It had been more than a month since Sherwin beat up Kid and obtained the Tiger Fruit. During that ti, Sherwin occasionally heard scattered news about the Kid Pirates.
The Worst Generation was indeed worthy of their title. Even though Kid had been beaten down by Link ow not long ago, he still managed to make quite a na for himself within this month. So were even calling him "the strongest rookie of the South Blue in the past decade."
On the latest wanted poster Sherwin got his hands on, Kid bounty had already risen to 30 million Berries, while his vice-captain Killer had a bounty of 15 million.
Hmm... It looked like Simmon head was counted toward Sherwin when he traded it in for a bounty. Otherwise, both of their bounties should have been even higher.
Even so, Kid bounty increase was already astonishing. Especially outside the Grand Line, where pirate bounty raises were usually extrely conservative.
It felt like the Marines did this on purpose—to force those pirates who craved fa into rushing into the Grand Line, where they’d fight other pirates to the death.
Of course, it was also possible that the local Marines simply didn’t want to take responsibility, so they concealed part of the report. That would cause a discrepancy when Marine Headquarters "set the price."
From what Sherwin had seen on his journey so far, it was hard to say for the West Blue and South Blue, but the East Blue definitely seed like it could be that way...
Shaking his head, Sherwin set down Kid wanted poster. He couldn’t be bothered to figure out how the Marines thought. Raising his head, he asked the little tabby cat who was observing the wind from the mast:
"Hua i, what our next destination?"
Hua i ow leapt down from the mast and dove straight into Sherwin arms. She rubbed her head against his chin, then adjusted herself into a more comfortable position, lying across his shoulder.
Only then did the little tabby begin to play with Sherwin ear—which was always very popular with cats—while softly answering, "The next destination is a country called Sorbet, ow."
As ntioned before, aside from being in charge of navigation and disciplining the little kittens, Hua i ow also took care of gathering intelligence.
So she continued, "It said their forr king, Bekley, not only imposed heavy taxes, but in order to reduce the tribute of Heavenly Gold, he split the nation in two.
One half enjoyed the protection of the kingdom, while the other was lawless territory. It pretty much the sa as the Goa Kingdom in the East Blue, ow."
Hua i ow tail kept swishing nonstop as she spoke, clearly showing she had no fondness for that man nad Bekley.
Sherwin, anwhile, was stroking the little tabby while sinking into thought...
The na "Sorbet Kingdom" rang faintly in his mory. But it was like the na Bipply Lulu—sothing tucked away in the farthest corners of his mind. Even if he tried to recall it, he wasn’t sure he could bring it back clearly.
Forget it. If he couldn’t rember, then it probably wasn’t that important.
After struggling to recall for a long while and failing, Sherwin decisively tossed the matter aside, continuing to pet the cat while listening to Hua i ow share the rest of the intel she had gathered.
"About a little over ten years ago, the Revolutionary Army ca and overthrew that Bekley guy. The king before him, Bulldog, returned to power. From the reports, he seed to be a pretty decent king, ow."
Sherwin curled his lips. Just as he had doubted the Revolutionary Army thods before, so what if the king before Bekley had been a good ruler? In the end, the people still ended up with Bekley.
And besides, this old king had already retired once—how many more years could his lifespan last?
Once the old king passed away, what future awaited the Sorbet Kingdom?Sherwin felt pessimistic about the country prospects.
...
The Dodo Advance sailed steadily forward and soon reached the island where the Sorbet Kingdom lay.
From afar, Sherwin and the others could already see what Hua i ow ant earlier when she said the country was "split in two."
At least the Goa Kingdom had built a wall to keep its trash dump outside the city, structuring the territory so that life downgraded step by step from the center outward, making the dump outside the walls look less abrupt.
The Sorbet Kingdom, on the other hand, had split the nation in the crudest and most direct way possible—literally cutting it in half.
One side of the country was filled with towering buildings, no worse than Goa Kingdom High Town, while the other half had few tall structures. Still, it looked relatively clean and orderly, about on par with Cocoyasi Village.
"What a city plan... it nothing to laugh about." Sherwin tugged at the corner of his mouth, then turned to Hua i ow.
"Didn’t you say King Bekley was already driven out? Why does the country still look like this ss?"
Hua i ow flicked her tail and replied, "Because of the Heavenly Tribute, ow. King Bulldog didn’t exploit the people, but that also ant he didn’t have extra money to develop the nation. So the Sorbet Kingdom has stayed in the sa state it was planned under Bekley, ow."
"Tch... Celestial Dragons..." Sherwin smacked his lips, dropping the subject. Instead, he asked, "So who staying behind to watch the ship this ti?"
Although there was an unspoken rule that ships docked at port shouldn’t be touched, there were always plenty of people who ignored the rules.
Since Sherwin and his crew only planned to stay briefly, and because the Sorbet Kingdom had nothing particularly attractive for the cats, there was no need for everyone to go ashore together.
But always leaving the sa cats behind wasn’t fair either. The others were just as curious and wanted their turn.
So, after upgrading the Explosive Black Cat Maria into the Dodo Advance, Hua i ow had discussed with Sherwin and established a rotation system for ship-watching duties.
Of course, cats like Klee ow and Haibara ow, who were the crew beloved mascots, naturally had fewer turns in the rotation.
Link ow raised his paw.
"And Klee ow too..." the little Ragdoll answered reluctantly.
Unfortunately, this ti it happened to be Klee ow turn to stay on the ship.
And if Klee ow stayed behind, then Hua i ow naturally had to remain as well to keep an eye on her. If Hua i ow wasn’t leaving, then most of the ti Sanji ow wouldn’t go either.
So, the ones accompanying Sherwin ashore this ti were the kitten Haibara ow and the samurai cat Seijuro ow.
The Dodo Advance docked at the port of the northern city. After giving Hua i ow a few words of instruction and sharing so affectionate interaction with the clingy little Ragdoll, Sherwin led Haibara ow and Seijuro ow into the city.
It had to be said, although Bekley policy of funneling all resources into one side of the kingdom was inhumane, the north that received those resources was truly impressive.
Sherwin had thought earlier that comparing this place to Goa Kingdom High Town might be exaggerating—but in hindsight, that was being conservative.
Even though King Bulldog hadn’t invested further in the northern half over the years, its facilities and environnt still ranked among the finest Sherwin had seen on his journey.
It was hard to say compared to Goa Kingdom royal palace, but it definitely didn’t lose out to Mirapole Island.
Unlike the prosperous environnt of the northern city, most of the residents here dressed in very simple clothing, completely mismatched with the city appearance.
But none of them seed to think there was anything wrong with that. Each face was full of smiles, clearly satisfied with their current life.
From this perspective, at least that King Bulldog was truly a decent fellow. Hopefully, next ti he’ll choose a more reliable successor...
Sherwin shook his head, still filled with pessimism toward the future of the Sorbet Kingdom.
When Beckley had been chosen as successor, Bulldog must have made his decision after so consideration, yet the man still turned into a foolish king, even a tyrant...
With the Celestial Dragons serving as a "role model," it was far too difficult for these rulers to resist temptation.
Hm?
Sherwin suddenly caught onto a spark of inspiration...
Tyrant... Kuma... Sorbet Kingdom...
That it! In Kuma records, wasn’t he once the king of the Sorbet Kingdom?!
So Bulldog successor turned out to be Kuma? Could this have been a contingency left behind by the Revolutionary Army?
Looking at it this way, Dragon might be more reliable than he had imagined. The only thing he couldn’t figure out was why Kuma later went on to accept Vegapunk modifications...
Before crossing into this world, Sherwin had only seen the part where Garp got ambushed by Shiryu and was left behind, his life or death uncertain.
He hadn’t reached the storyline about Kuma, so he knew almost nothing of Kuma past. All he could do was make so rough guesses based on the information he currently had.
"Hm? What wrong?"
Lost in thought, Sherwin lifted his head and looked at Haibara ow, who was tugging at his ear.
"Over there, it looks like they’re giving free dical treatnt. I want to go take a look, ow." Haibara ow pointed at the large group of elderly people gathered not far away.
"I’ve already read quite a lot of this world dical books, but I’ve had very little chance to practice. All of you are way too healthy, I never get the chance to put it to use, ow!" The little kitten couldn’t help but complain as she spoke.
Of course, Haibara ow intention wasn’t to bla Sherwin and the others for not getting sick or injured.
Rather, she felt like she was of little help within the investigation team. Added to that, she had inherited part of Haibara Ai sensitivity and pessimism...
So even though she knew very well that Sherwin would never abandon her, after experiencing being scattered by a Zinogre, she still couldn’t help but feel restless over it.
Her earlier suggestion to help Sherwin develop Devil Fruit equipnt also had a bit of this reason behind it.
In fact, Haibara ow regretted her words as soon as she finished speaking, but her personality made it difficult for her to easily say an apology.
Although Sherwin and Seijuro ow Observation Haki wasn’t as sharp at sensing emotions as Klee ow, there was no need to use Haki to understand Haibara ow real intentions.
After spending so much ti together, they naturally wouldn’t misunderstand this little kitten.
Exchanging a glance with Seijuro ow, Sherwin quietly kept the matter in his heart. Then, just as usual, he reached out and rubbed Haibara ow furry little head, smiling as he teased:
"Looks like our little Ai has found her calling. Alright then, I’ll go and talk to them, see if I can arrange for you to sit in on the consultations—let the people here witness the skills of our investigation team chief healer cat!"
"Ch-Chief healer cat, or whatever... I don’t care about that, hmph!"
(//////)
Haibara ow lifted her little head arrogantly and gave Sherwin forehead a kitty punch.
Sherwin: "..."
"Seijuro, go back to the ship and call everyone over. We’ll probably be staying here for a while, so it the perfect chance for everyone to witness little Ai skills!"
Seijuro ow blinked, gave a quick "Yes," and then dashed toward the port so fast that Haibara ow, who wanted to stop him, didn’t even get the chance to open her mouth.
Sherwin looked proudly at the flustered little kitten...
Heh~ Isn’t this just a tsundere little cat? I, the mighty Hunter, can’t handle you?
And then he was imdiately bitten and scratched all over by the furious Haibara ow.
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