"Fish-Man Jujutsu—Single-Handed Over-the-Shoulder Throw!"
Sherwin and the others rode the giant crocodile around Rusukaina Island once. As they were about to return to the landing point, they heard Shirahoshi energetic shout from far away, along with the dull thud of something heavy hitting the ground.
Pushing aside the enormous bushes blocking their view, they saw Shirahoshi grabbing a gorilla roughly the same height as her, though far bulkier, and swinging it around on the beach.
Everyone else—humans and Felynes alike—including Robin and Huamei Meow, who had already returned, as well as Mihawk and Seijuro Meow and the others who had originally gone to spar on the other side, were gathered around watching.
There were also a few unfamiliar faces among the spectators. Aside from the tiger from earlier, there were several other animals of similar size: an elephant, a hippopotamus, and two bears.
Judging by their dusty, bedraggled appearance, they had clearly already served as Shirahoshi sparring partners.
But still…
Was Shirahoshi really this strong?
Sherwin glanced at the mermaid princess, whose body didn't even have much dust on it, then looked at the group of large beasts nearby, all gray and grimy, and couldn't help scratching his head in confusion.
Just as he was wondering, the gorilla finally broke free from Shirahoshi grip. Letting out an angry roar, it swung a massive fist toward her.
The "small" mermaid was not about to back down. With a sharp cry, she thrust out her fair, delicate-looking fist, colliding head-on with the gorilla enormous punch.
"Fish-Man Karate—Shark Brick Fist!"
"Boom!"
Accompanied by a dull crashing sound, the gorilla that had looked so imposing was sent flying straight away by Shirahoshi.
It rolled several times across the ground, and only after becoming just as dusty and grimy as the other animals did it stagger back to its feet.
"Wow! Big sister Shirahoshi is amazing, meow!"
(=ω=)
Perched on his shoulder, Klee Meow cheered loudly, then jumped straight off Sherwin and ran toward Shirahoshi.
Sherwin: "..."
As a combat-oriented fighter, even without using Observation Haki, he could tell that the gorilla had very clearly been holding back just now.
But seeing Shirahoshi completely immersed in the fun, and the Felynes at the side enthusiastically playing along and hyping her up, Sherwin wisely chose to remain silent.
"Boss Sherwin, you're back too!"
Shirahoshi ran over excitedly to greet Sherwin, but her eyes kept drifting toward the crocodile and the lion that had returned together with him…
Obviously, that earlier "victory" had completely ignited the mermaid princess fighting spirit.
Jinbe also walked over. He first nodded to Sherwin, then turned to Shirahoshi and said, "Don't rush yet, Princess Shirahoshi. There were a few points in your fight just now where your responses weren't handled very well…"
As he pointed out her shortcomings to her, he quietly guided her off to the side.
At this moment, Huamei Meow and Jinx darted over at high speed. One pressed a gun to the crocodile and the lion heads, while the other released a trace of Conqueror Haki, sternly warning them to cooperate properly with Shirahoshi next.
Animals in the pirate world generally possessed high intelligence, and creatures capable of becoming island overlords were even smarter.
As a result, the crocodile and the lion quickly understood the two Felyne meaning and began nodding their heads frantically like chickens pecking at rice.
Sherwin: "..."
"Shirahoshi doesn't have any problems with her training, meow. What we're really doing is helping her build up enough confidence, meow."
Lord Huamei noticed the speechless look on Sherwin face and immediately lowered his voice to explain.
"Did Shirahoshi really not notice anything at all? Her Observation Haki is pretty strong, isn't it?"
"Oh, that because I had Uncle Jinbe tell her right from the start that, in order to get better training results, it would be best not to use Observation Haki while fighting, meow."
(=ω=)
Jinx put away her gun, swaying her little head as she answered smugly.
Sherwin: "..."
Sherwin naturally had no objections to this arrangement, and he also thought it was a very suitable method for Shirahoshi.
He just hadn't expected that the usually merciless little crazy cat would actually use encouragement-based teaching like this.
And besides…
That even Hawk-Eye and Hancock would go along with it without exposing the truth was also somewhat beyond Sherwin expectations.
...
Since there were several free sparring partners on the island, Sherwin and the others decided to stay on Rusukaina Island for a few more days.
Jinbe naturally had no objections to this. Hancock, who had already become close friends with Robin, likewise had no complaints. Moreover, Amazon Lily was nearby, so she wasn't in any particular hurry to leave.
Although Hawk-Eye was usually fairly idle, and he quite liked Seijuro Meow and Link Meow, his personality made it impossible for him to stay here indefinitely to keep the cats company.
So on the third day, Hawk-Eye asked Sherwin for a small boat and rowed away on his own.
Because of that, Sherwin confirmed one thing for certain: the oar Hawk-Eye normally used for rowing really was the Supreme Grade Blade, the Black Blade "Yoru."
It wasn't that Sherwin hadn't prepared proper oars for him. In fact, if Hawk-Eye had needed it, even installing a small engine made by Purah Meow wouldn't have been a problem.
It was just that Hawk-Eye himself felt that rowing with the Black Blade "Yoru" was more comfortable, so he didn't use the oars Sherwin provided.
During those three days, Sherwin and the others also learned what had actually happened on the Navy side.
There were no News Birds delivering newspapers in the Calm Belt, but Sherwin could contact Morgans directly, so the details he knew were actually a bit more complete than what was reported in the papers.
Overall, the situation was largely the same as Sherwin had previously guessed: while the Navy was setting an ambush for BIG MOM, Kaido launched an attack on the Navy rear, which had been left exposed.
And according to Morgan intelligence, the Navy had actually learned in advance that BIG MOM had contacted Kaido and had already made preparations.
However, for reasons unknown, something went wrong in the middle. In the end, the location Kaido attacked was not Impel Down, which the Navy had been monitoring, but several G-series branches whose defensive forces had been largely redeployed.
No wonder the ambush point had been chosen in the first half of the Calm Belt—it was so they could support Impel Down more quickly. It was just that BIG MOM and Kaido were clearly one step ahead and played the Navy for fools.
Well, there was very likely Doflamingo handiwork involved as well.
Putting together clues from all sides, Sherwin finally managed to piece together the rough truth behind this incident…
Of course, Huamei Meow and Haibara Meow also provided him with some "minor" assistance along the way.
As for what happened afterward, there were no major surprises. Kaido, reckless on the surface yet shrewd in reality, withdrew immediately once the three Admirals rushed back to reinforce the area.
And the World Government, considering its own interests, would most likely not engage in an all-out war with two Emperors.
And under these circumstances, high-end combat power like the Seven Warlords of the Sea became especially important, so their previous slacking and half-hearted efforts would probably not be pursued or held against them.
Thinking about it that way, it was actually thanks to Doflamingo stirring things up in the middle.
In the end, at Huamei Meow reminder, Sherwin also asked Morgans to lend a small hand, planning to add a bit more trouble to the already overwhelmed Marines.
After confirming that the World Government most likely wouldn't have the time to come looking for trouble with them for a while, Sherwin and the others continued to stay leisurely on Rusukaina Island, arranging training for Shirahoshi.
During the following period of time, besides guiding Shirahoshi, Jinbe also took the opportunity to teach a few of the cats who were interested in Fish-Man Karate and Fish-Man Jujutsu. Sherwin, who had practiced some of it before, naturally didn't miss out either.
However, perhaps due to racial characteristics, whether it was Kaido Meow, who had the strongest combat talent, or Shermie Meow, who had a fighter-type prototype, neither of them could match Shirahoshi—the mermaid princess who wasn't good at fighting at all—in terms of learning speed for these two martial arts…
This made Shirahoshi unbelievably excited. The "little" mermaid had never imagined that one day she could actually surpass Sherwin and the cats in something.
But Sherwin and the others had originally intended to help Shirahoshi build up her confidence along the way, so this kind of situation was, in fact, something everyone was happy to see.
However, Shirahoshi probably had never experienced anything like this before, so after finding her confidence, the "little" mermaid got slightly carried away and actually went to show off in front of her big sister boss, Jinx…
And then she was taught how to behave by Jinx with a simple, unadorned set of cat punches.