already decided I'm getting beaten up, huh? …Well, they're probably right.
He wasn't sure who was stronger between Garp and Rayleigh, but the gap between the two shouldn't be large.
Although Sherwin had improved considerably over the past year, there was still a clear difference between him and these veteran powerhouses.
Of course, if Sherwin brought along his Felyne companions, that might be another story—especially since his Felynes weren't limited in number like in the games.
Still, before "hunting with cats," Sherwin wanted to see how far he could go on his own against Rayleigh.
After giving a few quick instructions to the Felynes, Sherwin strapped the Longsword to his back.
With a group of cats and Shakky following behind, he strode out of the bar in grand fashion.
By then, Rayleigh was already waiting for him in an open clearing not far ahead.
He stood there empty-handed, leaning casually against one of the red mangrove roots.
"Tch."
Although Sherwin knew that with Rayleigh strength, the man had every reason to look down on him, he still felt a wave of irritation rise in his chest.
So he decided to show Rayleigh a bit of real power!
Sherwin pulled a small vial filled with red liquid from his pouch. After a long moment of mental preparation, he finally yanked out the cork and, pinching his nose, downed it all in one gulp.
To be fair, no one could really blame him for hesitating—after all, he'd been the test subject for several prototype versions before.
Sherwin still carried lingering trauma from Haibara Meow experimental concoctions.
"Hmph! I already told you the demon drug is a finished product! There shouldn't be any problem with the taste, meow!"
(=`н=)
Haibara Meow glared at Sherwin unhappily, muttering under her breath, "Next time I'll just give that idiot Sherwin the prototype version again, meow!"