"Sherwin, look, look—there are so many interesting things here, meow!"
After making a round of "foraging" outside, Klee Meow suddenly ran back, a flower clutched in her paws. The flower had facial features and was wailing at the top of its lungs.
"Even the flowers here can talk, meow!"
The little Felyne held the flower up in front of Sherwin and pointed toward a forest in the distance.
"There are lots of plants and animals in there that can talk like this too. It just like the territory of that garlic-looking guy, Gecko Moria, meow!"
The garlic-looking guy, Gecko Moria…
Sherwin thought for a moment before realizing what Klee Meow meant. Moria zombie army did indeed include "tree-men," though their overall vibe was far more gloomy than the Homies here in Totto Land.
"They're Homies," Pekoms explained from the side. "They're strange beings created by Mama using her ability, gao. In Totto Land, they're everywhere."
"What, meow? So they're ability-made creations again?" Haibara Meow muttered with a pout, clearly disappointed. "I was hoping to study them properly, meow…"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm really nothing special, so could you please put me down now, dear guest?"
The flower Homie trembling in Klee Meow paws spoke weakly.
After showing Sherwin her new discovery, Klee Meow didn't intend to make things difficult for it.
She casually set it back on the ground, and the flower Homie immediately hustled off, scampering away on the two root-like legs beneath it.
"Um… you've all pretty much had your fun by now, right? Shouldn't we head into the city to meet Mama, gao?"
Seeing that the cats who had run off earlier were all back, Pekoms quickly made this suggestion.
It wasn't that he was worried about BIG·MOM getting impatient, but rather…
Cracker beside him was about to be drunk into oblivion by Suika Meow!
Didn't the newspapers say this orange-furred Mink was a Density Fruit user? Then what in the world was this terrifying talent for forcing drinks on people?!
Pekoms had personally experienced the might of Suika Meow drinking persuasion just now…
You couldn't refuse it. You absolutely couldn't refuse it.
So all that talk about the Density Fruit had to be fake, right? What she really ate was clearly the Persuasion-to-Drink Fruit, wasn't it?!
Sherwin thought for a moment and didn't refuse anymore. He waved and called back Klee Meow and the others, who were still itching to run off toward the forest.
"Alright. Didn't you say they're everywhere in Totto Land? Maybe once we get into the city, we'll see even more interesting Homies."
Sherwin clearly knew how to stir the cat curiosity. After hearing that, the little Felynes—though still unsatisfied—stopped running around and obediently returned to his side.
They followed Pekoms and Cracker, who could barely even walk straight anymore, toward Sweet City in the central region of Cake Island—and toward the enormous cake that was also the largest structure on the island.
…
"Cracker?! What happened to you?!"
The moment he entered Sweet City, Katakuri—who had already received the news—came forward to meet them.
He had originally planned to throw a few harsh words at Sherwin and see if he could take back his beloved weapon along the way, but instead he saw Cracker beside him, seemingly already unconscious, being supported by Pekoms.
Thinking that his cherished younger brother had clashed with Sherwin again, Katakuri immediately rushed forward, intending to stand up for him.
However, he quickly stopped in his tracks—whether it was because his Observation Haki showed him the future, or because he directly smelled the unmistakable stench of alcohol on Cracker…
"Wait, Cracker is drunk? What going on here?!"
Katakuri naturally didn't believe that Cracker would dare drink himself into a stupor under such circumstances, so he frowned at once and questioned Pekoms.
"Well… about that…"
Pekoms scratched his head, unable to figure out how to explain it properly.
Fortunately, at that moment, Suika Meow stepped forward and resolved his dilemma…
"Want a drink, meow?"
(●ω●)
The little drunk cat once again handed her specially prepared "wine cup" to Katakuri.
"!!!"
Katakuri stared in horror at the wine cup in his hand that had already become empty, completely unable to believe what had just happened.
Aside from the fact that, even though he had clearly foreseen all of this with his Observation Haki, he still failed to change the outcome, the more important point was—
Because of his own appearance, Katakuri basically never revealed the lower half of his face in front of others.
Aside from a few siblings older than him or of the same age, the rest of the Charlotte Family had never even seen Katakuri true face.
Yet under Suika Meow urging to drink, he had removed his scarf without the slightest resistance, exposing that terrifying mouth…
Fortunately, this was only at the very edge of Sweet City, with no other people around.
Even so, once Katakuri snapped back to his senses from the "drinking persuasion" effect, he looked at everyone present—including Pekoms—with murderous intent, Felynes included.
At this point, how Cracker had been made drunk was no longer important.
"You all… saw it, didn't you?"
Katakuri expression and voice both grew sinister.
Pekoms, who was supporting Cracker, trembled all over. He finally understood why Katakuri deliberately hid himself when eating…
Only, he wished he had never learned this secret!
If he had known things would turn out like this, it would have been better if he were the one who got drunk!
However, Sherwin, who had already fought Katakuri before and had a clear understanding of his strength, naturally wasn't afraid like Pekoms was.
"What are you talking about? That mouthful of big teeth of yours?"
Sherwin not only showed no fear, he deliberately poked at the thing Katakuri cared about most.
To be honest, in a pirate world filled with all kinds of bizarre races, Sherwin truly didn't think Katakuri mouth was anything worth making a fuss over.
What more, Totto Land and Big Mom children included so many different races that he genuinely couldn't understand why people in the Charlotte Family would still discriminate against or loathe Katakuri because of this.
"Brother Sherwin, what wrong with this uncle teeth? Is there anything strange about them, meow?"
(=ω=)
Just as Katakuri anger surged and he was about to erupt, Klee Meow, perched on Sherwin shoulder, scratched her little head in confusion and asked.
To the Felynes, fangs of this level were nothing at all compared to the ancient dragons of the Monster Hunter world. And for cats, having a good set of teeth was proof of good health.
Hearing Klee Meow question, Katakuri, who had been on the verge of throwing caution to the wind and attacking Sherwin, suddenly froze.
In fact, at the very beginning, Katakuri hadn't cared about his appearance at all. As long as anyone dared to mock him, he would beat them into the ground.
But ever since a group of people he had once taught a lesson took revenge on his younger sister, Katakuri had covered his mouth and begun playing the role of the perfect older brother.
After so many years, he had almost forgotten his original mindset, forming the habit of truly not allowing others to see his face.
Sherwin actually couldn't clearly remember the exact reason why Katakuri covered his appearance, so he answered matter-of-factly, "Probably because he thinks his mouth isn't good-looking?"
"Really, meow?"
(=ω=)
The little ragdoll kept scratching her head in confusion, then said very seriously to Katakuri, "Klee doesn't think your mouth is ugly at all, uncle. Look, Klee also has pointy teeth, meow."
Klee Meow, the little angel, even deliberately opened her mouth and pointed at her own small fangs.
Shirahoshi, who was also a "little" angel, followed up and said, "Among the Fish-Men, mouths like that are actually quite common."
Meanwhile, Haibara Meow, the little devil, huffed and muttered, "If I had such sharp teeth, I'd definitely bite off Sherwin ears, meow!"
Sherwin: "..."
"Hmph… I don't care how others view my appearance." Katakuri pulled his scarf back up again. "I just want to avoid trouble."
After offering a brief explanation to Klee Meow and the others who had shown him goodwill, Katakuri turned his head toward Pekoms, who was still trembling…
"Take Cracker to rest. I'll lead them to see Mama." As he spoke, he tilted his head toward Sherwin. "Follow me."
With that, Katakuri turned around and walked toward the most eye-catching cake castle in Sweet Town.