In a certain mysterious sea of the East Blue, there lies an island known as "Ant Nest Hell." Surrounding this island is a special kind of ocean current that ensnares any approaching ships, trapping passing sailors on the island with no way to escape.
Of course, this isn’t an absolute. While the currents around the island are turbulent, they’re not entirely inescapable. With enough power, it still possible to break free from them.
However, aside from these special currents, the island is also ho to a group of massive, ferocious bird wyverns. Most people stranded there can’t both attempt to escape and fend off these monstrous birds at the sa ti...
Not to ntion, this is still the East Blue—the so-called "weakest sea." So up until now, the number of people who have actually escaped from Ant Nest Hell can be counted on one hand.
And today, Sherwin and his crew were actively steering their ship toward this infamous island.
It wasn’t just because it was part of their ongoing map exploration missions, but also because Sherwin rembered that this was the place where Ace had found the Fla-Fla Fruit and t his first crewmate, Deuce.
Now that the Fla-Fla Fruit had already been eaten by Klee ow, it definitely wasn’t going to be on Ant Nest Hell. And Deuce... who knows where he drifting these days—he definitely wouldn’t be there either. But... those giant bird wyverns did appear in the manga!
Even if they weren’t drawn by Oda, the manga was at least an official novel adaptation. So maybe there was a chance to get a pale-white summon ticket fragnt from them!
Besides, even though the Fla-Fla Fruit had already been fed to Klee ow, what if there was so tiline convergence or twist of fate,
and the heavens had left another Devil Fruit on the island for Ace? Even if Sherwin wouldn’t feel right eating it himself and planned to leave it for Ace, unlocking its entry in the logbook and getting a summon ticket out of it was still worth it...
Not to ntion, it not like he felt particularly guilty about it.
As the saying goes: the first ti might feel weird, but by the second, you’re already used to it. He had already fed the Fla-Fla Fruit to his cat—why would he care about feeding his cat another one?
Besides, compared to so "son of the Pirate King," Sherwin cared far more about the safety of his own cats. Their navigator cat, Huai ow, wasn’t exactly a battle-hardened Palico.
With great anticipation, Sherwin allowed their ship to be "captured" by the strange current, bringing them to the island known as Ant Nest Hell.
Thanks to their prior preparations—and Huai ow expert navigation—the Explosive Black Cat: Maria didn’t end up crashing into the island like most ill-fated vessels.
Instead, it made a landing that looked dangerous but was actually completely controlled, docking safely in a bay where the current effect was much weaker.
"Hmm... No wonder it called an ’ant nest’ even though it birds that live here," Sherwin muttered as he stepped onto the island, shielding his eyes with one hand to gaze at the massive, towering stone cavern at the center of the island.
The stone structure reminded Sherwin of the termite mounds he’d seen on Animal World and the National Geographic Channel—stacked high with surfaces full of holes.
Just as Sherwin was about to call the Felynes and head toward what looked like an ant nest but was actually a giant bird nest, the monstrous birds erged from the cavern first and flew straight toward them...
It seed these birds had long developed the habit of attacking ships.
"Wahhh—such big birds, ow!" Klee ow shouted excitedly, pulling out her bombs. Then she turned to the little yellow cat beside her. "Sanji-nii, do you think these birds will taste good, ow?"
(=﹃=)
Sanji ow stared at the flock of monstrous birds for quite a while, even using Observation Haki to sense them before shaking his head in disdain.
"Not great. They seem kinda like Yankuku... the at would be tough, ow."
So Klee ow decisively stuffed her fish-bomb Whoosh-Whoosh back into her backpack, then took out her combat bombs Whoosh-Whoosh and Boom-Boom, and hurled them toward the birds that were now right overhead.
"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—!"
Explosions echoed continuously through the air as a multitude of strange birds, giving off a mixed scent of charred flesh and roasted at, plumted from the sky and crashed near Sherwin and his group.
Though the thod and targets were different, these birds still couldn’t escape the fate of being incinerated by the powers of the Fla-Fla Fruit.
After dealing with the birds, Sherwin followed the plan and led the Felynes into the massive "ant nest" at the center of the island.
The stone cavern was originally a bay, but with a large number of shipwrecks having been swept here, the seawater was now completely covered by debris. If one listened carefully, they could still faintly hear the sound of water below.
Among the wreckage, so ships still looked relatively new, but most were clearly aged—the wood and nails were in various stages of decay, and many showed signs of damage from falling.
Clearly, so of the wreckage hadn’t simply been carried in by the sea, but had instead been hoarded here by the strange birds, perhaps as part of their "collection."
Among these "collections," the most eye-catching was a massive—or rather, half-massive—dragon-headed ship. A giant sword, mottled with rust and moss, was embedded in it, and just the hilt alone was nearly the size of Sherwin himself.
This was a giant pirate ship, the kind seen in the Ace Story manga. Ace Striker was actually remodeled from the dragon head figurehead of this very ship.
"Sherwin-nii! Sherwin-nii! This ship is huge, ow! And that sword is huge too, ow!"
Always quick to get excited over the smallest things, Klee ow was even more thrilled than usual.
The little plush darted around the half-ship in a blur and then quickly ran back to Sherwin, excitedly reporting her findings.
"Sherwin-nii, everything on that ship is so big, ow! It looks like it was made for soone—or so Felynes—as big as an Elder Dragon, ow!"
"You’re not wrong. This should be a warship of the Giant Tribe."
Sherwin patted Klee ow fluffy head and explained to her and the other Felynes, "I’ve told you before—this world has all kinds of amazing races, and among them is the Giant Tribe, known for their enormous size."
"How fascinating. I’m starting to look forward to our future adventures even more, ow," Hwa i ow said wistfully.
"They must have so unique cuisine, ow?" For Sanji ow, anything outside the Minks was only worth caring about if it involved food.
"Alas... it seems my size isn’t quite suited for sparring with them, ow..." Seijuro ow looked at his Kikyo Sendogetsu with a sigh of resignation.
Though the Monster Hunter world also involved hunting Elder Dragons, hunting was hunting—it couldn’t be equated with the sword duels Seijuro ow longed for.
Klee ow, anwhile, had her own unique focus—
"Wouldn’t the Giant bombs be huge too, ow?" The little plush eyes sparkled as she stared at Sherwin.
The corner of Sherwin mouth twitched slightly. He shrugged and replied honestly, "I wouldn’t know. I’ve never t them. Once we do, you can ask them yourself. For now, let look around the wreckage and see if there anything good."
"Oh! Treasure hunt, ow!"
Always eager for adventure, Klee ow was the first to dash off, diving into the pile of wreckage to start rummaging around. Sherwin and the other Felynes followed closely behind.
"Sherwin-nii~" Klee ow truly lived up to her title of treasure-hunting cat. She quickly ca running back, dragging a massive, rust-covered greatsword as wide as a door. "Klee thinks this sword might be useful to you, ow!"
Though the sword was covered in rust, Sherwin could still sense the aura of a "famous blade" emanating from it...
He flipped through his handbook and, sure enough, a new entry had appeared in the form of a once-renowned sword: the Manticore, a forr Fine Sharp Blade.
The "forr" part was because the sword had vanished for so long that it had been bumped out of the list by newer fad blades.
Still, since unlocking the entry might contribute to summoning shard progress, Sherwin didn’t mind. He tossed it into his bag, planning to later give it a good polish with his Infinite Whetstone...
And sell it for a good price!
Afterward, they—or rather, Klee ow—found a few more treasures... and so explosive materials... but the Devil Fruit Sherwin had hoped for was nowhere to be seen.
Not that he was too disappointed that had always been just wishful thinking. Even if they didn’t find one, he hadn’t really expected it.
What did disappoint him was...
Those worthless birds, who weren’t even qualified to be used as cooking ingredients, hadn’t given him any new summon ticket fragnts!
Tch! What a bunch of useless trash!
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