Monster Hunter Style · Iai · All Blades Severed!
"Crack, crack, crack…"
As Sherwin withdrew the Longsword, the massive iron gate before him let out a mournful groan, then split apart into several chunks that scattered onto the ground.
After a round of discussion, Sherwin and Huamei decided to split their teams to search the buildings on the island.
Naturally, Sherwin side consisted of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Small Cat Squad and Robin, while Huamei took Purah Meow, Sanji Meow, and Link Meow with her.
As usual, Seijuro Meow volunteered to stay behind to guard the ship. Additionally, since Suika Meow couldn't drink while wearing her combat suit, she decided to stay on the ship as well, together with Seijuro Meow and Odelia.
To avoid being contaminated by the poisonous gas on the island, they all changed into the fully enclosed waterproof combat suits they had worn back in Fishman Street.
"These cat paws really aren't convenient for gripping a blade," Sherwin muttered, twisting his head under the cat-themed hood before looking toward Haibara Meow. "Remember to help me modify them later."
"Hmph!" Haibara Meow, dressed in the brown Mizutsune-style armor, flicked her tail irritably. "Cat paws are the best, you're just too clumsy, meow! Robin sis doesn't complain this much, meow!"
Sherwin rolled his eyes, the cat-head hood on his head mimicking the expression perfectly.
"Of course she doesn't. Robin doesn't need to wield a weapon."
"…Anyway, it your problem, meow!" After delivering her usual tsundere line, the little kitten huffed and added, "But I've decided to show great mercy and help you fix it later, meow."
"Wow, thanks so much…"
Sherwin bantered irritably with Haibara Meow while following behind Klee Meow into the interior of the building.
Since none of the structures had any visible markings, they could only rely on Klee Meow treasure-seeking instinct to navigate.
"Klee, be careful. There might still be people hiding inside," Sherwin reminded her.
Although Klee Meow strength and her natural-type ability made her immune to most attacks, no one could guarantee Vegapunk hadn't left behind something specifically targeting ability users—something the prisoners might now be using for self-defense.
And Klee Meow wasn't particularly sturdy compared to other Felynes. If her combat suit were damaged and she came into contact with the poison gas, she wouldn't be in life-threatening danger, but she'd still be miserable for quite a while.
"Got it, Sherwin-nii! Klee will keep Observation Haki active the whole time, meow!"
The little ragdoll cat strutted confidently at the front, answering without even turning her head.
"Don't worry, Sherwin dear~ There no one else inside this building, meow~"
Perched on Sherwin shoulder, Shermie leaned in, rubbing her helmet twice against his cat-hood before complaining unhappily,
"Wuu… wearing this combat suit is so inconvenient. It doesn't feel like anything when I rub against you, meow~"
"Alright, once we're back on the ship, I'll give all of you a good grooming," Sherwin said, patting Shermie helmet to soothe her.
"For now, let finish exploring Punk Hazard."
Before long, they had thoroughly searched the first building. As expected, they didn't encounter anyone.
From the few door plates and the items they collected, Sherwin deduced its main purpose—
An armory, or more accurately, an ammunition depot.
Well, Sherwin wasn't really surprised.
After all, with Klee Meow leading the way, finding bombs that hadn't been taken away yet was perfectly reasonable.
They then spent some more time searching the surrounding cluster of buildings before returning to the Dodo Advance with a pile of various odds and ends.
Unlike what Sherwin had hoped, Vegapunk and the others had cleaned the place out quite thoroughly before evacuating.
In the end, they didn't find any failed experiments, blueprints, or records—only some leftover supplies and a few pieces of large equipment too cumbersome to move.
Huamei group, which had been searching the other half of the area, returned to the ship shortly after.
Without Klee Meow guiding them, their haul wasn't even a tenth of what Sherwin side collected.
"This won't work at this rate…"
Sherwin glanced at the sky. With how slow their progress was, who knew how long it would take to find the Sakura Dragon Fruit or the poisonous gas conglomerate that had eaten the Salamander Fruit — Hex Salamander Form.
"Didn't you say there were still survivors on the island?" Robin suddenly spoke.
"Wouldn't it be easier to just find them and ask for directions?"
"But the problem is, I have no idea where they are."
Still wearing his combat suit, Sherwin spread his small cat paws helplessly.
But Robin simply smiled and said, "That easy. If they're still staying on the island, they must be trying to get as far from the poison gas as possible. So we just need to search the places where the gas is the thinnest."
"That right!" Sherwin slapped his thigh. "We should go to where the gas is thickest!"
Robin: "???"
After pressing the clasp on his belt to deactivate the cat-armor, Sherwin explained,
"The poison gas here hasn't dissipated at all—there must be a source. If we get rid of that source first, the survivors will naturally come out."
He knew the source of the poison wasn't stationary. That poisonous salamander—something like Slimey or Slimy—wouldn't just sit quietly in one place.
So Robin idea of searching for the thinnest area wasn't reliable, but heading toward where the gas was thickest would definitely lead them to the creature.
As for how to find the thickest spot…
"Help me out, Doraemon!"
"I told you to stop calling me that name, meow!"
Haibara Meow pounced onto Sherwin, biting his arm hard a few times before licking her teeth with satisfaction and slipping into the laboratory.
A little over ten minutes later, the small kitten walked out holding a conch-shaped device.
"Hmm? Isn't that a Sky Shell?" Sherwin recognized it immediately.
"Hmph~" Haibara Meow lifted her head proudly.
"That right. I modified a Sky Shell into a poison-gas detection device. You can call it the Detection Shell, meow!"
(=`=)
As she spoke, the little kitten inserted the poison gas sample she had collected into the opening of the Detection Shell.
Moments later, the Shell began to go "meow meow meow," and it even sounded like Haibara Meow own voice, with a bit of rhythm to it.
"Since it was modified from a Sound Shell, you need to record a voice in advance, meow," Haibara Meow explained as if it were the most natural thing.
"Time was tight, so I just shouted into it myself… do you have a problem with that, meow?"
(=`皿=)
The small kitten glared unhappily at the surprised Sherwin and bared her little teeth.
"No no no," Sherwin hurriedly waved his hands, not wanting to get bitten. He then patted her small head and praised, "Our little Ai is amazing!"
"Hmph~"
The tsundere kitten huffed and looked away, but her head leaned honestly into Sherwin palm, rubbing against it.