"Heh heh! I'm liking this island more and more, Meow! Check-it!"
(ゝω)~☆
After eating the Snow-Snow Fruit, Purah Meow completely shed her former cold-sensitive constitution and was now frolicking full of energy amidst the wind and snow.
On the other hand, Klee Meow, who used to love playing in the snow, appeared quite indifferent this time.
Because Purah Meow was there, the little Ragdoll could have snow to play with anytime and anywhere, so she naturally lost interest in the winter island.
Sherwin had originally brought her along with one plan being for her to use her fruit abilities to keep everyone warm, but it turned out to be unnecessary. With Purah Meow around, the wind and snow couldn't even get close to them, so the warmth from their clothes alone was enough.
And so, having nothing to do, Klee Meow imitated Purah Meow old habit and crawled into Sherwin clothes, only poking her cute little head out from the collar to look around.
(=ω=)
(=ω=)
Since there was truly no room for a second Felyne inside Sherwin clothes, Haibara Meow let out a few grumbles before crawling into Robin arms instead...
This made one feel quite envious.
Link Meow, who had nowhere to crawl into, was not ignored either. Sherwin simply picked him up and gently scratched the little Bengal Felyne chin.
"Roar!"
As Sherwin group was traversing through the forest, they suddenly heard a roar echoing from the side.
Immediately following that, a lion with many mechanical structures on its body—looking very much "cyberpunk"—emerged from the woods and charged straight toward them.
"Eh? What an interesting animal, Meow! Worthy of some research! Check-it!"
(ゝω)~☆
With a wave of Purah Meow paw, the charging cyberpunk lion was buried under a massive amount of snow, leaving only its bewildered head sticking out.
Upon seeing this lion, Sherwin finally remembered that Vegapunk had semi-mechanized all the animals on the island to alleviate the physical labor of his fellow islanders.
However...
That should have been decades ago, right? Even if Vegapunk had passed this technology on to his hometown, there was no need to turn fierce beasts like lions into cyborgs.
Or could it be that replacing their bodies with machinery could extend the animal lifespans?
Then Sherwin suddenly thought about how it wasn't uncommon for animals in the world of One Piece to live long lives.
Even for species that originally had short lifespans, if particularly powerful individuals emerged, not only would their lifespan increase, but their intelligence would grow as well...
It was almost as if they had become spirits.
Yet, strangely enough, the evolved animals Shiki had previously forced into existence using IQ still maintained their original expected lifespans...
The biology of the One Piece world remained as baffling as ever.
Shaking his head to stop dwelling on these things, Sherwin spoke up to stop Purah Meow, who was about to dismantle the lion into spare parts on the spot.
"This is also Vegapunk technology. Once we find his laboratory, we'll naturally understand what going on. Let not waste time here."
"Is that so, meow? Then I'll listen to you, Sherwin..." Purah Meow waved her paw again, releasing the mechanical lion that had been forced into becoming a snowman. "Consider yourself lucky, meow~ Check-it~"
(ゝω)~☆
The mechanical lion was no fool realizing it was no match for them, it immediately tucked its tail and bolted back into the woods.
Sherwin and the others continued their journey and soon arrived at Baldimore, known as the Future Island.
In truth, while Baldimore was called a country, it was effectively just a larger town. Because the climate of Karakuri Island was so harsh, the habitable area was quite limited, and the population scale hardly warranted the title of a nation.
However, given the unique geographical environment of the world, such "micro-nations" were not entirely rare, much like how Earth has exceptionally small states like Vatican City.
The truly unique aspect of Baldimore was that, despite being an affiliate of the World Government, they were exempt from paying the Heavenly Tribute. This was a benefit Vegapunk had secured for his homeland.
Furthermore, the information Morgans provided to Sherwin mentioned that this "country" possessed no king or royalty, nor even a true ruling class.
Before Vegapunk was recruited by the World Government, he was essentially the king of the Future Island.
After he and a portion of the scientists were incorporated by the World Government, the scientists who remained became the "rulers." Rather than a country, it was more like a massive research base, and rather than rulers, those scientists were more like administrators.
In fact, they could hardly even be called administrators.
Since these scientists were usually buried deep in their own research, the day-to-day management was mostly left to the Marines stationed there.
"Sherwin, is the research center we're looking for over there, meow?"
(=ω=)σ
Curled up inside Sherwin clothes, Klee Meow poked out a paw and pointed toward a cluster of buildings on the edge of the nearby town.
Vegapunk research center was incredibly conspicuous. Not only did the architecture stand out starkly from its surroundings, but there were Navy patrols nearby, and the perimeter was cluttered with various warning signs to keep people away.
With Sherwin eyesight, he could even see through the wind and snow to the words "VEGAPUNK" written in giant English letters above the bolted-shut main entrance...
It was as if they were terrified someone might not know this was Vegapunk laboratory.
Infiltrating the place wasn't actually that difficult.
Under Purah Meow control, the blizzard outside grew increasingly intense, forcing the nearby Navy patrols to retreat indoors. Taking advantage of the cover provided by the storm, Sherwin and the others strolled boldly into Vegapunk research center.
Robin, however, did not follow them inside. Since she was interested in the history of Future Island and Baldimore rather than research data, she had already parted ways with Sherwin group before Purah Meow kicked up the snow, heading into Baldimore alone from a different direction.
Sherwin wasn't worried about her safety. With Robin current strength, she was more than capable of protecting herself, especially considering she was equipped with a Felyne combat suit, compressed Jumpy Dumpties, small Guardians, and various other protective gear and items.
Furthermore, Haibara Meow had Sherry accompany Robin as well unless an Admiral, CP0, the Holy Knights, the Five Elders, the Seven Warlords, or one of the Four Emperors were bored enough to come here for sightseeing, it was impossible for anything to happen to her.
After entering Vegapunk research center without a sound, Sherwin and the others initially checked cautiously for any alarm systems or similar devices, only to find absolutely nothing...
It was unclear whether there was simply too much confidence in the guards outside or if the research here wasn't held in high regard, but regardless, it was a good thing for Sherwin and the rest.
With one less concern, they soon located the blueprints and research data stored by Vegapunk in the facility.
However...
"The concepts are excellent, but they are basically impossible to realize right now, meow... Neither the productivity nor the technical capability can support these designs, meow."
(ω)
After a brief skim, Haibara Meow pouted and said, "Moreover, the blueprints here are mostly inventions for culture and entertainment, which aren't very helpful to us. I didn't see the animal modification technology you mentioned either, meow."
Purah Meow opinion was largely the same as Haibara Meow, though she didn't show any look of disappointment.
"But it doesn't matter, there are still plenty of things in here to give me inspiration, meow~ Check-it!"
(ゝω)~☆
purah probably wasn't lying just to avoid letting Sherwin down, as both researcher Felynes had previously mentioned that their primary goal in observing these scientific technologies was to study the research methodologies of this world, with the technology itself being secondary.
Sherwin nodded in realization it was no wonder the Marine defenses were so lax, as the technology here turned out to be more for show than practical use.
But then, it suddenly hit him...
Wait! If the technology here was useless, then where did Franky learn his skills?!
That meant...
"There must be a hidden research lab here!"
Sherwin stopped the little Ragdoll Felyne who was busy chasing and playing with Bell Meow, then patted her small head.
"It your turn to step up, Spark Knight!"
"Leave it to Klee Meow!"
(=`=)