The group of slaves had no idea what strange thoughts were running through Sherwin mind.
When they saw him actually manage to remove the explosive collars, they all erupted in cheers of joy.
"Th-That wonderful! We're finally saved!"
The Longarm tribesman who had just been freed fell to his knees, bowing heavily before Sherwin.
"Thank you, my benefactor! Whatever you ask of me, I'll risk my life to do it!"
After several years in the world of pirates, Sherwin had saved quite a few people—whether intentionally or not.
So by now, he no longer felt awkward or uneasy when receiving such fervent gratitude from others, unlike when it first happened to him.
He accepted the man thanks naturally, then casually waved his hand to send him aside so he wouldn't interfere while Sherwin worked on removing the rest of the collars.
"Klee Meow, Haibara Meow, Purah Meow… hmm, and Jinx—you all come take a look. See if you can remove these without triggering the bombs inside."
Now that he was confident he could ensure their safety, Sherwin immediately called the Felynes over to try out the plan he'd thought of earlier.
To make it easier for them to study, Sherwin even chose a slave from the Snakeneck tribe, whose long neck made the collar easier to examine.
"Remember, you're supposed to take it off—not blow it up."
He made sure to remind the two little cats from the investigation team who had a fondness for explosions.
"Klee not a dummy, meow!"
(=`н=)The little ragdoll cat puffed up her cheeks in protest.
The small blue cat muttered in disappointment, "If it doesn't explode, then what so fun about it, meow…"
Even so, she obediently went over and joined the others in examining the device.
After the four Felynes tapped, prodded, and tinkered with the slave collars, along with the handcuffs and chains attached to them, they finally reached a conclusion—
Disabling the bomb inside the collar without triggering it was practically impossible.
Unless they had some kind of Devil Fruit ability that could manipulate the mechanism from within, or brought a few of the collars back for slow, careful research later, there was no safe way to neutralize the explosive directly.
However, if the goal was simply to remove the collar without setting off the bomb, there was still another option—
Lockpicking.
That right. Compared to the highly advanced explosive built into the collar, the locks on the collar and handcuffs were far simpler—almost crude, even.
Jinx casually pulled out a fishbone, poked it into the keyhole a few times, and the lock popped open with a soft click. The bomb inside didn't react at all.
Sherwin: "…"
Well, what could he say? That was such a pirate-style solution—completely unorthodox but unexpectedly effective.
With Jinx, Haibara Meow, and Link Meow working together, they quickly removed the collars from all the slaves.
Besides that maniac from Zaun, both Sherry Wine and the old rogue from Hyrule turned out to have pretty decent lockpicking skills too.
Well, that made sense, he supposed.
Watching the three Felynes acting like master thieves, Sherwin lips twitched slightly.
After freeing everyone, another problem immediately presented itself—what to do with all these people.
For races like the Longarm Tribe or the Fishmen, who had decent fighting ability, it wasn't a big concern.
But for many ordinary humans—especially the women—even after Sherwin and his group set them free, their safety still couldn't be guaranteed.
Even if Sherwin and his group planned to wipe out all the slave traders on the Sabaody Archipelago later, there were still plenty of scum like them beyond those islands—along with countless pirates.
The chances of these freed people making it safely back home were slim at best.
Handing them over to the Marines wasn't a viable option either. Not only was this auction house operating with the tacit approval of the World Government, but most of the captives were from non–member nations, people who received no protection from the Marines.
And realistically, this group probably wouldn't trust them anyway.
"Benefactor," the first Longarm tribesman who had his collar removed clearly thought of this as well and noticed the concern on Sherwin face.
Stepping forward, he volunteered, "If you trust me, I can take responsibility for escorting the others back home!"
"I'll help too!"
"Count me in!"
Two Fishmen and three pirates stepped forward, each of them willing to lend their strength.
Sherwin actually did have a certain level of trust in these people. In this world, even among pirates who committed countless crimes, a promise still carried great weight.
However, he wasn't entirely confident in their strength. From what his Observation Haki told him, the strongest among them only had an aura about as powerful as Shermie when she'd first been summoned…
So, to be safe, Sherwin decided to give them a little extra insurance.
"Follow me," he said calmly.
Sherwin decided to return to Shakky bar to ask for her help. He figured she probably wouldn't refuse—at worst, he could always pay her extra.
As for those three pirates, since they had taken the initiative to step forward, Sherwin didn't bother holding it against them.
Of course, the only reason he let them go was because their reputations weren't bad—they weren't the cruel or bloodthirsty type of pirates.
Everything went smoothly when it came to dealing with Shakky. By the time they returned to the bar, Rayleigh and Garp were already gone.
The moment Shakky saw Sherwin walk in, she didn't even wait for him to speak, nor did she need to see the group behind him—she had already guessed the situation and agreed before he could even open his mouth.
Though she only ran a bar and an information network, Shakky influence in the Sabaody Archipelago was nothing to scoff at.
A few phone calls later, everything was taken care of. Within ten minutes, people arrived to take away those Sherwin had rescued.
During all this, she never once mentioned payment.
After sending everyone off, Shakky looked at Sherwin with a complicated expression, as if she had something to say but hesitated.
"Is there something else?" Sherwin asked first, impatient for her to just say it. "If it something I can do, I'll do my best to help."
Instead, Shakky simply gave him a string of numbers and said, "You might not ever need it, but if you ever require information, you can call this number… it free. In exchange, if you get the chance, help me look after Amazon Lily."
Sherwin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Don't forget, the current Empress of Amazon Lily still wants to cause me trouble."
He seriously doubted that Shakky could convince that headstrong Hancock to leave him alone.
"Admiral," Haibara Meow tugged at his sleeve, giving him a meaningful glance.
Though he didn't quite understand why Haibara Meow wanted him to agree, Sherwin quickly changed his tone. "Alright, I'll do it."
Shakky didn't comment on his sudden change of heart. She merely nodded casually and waved him off, signaling that he could leave.
In truth, given her relationship with Rayleigh—and with Amazon Lily considerable strength and natural defensive advantages—there was no real need for Sherwin to "look after" the island.
Shakky simply wanted to show goodwill in return for what he had done.
But because Shakky was also on good terms with Hachi, showing goodwill directly toward Sherwin—the one who had killed Hachi—felt somewhat inappropriate.
That was why she had awkwardly added a completely unnecessary "exchange condition."
After hearing Haibara Meow explanation, Sherwin instinctively rolled his eyes… No wonder Shakky didn't care at all about his supposed promise.
Deciding to drop the matter entirely, Sherwin swung his arm out and declared, "Alright then, next up, it time to deal with those slave traders!"
All the Felynes cheered in unison, "Ohhh—!"