Slakul was an utterly ordinary island in the North Blue. Its resources were ager, it had no real specialties, and with Lighthouse Island so close by, it held no comrcial value aside from being a temporary stopover.
Yet the island wasn’t quite so ordinary anymore. It had beco a gathering place for pirates. Many crews unwilling to clash with the Navy on Lighthouse Island chose to linger here instead.
Over ti, the settlent turned into sothing resembling Mock Town on Jaya Island. To mirror Lighthouse Town, the pirates even nad it Reef Town.
By now, dozens of pirate crews—large and small—had gathered in Reef Town. Quite a few of them were "Great Pirates" with bounties over fifty million, and among them were several Devil Fruit users.
But to say that they had all co solely for the Devil Fruit in Sherwin possession... that wasn’t necessarily true.
Even with Joker sky-high price, even with the temptation of plundering under the legal banner of a Warlord, there were pirates who weren’t swayed by such things.
For so of them, compared to hundreds of millions of Berries or becoming subordinates of a Warlord, the idea of rallying pirate power—recreating another Donquixote Family, laying a foundation step by step like the Heavenly Yaksha—was far more enticing.
With that strength, they could rise as the next Warlord, even strive to beco the fifth Emperor, and compete for the title of the second Pirate King.
So while Sherwin, the so-called target of all this, was still drifting slowly on the sea, the pirates here were already tearing into one another like rabid dogs.
Fortunately, they hadn’t completely lost their senses. They still knew to conserve strength.
Few lives were lost, and thanks to the hardy physiques of people in the pirate world, as long as they weren’t killed outright, recovery was simply a matter of sleep and food.
They would soon be back on their feet, ready to resu plotting against Sherwin.
After rounds of brutal and bloody struggle, this rabble finally managed to choose a barely acceptable temporary "alliance leader"—the captain of the Lizard Pirates, "Iguana" Reiser, whose bounty was sixty-seven million Berries.
That bounty, still lower than Robin, spoke volus about the overall level of these pirates.
Reiser powers were equally clear: a Zoan-type Devil Fruit, the Lizard-Lizard Fruit, Iguana form.
That was also one of the reasons Reiser was able to beco "alliance leader." A captain with a Devil Fruit ability, backed by a few competent fighters—even in the North Blue, where martial strength was abundant—was barely enough to count as a notable figure.
And just as this band of pirates were "plotting" to encircle Sherwin, Sherwin himself, still on the move, had already received intel about them... from more than one source.
Besides Morgans, the heavyweight of the information world, another call ca in from soone else active in the North Blue—Trafalgar Law.
"Oi! What the hell are you up to?!" The mont the line connected, Law barked at Sherwin,
"Do you have any idea a whole bunch of pirates are planning to surround you?! You’ve only just arrived in the North Blue and you’re already causing this much chaos—what did you do?!"
Tch... this guy really never learned how to talk properly...
From the sound of it, Law didn’t know the exact cause. He had just gotten word of the pirate alliance and rushed to give warning.
Well, harsh words aside, Law was still a man of loyalty.
Sherwin dug at his ear lazily before replying, "It not like I wanted this. I was just passing by. They were the ones who struck first..."
He briefly explained the whole incident, then sighed with regret. "It a pity Doflamingo doesn’t care much about this fruit. Otherwise, we could’ve used it to lure him into the North Blue and taken him out."
"Forget that and deal with the mob on Slakul Island first!" Law snapped, clearly irritated.
Not that he was truly worried about Sherwin, since...
He couldn’t even beat Sherwin cats. And it wasn’t just one of them—there were several he couldn’t handle.
The thought of that depressing fact made Law feel his call was pointless.
Still, he left one last warning: "Be especially careful with that guy Reiser. Word is, his vice-captain, Arnold, is also a Devil Fruit user, but he hidden it well. Don’t let them catch you off guard."
"Yeah, I know. Arnold the Chaleon Fruit user. The Lizard Pirates live up to their na," Sherwin replied calmly.
Morgans had already told him about this long ago, and in far greater detail than what Law knew.
On the other end of the line, Law froze...
How could he forget? Sherwin information network was terrifying. He even knew the inner workings of the Donquixote Family back then. To soone like him, a sloppy pirate alliance like this one held no secrets at all.
Naturally, Trafalgar Law misunderstood Sherwin intelligence capabilities...
Though, considering Morgans was now playing the role of a "tool man" similar to the Scholars Unit, it wasn’t really much of a misunderstanding after all.
"Still, I appreciate you going out of your way to warn ." Seeing that if he dragged this out any further Law would actually get mad, Sherwin quickly softened his tone.
"I’m just worried that if you die, there’ll be no one left to help deal with Doflamingo!" Law snapped before abruptly hanging up.
Tch! What with a grown man acting so tsundere? It not cute at all.
Sherwin curled his lip in distaste.
Sure, Ai wasn’t as tsundere as she used to be, but Law and the cats weren’t even remotely comparable to begin with.
"All right, let get back to planning how we’ll split the team once we reach Slakul Island." After placing the receiver back on the Den Den Mushi, Sherwin returned to the Felynes.
"According to Morgans intel, they’re planning to make their move once we enter Reef Town. But the ship we leave at the harbor will also need guarding."
"The enemies in the town must be more nurous and stronger, so Klee ow definitely has to go, ow." Huai ow suggested.
"And besides, Admiral, you also said that group of pirates shouldn’t be too strong, so just let , Haibara ow, and Sanji ow stay on the ship, ow."
"Good, good, good! Let do as Sister Huai says, ow!" Sanji ow was more than eager, nodding so fast his little head left afterimages.
Sherwin was still sowhat worried about their safety, after all, the ones staying behind weren’t battle cats...
"Shouldn’t we let Link or Seijuro stay behind?"
"Don’t underestimate us, Admiral." Huai ow drew her sword and made a few practice swings. "Besides, Link and Seijuro also want to cross blades with stronger enemies, right, ow?"
"My thoughts truly cannot escape Miss Huai eyes." Seijuro ow gave a slight nod, but quickly added, "But as a samurai, protecting companions is still my foremost duty, ow."
Link ow scratched the back of his head in embarrassnt, but his aning was the sa as Seijuro ow. Although he wanted to test himself against stronger foes, he was just as willing to stay behind and protect his partners.
After thinking for a mont, Sherwin clapped his hands and decided, "Alright then! I’ll stay with Haibara to watch the ship, and Huai, you’ll lead the team to deal with the pirates in the town!"
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