As expected, everyone shouted out nas with their own unique style.
Only...
Klee ow, you’re using "Dodo Advance" again as the na? And Haibara ow, you’re not actually called Miyano Shiho, so how co you ca up with "Sherry" as the ship na?
Sherwin looked at the Felynes around him, scratching his head in mild frustration.
It didn’t matter if they didn’t use the na "Hunter," but which na should they actually choose?
"Sherwin-nii, then let call it—The Beautiful Dodo Hunter Samurai Big Sister Maria Sherry!"
Klee ow pointed at their new ship, once again suggesting a water-length na that mashed everything together.
This ti, however, Sherwin shook his head and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, we won’t be changing ships again in the future. If we pick a na like that, it wouldn’t be fair to the Felynes who join us later."
"Then how about just calling it the Felyne?" Hua i ow wasn’t too fixated on nas. She rubbed against the back of Sherwin hand. "As long as you don’t mind that your na isn’t part of it, ow."
"Of course I don’t mind." Sherwin rubbed the little tabby head, then looked at the other Felynes. "What do you all think?"
Seijuro ow and Haibara ow didn’t really care about whether their suggested nas were used.
They seed quite satisfied with "Felyne" as the na. But Sanji ow muttered, "Isn’t that na a little too plain, ow..."
Klee ow also nodded in agreent, but her little expression looked a bit disappointed. It seed she still preferred the na "Dodo Advance."
So Sherwin made the decision on the spot:
"Then it’ll be called the Dodo Advance! Since the figurehead was made in Klee likeness, the naming rights should go to her too! I believe that our future companions will also agree with the na Klee picked!"
"Agreed, ow!"
"Master Sherwin speaks with reason, ow."
"Last ti little Klee won the naming rights but didn’t use them. This ti, we’ll make it up to her, ow."
"Hmph! Such a childish na... but since it from Klee, I don’t have any objections, ow."
And so, the na of their new ship was settled.
Iceburg face twitched. "You guys... really want to give this ship that na?"
"Of course. Is there a problem with that?"
"No... as long as you’re happy..." Iceburg opened his mouth, but in the end didn’t say what he was thinking.
That little white kitten was clearly the group mascot. As an outsider, his opinion wasn’t important at all.
And thinking it over... this ship was designed with a cute aesthetic to begin with. Only a cute na like this would truly match these adorable Felynes, wouldn’t it?
Since Sherwin and the Felynes had already explored all of Water 7, they didn’t linger. After handing over the final paynt to Iceburg, Sherwin and his companions set sail on the Dodo Advance, leaving the shipyard behind.
What left Sherwin slightly regretful was that he didn’t get the chance to witness the storm tide known as the "Aqua Laguna."
In addition, he had actually considered secretly killing that CP agent Bruno, who was disguised as a bartender, and extracting the Door-Door Fruit from him.
After all, that Devil Fruit ca with its own built-in hiding space. From the perspective of keeping the Felynes safe, it would have been even more useful than a Logia.
But considering that the chances of extracting a Devil Fruit with a hunting blade were too low—and that his strength was already known by CP, leaving the risk of them deducing his involvent—Sherwin ultimately abandoned that tempting plan.
After sailing out from Galley-La shipyard, they didn’t imdiately leave. Instead, they lingered around the seas near Water 7.
Once Sherwin confird that Franky wouldn’t appear with those two "Ox-Fishes," he gave Seijuro ow a hand signal...
"Let go. Head to the next island."
Of course, the island Sherwin ntioned wasn’t the one along Water 7 standard route. Even while enjoying himself these past days, he hadn’t neglected business.
He had nearly completed collecting the permanent log poses needed to cross the Grand Line. As long as he followed their directions, after crossing four more islands, he would reach the Calm Belt on the other side.
The new ship was even faster than their old one. On top of that, Sherwin occasionally tricked Klee ow—under the excuse of "training her Devil Fruit ability"—into helping accelerate the ship. Thanks to that, they soon arrived at their fourth target island.
Along the way, of course, they encountered and cooked various unfamiliar sea beasts and Sea Kings, and captured a few unlucky pirates to exchange for bounties.
The na of the Hunter was growing louder and louder across the seas.
As for the islands they passed through, compared to famous places like Water 7, the Gourt City, or the Queen of Spring Island, they weren’t impressive at all.
Their traits weren’t even as distinct as that first Explosive Island they had landed on...
This left the Felynes quite disappointed.
No helping it—at the beginning, they had run into islands that perfectly matched Klee ow and Sanji ow tastes, like Explosive Island and Gourt Island, not to ntion the uniquely extraordinary Water 7.
With their expectations raised so high, these ordinary winter or sumr islands with no striking features simply couldn’t hold their interest.
Sherwin didn’t linger long on these islands. After lighting up the map, he quickly left.
"Soon we’ll be entering the Calm Belt. Klee, it going to be tough on you from here on out!" Sherwin patted the little plush Felyne head, the corners of his mouth lifting uncontrollably into a grin.
"I have a feeling Sherwin-nii is thinking about sothing bad, ow..."
Klee ow tilted her head up, scrutinizing Sherwin with suspicious eyes. In the end, she decided...
Better to just bite first!
"Awuu!"
The little plush Felyne grabbed Sherwin hand and chomped down hard.
Sherwin looked heartbroken... Even his little angel Klee ow had learned bad habits. This was all that damn Sanji ow fault!
The female-biased Hunter glared fiercely at the little yellow cat nearby. Sanji ow, not knowing why Sherwin was acting crazy, still glared back defiantly.
"A bunch of idiots, ow."
Haibara ow, who was reading a book, rolled her eyes. Then she picked up the empty cup beside her, gave it a little shake, and switched to a coquettish tone as she called out:
"Sanji-nii, could you refill my drink, ow?"
"Just a mont, Little Ai-chan, I’m coming right away, ow!" Sanji ow imdiately stopped his glaring contest with Sherwin and rushed off to serve Haibara ow.
Amidst the noise and chatter, the Dodo Advance crossed the boundary between the Grand Line and the Calm Belt, entering a sea without the slightest waves, only faint ripples on the surface.
"No matter how many tis I see it, I can’t help but marvel at this ocean, ow... I still don’t understand how it was ford. It as if soone deliberately divided the entire world into separate regions, ow."
As the one with the most extensive knowledge of navigation in the Research Commission, Hua i ow was deeply curious about this climate and geography that completely defied common sense.
Only...
Man-made, yes, but probably not the kind of "man-made" you’re imagining.
Sherwin glanced at Hua i ow, who was lost in thought, and muttered silently to himself.
Though he had said that once they entered the Calm Belt they would rely on Klee ow, Sherwin of course couldn’t bear to truly exploit their little angel like that.
So, whenever Klee ow threw a tantrum and declared she was "on strike," he had no choice but to obediently go row himself.
In their spare ti, Sanji ow and Shironagi ow would also lend a paw at paddling...
Monts like this showed just how far-sighted Hua i ow really was.
That day, after acting as the engine for a while, the little plush Felyne once again went on her routine strike.
As the Hunter guiding the way forward, Sherwin could only run off to row. But he hadn’t been rowing for long when Hua i ow, the one truly "guiding the way," shouted down from the mast—
"Admiral! There are ships ahead—looks like we’ve run into pirates, ow!"
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