While Sherwin was being carried through the sky by the Dodo Advance, Klee Meow and the others followed Hancock into the city of Amazon Lily.
Although it was called a city, in reality a massive hollow had been carved into the great mountain at the center of the island. Structurally speaking, it was more like a kind of fortress.
Amazon Lily overall architectural style was very similar to the Flower Country—both followed an Eastern aesthetic—but life here was noticeably more primitive.
And then—
"Wow, wow, wow! Big sister Haibara, look! There really are no men here, meow!"
(=OO=)
After looking around, Klee Meow immediately burst into amazement.
"So amazing! This place!"
"But they all look pretty strong. At the very least, they've got a lot of brute strength, meow."
Jinx said this while looking at several Kuja tribe members carrying enormous logs. The little crazy cat attention was always focused on fighting.
Meanwhile, Suika Meow shook her head, which had a pair of large horns attached, and muttered, "I wonder how good their alcohol tolerance is, meow…"
"Waaah… if only there were a Zou with nothing but big-sister cat Mink ladies too, meow!"
Yes, that was Sanji Meow.
As for Haibara Meow, she entered research mode almost immediately. After carefully observing the Kuja tribe members who had gathered around to greet Hancock, she propped her chin up and began muttering to herself.
"There are clearly children here, and you can even see pregnant women, meow…"
The little kitten hesitated for a while, but in the end couldn't suppress her curiosity. She took the initiative to ask the "detestable woman," "If men aren't allowed to come near this place, then where do these children come from, meow?"
"When Kuja warriors go out to sea, there a chance they'll be granted a child by the heavens," Hancock replied, looking puzzled as she spoke.
"But strangely enough, even though I've gone out to sea the most over these years, I've never encountered such a thing. The Kuja warriors who sailed with me haven't either."
Haibara Meow: "..."
Robin: "..."
Huamei: "..."
Klee Meow: (=ω=)?
"Big sister Haibara, why did everyone suddenly stop talking, meow?"
The confused little ragdoll tugged on Haibara Meow arm and asked curiously.
"Uh… don't worry about it. This kind of thing is still too early for you, meow!"
Haibara Meow whiskers twitched at the corners of her mouth. Then she slapped a paw onto Klee Meow nose, forcibly ending the topic, and swiftly raised a new question to Hancock.
"Then how do you make sure that all the babies born are girls, meow?"
"?"
Hancock tilted her head in confusion. "Make sure? Why would we need to make sure? Newborn children are all girls to begin with."
"So… is it a genetic issue, or something to do with the diet here, meow?"
Because of the earlier exchange, Haibara Meow already knew that although Hancock was almost thirty, she wasn't much better than Klee Meow in this regard.
So she didn't bother explaining or arguing at all, simply accepted the statement and began analyzing it herself…
"No, the likelihood of it being a dietary issue is pretty low. The other animals here are still perfectly normal. But it could be the effect of some kind of medicine, or… a Devil Fruit ability, meow?"
Haibara Meow rubbed her chin and continued to look around.
Relying on Hancock, this so-called queen, was hopeless. She planned to find someone older and question them properly.
But before that…
"Sherwin said there are many unusual mushrooms here. Could you give me some for research, meow? Also, are there any special local products on this island? Could you introduce them, meow?"
"Yeah, yeah! I also want to collect some ingredients that only exist here, meow!"
(=ω=)
Sanji Meow chimed in as well.
Faced with the questions from the two cats, Hancock immediately showed an awkward expression.
Aside from going out to raid from time to time, this queen basically indulged herself and enjoyed life, so when it came to the island local specialties, Hancock really couldn't name many at all.
Fortunately, her two younger sisters stepped in to smooth things over in time. "That easy. Next time the gathering team goes into the primeval forest, we'll just take you along."
Just as Boa Sandersonia summoned the Kuja gathering team and introduced them to Haibara Meow and Sanji Meow, Jinx, who had been lying on top of Shirahoshi head and was gradually getting bored, suddenly straightened up…
"Meow! There the sound of fighting over there! Shirahoshi, let hurry over and take a look, meow!"
(=ω=)σ
With her ears standing straight up, the little crazy cat pointed in one direction, patting Shirahoshi head with her small paw as she shouted.
"Oh? There a fight, meow?"
(●ω●)
Suika Meow nearby also became interested and staggered off in the direction she pointed.
"I'll leave them to you."
Huamei Meow shot Kaido Meow a look, and the large Maine Coon immediately shook his head and followed after them.
Klee Meow originally wanted to run over and join the excitement too, but her tail was suddenly grabbed by Huamei.
"Where do you think you're running off to? Stay obediently by my side!"
"Eh? Klee also wants to fight, meow!"
(=`3=)
The little ragdoll pouted and muttered.
"Without bombs, who could you even fight?" Huamei Meow raised a paw and lightly patted her small head, leaving this most destructive little troublemaker not the slightest chance to cause chaos. "You're not allowed to go, meow!"
…
"You're talking about the arena of Amazon Lily."
Over on Jinx side, the plump Boa Marigold followed along as their guide and explained to them. "Amazon Lily is a nation of warriors. Here, strength is beauty, and arena battles are extremely popular."
"So that means there should be a lot of strong people here, meow?"
The little crazy cat tilted her head and spoke very bluntly. "But according to what Sherwin said, you don't seem to be very strong, meow."
Marigold: "..."
She had previously lost to Sherwin with embarrassing ease, and had also personally witnessed Hancock defeat, so she had no way to refute Jinx words at all.
Moreover, as a member of the Kuja tribe who had relatively frequent contact with the outside world, she knew very well that these little cats in front of her were, by their own strength alone, fully qualified to say such things.
Suika Meow beside her even added insult to injury.
"Yeah, Sherwin did seem to say something like that… then doesn't that mean only Shirahoshi can go on? Or maybe I should just head to a tavern to find someone to drink against instead, meow."
(●`へ●)
Suika Meow puffed out her cheeks in disappointment, then took another big gulp of wine.
"Eh? M-me?"
Shirahoshi instinctively shrank her neck, yet even as she felt guilty, a flicker of excitement and anticipation would occasionally flash through her eyes.
Clearly, after this period of training and confidence-building, Shirahoshi had become less and less resistant to battle.
Although Shirahoshi size was far larger than that of the Felynes, the mermaid princess still radiated a very obvious "weakling aura." Seeing several little cats so casually classify the Kuja warriors as opponents on Shirahoshi level, Marigold felt it was necessary for her to step forward.
"You don't need to worry about having no opponents!" she said angrily. "I can be your opponent!"
Suika Meow looked at her twice with suspicion, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
After all, according to Sherwin, the strongest one here, Hancock, was not particularly outstanding even among the Seven Warlords, so as a subordinate, Marigold probably wouldn't be that strong either.
"Okay, okay! Then come fight me first! Oh right, can we use weapons in battles here, meow?"
(=ω=)
Unlike Suika Meow, who preferred evenly matched fights, Jinx wasn't picky about opponents. She liked evenly matched battles, but she enjoyed one-sided beatdowns just as much—if not more, from a certain perspective.
It wasn't that she liked bullying the weak rather, in a one-sided fight she could go completely wild without restraint. If she ran into an opponent who was too strong, many of her methods might not even have the chance to be used.
For the little mad cat, victory in battle wasn't that important, and neither was the battle process itself. What mattered most was being able to freely "express" her "art" during combat.
…