While Sherwin was still floundering in the sea…
More precisely, while he was still being chased all over the place by Kaido, the rest of the pirate world had already been thrown into an uproar.
After all, an incident as serious as a Marine G-5 Branch being attacked by pirates was impossible to conceal.
What was more, one of the Four Emperors—Kaido himself—had appeared and directly destroyed the G-5 Branch base with a single Blast Breath.
In addition, Sherwin, who was traveling with Nico Robin, had already been under the attention of interested parties for quite some time.
So not long after Sherwin dragged Kaido into the water, those well-informed forces had all learned of it.
A few hours later, the World Economic News released an emergency special issue that barely had time for proofreading.
As News Birds flapped their wings and flew toward every corner of the world, the story of "Hunter" Sherwin "directly clashing" with Kaido of the Beasts spread across the seas.
Of course, with their previously pleasant history of cooperation, aside from some sensationalist headlines, Morgans did not exaggerate the facts.
The main article clearly explained that Sherwin had joined forces with his other crewmates to temporarily block Kaido, then successfully escaped by relying on their ship special abilities.
Even so, that alone was already shocking enough.
Moreover, the report also stated that due to the appearance of a certain Devil Fruit user, Sherwin and his group were forced to turn back after their first escape and fight Kaido once again—after which they successfully escaped for a second time.
If the first escape could still be attributed to clever tricks and good luck, then the second escape was undeniably a reflection of the overall strength of Sherwin and the entire Felynes Investigation Team.
What was more, before Kaido arrived, the commanders of both the Beasts Pirates and Big Mom Pirates—two of the Four Emperor crews—had been completely suppressed by Sherwin and his companions.
Pirates who had originally intended to snatch Nico Robin from Sherwin hands all abandoned the idea after seeing that even a Four Emperor had failed.
Even Doflamingo, the "mastermind behind the scenes," quietly withdrew the bounties he had issued in the underworld.
Meanwhile, Jinbe, whose intelligence network was relatively weak and who had learned a bit late that Sherwin was being targeted,
was anxiously leading the Sun Pirates to come to the rescue of their princess—when he suddenly received the latest issue of the World Economic News…
"Hahahahaha! Looks like we won't need to worry too much about Princess Shirahoshi safety in the future. Sherwin and the others are far more reliable than I imagined!"
Jinbe only broke into laughter after staring at the newspaper in a daze for quite a while. Then he led the Sun Pirates and began their return voyage.
Since Princess Shirahoshi was no longer in danger, there was naturally no reason for him to interfere with their adventure.
This was, after all, an unspoken rule commonly acknowledged by pirates and adventurers in this world.
As for ordinary people, through the reports of the World Economic News, they came to recognize Sherwin once again—this particularly special existence even among the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
At the same time, they could somewhat understand why the World Government had been willing to pay the price of three Devil Fruits just to recruit him…
Even though the real situation was not actually like that.
Still floundering about at sea, Sherwin naturally had no idea about any of this happening.
However, after Huamei Meow told him that Morgans had called, Sherwin could more or less guess that he was probably about to make the headlines again.
That said, Sherwin was no longer worried about himself and the Felynes becoming too famous.
Previously, his reluctance toward fame was entirely due to feeling that his strength was insufficient and that there was no real necessity for it.
But now, when even Kaido—acknowledged as the strongest among the Four Emperors in a one-on-one fight—could not keep them,
under normal circumstances, as long as they did not deliberately court death or suffer from outrageously bad luck, they would basically face no truly unavoidable mortal crises on this sea.
And as a representative of the cautious-flow Hunter, Sherwin was practically incapable of deliberately courting death.
With luck itself guaranteed by Klee Meow, Sherwin could even say rather boldly—
The world is vast there is nowhere he cannot go!
But before that, our Hunter still had to find land first—or at least pass by a ship…
Fortunately, Sherwin luck, while not as overwhelmingly blessed as Klee Meow, was far from being cursed.
After swimming for another half day toward where the cats were, carrying Sanji Meow on his back, he finally caught sight of a sliver of land in the distance.
At this point, there was no longer any need to conserve energy for the battle suit.
Sherwin decisively activated the jet propulsion system, bursting out of the water with Sanji Meow and flying straight toward the distant island.
Soon enough, one human and one cat landed on that solitary island.
Judging from the size of the island—small enough to take in at a glance—it was most likely a "scattered island" that couldn't gather magnetic forces. But Sherwin didn't mind… it was still better than soaking in the water, right?
Sherwin took out the Den Den Mushi again and contacted his companions aboard the Dodo Advance, while Sanji Meow, the moment he touched land, swiftly pulled out all kinds of cooking utensils and ingredients from his bag.
Just as he had promised earlier, he began preparing a grand meal for Sherwin…
He still had no intention of chatting with the Beautiful big sister Felynes.
After ending the call, Sherwin smiled, stepped forward, and rubbed the head of the busy little yellow cat. Then he rolled up his sleeves and asked, "Is there anything I can help with?"
Sanji Meow, who had been about to refuse, suddenly felt a tacit understanding. Just like Sherwin, he recalled the days when the two of them had depended on each other on that lonely island in the West Blue.
The little yellow cat, who had long carried guilt in his heart, finally emerged completely from the shadows at this moment.
"Then help me cut that meat, meow. Remember to slice along the grain—don't mess it up like you did earlier, meow!"
The little yellow cat tone turned rude and even somewhat disdainful again, but a brilliant smile was hanging on that fluffy little face.
With Sherwin helping as an assistant, Sanji Meow grand meal was finished in no time. Smelling the aroma wafting through the air, Sherwin immediately grabbed a piece of roasted meat and dug in with gusto.
The food made by Sanji Meow not only lifted one spirits, it also quickly replenished the energy Sherwin had expended floundering about in the sea earlier.
He even felt that some of the more stubborn lingering injuries—those that hadn't fully healed even after drinking recovery potions—were starting to improve as well…
It felt like Sanji Meow cooking had gotten better again.
Or was it that…
"You little brat, do you usually just throw something together when you cook for us? Hm?"
After sweeping through the entire feast Sanji Meow had prepared, Sherwin immediately scooped the little yellow cat into his arms, rubbing his cat head as he questioned him.
After all…
While the taste wasn't vastly different from what he usually ate, it was clearly better, and the recovery effect was noticeably stronger too.
And thinking about how Sanji in the manga always prepared specially made dishes for women, Sherwin had good reason to suspect that Sanji Meow might share that same bad habit.
"Of course not, meow!" The little yellow cat flailed his limbs, struggling against Sherwin hands as he argued back.
"I put a lot of care into the food I make for the ladies, meow! It only the food for you, Brother Seijuro Meow, and Brother Link that a bit more casual, meow!"
So that how it is…
Then you might as well not explain at all!
Sherwin, laughing despite himself from anger,fiercely pinched his cheek.
Naturally, Sanji Meow refused to take the loss. He twisted his head and bit straight toward Sherwin palm…
And so, just like usual, the man and the cat started shouting at the top of their lungs as they tangled into a scuffle.
When huamei hurried Klee Meow and Shermie along in anxious haste and finally arrived, what they saw was this all-too-familiar everyday scene of the Investigation Corps.
Huamei Meow: "..."
With an idiot captain like this, he might as well get beaten to death by Kaido, meow!