"Damn it! This must be a trap set jointly by the Hunter and the Marines!"
Because everything looked far too much like coordinated cooperation, Sherwin and the others—who had the ability to dive—could have escaped long ago if they truly wanted to shake them off.
As a result, both Katakuri and Jack instinctively believed that this was an arrangement deliberately set up by Sherwin and the Marines to deal with their Yonko pirate crew.
They even suspected that the information about Nico Robin had been intentionally leaked to them.
Well… from a certain point of view, that kind of guess wasn't entirely wrong.
"Cracker! Block them with me!"
With a grim expression, Katakuri shouted loudly while activating his Devil Fruit ability, creating a massive wall of mochi that rose up at the very front.
Although his Observation Haki had foreseen that the Dodo Advance would dive and escape, their ship was unable to catch up in the first place.
So even with that foresight, there was nothing he could do—he could only choose to block this wave of Marine attacks first.
Besides…
Even if it really was a Marine trap, so what? They were members of a Yonko pirate crew—how could they possibly be afraid of the Marines?
As the thick mochi wall rose, the biscuits Cracker created rapidly covered it, adding another layer of hard armor.
Katakuri could have taken the attack head-on with Armament Haki, but with a fierce battle about to begin, he naturally wanted to conserve as much stamina as possible.
On the other side, Jack didn't think as much as Katakuri. With a life creed summed up by a single word—"charge"—he let out a roar and swiftly shifted into his hybrid form, standing at the bow of the ship and using his own strength alone to knock away all the incoming cannonballs.
The pirates on the other ships also each showed their own methods. While resisting the bombardment, they launched counterattacks against the Marines of the G-5 Branch.
Unlike before—when either they couldn't hit the Dodu Advance at all, or their attacks were blocked by Sherwin and the others—the Marines of G-5 didn't have experts on every warship who could withstand attacks from a Yonko pirate crew. As a result, many Marine warships were soon sunk.
Of course, the ships on the Yonko pirate crew side also suffered damage.
While the Marines and the Yonko pirate crew were locked in fierce combat, Sherwin and the others had already passed beneath the G-5 Marine surface blockade from underwater and circled around to the side of the island.
"You all stay on the ship and be ready to support us at any time."
For the battles ahead, Sherwin couldn't guarantee that he would be able to look after everyone and all the cats, so he decisively left Shirahoshi, Purah Meow, and Haibara Meow—whose combat strength was relatively average—aboard the Dudu Sea Dragon.
He also arranged for Shermie, the fastest among them, to stay behind just in case. With Shirley and the guardians created by Purah Meow, plus Sanji Meow shamelessly insisting on staying close to the two big-sister Felynes, their safety was fairly well assured.
At the same time, as the Dodu Advance secondary power source and the member of the survey team with the widest range of Observation Haki, if things went badly on Sherwin side, Shermie would also be able to bring the Dudu to rescue and evacuate them.
Actually, Sherwin had originally wanted to leave Robin behind as well.
However—
"I'm the very target they're fighting over. If I don't show up, they might come looking for the Dudu instead."
Robin reasoning left Sherwin unable to refute it, so he could only bring her ashore with them.
Since Sherwin and the others didn't hide their movements, not long after landing on the island, a dark-faced Vergo arrived with a squad of Marines.
"Ah, Vice Admiral Vergo. We meet again."
Sherwin greeted him first with a playful grin.
Because of Sherwin status as a Warlord, Vergo could only forcibly suppress the anger in his heart. He glanced at Nico Robin beside Sherwin, then questioned him sharply, "Why did you lead them here?!"
"That can't be blamed on me," Sherwin shrugged, answering half-truthfully.
"Before they started chasing me, this was the most stable Log Pose direction. I didn't know this was your territory before I came."
"Doesn't your ship have the ability to dive? How could you possibly fail to shake them off?!"
"Because I was planning to lure them onto the island and drive them away in the first place," Sherwin replied as if it were only natural.
"I never intended to keep running. I just happened to run into you guys."
Then he smiled teasingly and added, "Of course, if you Marines are scared, you can withdraw first. After I'm done dealing with those guys, you can come back. After all, they're subordinates of an Emperor—you having concerns is something I can understand."
As soon as these words were spoken, before Vergo could react, the Marines behind him could no longer endure the provocation and started shouting.
"Afraid of pirates?! Don't make me laugh!"
"That right! We don't even need you to act—our G-5 Marines can wipe out that bunch of pirates completely!"
"Shut up, all of you!"
Vergo stopped his subordinate clamor, then fixed his gaze deeply on Sherwin.
Although the reason Sherwin gave sounded quite sufficient, and logically speaking it was indeed unlikely that he possessed a permanent Log Pose to the G-5 base, Vergo still felt that Sherwin had done this on purpose.
Moreover, Sherwin slightly flippant attitude seemed to indicate that he held no goodwill toward the G-5 base—or rather, toward Vergo himself.
Is it because of the hostility I showed toward Nico Robin earlier?
Vergo did not believe that Sherwin knew his true identity, so this was the only explanation he could come up with.
"Suppressing pirates is the duty of us Marines, but I will not allow my subordinates to sacrifice their lives for your sake."
From his true feelings, Vergo naturally did not want to shield Sherwin and his people from harm, but his identity as a Marine forced him to do so. On top of that, he was also thinking of seizing Nico Robin amid the chaos.
Thus, after a brief moment of thought, Vergo came up with a solution.
"I'll have my men block the other pirates for you, but I'll let the officers of the Emperor crew through. Didn't you say you wanted to fight them? I'll create that opportunity for you. And also…"
He glanced again at Nico Robin beside him and continued, "I'll stay as well. Compared to the Emperor pirates, it safer for Nico Robin to remain on your side, and it seems the World Government agrees with that."
"Do as you like."
Sherwin smiled faintly and paid no mind to his roundabout words.
Vergo narrowed his eyes behind the sunglasses, finding Sherwin impermeable attitude extremely troublesome.
"Did you hear me? Hurry up and pass the order down!"
The Marines, who had originally been dissatisfied with Vergo apparent "backing down," were already deeply moved after hearing him say he did not want his subordinates to die.
So once he gave the order, these "roughneck" Marines of the G-5 base immediately sprang into action, glaring fiercely at Sherwin and Robin before leaving.
Sherwin naturally did not care about their hostility. Instead, he was rather impressed by Vergo performance.
If not for that glare the Marines cast before departing, he might not even have realized the second layer of meaning behind Vergo actions, simply assuming that he did not want to take the hit on his behalf.
Mm, truly worthy of a veteran undercover agent—able to remember to win over people hearts even in a situation like this.