No wonder Jinx was eating so aggressively…
Sherwin lightly poked the little blue cat, who was still doubting her entire cat life, and said with a helpless smile,
"Didn't I already tell you about this? Back when you first answered my summon and came to this world."
"I told you I can't sit through long speeches, meow!"
Jinx suddenly snapped back to herself, kicking her tiny cat legs and flailing her tiny cat paws as she rolled around the deck, whining, "I don't care, I don't care! You're all bullying me, meow!"
And then…
She suddenly exploded.
"Boom—!"
A burst of fire and thick smoke erupted without warning, sending Sherwin and the gathered Felynes flipping through the air.
Since Jinx hadn't intended to activate her fruit ability, the explosion was triggered unconsciously.
Their Observation Haki only reacted at the moment of the blast… but by then, it was already too late.
Fortunately, the explosion wasn't strong, and Sherwin and the others had long been hardened by Klee Meow "training." Aside from looking a bit disheveled, no one (cat) was hurt.
Realizing she had caused trouble by accident, Jinx shrank her head and bolted!
=(==(=Д=(=`Д=)
"I didn't mean to, meow!" the little blue cat shouted while fleeing. "I'm going to practice right now! I'll definitely never mess up again, meow!"
"Jinx big sister, wait! Klee wants to see your fruit ability too, meow!"
The little ragdoll, extremely fascinated by the Explosion Fruit, quickly chased after her.
Before long, the back of the ship echoed with repeated "boom boom boom" explosions and the loud meowing of two mischievous kittens.
Ignoring the two bomb-loving little troublemakers, Sherwin continued flipping through the Devil Fruit guidebook.
"Oh? Since when did the World Government get so generous?"
After seeing the names of the remaining two fruits, Sherwin murmured in surprise.
Shermie, lying on his shoulder, stretched her neck and rubbed against his cheek while asking curiously, "Is there something wrong with these two fruits, Sherwin~?"
In the manual, the names of the other two fruits were listed as the Zoan-type Bug-Bug Fruit: Katydid Form and the Paramecia-type Hook-Hook Fruit.
The other Paramecia fruit wasn't anything special. Even though Zoan fruits—excluding Ancient and Mythical types—were generally of lower value, the Hook-Hook Fruit didn't sound like a particularly powerful Paramecia to begin with.
Most likely it allowed the user to create hooks or turn parts of their body into hooks.
It was a fruit with very limited development potential—unless someone had a wildly creative idea that could fundamentally transform its abilities. But for the moment, Sherwin couldn't think of anything.
Besides, Sherwin suddenly remembered that in the manga, CP actually didn't know the specific abilities of the Bubble Fruit either, so that was probably something the author added later.
The Hook-Hook Fruit must have been the Paramecia originally planned.
What truly surprised Sherwin was actually the Zoan fruit.
Because in his expectations, the chance of the World Government "returning" that Chopper fruit to him was fairly high.
Even if they didn't want Sherwin to become suspicious of the Queen of Spring, and even if they didn't want to give him back the Reindeer Fruit he once sold, they still shouldn't have obediently followed his request and produced a Bug-Bug Fruit…
After all, judging from the World Government previous behavior, they were quite petty, and it was obvious they disliked Sherwin haggling attitude.
Could it be that the official in charge of this matter had been replaced? But he hadn't heard of any changes among the higher-ups…
Filled with confusion, Sherwin scratched his head and explained to Shermie why he found it odd.
"Maybe they're curious why you want a Bug-Bug Fruit?" Robin speculated.
"Compared to other Zoan fruits, Bug-Bug Fruits don't have many advantages, so your request probably looks strange to them."
Devil Fruits don't follow biological logic. Even if you eat an Insect-Type Zoan, enlarging yourself won't grant you the kind of strength that lets real insects lift dozens or even hundreds of times their own weight.
And in a world where nearly everyone is superhuman, that kind of strength increase isn't anything special.
So among the many Zoan fruits, the Insect-Type doesn't hold any clear advantage.
Especially for species that can't fly, can't produce silk, and don't have poison—their market value is even lower than that of small herbivore Zoans.
Sherwin understood this well. He spent plenty of time studying Devil Fruit information, so he was quite familiar with their market prices.
Still, he was influenced by the nine years of compulsory education he'd received back on Earth, so he instinctively thought the Insect-Type should be strong.
And to him, they could serve as both Kinsects and Wirebugs—basically essential items—so he didn't react as quickly as Robin, a native of this world.
But even if Robin guess was correct, Sherwin still felt the World Government was surprisingly generous this time. After all, a katydid—essentially a grasshopper—could fly!
Just that feature alone could raise the value of this Insect-Type Fruit by at least threefold.
"It a pity katydids don't produce silk."
Sherwin couldn't help feeling a bit regretful.
In fact, Insect-Type Fruits that can produce silk but can't fly are usually even cheaper.
But for Sherwin, even though a flying katydid fit the name "Wirebug" better, the crucial trait required to turn it into a real Wirebug wasn't flight, but silk production—only silk would allow him to use Wirebug techniques.
Looks like he could only make it into a Kinsect…
"This problem is actually pretty easy to solve."
Just as Sherwin was thinking, Haibara Meow rubbed her chin and tapped her cute little head as she said,
"Since the Fruit itself doesn't provide silk abilities, then just focus on the tool you attach the power to, meow… For example, make some kind of rope launcher."
"Just what I'd expect from you, Doraemon! You're too smart!"
With her hint, Sherwin immediately broke out of his mental dead end and grabbed the tiny kitten, covering her with kisses.
"What kind of weird name is 'Doraemon,' meow! Sherwin, you big idiot, don't cling to me, meow!"
Haibara Meow pressed all four paws against Sherwin head, looking thoroughly disgusted as she tried to push him away.
At that moment, Shermie leaned in, nudging Sherwin with her head. "If little Ai doesn't like it, then Sherwin-dear can kiss me instead, meow~"
"…" Haibara Meow froze for a moment, then grumbled under her breath, "Yeah, go kiss Sister Shermie. I don't care at all, meow!"
Even though she said that, her resistance noticeably softened.
Sherwin wasn't dumb enough to fall for the words of a tsundere kitten.
He continued pampering Haibara Meow for a bit longer before putting her down—she looked mad on the surface but was clearly in a good mood. Then he turned to pet Shermie, who had been waiting eagerly.
"Hmph~ I'm taking this Devil Fruit to research, meow!"
The little kitten flicked her tail, hugged the katydid fruit, and darted straight into her lab.
"Wait for me, little Ai! I'm coming to help too, meow~ Check-it!"
(ゝω)~☆
Purah Meow—being a fellow research cat—chased after her.
As for Sherwin, this haul had already exceeded his expectations.
At the very beginning, he had thought that if he could get even one of the three things—Wirebug/Kinsect, a pseudo-Paramecia related ability,
or a summoning fragment—it would already be a win. Now he had two of them achieved at once.
And on this trip to Marineford, during his spar with Hawkeye, he had also unexpectedly unlocked new inherited memories…
He'd practically hit the jackpot.
After finishing everything related to the Devil Fruit, it was time to properly sort through the newly gained combat techniques.
Sherwin put away the Hunter Notes and the Devil Fruit that the cats were still ignoring, and while stroking Shermie in his arms, he sank his thoughts into the inherited memories from the MHXX version.