"!!!"
Shanks, who was lying on the ground, snapped his eyes open, only to see his "dead" companions surrounding him, looking at him with grins on their faces.
Reaching up to wipe the tears from the corners of his eyes, Shanks, who was far from lacking intelligence and was simply carefree in his usual demeanor, quickly realized what was going on.
"...It is great that you and Uta are both perfectly fine."
Shanks naturally wouldn't blame his own daughter. As he climbed up from the ground, he said with a mix of confusion and pride,
"I didn't expect Uta ability to have already grown this strong, to the point of even being able to simulate Kaido. I didn't even notice any fla..."
The words caught in his throat halfway through, because the standing Shanks had just spotted a certain "returned" Hunter and his pack of Felynes.
"Sher—win—!!!"
Shanks squeezed Sherwin name out from between his teeth with pure venom.
If he still couldn't figure out which Kaido he had just clashed with at this point, he would be a total fool.
"Ahahaha! No need to thank me, it the least I could do!"
The thick-skinned Hunter completely ignored Shank death glare and flashed him a thumbs-up.
"I..."
Shanks felt a breath catch in his chest, nearly suffocating him on the spot.
But thinking about it carefully, he had to admit with a wry smile that if Sherwin hadn't pulled a stunt like this, the relationship between him and Uta might not have mended so quickly...
Well, Shanks, who had been constantly receiving the wrong information, had absolutely no idea that if it weren't for the instigation of Sherwin and the Felynes, he actually would have been forgiven by Uta just by saying a few sweet words to her. There was absolutely no need to go through all this trouble.
Unfortunately, he didn't know.
And so...
"He even has to thank us!"
Sherwin said this to the Felynes after returning to the real world.
Faced with Sherwin, who was infuriating but had indeed "helped" him, Shanks deliberated for a moment and decided to ignore him. He shifted his gaze directly away from Sherwin and onto Uta...
"That wonderful, Uta... You're alright, that truly wonderful..."
Having just experienced a "life-and-death separation," Shanks showed no reservation at all, stepping forward quickly to firmly embrace Uta, who looked slightly uneasy.
"Shanks, aren't you... angry?"
"Of course not, you are my daughter, how could I ever be angry with you?"
Shanks answered without the slightest hesitation.
Only then did Uta put her mind at ease, reaching back to hug him tightly, "I'm sorry, I didn't believe in you and everyone in the Red Hair Pirates."
"No, the one who should say sorry is me. No matter the reason, a father should never abandon his daughter."
Watching the father and daughter open up their hearts to each other, Sherwin and his group, as well as the members of the Red Hair Pirates, did not interrupt.
Touched by the scene, Yamato reached out and hugged Kaido Meow beside her. After stiffening slightly, the large Maine Coon gently rested his paw on her head.
"Ehehe~ Brother Sherwin has never been angry with Klee Meow either~"
The little Ragdoll cheerfully wrapped her arms around Sherwin neck, rubbing her cheek against his face with all her might.
"Hmph!"
On the other shoulder, Haibara Meow crossed her arms, "That about the only merit that idiot has."
After saying this, the tsundere little kitten began to glare askance at Sherwin...
If you don't pet me again, I'm going to bite you, meow!
Although Haibara Meow didn't say anything, Sherwin could easily read her meaning from the expression of this little tsundere.
Not wanting to be bitten, he naturally reached out his hand and began to pet around the little kitten head.
"Hmph~"
(=`=)
Haibara Meow continued to maintain that look of disdain, but her little head honestly and gently turned left and right in cooperation with Sherwin palm, and a continuous "purr purr" sound came from her throat.
Aside from these two little kittens, the other Felynes also gathered around Sherwin side, throwing him into a flurry of activity despite the help of Robin and Baby-5.
Just as Sherwin was busy petting each and every one of the Felynes that crowded over to act spoiled, over on Shanks and Uta side, the conversation between father and daughter was nearing its end...
"...Shanks, before becoming the musician of the Red Hair Pirates, I must stay in Elegia and restore it to its former glory."
Uta proactively brought up her upcoming plans.
Shanks naturally would not stop Uta choice. He gently stroked her head and said, "No problem. Do whatever you want to do, and everyone in the Red Hair Pirates and I will support you."
"That right! Uta! Even if you are not on the ship, you are still a member of our Red Hair Pirates!"
The members of the Red Hair Pirates, who had been watching the two of them all along, chimed in one after another, which touched Uta deeply once again.
"Hahahahaha!" Shanks, who was in an excellent mood, walked into the center of the crowd with his arms around his daughter. "Everyone! Let have a banquet!"
"Ohhhhhhh—!!!"
Sherwin: "..."
If I remember correctly, didn't we just have a banquet not long ago?
Although I know having banquets is standard practice for pirates, isn't this a bit too frequent? Could you at least wait until tomorrow?
Of course, Shanks had his reasons...
"The previous banquet was to celebrate reuniting with Uta, and this one is to celebrate reconciling with Uta!"
Fair enough.
Sherwin shrugged it didn't really matter to him anyway.
"Ahem, well, Sherwin, our booze already ran out during the last banquet, so do you think you could...?"
Shanks did not rush to leave, instead rubbing his fingers together with a flattering look on his face.
Sherwin: "..."
"Didn't we agree to trade for Devil Fruits meow? Where are the Devil Fruits?"
(=`へ=)
Before Sherwin even had the chance to speak, Haibara Meow stretched out her little paw toward Shanks to demand payment.
Originally, she wasn't all that interested in these things, and she also knew that Sherwin wouldn't actually mind that much.
But the problem was...
Her Mega Demondrug core and Mega Armorskin core had already been developed, yet she just hadn't been able to obtain a new Zoan Devil Fruit.
Even the Zoan Devil Fruit that Whitebeard had previously promised to look for on her behalf had no further updates.
Therefore, anxious to add a new member to her "Black Organization Squad", Haibara Meow had no choice but to act a bit money-minded for once.
"About that... can I put it on tab for now?"
Shank scratched the back of his head, negotiating with the little kitten a bit sheepishly.
"It been so long, yet you guys haven't managed to find even a single Devil Fruit?"
Sherwin, who originally believed in giving it a shot whether anything came of it or not, didn't really care about this, but he still couldn't help but ask curiously, "You didn't just not take this matter to heart at all, did you?"
No matter what, Shanks was one of the Four Emperors... oh, now he was one of the Five Emperors. Securing a Devil Fruit shouldn't be too difficult for him.
"It all because of you."
Shanks said with a hint of complaint, "Because the news you spread about Vegapunk being able to replicate Devil Fruits, the price of Devil Fruits skyrocketed during this period.
On top of that, as soon as one appears, it gets bought or snatched away by someone. So now, even those who have Devil Fruits in their possession won't easily expose them."
"Uh..."
Sherwin touched his nose. He hadn't expected that while he originally intended to cause some trouble for the World Government, he had accidentally dug a hole for himself instead.
Come to think of it, Whitebeard side hadn't sent any news either, likely for this exact reason.
"Wait, that not right. Even if it because of artificial Devil Fruits, that technology can only replicate Zoan types. It has nothing to do with Paramecia types."
"Ah? Is that really how it is?" Shanks scratched his head. "No wonder Zoan fruits went up in price the most..."
By now, Sherwin had also figured it out. Aside from the World Government, other people didn't know about this limitation, so a collective price hike was perfectly normal.
As for why Zoans increased the most, it was probably because the World Government had joined the bidding as well.
"Wait, something is still wrong!"
Sherwin frowned and continued to question, "When I asked you to help collect Devil Fruits, the news about artificial Devil Fruits hadn't even spread yet!"
"Uh... wasn't that... because the Ibuki Sake hadn't been finished yet?" Shanks smiled awkwardly.
"I thought there was no rush, so I didn't go to collect Devil Fruits right away. By the time we wanted to start collecting, the prices had already spiked. Besides..."
He glanced at Klee Meow on Sherwin shoulder and spread his single hand. "I was also injured by little Klee bombs, which delayed things for quite a while."
Well, that was reasonable and convincing.
Having satisfied his curiosity, Sherwin signaled Suika Meow to hand over the Ibuki Sake to the Red Hair Pirates first.
He then scratched Haibara Meow under the chin to comfort her, saying, "It fine, it fine. Worst case scenario, we'll look for them ourselves. I know a place that might have a Zoan Devil Fruit. Once everything here in Elegia is settled, we'll go there and take a look."
The Zoan Devil Fruit Sherwin was referring to was the Vampire Fruit in Puka Village. Although that was a setting from a spin-off game, Sherwin had already found out that "Red Count" did indeed exist in Impel Down, so the Vampire Fruit might exist as well.
Anyway, they currently didn't have any clues regarding the last Road Poneglyph, so anywhere was as good a destination as any.
However, just before they could head to Puka Village, a much better destination suddenly popped up...