With the addition of the Red-Haired Pirates, the reconstruction of Elegia became much easier.
Furthermore, after consulting with Shanks, Uta informed the public of her identity and the truth behind the destruction of Elegia ten years ago during a live broadcast.
In Shank words—
"There is no need for the daughter of Red-Haired to hide."
At the same time, he also used this opportunity to explain to others why he appeared in Elegia.
Compared to those pirates who wanted to capture Uta to threaten Shanks, guys like Kaido and BIG MOM, who were after Vegapunk, were far more dangerous. If it were just to deal with Shanks, they wouldn't have many designs on Uta.
Speaking of this, Shanks slapped his thigh in annoyance...
When he was being fooled by Sherwin and the others earlier, why didn't he realize this?
In addition, with both the Felyne Investigation Team paw flag and the Red-Haired Pirate pirate flag hanging over Elegia, even if Kaido and BIG MOM wanted to cause trouble for Uta, they would have to weigh the consequences carefully.
Moreover, Uta herself was not without the ability to resist...
Thinking of his daughter fruit ability that could create such realistic illusions, Shanks felt both gratified and depressed.
Although Shanks gave a lot of reasons, Sherwin felt that the main reason was that he was worried about a repeat of the scenes from the "Kyoka Suigetsu Project," so he simply made it clear that this place had nothing to do with Vegapunk.
But in any case, after Shanks came forward to dispel the rumors, the pirates following him did not come to Elegia to cause trouble, but they did not set sail for home immediately either. Instead, they used Elegia as a center and continued to search outward.
Obviously, though they might have believed Shank words, they didn't have that much trust in Sherwin, a guy who continuously caused major commotions.
In this regard, Sherwin didn't care. Anyway, he acted upright and walked straight, so he wasn't afraid of others misunderstanding!
And then...
Morgan call came through.
"Sherwin! Egghead Island has been found!"
"...What?!"
Sherwin was completely dumbfounded.
After Morgan explanation, he finally understood the general situation...
Egghead Island could be said to have been found, but also not completely found.
To put it simply, the Marines, who had always been trailing closely behind the pirates, suddenly went crazy trying to block their advance in a certain sea area.
This kind of behavior, which was practically a dead giveaway, basically confirmed that they were about to find Egghead Island.
Although there was also a possibility of it being a diversion, considering that the Marines were severely short of manpower now, this possibility was relatively low.
Moreover, those Marines responsible for the blocking were mostly just stalling for time, wanting the high-end combat power of the Marines and the World Government to arrive at Egghead Island a step ahead.
As for Egghead Island being found, Sherwin was actually not very surprised. After all, as long as the Hundred Alliance refused to give up, with their manpower, they would cross paths with it sooner or later.
But what made Sherwin feel a pain in the neck was... that sea area was actually really not far from Elegia Island. To say it was found ahead of schedule because of Sherwin series of actions really wouldn't be incorrect at all.
"No, I really don't know the exact location of Egghead Island!"
Sherwin was completely dumbfounded. He was just sitting at home, and trouble had dropped right out of the sky.
Although it wouldn't really matter even if he took the blame, since these pirates were so keen on finding Vegapunk precisely because of the information he had intentionally leaked, he couldn't help but still feel frustrated.
Furthermore...
"I knew I always felt like something was off somewhere!"
Sherwin began to analyze with hindsight.
Reasonably speaking, when the World Government saw that the pirates were all being drawn to Elegia, they shouldn't have cared too much.
At most, they would send a few CP agents to monitor their movements. There was no need to send so many Marines to constantly tail them doing so was a complete waste of manpower.
But now, knowing that Egghead Island really was near Elegia, this behavior became perfectly logical...
They were worried that Egghead Island would actually be found, and in fact, it really had been found.
It just...
Why would Egghead Island be here?
Sherwin was utterly perplexed.
After all, according to the contents of the original manga, the location of Egghead Island should be in the sea behind Wano Country, whereas the location of Elegia was quite a considerable distance away from Wano Country.
Moreover, if one were to truly debate its position in the second half of the Grand Line, it was actually a bit further forward than Wano Country.
However, considering that the Log Poses in the New World didn't all point to islands further ahead, and Sherwin had done a fair share of winding back and forth along the way, it was actually understandable.
The most critical thing was...
"Right, meow!"
∑(=ΦДΦ=)
Haibara Meow suddenly slapped her paws together hard, "The Transponder Snails that Uta sister picked up have the letters SG' on their shells.
I saw the same abbreviation in the documents on Punk Hazard, which should stand for the Special Science Group where Vegapunk is, meow!"
The fact that Uta could pick up the prototype Transponder Snails from the science group that had drifted over and were still alive at Elegia already showed that the distance between the two was not too far.
"Why didn't you say so earlier?!"
Sherwin pinched Haibara Meow little cheek in exasperation.
"How was I supposed to know things would turn out like this, and didn't I just think of it right now, meow?!"
(=`皿=)
The little Felyne turned her head and bit Sherwin, then retorted righteously, "Besides, so what if we know? Can a dummy like you even order that group of pirates around, meow?!"
If I had known earlier that Elegia and Egghead Island were so close, I wouldn't have been so busy helping Shanks solve his family problems. Instead, I would have sneaked onto Egghead Island for a tour and fleeced Vegapunk once more!
Sherwin curled his lips but didn't say his little thoughts out loud.
Because he immediately thought that even if he knew Egghead Island was in the nearby waters, finding it without alerting the World Government seemed quite difficult. On the contrary, letting that group of pirates test the waters first aligned better with his personality.
In other words...
In reality, whether Sherwin knew or not, the development of things wouldn't actually change much.
Thinking about it this way, Sherwin depression about taking the blame wasn't as great anymore.
"What the situation now? Has the exact location of Egghead Island been found?"
Sherwin pulled his hand back from Haibara Meow mouth and asked Morgans again.
"Not yet," Morgans replied.
"The purpose of those Marines is to buy time, so they don't fight the pirates head-on at all. They mainly destroy their ships, and the part of the pirates being blocked isn't very strong, just two subordinate pirate groups attached to BIG MOM and a few scattered small pirate groups."
"However..."
Right after, this birdman changed the subject, "Our World Economic Journal informant is following Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Stainless ship to Egghead Island. I have already sent someone to deliver his Vivre Card to you."
Sherwin had previously told Morgans to notify him immediately as soon as there was news about Egghead Island. Obviously, this "unofficial Scribes" member of the investigation team was still very competent.
After ending the call, Sherwin immediately comforted Haibara Meow, who was still taking out her anger on his ear.
"Alright, alright, don't be angry anymore. The plan has changed. We are going straight to Egghead Island. Vegapunk definitely has Zoan-type Devil Fruits in his hands!"