Although the marines of the G-5 branch looked like a bunch of unruly thugs, their execution speed was not slow at all.
Of course, it might also be that the Four Emperor pirate crews were even more desperate for Nico Robin than Sherwin had anticipated.
In any case, not long after Vergo subordinates left, Katakuri and Jack arrived before them with a group of officers.
Sherwin swept his gaze over them and discovered that quite a few were "familiar faces."
Aside from the leaders Katakuri and Jack, Big Mom side had also sent Oven, Daifuku, and Cracker—this one a truly familiar face.
On the Beasts side, one of the Flying Six, Who-Who, had also come. Perhaps his former CP9 background made him more suitable for handling Robin matter?
As for the rest, Sherwin didn't really recognize them. Maybe they had appeared in the manga, but perhaps due to too little screen time or major changes in appearance—either way, Sherwin couldn't remember them.
"Hand over Nico Robin!"
While Sherwin was sizing them up, the Four Emperor pirates were also observing his group.
The moment Jack spotted Robin figure, he charged forward without a second thought, transforming into a massive mammoth in the process.
With each step he took, Sherwin could even feel the ground beneath his feet trembling.
Led by Jack, the other members of the Beasts Pirates howled strangely as they followed behind him.
"What a bunch of idiots…"
Not very accustomed to Jack style of combat, Who-Who muttered a helpless complaint, but still rushed forward with them.
"We're going too!"
Worried that Nico Robin might fall into the hands of the Beasts Pirates, Katakuri no longer had the leisure to care about what he had promised Cracker earlier.
He called for his brothers and subordinates to join the scramble for Nico Robin.
As for Sherwin and Vergo? They were not taken seriously at all—despite the fact that Cracker had already suffered at Sherwin hands before.
"Another big guy! Sherwin, leave him to me, meow! Watch me—hic!—watch me snap off those tusks of his and bring them back to decorate the ship, meow!"
(●￣￣●)
Suika Meow squinted her hazy, drunken eyes, gripping her gourd of liquor as she staggered forward to meet him.
It seemed that aside from drinking and fighting, this little drunk cat was also very interested in things like snapping horns and breaking teeth—or rather, Hunters and Felynes were all extremely interested in such matters.
Because…
Crushing heads and severing tails—that is a Hunter romance!
"Take this! Hunting Art · Meteor Whirl, meow!"
Suika Meow, swelling her body until she was roughly the same size as Jack, spun the "Ibuki Gourd" in her paws like a windmill, then smashed it straight toward the opponent head.
Worth mentioning was that the first style Suika Meow mastered turned out to be the "exclusive" aerial combat style of those insect glaive users…
Because of this, Sherwin had even deliberately gotten himself drunk once more, yet still gained no clue about the aerial style at all.
Instead, when he woke up, he found that a few of the little troublemaking cats from the toddler group had painted his face into a big floral mess.
…
"Don't get in my way!"
Although momentarily surprised by the sudden appearance of this huge cat, Jack had no intention of changing his target.
He continued charging straight toward Robin, while at the same time swinging his trunk, intending to lash Suika Meow aside.
"Bang!"
The mammoth trunk collided with the wine gourd in Suika Meow paws with a deafening crash.
In the end, the gourd failed to break through the trunk strike and hit Jack head, while the trunk also failed to knock the gourd—and Suika Meow behind it—flying away. Jack charging steps even came to a halt because of it.
"Meow?"
"Hm?"
One cat and one man let out startled sounds at the same time.
"Meow hahahahaha! Again, meow!"
Suika Meow burst into loud laughter and once again swung the wine gourd, smashing it toward Jack.
From the clash just now, Jack had already realized that he wouldn't be able to pass by this mink cat so easily.
He immediately shifted into his hybrid form, raised both hands, and firmly caught the gourd that Suika Meow smashed toward him.
One man and one cat wrestled through the large purple gourd for quite a while before Suika Meow finally showed a hint of strain.
There was no helping it—no matter how naturally strong she was, and even with her body enlarged by her ability, Suika Meow still couldn't match Jack in sheer strength. After all, he was a fish-man who had eaten the Mammoth Fruit.
"Aiya ya, looks like it still won't work, meow…"
After recognizing that her strength truly fell short, Suika Meow didn't stubbornly force it.
She immediately used her ability to shrink the Ibuki Gourd, slipping free of Jack grip, then leapt backward to dodge the trunk he swung at her.
"Fire Style · Sake Fireball Technique, meow!"
Taking another swig from the Ibuki Gourd after enlarging it again, Suika Meow suddenly spewed out a massive fireball toward Jack.
As the saying goes: fur is weak to fire.
Jack mammoth form was not only covered head to toe in fur, but he was also a fish-man, making his resistance to flames particularly poor.
What more, Suika Meow alcohol-laced flames—while not matching Klee Meow Flame-Flame Fruit in peak temperature—were no worse at all in terms of adhesion and spread.
As a result, Jack entire body was soon engulfed in flames.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Although with Jack defense and vitality, flames of this level wouldn't be enough to take his life, still…
It hurt!
Jack howled at the top of his lungs while stomping the ground like a madman, his hands also slapping hard at his own body.
However, flames soaked with strong liquor were not so easy to extinguish, and Suika Meow was not about to just stand there foolishly.
"Oni Ghost · Secret!"
A layer of fire ignited over the gourd in her hand as Suika Meow swung it toward Jack head for the third time.
This time, Suika Meow finally struck her target.
It was just that Jack was far tougher than the fire dragon on Punk Hazard Island. That blow only left him slightly dazed he shook his head and quickly recovered.
But after taking this hit, Jack grew even more furious. His pair of elephant eyes rapidly filled with blood as he drew his two ivory-shaped, bizarre long blades and swung them wildly toward Suika Meow.
"AAAAAAAH—!!!"
At this moment, Jack no longer bothered dealing with the flames on his body, instead choosing to rely on Armament Haki to tank them head-on…
In his rage-filled mind, dealing with this annoying kitty in front of him was far more important than putting out the fire on his body.
Only…
"Meowhahahaha! You can't hit me, you can't hit me, you can't hit me, meow!"
(●ω≡ω●)
The little drunken cat giggled nonstop, using all kinds of off-balance, bizarre movements to lightly yet comically dodge every single attack from her opponent.
Clearly, the one who couldn't use Observation Haki was Suika Meow, yet Jack—who could use Observation Haki—just couldn't land a single hit on her.
As mentioned before, Suika Meow had mastered an aerial combat style, and the core of this style was sheer fluidity. Coupled with her completely unpredictable movement patterns while drunk, this was precisely why she could effortlessly evade all of Jack attacks despite not knowing Observation Haki.
Of course, there were two other crucial reasons as well.
First, although both of them were enormous in size now, Jack was still far too clumsy compared to Suika Meow.
Second, like most giants, Jack was extremely prone to getting "heated" in battle—and given his current state, it wasn't just being heated, but outright berserk.
In such a condition, he simply couldn't activate his Observation Haki at all.
After toying with Jack for a while by taking advantage of her agility, Suika Meow once again seized the opportunity, swinging the "Ibuki Gourd" toward his head.
As for why this little drunken cat was so fixated on Jack head…
That was because, in Suika Meow view, only after knocking him unconscious would it be convenient for her to snap those ivory tusks off his body.
The reason she had been injured by the Furious Rajang back then was precisely because she'd been too hasty while drunk—she hadn't fully subdued her opponent before running off to smack its horns…
Of course, even back then, it wasn't very realistic for Suika Meow to win a solo fight against a Furious Rajang anyway.
But no matter what, the same mistake was something Suika Meow would absolutely not make a second time.
"Demon Talisman · Oeyama All Must Die, meow!"