"Oh?"
Whitebeard lowered his head to look at Suika Meow, whose eyes were shining brightly and who was obviously a little drunkard, and asked with a smile, "You've got good liquor too?"
Like Rayleigh, Whitebeard only had an issue with Sherwin, toward the cats around him he was actually quite fond of them… even though he also knew that when Crocodile was taken down back then, these cats were very likely involved as well.
"Of course! My ability lets me control density, so I compress all the good liquor I've drunk before using my power. The flavor becomes even richer than the original—though the alcohol content goes way up too. Normal people can't drink much of it at all, meow~"
The swaying little drunk cat said smugly, then poured out a bowl of her own specially made super-strong liquor from her gourd and handed it to Whitebeard.
Whitebeard hadn't planned to refuse in the first place. As soon as he caught the fragrance of the liquor in the bowl, he eagerly took it and tilted his head back, downing the fierce alcohol in one gulp…
"Cough, cough, cough… s-so strong!"
In fact, the moment the liquor hit his throat, Whitebeard was already a bit choked by it.
But the intoxicating aroma in his mouth made him forcibly hold it in and not spit it out only after swallowing it down did he start coughing violently.
"Grandpa, your alcohol tolerance isn't very good, huh~"
Suika Meow raised the Ibuki gourd in her hand and glug-glug-glugged away at it, chugging continuously.
After drinking more than twice the amount Whitebeard had just consumed, the little drunk cat finally lowered the gourd and looked at Whitebeard with a distinctly contemptuous gaze.
"Cough, cough… who says this o-old man can't hold his liquor! I was just caught off guard!"
As a diehard drinker, nothing was more unbearable than having one alcohol tolerance questioned. Whitebeard immediately thrust the empty bowl back over and shouted, "Give this o-me another bowl!"
He probably meant to shout "this old man," but considering Shirahoshi and the cats, he forcibly corrected himself at the last moment…
Noticing this, Sherwin felt a slight twinge of guilt in his heart.
Because just a moment ago, Suika Meow had secretly winked at him—clearly, the little drunk cat was planning to get back at Whitebeard on his behalf by outdrinking him.
But seeing that Whitebeard had already been provoked and was fired up, and that Marco attempts to stop him from drinking heavily were completely ineffective, Sherwin knew there was no point in stepping in to say anything… it might even stimulate him to drink even more fiercely.
So be it—he'd just let Suika Meow have her fun for now. At worst, if something really went wrong from all that drinking, he could always have Haibara Meow take a look at it.
Sherwin withdrew his gaze, then let Ace pull him along to meet the other members of the Whitebeard Pirates, with Robin following closely behind him step by step.
Shirahoshi had originally wanted to go along as well, but there were Fishmen among the Whitebeard Pirates, and they excitedly gathered around her, eager to ask about the current situation on Fish-Man Island and to express their admiration for Shirahoshi, the mermaid princess.
With that, Shirahoshi could only stop and talk with her fellow people first.
As for the other Felynes…
Shermie Meow and Haibara Meow continued acting as his "cat shoulder guards," while Jinx likewise stayed by Shirahoshi side without straying far.
Huamei Meow, after weighing things from every angle, chose to stay nearby and keep a close eye on this most troublesome little troublemaker.
Sanji Meow, however, didn't choose to stick with Shermie Meow or Huamei Meow. Instead, he vanished without a trace—Sherwin guessed he'd slipped into the Moby Dick kitchen to lend a hand.
Seijuro Meow and Link Meow both sneaked over to Suika Meow side to mooch some drinks, and also to guard against the possibility that Whitebeard might have bad drinking habits and start throwing a drunken tantrum…
After all, there had already been a Yonko who went berserk when he couldn't get food.
As for Kaido drunken rampages, they hadn't really experienced those—but they had seen what Kaido Meow looked like when he was drunk.
…
Although Ace hadn't yet become the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, he was already considered a member of the second division.
So the first people he introduced to Sherwin were naturally members of that division.
Among the second division members, aside from those who had originally been part of the Spade Pirates, the only one Sherwin actually knew was Blackbeard Teach.
"Zehahahahaha! Little brother Sherwin, isn't there also a Logia-type cat Mink among your companions? Why haven't I seen her?"
When Ace led Sherwin over to Teach, Teach first cast a greedy glance at Shermie Meow on Sherwin shoulder, then impatiently asked about Klee Meow.
Obviously, although this guy hadn't obtained the Dark-Dark Fruit yet, he had already simulated countless times in his mind the Devil Fruit abilities he wanted to seize in the future.
Naturally, the Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit and Flame-Flame Fruit were also part of his plans.
"Oh right—Teach didn't mention it, and I didn't even notice. Why haven't we seen Klee Meow?"
Ace looked around belatedly.
"She wanted to stay on the ship, so she didn't come along."
Sherwin gave a brief explanation, but his gaze never left Teach.
If Whitebeard presence felt to him like a candle flickering in the wind, then Blackbeard presence was like raging oil fed to a blazing fire.
Although, in Sherwin Observation Haki, the strength of one presence didn't fully equate to actual combat power, the sheer intensity of Blackbeard presence was already comparable to that monster Kaido.
That alone showed that his future rise to the rank of Yonko wasn't due solely to Devil Fruit abilities.
As for the online speculation about him having two hearts or even three…
Sherwin couldn't sense that. Observation Haki was a power of "hearing," but asking him to listen to Blackbeard heartbeat from afar and distinguish how many hearts he had was simply asking too much.
In any case, Sherwin had no intention of digging that deeply into it.
If Blackbeard had used some special method to gain the power of two Devil Fruits, Sherwin might have tried to figure it out.
But the manga itself stated that it was due to Blackbeard unique constitution.
Whether it was multiple hearts or some chimera phenomenon, even if Sherwin knew the truth, what could he do? His cheat ability couldn't steal someone else constitution.
After asking about Klee Meow, Teach then shifted his attention to Robin..
"I heard you're a historian from Ohara. I also really like studying history. If there time, why don't we discuss it together?"
"Sorry, I'm not interested."
Robin frowned, took two small steps back, and hid behind Sherwin.
"Hahahahaha! Teach, with a face like yours, there no way you're ever going to get a date with a beauty!"
Other pirates immediately burst into loud laughter.
Teach didn't get angry. Instead, he scratched the back of his head with an honest-looking grin and explained, "I really don't have any other intentions. I genuinely just want to discuss history with her."
Ace, the foolish kid, even helped explain from the side, "I can vouch for him. Teach usually carries around a book packed full of words. As for whether it a history book or not, I don't know. All I know is that just looking at it makes my head spin."
The other pirates joined in the laughter, teasing Teach as one of the rare "cultured people" among pirates.
Sherwin cooperated by laughing a couple of times, then led Robin away from Teach.
"Sherwin, that guy gives me a really bad feeling, meow."
After they'd gone some distance, Haibara Meow immediately tugged on Sherwin ear and whispered softly.
Although her Observation Haki wasn't as precise as Klee Meow in clearly capturing other emotions, the "Organization radar" still had a certain edge when it came to sensing malice.
Sherwin patted her little head and said, "It doesn't matter. We won't be staying here long anyway. No need to bother with him."
He did want to find a chance to strangle the threat of Blackbeard in the cradle ahead of time, but setting aside the fact that doing so would make them enemies of the entire Whitebeard Pirates, just based on Teach own strength, he wasn't someone Sherwin could easily kill.
So for now, it would be better to see if he could get his hands on the Dark-Dark Fruit first, or wait until Teach defected in the future, then look for an opportunity to join forces with members of the Whitebeard Pirates to finish him off…
After all, Sherwin wasn't familiar with the pirate Blackbeard killed anyway—he couldn't even remember that person name anymore.
…