It had to be said that Huamei method of "collective bathing as punishment" was quite effective. In the days that followed, Suika Meow attempts to urge others to drink decreased noticeably.
With Huamei Meow also keeping an eye on things and reminding her from time to time, there were no more incidents of other members of the research team being drunk into a stupor by Suika Meow…
However, the ship supply of alcohol was consumed several times faster than before.
Aside from Suika Meow, who never went a day without drinking, Sherwin, Robin, and the other adult Felynes—including Huamei Meow—would also occasionally join her for a couple of drinks.
It was mainly because this little drunkard seemed to have some kind of "drinking aura" about her—when drinking with her, even without being urged, the alcohol in one cup would somehow taste far more fragrant than usual.
Seijuro Meow, who was already fond of drinking, went to have a few drinks with Suika Meow almost every single day.
In addition, during those moments when he drank with Suika Meow, Sherwin also learned about her situation before she had been summoned here.
Simply put, she was yet another Felyne with absurdly overwhelming talent, and her talent was mainly reflected in her innate monstrous strength.
The chains in Suika Meow hands, as well as the dragon-jade pendants hanging from the chains and her tail,
were originally put on her because, when she was young, she couldn't control her strength and would accidentally destroy things.
They were meant to restrain her movements. Because of this, she even earned the nickname "the Demon God" in her village.
As Suika Meow grew older, her strength continued to increase, and those restraints naturally became completely useless to her.
Fortunately, by that time she had already learned to control her power. Even when drunk, she wouldn't cause any trouble.
And since she had grown accustomed to those "ornaments," she never took them off.
As for the two furious Golden Lion horns on her head…
They were knocked off by Suika Meow herself during one of her drunken episodes, when she staggered up and struck them off the Golden Lion head in a daze.
Of course, she paid the price of having to lie in a sickbed for several months. Most critically—
"They said I wasn't allowed to drink during my recovery, meow!"
When she mentioned this, Suika Meow looked especially aggrieved. "Lying in bed without being able to move at all, and they still wouldn't let a Felyne drink—where the justice in that, meow?!"
After that incident, because of that single feat, Suika Meow was directly promoted to a Hunter Palico.
She then set off alone on a journey to travel far and wide, tasting fine wine from every region while also seeking out monsters, Felynes, and Hunters to fight, until one time, in a drunken haze, she responded to that summoning that promised "lots and lots of good wine to drink."
"Meow hahahahaha! The booze here is delicious, and I can fight all kinds of strange people too—this is way too fun, meow!"
(●`●)
The little orange cat lifted the "Ibuki gourd" that she had enlarged with her ability and took a bold, deep swig of liquor.
Don't let this little one constant drunkenness fool you—when it comes to fighting, she is absolutely no joke.
Armament Haki came easily to her. As for Observation Haki, she hasn't learned it yet, but ordinary Observation Haki doesn't work very well on her anyway.
Because she remains in a perpetually tipsy state, her moves have no pattern at all, making it impossible to read her next action.
She also hadn't neglected the development of her Devil Fruit ability. The Density Fruit had an absurdly high compatibility with Suika Meow.
In just a few days, the way this little drunkard used the Density Fruit had already far surpassed that subordinate of the sand crocodile back in Alabasta…
At the very least, that guy was absolutely incapable of generating extreme heat by rapidly altering an object density.
By using her Devil Fruit ability together with the liquor she always carried in her gourd, the little drunkard could very easily unleash a "liquor + fire kill" type of attack.
Well, if the Burn-Burn Fruit hadn't already been eaten by Klee Meow from their own crew, Sherwin would have been tempted to drag it out again and interrogate it a second time.
If, in the future, Suika Meow were to develop the Density Fruit to the same level as the original Ibuki Suika—able to "mistify" herself by adjusting density and become a pseudo-Logia—then the Burn-Burn Fruit would truly become something "even a dog wouldn't want."
Uh… but their Klee Meow is a cat, so that fine!
Besides, with a fool like Ace, could his development of the Burn-Burn Fruit possibly compare to that of their very own Spark Knight?!
Even so, Sherwin still cast a slightly guilty glance at Klee Meow. Fortunately, the little ragdoll Felyne was busy at the moment and didn't notice that her Brother Sherwin was secretly mocking her again.
But then again, Klee Meow seemed to have been telling stories to Shirahoshi nonstop lately…
Was Shirahoshi really that obsessed with Naruto Meow too?
Moreover, Shirahoshi expression when listening to the stories was far too serious, wasn't it? And after Klee Meow finished telling them, she even put on a thoughtful, contemplative look…
Wait a minute! That silly girl wouldn't have been led astray by those bizarre philosophies in Naruto, would she?
Sherwin suddenly remembered that there were quite a few "pacifists" in that series—Itachi with his "slay your kin for the greater good," the "non-stick pan" Third Hokage, Nagato with his "let the world feel pain," and Madara with his "let all share a beautiful dream"…
It was just unclear which part of the plot she had heard so far.
To prevent the little girl from being led astray by the bizarre ideologies of that ninja world, Sherwin decisively took the initiative to go over to her.
"What are you thinking about?" He gave Shirahoshi fish tail a light pat.
"Sh-Sherwin, sir!" Shirahoshi, startled out of her deep thoughts, jumped in fright, then answered honestly, "I was thinking about Mr. Nagato… The situation of the Hidden Rain Village is a bit similar to Fish-Man Island, and I'm kind of like the Jinchūriki in the story."
"Uh… so are you planning to make the world feel pain too?" Sherwin blurted out instinctively.
"N-no, no, no!" Shirahoshi waved her hands anxiously.
"Although Mr. Nagato circumstances are very pitiful, I don't agree with his ideas.
But just like you said, Sherwin, it very hard for the voices of the weak to be heard.
If Mr. Nagato hadn't existed, the tragedy of the Hidden Rain Village probably would have kept repeating itself…
just like Fish-Man Island when it didn't have Father Whitebeard protection."
Then she continued, "What I want to become is someone like Mr. Naruto, someone who can protect their own village. It just that I'm too timid… I probably can't do it the way he did…"
Shirahoshi lowered her head, twisting her fingers together shyly as she spoke.
"Phew…"
Sherwin let out a long breath of relief. As long as she didn't want to become "Pain."
He was happy to see Shirahoshi change, but jumping straight to "making the world feel pain" would have been far too much.
Still, Naruto, huh?
It actually made a lot of sense that Shirahoshi would come to like that character—not only because the situations of a Jinchūriki and Poseidon were so similar, but also because Naruto was someone who managed to forgive his enemies as well.
"Don't belittle yourself like that," Sherwin patted White Star tail and encouraged her.
"Naruto was just a prank-loving idiot at your age, you know. I believe that in the future you'll definitely become an even greater guardian than him!"
"I—I'll work hard!"
Encouraged by Sherwin, Shirahoshi also perked up, clenched her fists, and shouted with renewed spirit.
To be honest, even Sherwin hadn't expected that Naruto Ninja Cats, which he had originally used just to amuse the cats, would end up helping Shirahoshi find a role model for learning.
At the same time, he realized that compared to reciting famous quotes and lofty principles, telling stories was indeed far more influential for a child like Shirahoshi.
So…
"Since we're free right now, how about I tell you another story about Nezha causing… uh…" Sherwin glanced at White Star fish tail and hastily changed his words.
"Causing havoc in the Heavenly Palace instead!"