The Felynes weren't interested in the Paper Fruit, so Sherwin could only keep it for now. After all, there no such thing as a shelf life for a Devil Fruit.
Whether to sell it later, trade it for another Devil Fruit, or wait until he summoned a Felyne like Konan Meow and give it to them—those were all decisions for the future.
After enjoying a feast prepared by Sanji Meow with ingredients unique to the North Blue, Sherwin took Klee Meow and Huamei Meow ashore to explore the Lighthouse Town night market…
Even though the map was already unlocked, they weren't in any rush to leave. Whenever they came across an interesting city, they would stay a few more days, bringing all the Felynes along to visit every place that caught their interest before moving on.
But this little outing ended up stirring up some trouble.
As mentioned before, besides serving as navigator and managing the small cats, Head Maid Huamei Meow also handled intelligence gathering. After a few friendly chats with the locals, she brought Sherwin some rather unpleasant news—
"That Paper Fruit… is something Heavenly Yaksha Donquixote Doflamingo wants, meow." Huamei Meow hopped onto Sherwin shoulder and whispered in his ear,
"Although it seems the one who got the fruit isn't part of the Donquixote Family, there no guarantee they won't come looking for trouble… Should we inform Law Meow?"
Sherwin had already told Klee Meow the story of Trafalgar Law grudge against the Heavenly Yaksha, and the other Felynes had overheard it as well. Naturally, Huamei Meow knew about the agreement between Sherwin and Law.
Who would've thought that even after being away for so long, Doflamingo could still stretch his influence into the North Blue…
But thinking about it, it wasn't so surprising. Even Bellamy, who ate the Spring-Spring Fruit, was ridiculed and toyed with by Doflamingo in the manga, yet remained fiercely loyal—an absolute legend even in the realm of sycophants.
Now the Heavenly Yaksha was merely trading with people in the North Blue, so there wasn't much to be surprised about.
"No need," Sherwin shook his head.
"We haven't even delivered this fruit yet. There no way he'd travel all the way to the North Blue just to make trouble over something so trivial. And even if he does come, we've got no reason to fear him."
If this Devil Fruit were something a Yonko wanted, Sherwin might've considered lowering his head. But a mere Heavenly Yaksha? How could the Hunter possibly fear him?
"That right! If he dares to come looking for trouble, Klee will blow him to smithereens with bombs, meow!"
The little ragdoll cat was eager for action. She'd only started a fire earlier in the day and hadn't gotten her fill of explosions yet. She'd be thrilled if someone came knocking just to get blown up.
And according to Sherwin, that long-named villain was supposed to be pretty strong. Surely she'd get to throw bombs to her heart content then, right?
"Hehehe…"
(= =)
Lost in her imagination, Klee Meow swayed her head, covering her mouth with her paw, unconsciously letting out an adorable silly giggle.
Sherwin reached out to scratch the little ragdoll who was laughing foolishly, then curiously asked Huamei Meow, "How did you figure out that the one trading for this fruit is the Heavenly Yaksha?"
Compared to worrying about possible retaliation from the Donquixote Family, what Sherwin really cared about was—Doflamingo hasn't adopted the alias "Joker" at this point?
And then he realized he had underestimated Huamei Meow abilities…
"The people here only know that their trading partner is someone called Joker. He well-regarded in the underworld and is known for being generous, meow," Huamei Meow explained.
"I've been collecting information about people like him, and judging from all the signs, that Joker is very likely the Heavenly Yaksha, meow. I even tested the waters with Mr. Morgans. Based on his reaction, my guess should be correct, meow."
Sherwin: "…"
When your subordinate cat is too competent, making you feel useless, what do you do? Asking online, pretty urgent.
But back to the point…
"Huamei, when did you even get in touch with Morgans? How come I didn't know anything about this?"
"Well, I saw that the way you exchanged intel with Mr. Morgans was really effective, so I tried contacting him myself, meow,"
Huamei Meow continued explaining. "And to conceal my identity, I used different channels, forged papers, and a dedicated Den Den Mushi. There no way he knows we're connected, meow~"
"Oh, right, little sister Haibara also gave me a lot of advice, meow." Huamei added smugly.
Sherwin: "…"
He suddenly felt even more useless.
"Wow—! Huamei big sister and Haibara big sister are both so smart, meow!" Klee Meow innocently added salt to the wound.
Who would've thought that in just a single day, he'd take so many hits to the heart? Sherwin lost all motivation to stroll around with the cats.
But in front of Lady Huamei, the Hunter right to make decisions was practically nonexistent. So he had no choice but to obediently continue accompanying the two excited Felynes on their little adventure…
When he finally trudged back onto the Dodo Advance, Sherwin immediately scooped up Klee Meow and Huamei Meow, rushing into his cabin and furiously squishing them.
The emotional trauma could only be healed through cat cuddles!
…
After that, completely unconcerned about Doflamingo, Sherwin and his companions stayed on Lighthouse Island for a few more days. Once all the Felynes had explored to their hearts content, they set sail aboard the Dodo Advance for the next island.
However, while Sherwin and the Felynes could so easily put this matter out of mind, others couldn't.
That said, the one truly scheming over this Devil Fruit wasn't Doflamingo himself. After all, it was just an unknown Devil Fruit, and he hadn't even paid for it. If this one slipped away, he could simply buy another.
Moreover, the Heavenly Yaksha current purchases of Devil Fruits weren't mainly to strengthen his subordinates but rather to hand them over to Caesar for SMILE Fruit research.
If a fruit wasn't a Zoan, he'd then consider whether it suited any of his crew. If no one could use it, he'd resell it…
In truth, his way of handling Devil Fruits wasn't all that different from Sherwin.
The ones who truly cared about this fruit were, instead, the other pirates of the North Blue.
After all…
In the underworld, Joker prices for Devil Fruits were always inflated. Aside from those fools who had provoked Sherwin and his group,
and the ones who wanted to gamble on the power of this particular Devil Fruit, there was also a large crowd of pirates in the North Blue who only sought wealth and planned to seize the fruit to trade it to Joker for money.
Especially those well-informed pirates who knew Joker was none other than Heavenly Yaksha they wanted to use this Devil Fruit as a stepping stone to join the Donquixote Family, becoming subordinates of a Shichibukai.
By doing so, they could not only erase their own bounties but also continue plundering the seas without restraint.
However, Sherwin record of taking down entire pirate crews single-handedly made them hesitate, not to mention he had similar achievements back on the Grand Line…
But if they were so easily intimidated, they wouldn't have chosen to become pirates in the first place.
So, while Sherwin and the Felynes stayed in Lighthouse Town, the pirates of the North Blue were also networking and forming a temporary pirate alliance.
Their plan was to take Sherwin down first, then decide the ultimate ownership of the Devil Fruit.