"Hmph… This time he can count himself lucky. Since even a Navy Admiral has so clearly stated his intention to protect this pirate who once caused a massacre in Rommel, a mere Seven Warlord like me can only back off."
The previous sneak attack had failed, and now Aokiji had openly made his stance clear. Sherwin could only temporarily give up on the idea of killing Cavendish.
Because there was no way he would actually fight Aokiji over Cavendish, and besides…
"Still, you'd better keep him by your side at all times. Otherwise, next time he won't be so lucky."
Sherwin did not believe that Aokiji could really do nothing else and just keep staring at Cavendish to protect him.
Of course, if he actually brought Cavendish into the Navy, that would be even better. When the "Hakuba of Rommel" appeared, Aokiji would be the one with a headache.
Aokiji frowned, clearly having thought of the same thing, but his brows quickly relaxed again.
"That none of your concern. I'll handle it."
He did not know why Sherwin had spoken at such length with such thinly veiled sarcasm, but if the matter could be resolved peacefully, the always-lazy Aokiji naturally welcomed it.
So he had no intention of trading words. Lifting Cavendish—who was already frozen stiff, shivering all over, with snot streaming from his nose—he prepared to turn and leave.
Originally, he had wanted to chat a bit more with Nico Robin and take the chance to probe Sherwin attitude, but the situation was no longer appropriate…
"Tch!"
Thinking of this, the look Aokiji gave Cavendish grew even more disgusted.
"Wait."
Aokiji had only taken a few steps when Sherwin called out to him again.
"Leave that guy sword behind. If you hadn't interfered, it would already be my spoil of war."
Failing to kill Cavendish was a small matter, but the famous blade "Durandal," which shared its name with one of Europe three great holy swords, was something he could not let go.
"…"
Aokiji turned back with a speechless expression, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
For a moment just now, he had almost thought that Sherwin was planning to go back on his word, his whole body tensing up instantly. He hadn't expected that the other party only wanted Cavendish sword.
Still, this also reminded him that Sherwin seemed to have a hobby of collecting famous blades.
"Here."
Since he had already saved Cavendish, Aokiji naturally wasn't about to butt heads with Sherwin over something like this.
Ignoring the protests of Cavendish, the original owner, he decisively tossed "Durandal" to Sherwin.
"How is it?"
Only after Aokiji had taken Cavendish and left their field of vision did Sherwin turn around to look at Haibara Meow.
The little kitten gestured an OK sign at him, then picked up Sherry, the hexagonal poison salamander that had been lying on top of her head, and held her down in her arms…
In fact, calling Sherry a poison salamander was no longer quite appropriate.
After referencing some of the characteristics of Klee Meow explosive sparks, Haibara Meow had already modified her into a liquid salamander that normally wouldn't cause harm to people.
But whenever necessary, Haibara Meow could, just like how Klee Meow tosses bomb materials into her flame constructs, place various prepared medicines into Sherry body.
Sherry would then transform as needed into a healing potion aggregate, a buff potion aggregate, a sleeping potion aggregate, a poison aggregate, and many other different attributes.
She could even be turned into a kind of taste-bomb aggregate after adding prototype medicines like the experimental Recovery Potion 1306.
And once Sherry entered a misted state, that terrifying flavor would travel through the nasal cavity and into the body, producing an effect far more horrifying than drinking it directly…
Don't ask Sherwin how he knows this.
Moreover, as Suika Meow repeatedly used her ability on Sherry, it had now mastered how to enter a high-density state on its own.
It no longer needed to rely on the density fruit to help shrink its body. In other words, it could now freely switch by itself between a misted form, its original gigantic body, and a highly compressed small-sized form.
Haibara Meow had already begun considering turning those Zoan-type fruits that Sherwin didn't need into pseudo–Logia-style Zoan ability users.
After the Kaido incident, all the cats were striving in their own ways.
Of course, those were matters for the future. For now, after Haibara Meow picked Sherry up, she gently patted its head.
"Ba-ao~"
Sherry let out a soft cry, then opened its mouth wide and spat out a small-sized visual Den Den Mushi from its belly…
If Sherwin remembered correctly, it should be called DodoYou. Because Klee Meow had linked image playback with illusion techniques, she had given it such a name, and even added a black background with red cloud decorations to it.
Haibara Meow pressed twice on DodoYou shell, and its eyes immediately projected the scene from earlier when Sherwin and Aokiji were facing off, while its mouth played back the dialogue between the two.
"Mhm, it all recorded, meow."
Haibara Meow nodded in satisfaction. After pulling out two vegetable leaves and feeding them to DodoYou and Sherry as a reward, she once again made an OK gesture toward Sherwin.
Because now was still not the time to fall out with the Marines, and Morgans also had no way of spreading this footage at the moment, recording this video was merely a precaution on Sherwin part…
Who knows—maybe one day it would come in handy?
Besides, doesn't Cavendish love fame? Once this footage spreads, wouldn't trending headlines be guaranteed?
As a special correspondent for the World Economic Journal, Sherwin casually collecting a bit of dirt was nothing more than a perfectly normal professional habit.
Only after Haibara Meow put Sherry back on top of his head and handed the DodoYou over to Klee Meow for safekeeping did Shirahoshi, her face full of conflict, finally move closer.
"Boss Sherwin, is it really the right thing for Fish-Man Island to seek recognition from the World Government?"
The little girl asked anxiously.
Clearly, after seeing the attitude Aokiji had just displayed, her views of both the World Government and the Marines had begun to change.
"Given the current situation of Fish-Man Island, this really isn't the time to be thinking about that," Sherwin shook his head and spoke seriously as he explained.
"As long as it can improve the living environment of the Fish-Man race and allow you to move up to live on the surface, does it really matter whether the World Government and the Marines are just or not? Before this, weren't you also relying on the protection of 'unjust' pirates?"
Although Sherwin wasn't optimistic about Fish-Man Island plan—and in the manga they did indeed fail—the direction of the plan itself wasn't actually wrong.
And if it hadn't been for a Celestial Dragon suddenly setting his sights on Shirahoshi, King Neptune really would have had a fairly good chance of success.
Now that Shirahoshi had already gone to sea with them, and with Morgans constantly building momentum for the Fish-Man race in public opinion, it wasn't impossible that the Ryugu Kingdom might truly become an affiliated nation this time.
Even if the World Government might be overthrown by "Joy Boy" a few years later, at the very least they could still obtain a period of peace.
And this was also Queen Otohime dying wish—fulfilling it held special meaning for Shirahoshi.
"B-But…"
Although Shirahoshi could understand what Sherwin was saying, she was still somewhat conflicted.
Sentimental people always liked to get stuck in their own heads, and this little girl was naturally no exception.
At this moment, Robin also comforted her from the side. "Try looking at it from another angle. The fact that Aokiji was willing to cover for Cavendish like this today—doesn't that mean that once Fish-Man Island becomes an affiliated nation, its safety will be well guaranteed in the future?"
Klee Meow, who wasn't very clear on what was going on, rubbed her cheek against Shirahoshi face,
tilted her head, and said with a puzzled expression, "Sister Shirahoshi, why are you unhappy, meow? How about Klee tells you a story? After listening to the story, you'll be happy, meow!"
Meanwhile, Jinx jumped onto Shirahoshi head and started patting her skull with her little paws.
"You idiot! Why are you thinking about so much nonsense, meow?! Worst case, if we don't like them later, we'll just rebel against them, meow!"
"Jinx! You're not allowed to use crude language, meow!"
Huamei Meow, who had originally intended to step forward to persuade Shirahoshi, instantly glared over.
The little mad cat who feared nothing under heaven or earth except Huamei was so frightened that she shrank back, then her footing slipped, and she rolled straight off Shirahoshi head…
Then, relying on a cat naturally powerful sense of balance, she landed steadily on the ground.
But after all that commotion, coupled with everyone concern and comfort, Shirahoshi mood quickly recovered.
"I'm sorry for making you all worry. Boss Sherwin is right—our Fish-Man race simply isn't qualified to consider those things right now."
Seeing that Shirahoshi was no longer tangled up in her thoughts and had already started playing around with the cats, Sherwin finally took out the Hunter Notes…
As a result, no new fragments appeared.
"Tch!"
Sherwin clicked his tongue in annoyance. His golden finger was, as always, stingy to the extreme.…