Seeing Haibara Meow slip into the laboratory, Klee Meow in Sherwin arms immediately started giggling with little huffs of laughter…
"Heeheehee~ Big sister Ai is gone, now Klee can have Brother Sherwin all to herself, meow!"
(=`=)
As she spoke, the little ragdoll cat rubbed her head against Sherwin chest.
But in the very next second…
"Hehe~ Did little Klee forget about me, meow?"
Shermie Meow swiftly took over the spot Haibara Meow had just vacated, and because her body was larger, Klee Meow instead felt even more crowded than before.
"Ehehe~ Sister Shermie, you're here, meow."
Unable to monopolize Sherwin, Klee Meow didn't get angry at all. Instead, she shifted a little to the side, allowing Shermie Meow to snuggle in more comfortably.
Since there was nothing else to do while flying through the sky, Sherwin naturally went along with it and started petting the cats. And it wasn't just him—Shirahoshi, who had finally been able to pet cats herself recently, also picked up Kaido Meow.
As for Robin, she directly activated her Devil Fruit ability, sprouting more than ten arms on Dodo Advance main body—and she didn't even leave out Haibara Meow inside the laboratory… fully committing to quantity, generous distribution, and absolutely no favoritism.
[Brother Sherwin, take a look at the map. Something seems a bit off there, meow.]
Just as the two cats in Sherwin arms were about to get so comfortable they nearly fell asleep, Dodo Advance—who had been focused on flying the whole time—suddenly "spoke."
Thinking it might be that some part of the map had been unlocked by chance, causing the progress to reach the threshold for granting a fragment, Sherwin immediately stood up from the deck chair with both cats in his arms and took a few quick steps over to the spread-open Hunter Notes.
"What is it, meow? Klee doesn't see anything strange at all, meow?"
(=ω=)
The little ragdoll in his arms poked her head out, looking at the dynamic map that didn't seem to have changed at all with a puzzled expression.
Not seeing any new fragments appear, Sherwin felt a slight twinge of disappointment, but he quickly perked himself back up and began scanning the map again. However, just like Klee Meow, he couldn't spot anything unusual either.
"This island seems to be moving, meow."
(=ˇˇ=)σ
Just as Sherwin was about to ask Dodo Advance for clarification, Huamei Meow, who had also come over to take a look, suddenly pointed at one corner of the map and spoke.
Following Huamei Meow little paw, Sherwin saw a tiny patch—more precisely, just a tiny speck—of an island edge.
As Dodo Advance flew along, it would naturally pass over some islands from above, so along her route there were a few islands with partially lit sections visible. However, due to the scale, those islands were all extremely inconspicuous on the map.
Moreover, because Dodo Advance hadn't flown straight across that island and had only brushed past its outer edge, compared to the other "strip-shaped" islands, this tiny dot was even harder to notice. Coupled with the fact that they had been moving at high speed the whole time, Sherwin really couldn't tell whether that dot of an island was actually moving or not…
So he decisively set the cats in his arms down, then reached out and swiped across the Hunter Notes a few times, zooming in and locking the map onto that specific area.
Once the map was enlarged, Sherwin could finally clearly see that the small, orange-segment-shaped island really was in motion.
[So I wasn't seeing things after all, meow~] Dodo Advance slightly smug voice echoed in Sherwin mind.
[Brother Sherwin, that place might be another location similar to Zou. Maybe you can get another universal fragment, meow!]
"Mm, very possible. Dodo Advance, you're amazing!"
Sherwin reached out and patted Dodo Advance deck, praising her sincerely.
Just like Dodo Advance had said, in the magical world of pirates, it wasn't impossible for an island to form atop the back of some gigantic creature, just like Zou…
Although the chances of there being universal fragments were slim, getting even a fragment from a monster card pool would still be pretty nice.
There was also another possibility: they had just happened to pass by Tesoro Golden City.
If Sherwin remembered correctly, that place was pulled along by several giant turtles, and it should be possible to obtain famous blades and Devil Fruits there.
Unfortunately, that guy was a member of a World Government–affiliated nation, so it wasn't easy for Sherwin to make a move against him right now.
And because of Tesoro status as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, he was even less likely to try and screw Sherwin over the way he did to Luffy in the movie.
Even if Sherwin wanted to carry out a "self-defense counterattack," he wouldn't get the chance…
But no matter what, and regardless of whether that corner really was Tesoro Golden City, it was still a place worth making a trip to for Sherwin.
Of course, now wasn't the time.
Since it had already been recorded in the Hunter Handbook, even if it entered map fog that Sherwin and the others hadn't explored yet, it would still be displayed.
So it would be better to wait until after visiting Whitebeard, then find an opportunity to check it out.
After resetting the map back to a smaller scale, Sherwin hugged Shermie Meow and Huamei and returned to the lounge chair, while Klee Meow slipped off to the bow of the ship and started whispering secrets to the Dodo Advance…
Though, in truth, most of the other Felynes on the ship could basically hear her soft muttering anyway.
…
Although the Dodo Advance slowed down quite a bit to take care of Haibara Meow, it was still flying after all.
Even though they ran into some rather nasty weather along the way, it only took a little over half a day—less than a full day—for them to reach the Audris Sea… or at least somewhere near it.
There was no helping it. Huamei had only been able to roughly determine an area based on nautical charts and related records.
How accurate it was would depend on whether the chart she used as a reference was precise enough, and on whether Klee Meow good luck actually kicked in.
Once they entered the approximate area, the main body of the Dodo Advance immediately switched to its floating dragon form and began descending slowly.
At the same time, she herself summoned her ship-spirit form and pounced straight into Sherwin arms.
Earlier, when she had been "flying the plane," she'd been watching the other Felynes get petted and groomed nonstop, and the little one had been jealous beyond belief.
So the moment they reached their destination, she ran over to Sherwin to demand her "compensation."
While the Dodo Advance was enjoying Sherwin service, control of the ship fell to the other Felynes… mainly Kaido Meow.
After all, the helm of the Dodo Advance had originally been designed with Sherwin as the helmsman.
So aside from Sherwin and Robin, the ones most suited to steering were Suika Meow, who could freely change her body size, and Kaido Meow, whose height was close to Sherwin.
As for Suika Meow condition… even though the pirate world didn't have traffic police checking for drunk driving, neither Sherwin nor Huamei felt comfortable handing the helm over to her.
Under the control of the Felynes, and with Klee Meow "tail-turning" luck in play, it didn't take long after the Dodo Advance returned to the sea surface for them to encounter another ship…
Mm, as expected, it was a pirate ship.
However, Sherwin didn't even get the chance to sail over and ask for directions.
He hadn't even managed to identify which pirate crew it belonged to before the pirate ship hastily turned around and fled at full speed.
"…"
Fighting pirates too often had this drawback—asking for directions at sea was pretty difficult. After all, the ships you ran into most often out on the open ocean were pirate ships.
[Sherwin big brother, want me to speed up and chase them, meow?]
The ship spirit in his arms used her little paw to tug at Sherwin mouth.
Sherwin didn't answer right away. Instead, he turned his head and glanced at Huamei Meow not far away…
Ever since the Dodo Advance ship spirit had revealed herself, Lord Huamei navigation work had become much easier. Still, in private, she had specifically talked to Sherwin about this.
Lord Huamei had said that even with the Dodo Advance ship spirit, navigation skills couldn't be neglected. It was best to regularly find chances to personally pilot the Dodo Advance for a while.
Although the little tabby sounded perfectly reasonable and dignified, Sherwin knew the real reason—she was just feeling bored…
Now that there was a rare opportunity, he might as well let Lord Huamei have some proper fun.
Looking at the faintly visible excitement on Huamei Meow face, and the tail behind her whipping so fast it left afterimages, Sherwin quickly made up his mind.
"No need," he shook his head and said.
"Let Huamei handle it. We don't necessarily have to catch up to them—just following them will be enough to find the islands in this sea."
"Hmph! Admiral, you're underestimating me and the Dodo Advance, meow! With their outdated medieval ship, even without Klee Meow and Shermie Meow abilities, we can catch up to them very quickly, meow!"
Brimming with enthusiasm, Huamei Meow waved her little paw and loudly ordered, "Sanji Meow! Seijuro Meow! Full sails! Kaido! Turn right seventeen degrees! I want to catch up to them within ten minutes, meow!"
(==)