The three starting islands of the New World were all highly representative: Thunder Island, with its uninhabitable and brutal climate
Risky red Island, overrun by pirates and Mystoria Island, a government-affiliated kingdom.
Normally, for newcomers entering the New World, these three islands decreased in danger one by one.
But Sherwin and his group ended up taking the exact opposite route—from the hardest to the easiest.
That said, if it hadn't gone this way, Sherwin might not have managed to snatch two Devil Fruits from Doflamingo.
If they had appeared on Mystoria Island first, the Heavenly Yasha might have learned ahead of time that Shirahoshi was aboard his ship.
So in the end, they had to thank Klee Meow, their lucky star, for picking that route…
Sherwin group stayed on Mystoria Island for a full week to finish recording the Log Pose magnetic field, and during that time, they didn't sit idle.
First of all, the Felyne ocean-going restaurant finally reopened after a long break.
The place was already somewhat famous, and with Sherwin newly earned title as a Warlord of the Sea, even the royal family and nobles of Mystoria Island came specifically to dine…
Judging by their expressions, they clearly didn't enjoy eating together with "commoners." Nearly every noble who came requested that Sherwin open a "private room" for them inside the ship cabin.
Sherwin couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge them.
There was even one idiot who tried to buy Shirahoshi from Sherwin.
And judging from the greedy glint in the man eyes when he looked at the Felynes, he wasn't uninterested in buying them either—he just didn't dare bring it up because the News Bird reports had emphasized how important the Felynes were to Sherwin.
In the end, Sherwin and the Felynes beat him senseless and tossed him overboard. The other nobles looked furious, but none of them dared to say a word.
It had to be said—being a Warlord of the Sea was pretty convenient.
After that incident, those so-called "upper-class" people never came back, and they rarely even appeared near the harbor again.
Once again—being a Warlord of the Sea was truly useful!
Suika Meow originally wanted to go drink with the customers, but after she knocked an entire table of people unconscious in mere moments, the troublesome little drunk cat was dragged away by Huamei and Sanji Meow working together… because customers that drunk couldn't pay!
However, the Felynes closed the restaurant after only two days. To them, it was simply a group activity—open it when they felt like it, close it when they didn't.
Besides, they also wanted to leave time for Shirahoshi to move around Mystoria Island.
And Shirahoshi even took the initiative to ask to act alone.
"If Sherwin and Jinx follow me, I won't be able to see people true attitudes," Shirahoshi cautiously explained to the visibly annoyed Jinx.
"And there aren't many pirates on this island. I've been learning combat from you lately, so I'll be fine!"
To emphasize her point, she patted the massive hand-cannon at her waist.
Sherwin naturally didn't want to dampen her enthusiasm, but he also couldn't ignore her safety.
There were hardly any pirates on Mystoria Island, but human trafficking wasn't limited to pirates.
So Sherwin and the Felynes chose to shadow her from afar. Unless a truly dangerous situation appeared, they would not reveal themselves, letting Shirahoshi deal with the island people on her own.
And it didn't take long after entering the town for Shirahoshi to discover that compared to Risky red Island—where almost everyone was a pirate—Mystoria Island wasn't much better.
Because it was close to Mary Geoise, the island was deeply influenced by the Celestial Dragons.
From nobles to commoners, discrimination toward Fish-men was ingrained.
While walking through a residential district, Shirahoshi even encountered children shouting "monster" and "sea creature" as they threw stones at her.
With her Observation Haki, she easily avoided the stones—and unlike before, she didn't endure it silently. After a moment of hesitation, she chose to strike back.
Of course, she didn't hit them hard—just enough to give those little human brats a lesson. And then… she started lecturing them.
"Huh?"
Watching Shirahoshi smack someone and then attempt earnest moral instruction, Sherwin suddenly remembered that Otohime had done something similar back on Fish-man Island—though in her case, she had been lecturing the Fish-men themselves.
Unfortunately, Shirahoshi didn't have the kind of influence among humans that Otohime held among the Fish-men, so her lecturing produced no real results.
The brats listened with impatient expressions, waited for her to finish rambling, then scattered like frightened pigeons.
But Shirahoshi didn't lose heart. For the next several days, she continued interacting with different kinds of humans throughout the city.
A few people, seeing that Sherwin was "nowhere in sight," even tried to attack her—yet she didn't need Sherwin or the watching Felynes to intervene. Shirahoshi handled every attacker on her own.
And…
"These people attacked a member under a Warlord command. If you don't want Sherwin coming to cause trouble for you later, you'd better handle this seriously!"
That was what Shirahoshi said when she handed the assailants over to the town sheriff.
After this incident, the humans on the island changed the way they treated her a bit…
Not better, but not worse either. If at first they were cautious of her only because of Sherwin, now at least part of that wariness came from Shirahoshi herself.
Even without Sherwin showing up, the people here no longer dared openly display discrimination toward her. Instead, they became more polite—clumsily so, but still polite.
"Sherwin, you were right! If I want to communicate equally with humans, strength is essential!"
After realizing this, Shirahoshi stopped her "observation" activities and threw herself into Jinx training.
Yes… Shirahoshi was growing more "crooked" by the day.
And Sherwin, who had helped shape her this way, felt deeply satisfied.
There was also another very important matter.
Which was—
True to her word, Robin took Shermie to visit the local branch of the H-H Panda shop, where they ordered several maid outfits!
When Robin and Shermie stepped out wearing the maid uniforms…
"AAAAAHHH! What is this meow?! Am I dead already? I'm seeing angel meows!!!"
"Pff—!"
With Sanji Meow startled yelp, an exaggerated fountain of blood burst from the little fool nostrils, and he collapsed flat on the deck, that furry kitten face still wearing a smile that said, "My life was worth it."
"Sister Haibara Meow! Sanji Meow is going to die, meow!
!"
∑(=ΦДΦ=)
Klee Meow immediately dragged the disgusted Haibara Meow over. "Hurry and save him, meow!"
"Hmph! An idiot like this deserves it even if he dies, meow!"
Even so, Haibara Meow still pulled out a bottle filled with dark red liquid, pried open Sanji Meow mouth, and poured it down…
"But I guess this is a good chance to test my new medicine, meow."
After swallowing Haibara Meow new drug, the unconscious Sanji Meow suddenly twitched and jolted like a fish hit with electricity, bouncing wildly across the deck.
A moment later, the little yellow cat slowly opened his eyes. He didn't comment on Haibara Meow new formula instead, he shakily lifted his paw and gave Sherwin a thumbs-up…
"I finally understand why you like maids, meow! As expected of a Hunter! Your taste really is top-notch, meow!"
Sherwin: "…"