"Wahahahaha! You finally called me!" Morgans shouted excitedly the moment he picked up Sherwin's call. "I've been waiting forever!"
"I was being hunted down by Kaido, the one publicly acknowledged as the strongest in a one-on-one among the Four Emperors. Being able to call you this quickly is already impressive enough," Sherwin replied, rolling his eyes.
"That's true enough. Still, it really is you—each big scoop you create is more outrageous than the last,"
Morgans sighed with emotion before asking, "Since you're calling me, does that mean you're ready to agree to my exclusive interview?"
"Of course. After all, I am a special advisor to the World Economy News Agency, aren't I?"
After the Dudu set sail once again, Sherwin finally had the chance to read the World Economy News Agency's report on the incident.
In that article, although the course of events was described in fairly detailed fashion, the portrayal of the cats was rather vague, only stating that follow-up reports would come later.
Years of tacit cooperation with Morgans allowed Sherwin to immediately guess his intentions…
Revealing the existence of all the cats at once—how could that compare to releasing the information little by little to keep readers hooked?
Moreover, that line in the paper about "follow-up reports" was actually directed at Sherwin.
He figured that Morgans probably had some further plan in mind that would require his cooperation.
It was just that, considering Sherwin had been fleeing for his life at the time, Morgans hadn't contacted him directly, instead leaving behind this little "signal" in the newspaper, waiting for Sherwin to reach out once he was safe.
"So, what are you thinking?" Sherwin asked curiously.
"You should already be pretty familiar with Klee Meow and the others. Even without some so-called 'exclusive interview,' you could still report on them, right?"
"Not necessarily," Morgans retorted.
"For example, I didn't know about that orange cat mink who can change her body size."
"Ah… you mean Suika. She only joined us recently," Sherwin scratched his head.
"But that still doesn't seem to warrant arranging an exclusive interview, does it?"
"That's because I'm planning to take this opportunity to report that the mermaid princess is also on your ship!" Morgans said excitedly from the other end of the line.
"During this period, the World Economy News has been gradually publishing stories about Fish-Man Island. Everyone already has a basic understanding of the Fish-Men as a group. It's time for Shirahoshi to step onto the stage!"
At the very beginning, Morgans had agreed to report on Fish-Man Island purely because he was helping Sherwin and because he had been moved by Shirahoshi's actions.
However, as news related to the Fish-Men was released, the World Economy News Agency received unexpectedly strong feedback.
This was because most people actually knew very little about the Fish-Men.
Even those who had encountered Fish-Men or mermaids were still deeply curious about Fish-Man Island in the depths of the sea.
As a result, the vast majority of readers approached these reports about Fish-Man Island with a sense of curiosity.
Yet regardless of the reason, as article after article was published by the World Economy News Agency, people's understanding of the Fish-Men gradually deepened.
In many places unknown to Sherwin and the others, discrimination against the Fish-Men had already begun to fade.
Therefore, even without the Kaido incident, Morgans had originally planned to report on Otohime and Shirahoshi before long, allowing more people to understand just how much the Fish-Men had sacrificed in order to one day live beneath the sunlight.
Now that the "Kaido incident" had occurred, Morgans naturally would not miss such a perfect opportunity.
He intended to advance his plan accordingly, and by doing so, the news he released would inevitably be even more sensational.
"And besides, your reputation among civilians as one of the Seven Warlords is already quite good. With this incident added on top of your initiative to help the Fish-Men, your prestige will rise even further!"
For Morgans, this cooperative partner whom he had never met in person could not have been more satisfying, so within the limits of his abilities, he was willing to help as much as possible.
In fact, he had already been doing so when reporting on the Kaido incident earlier…
Although he did not know that Sherwin had deliberately led the Yonko pirate crew to the G-5 branch, based on the intelligence he had gathered beforehand, Morgans was certainly aware that the true center of everything was Nico Robin aboard Sherwin's ship.
Yet in the World Economy News report, the course of events became, "The G-5 branch was attacked by a Yonko pirate crew, and the passing Seven Warlords 'Hunter' righteously stepped in to help"…
To those who knew the truth, this was naturally nothing more than a joke. But those who were unaware of the reality believed it easily, and this group even included a large number of uninformed Marines.
After all, in the World Government's previous propaganda, Sherwin, this Seven Warlords, had been portrayed as a rare figure of "justice." There were already many within the Marines who, like Zephyr, held him in high regard.
Upon learning that he had stepped in to "rescue" the G-5 branch, that favorable impression only grew stronger…
It could only be said that he truly lived up to his reputation as the world's media tycoon.
Ever since hearing some advanced ideas from Earth from Sherwin, Morgans had already completed an evolution of his own, becoming more and more adept at manipulating public opinion.
Aside from that, there was another point where Morgans and Sherwin shared a tacit understanding…
"Don't tell me the nicknames for Klee Meow and the others were already planned out long ago, just like your 'Hunter'?"
Morgans still had a deep impression of Sherwin's outrageous maneuver back then.
Giving yourself a nickname wasn't a big deal—plenty of pirates did that—but after giving himself a nickname, he had even gone to Morgans, a man in the media business, to help promote it. That was extremely rare…
More precisely, it was the first time Morgans had ever seen something like that.
So even though he had already given nicknames to the cats he was familiar with, like Klee Meow and the others, he still deliberately asked Sherwin about it.
"No wonder you're able to run the World Economy News so well!" Sherwin praised him.
Even though the original inspirations for some of the cats didn't have nicknames, Sherwin absolutely could not accept Klee Meow not being called the "Escaping Sun," Huamei Meow not being the "Soaring Crimson Tiger," or Shermie Meow lacking the title "Feral Lightning," and so on.
So even if Morgans hadn't brought it up, Sherwin would have found a chance to mention it himself.
On the other end of the phone, Morgans: "..."
So you really did come up with nicknames for all of them?!
Although he felt a mix of laughter and helplessness, because there was already the precedent of "Hunter," Morgans didn't stay speechless for long. He quickly moved on to discussing the interview with Sherwin again.
Since, aside from Nico Robin, none of the other members of the investigation team had bounties—and only Sherwin had ever had a photo published, back when he was recruited as one of the Seven Warlords—Morgans planned this time to properly introduce the other members on the ship.
If that were all, Sherwin could have simply taken some photos of the cats and faxed them over.
However, Morgans insisted that, as the central figure of the "Kaido Incident," and also in order to let others better understand the matter concerning Shirahoshi, a detailed interview was still necessary.
And moreover…
"We really should meet face to face, Sherwin!"
Since even his "boss" had said so, Sherwin stopped refusing.
As for how to meet, that wasn't difficult at all. Morgans had Sherwin's Viver Card, so Sherwin could simply continue sailing as usual and wait for Morgans to come find him on his own.
The only thing Sherwin had to worry about was…
He glanced at Shirahoshi, who still looked like a little girl…
That birdman Morgans wouldn't really be as twisted as Vander Decken, right?