"Fufufufufu… isn't this the Hunter? You actually came as well…"
The moment Sherwin stepped into the hall, Doflamingo signature laugh rang in his ears. After sweeping his gaze around Sherwin, he plastered on a fake smile and asked, "Where that group of cat Felynes by your side? Why didn't they come along?"
"Aren't your subordinates not here either?"
Sherwin cast him a flat glance, then scanned the hall. Aside from Doflamingo, those present were Cavendish, who had just fled earlier Gecko Moria, who had once been blown up by Klee Meow and Dracule Mihawk, whom Sherwin had exchanged three moves with before.
There were also several Marine logistics soldiers staying here to fill in as waiters.
Moria and Doflamingo were seated together. In the manga, Moria had been attacked by the Heavenly Yaksha, yet now the two of them seemed to be on rather good terms.
Mihawk and Cavendish, the two swordsmen, were seated separately at different positions, neither paying the other any mind.
That was only natural. Although Cavendish had become one of the Seven Warlords, he couldn't even defeat Seijuro Meow, so Hawkeye naturally had no regard for him.
Ignoring the vicious glares from Moria and Cavendish, Sherwin nodded toward Hawkeye, who was sitting in another direction and drinking alone.
Hawkeye, who had a fairly good relationship with Sherwin, lifted his wine glass slightly toward him, then asked a question similar to the Heavenly Yaksha. "Seijuro and Link didn't come?"
"Who knows what kind of situation this place is, so I had them all stay on the ship."
Sherwin attitude and answer were completely different from before.
Sensing this difference in treatment, Doflamingo expression didn't change in the slightest.
"Fufufufufu… my thinking is about the same as yours. Besides, my subordinates are even weaker—there no way they could compare to those cat Felynes under your command."
Not only was he not angry, he instead took the initiative to show weakness toward Sherwin.
As for the Heavenly Yaksha behavior, none of the Seven Warlords present felt there was anything strange about it.
After all, aside from Moria and Cavendish, the others had all personally witnessed how Doflamingo had been brutally beaten by Sherwin Felynes.
And the reason Moria and Cavendish weren't surprised either was because…
They had also been beaten by Sherwin cats!
The three Warlords who had all been beaten by cats—and all of whom had taken Klee Meow bombs head-on—exchanged a glance and instantly understood that the others, just like themselves, had suffered losses at the hands of Sherwin Felynes.
However, none of them were foolish enough to ask what the other two had actually experienced. Instead, they tacitly maintained their silence.
After a brief, wordless exchange of looks with Moria and Cavendish, Doflamingo turned back and continued speaking to Sherwin.
"I heard you went to Totto Land as a guest not long ago. I thought you wouldn't be coming this time."
"I was just giving Morgans some face and went to attend BIG MOM tea party," Sherwin replied indifferently. "It not like I was going to rely on her."
Sherwin didn't know what the Heavenly Yaksha was really after, but he answered without much concern.
"Fufufufufu… worthy of the Hunter—even a Yonko doesn't mean anything to you," Doflamingo said in a slightly mocking tone.
Hearing this, Moria recalled the recent news and couldn't help but look at Sherwin with a complicated expression.
But Sherwin had no interest in engaging in any kind of eye contact game with that dead fat otaku. Together with Jinbe, he walked straight over and sat down beside Hawkeye.
"Fufufufufu…"
The overlooked Heavenly Yaksha let out a light laugh. He still didn't lose his temper—there wasn't even much change in his expression. He simply turned his head and began speaking in a low voice with Moria beside him.
Cavendish also seemed to have found his place, standing up on his own initiative and joining them.
"You should be a bit careful," Jinbe said in a low voice after draining a cup of wine.
"Doflamingo isn't someone with a good temper. The fact that he acting this calm means he probably plotting something."
"That right," Mihawk also showed rare goodwill, nodding in agreement.
"His strength may not be on your level, but he very good at playing dirty tricks. If you're not careful, even I could end up falling for them."
Sherwin raised his wine cup as a gesture of thanks for their concern, then chuckled softly. "Hehe… actually, I was planning to go cause him some trouble myself after a while."
In fact, if he weren't waiting for Uncle Cody reply about the power rock, Sherwin would have headed to Dressrosa as soon as he left the Whitebeard Pirates.
With the truth of the Dressrosa Kingdom already known to him, he could make a move against Doflamingo at any time—without even worrying about objections from the World Government.
"Do you need help?" Jinbe asked directly, not bothering to ask for Sherwin reasons.
"No need. I already have help…" Sherwin paused, then corrected himself.
"Actually, I should be the one considered the helper. The one who really wants to trouble the Heavenly Yaksha is someone else."
Hawk-Eye raised an eyebrow, seeming somewhat interested in the matter, but he couldn't quite bring himself to ask about it.
Sherwin, however, had no habit of spreading other people painful pasts, so he could only smile apologetically at him.
Just as the six of the Seven Warlords split into two small groups and continued drinking among themselves, two tall men entered the hall once again.
"Admiral Akainu! Admiral Aokiji!"
The Marines acting as temporary servers immediately snapped to attention and saluted the two newcomers.
"Mm, carry on with your work."
Aokiji waved a hand at them, then started walking toward Sherwin group. Before he could get there, however, Akainu had already reached Sherwin first.
"What guidance does Admiral Akainu have for me?"
After stopping in front of Sherwin, Akainu kept a stiff expression and stared at him without saying a word. Being stared at until he felt a bit uneasy, Sherwin had no choice but to speak up first.
"Sakazuki."
"…Huh?"
"Just call me Sakazuki." Although his face remained stern, even Jinbe beside them could clearly sense the goodwill Akainu was showing toward Sherwin.
"You… did very well. It a pity you couldn't join the Marines."
"Uh, well…"
Sherwin froze for a moment.
Although he had already learned from Marines like Zephyr and Hina that he had a pretty good reputation among the Navy hawkish faction, he never expected that even Akainu, the leader of the hawks, would think so highly of him.
But then again, considering Akainu attitude toward pirates, showing goodwill toward him did seem reasonable enough.
However, Akainu spoke again right after that. "But taking in Nico Robin was not a wise decision. I advise you to hand her over to the Navy… no, it would be better to kill her outright!"
Well… that was very Akainu.
Sherwin curled his lips and said bluntly, "I kill pirates because I believe they deserve to die, but that doesn't mean I acknowledge the justice of your Navy."
Sakazuki immediately frowned upon hearing this, while Sherwin met his gaze without backing down in the slightest.
"Fuffuffuffu… well said. In this world, only the victor is qualified to speak of justice," Doflamingo said from the side, half agreeing and half fanning the flames.
Akainu shot him a sideways glance and didn't bother responding, instead continuing to Sherwin, "Not recognizing the Navy justice is 'evil'! I hope you know better than to persist in this!"
Sherwin twitched the corner of his mouth speechlessly…
When reading the manga, he hadn't felt Akainu "preachy dad energy" was this strong.
So he brushed off his collar and provoked him with a flippant tone. "Oh? And if I don't know better, what are you going to do about it? Don't forget—without orders from the World Government, even a Marine Admiral can't lay a hand on a Shichibukai~ Sa-ka-zu-ki."
Sherwin enunciated Akainu name word by word, snapping the last thread of his reason.
"Then you can try it and see whether I dare to make a move! You're nothing more than a bunch of scum being put to wasteful use—don't think you're that important!"
Provoked by Sherwin, a thick killing intent quickly surfaced on Akainu face. His tightly clenched fists began to turn into magma, and the contempt in his voice made the expressions of the other Shichibukai present change as well.
Even though they all knew it was true, being insulted so blatantly by Akainu was something none of these naturally arrogant figures could pretend not to hear.
Even Mihawk, who had originally had no intention of getting involved, silently placed a hand on the hilt of his sword.
"Sakazuki!"
Aokiji stepped forward in time and pressed a hand on his shoulder, then shook his head slightly.
But with his temper flaring, Akainu had no intention of stopping so easily. No matter what, he wanted to teach Sherwin a lesson.
"Oh my, everyone here?"
Just as the atmosphere was about to explode, Kizaru, returning from Kuja, walked in together with Hancock.
"Long time no see, little brother Sherwin."
Borsalino acted as if he hadn't noticed Akainu murderous expression at all, directly inserting himself between him and Sherwin. After looking around, he asked, "Where little Sanji Meow? Why don't I see him?"
"Hmph!" Seeing that even Kizaru had stepped in, Akainu reason finally began to return. He forcibly suppressed the fury in his heart and then said to Sherwin, "Then pray that you never fall into my hands in the future!"
After saying that, he turned around with a dark expression and left the place.
…