"Warp-Warp Fruit?!"
"Sister Robin is gone, meow!"
"Ahhhhh! Boss Sherwin! Hurry and think of something!"
This sudden change threw Sherwin, Shirahoshi, and the Felynes into panic.
The Paramecia-type Warp-Warp Fruit—the ability possessed in the manga by Van Augur, the sniper of the Blackbeard Pirates—was something Sherwin naturally recognized.
But…
He had absolutely no idea who the Warp-Warp Fruit user before Van Augur might have been!
However, Sherwin quickly calmed himself. In the manga, Van Augur ability couldn't be used continuously, and its range was limited.
Whoever that person was just now, the possibility that he was stronger than Van Augur—one of the main antagonists—was still rather low.
Moreover, the fact that he had been able to warp directly onto the Dodo Advance meant he had already been lurking nearby for quite some time.
The G-5 Base had already been more than half destroyed by Kaido single blast of Boro Breath, and since he couldn't possibly be one of the Beasts Pirates, the only place he could have been hiding earlier was on the G-5 Base Marine warships.
And nearby, aside from the island where the G-5 Base was located, as well as the warships and pirate ships that had already ceased fighting, there were no other places to land.
As Devil Fruit users, neither he nor Robin could hide in the sea, so the most likely scenario was that he had returned to hide within the G-5 Base warships—or possibly boarded one of the Beasts Pirate ships.
Most importantly, Robin Vivre Card was pointing precisely in the direction of the G-5 Base.
After swiftly sorting through the situation, Sherwin did not hesitate. He shouted to Klee Meow and Shermie Meow, who were just as anxious but still had to provide power to the Dodo Advance,
"Turn us back! Shermie, use Observation Haki to find Robin. Klee, get ready for battle—I authorize you to go all out with your firepower!"
The two little kittens carried out Sherwin order at once. The Dodo Advance made a sharp one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn in midair, then flew straight toward the island where the G-5 Base was located.
Having to face Kaido again—saying Sherwin felt no pressure would definitely be a lie, but there was no way they could just abandon Robin like this.
Of course, Sherwin could have waited until Kaido left before circling back, but by then, the person with the Warp-Warp Fruit would already have taken Robin far away.
Although the chances were high that she wouldn't be in mortal danger after being captured, Uncle Coby had once said that if CP discovered Robin had fallen into the hands of those great pirates, they would not hesitate to launch an assassination against her.
"Found her, meow!"
They hadn't been gone for long, so they returned quickly. With Shermie Meow Observation Haki enhanced by the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, she easily located Robin position.
At the same time, however, Kaido had not yet left. He was still on the island, wantonly destroying everything around him, venting the frustration in his heart.
"Worororororo! You actually dare to come back!"
Kaido, in his Azure Dragon form, roared as he charged toward them.
To be honest, Sherwin had indeed thought about whether he should simply eat the Sakura Dragon Fruit and fight Kaido head-on.
But considering that Devil Fruits ultimately depended on the eater own strength and level of development, even if he ate the Sakura Dragon Fruit now, he still wouldn't be able to defeat Kaido, so Sherwin abandoned the idea.
Anyway, the Sakura Dragon Fruit was already in his bag. If things truly became desperate, he could eat it then. For now, the priority was to find a way to rescue Robin.
"Shermie! Klee!"
"Railgun, meow!"
After firing an electromagnetic cannon shot at Kaido, Shermie Meow turned into lightning and dashed off to rescue Robin.
Klee Meow, on the other hand, waved her little paw, summoning a gigantic dragon composed of blue-violet flames, its appearance somewhat resembling a lion.
"C2 · Flame Dragon, meow!"
Kaido had just twisted his body to dodge Shermie Meow electromagnetic cannon when he saw this strange-looking fire dragon pounce straight at him.
Having already taken a hit from a C2 · Gold Rathian before, Kaido felt an inexplicable sense of rivalry rise in his heart.
Even though he could clearly sense the threat posed by the Flame Dragon, this time he had no intention of dodging.
Instead, he ignited himself as well, slightly lowered his head, aimed the dragon horns on his head at the Flame Dragon, and crashed into it head-on…
"Rising Dragon · Flame Eight Trigrams!"
"Boom——!!!"
"Aoar——!"
Amid the earth-shaking explosion, Kaido pained roar could be faintly heard.
As the Flame Dragon detonated, a massive storm was whipped up over the G-5 base.
The clouds in the sky were completely blown apart, and the sea below surged into towering waves.
Throughout the surrounding waters, whether G-5 warships or the Beasts Pirate ships, all of them lost control under the impact of the explosion and the raging seas.
The Dodo Advance was no exception.
In fact, the moment Klee Meow summoned the Flame Dragon, the Dodo Advance had already begun evasive maneuvers.
However, the power of the little ragdoll all-out bomb was still far too exaggerated.
Even though the Dodo Advance did everything it could to dodge, it was still lifted by the shockwaves of the explosion and sent tumbling through the air several times.
As for Kaido, who took the Flame Dragon head-on, he fared no better.
Thanks to his absurd physical toughness, and the fact that Klee Meow did not possess Armament Haki, aside from being scorched black in several places, he did not suffer any obvious injuries.
Even so, charging straight into the Flame Dragon with his head still left Kaido blasted into a dizzy stupor by the violent explosion.
His massive dragon body also failed to stabilize itself under the shockwave and was blown straight back onto the island, landing squarely atop the ruins of the G-5 base that he himself had destroyed earlier.
After tumbling through the air a few more times, the Dodo Advance finally managed to steady itself again.
"Aw… my head feels so dizzy, meow… huh?"
(=@﹏@=)
Because she had lost her footing when the Dodo Advance was tumbling just now and ended up rolling into a ball across the deck, Klee Meow forcefully shook her dizzy little head.
Just as she was about to control the Dodo Advance to go pick up Robin as Sherwin had instructed earlier, she realized that the ship was already flying toward the warship below that was crackling with lightning.
Although she didn't know what was going on, Klee Meow still quickly added more fire to the Dodo Advance, boosting its speed yet another notch.
"Boom!"
The Dodo Advance crashed into the sea in an extremely rough manner. Before it even had time to stabilize, the outer protective shield had already activated.
"Robin, big sister! Get on the ship, meow!"
Shermie Meow urged anxiously. Unable to elementalize while carrying others, she stood beside the charred-black body of the teleportation Fruit user who had abducted her earlier, now lying motionless there.
"Two Trees · Catapult."
Understanding the urgency of the situation, Robin once again used her gigantic arms to "throw" herself back onto the Dodo Advance at top speed.
She also brought along the true culprit who had caused them so much trouble.
"Bad Wind!"
A large number of wind blades shot in from afar. Sherwin, who had never relaxed his guard, decisively leapt into midair.
He rapidly swung the Longsword in his hand, continuously releasing flying slashes to intercept the incoming wind blades.
Monster Hunter Style · Heaven and Moon!
At the same time, the Felynes all joined in, helping to block the barrage of wind blades together.
"Roaring Thunder Bagua!"
Kaido shifted back into his hybrid form and flashed above Sherwin. Having lost the Hassaikai, he clasped his fists together and smashed them down viciously toward Sherwin head.
Hunting Insect Fusion Technique · Annihilation · Rising Dragon Strike!
Sherwin swiftly pulled out a seastone shield and charged straight into Kaido double-fisted blow.
Techniques like Rising Dragon Strike, which exist in both hunting arts and Wirebug silkbind techniques, could see their power increased considerably after fusing their respective strengths.
Although the consumption was somewhat high, for a Hunter who could recover by gulping down potions, it was hardly a serious issue.
"Bang!"
"Crack crack crack…"
Although he blocked—and even briefly repelled—Kaido, the seastone shield in Sherwin hands was covered in dense cracks from that single strike, and Sherwin felt as though his left arm was nearly shattered.
And moreover…
You seriously aren't afraid of seastone at all?!
The manga had never explicitly stated that Kaido wasn't afraid of seastone it was merely something netizens pieced together from scattered clues in the panels.
Who would have thought that this time, those usually unreliable, goofy netizens had actually gotten it right.
However, Sherwin had long been mentally prepared for this. At his explicit request, Robin and the cats who had eaten Devil Fruits had all undergone extensive seastone resistance training.
Moreover, since the cats rather enjoyed the feeling of going completely limp and soft all over, they often lay sprawled on seastone to rest.
Under such circumstances, Klee Meow, who had eaten a Devil Fruit the earliest, had already begun to show some resistance to seastone…
Of course, it still couldn't be compared to Kaido complete disregard for it.
With the attempt to restrain Kaido using seastone having failed, Sherwin could only flip his hand and switch to Sandai Kitetsu and the Moon Slash he had knocked out of the Heavenly Yaksha, then shouted to the cats, "Huamei! Plan C!"