"It really hard to admit it... the mistakes made because of youth."
Standing atop the Dodo Advance, which had now returned to its original form, Sherwin looked up at the sky at a perfect forty-five-degree angle, striking a pose just like the masked man known as Char.
Beside him, Sanji ow was still tirelessly kicking his calf, while dangling from his arm was an adorable little ragdoll.
"Bad Sherwin big brother! Klee gonna bite you to death, ow!"
(=◣皿◢=)The little ragdoll mumbled angrily through clenched teeth.
After the Dodo Advance arrived at the White Sea, Klee ow—who had been tricked by that despicable Hunter—had burst out from the engine room and latched herself firmly onto Sherwin arm with nothing but her teeth.
Seeing Klee ow join in, Sanji ow naturally kicked even harder.
Even Haibara ow, who had finally recovered her composure, was now staring eagerly at Sherwin pair of battle-worn ears, clearly tempted to join the assault.
"Alright, enough fooling around. We’ve reached the Sky Island already—don’t you all want to take a good look around?"
At Huai ow words, the two little kittens finally ceased their attack on the Hunter. Haibara ow, still in Sherwin arms, let out a soft huff of disappointnt and reluctantly spared his poor ears—for now.
"Sherwin big brother, where the Sky Island, ow?"
(ˇˇ)After letting go, the little ragdoll glanced around curiously, her brows furrowing as she turned to glare suspiciously at the Hunter whose credibility was already at rock bottom. She puffed up her cheeks and demanded, "You’re not tricking Klee again, are you, ow?!"
"Of course not!" Sherwin quickly defended himself, desperate to restore even a shred of his lost reputation.
"This is just the White Sea beneath the Sky Island. Above us is another layer—the White White Sea—that where the real Sky Island is."
To prove he wasn’t lying, Sherwin took out a Log Pose.
Sure enough, after entering the White Sea, the pointer magnetic force was imdiately drawn upward—straight toward the remaining half of Jaya Island that floated in the sky above.
"But Klee doesn’t wanna sail anymore, ow..."
(=｀3=)The little ragdoll pouted unhappily.
Back when she was "flying the ship" in the engine room, she could still hear the lively chatter coming from outside. It had sounded like so much fun—yet she hadn’t been able to join in. Of course, Klee ow felt terribly wronged.
Sherwin scooped up the sulking little ragdoll and gently comforted her. "Don’t worry, don’t worry. Once we’re in the White Sea, there another way to reach the White White Sea. But before that, we can play around here for a bit."
He walked over to the edge of the ship and pointed down at the thick sea of clouds below. "You all saw it when we ca up—this White Sea is also full of lively sea creatures. Because of the high-altitude environnt, their at and flavor are quite unique."
"Ooh, ooh, ooh! Klee wants to eat them, ow!"
(=﹃=)The little ragdoll eyes sparkled as she imdiately pulled out one of her buzzing bombs and hurled it toward the distant cloud layer before Sherwin could even stop her.
"Bzzz—!"
A visible shockwave rippled outward, and the distant clouds were blasted open into a wide circular gap, revealing a cluster of dazed sky fish and sky crabs floating within.
But before long, the surrounding sea of clouds quickly surged back in and filled the gap. The stunned sky seafood, however, didn’t float up like normal marine creatures would. Using Observation Haki, Sherwin sensed that they were actually sinking slowly downward instead.
"Looks like your thod of bomb-fishing doesn’t quite work in the White Sea."
Sherwin smiled and gently patted Klee ow puffed-up little cheeks, then pulled out one of his starting items—the "Indestructible Hunter Fishing Rod."
Using Observation Haki to sense the faint auras of the sky fish that had been knocked out among the clouds, Sherwin swung the rod and skillfully hooked one of the largest among them, reeling it back in with precision.
"Here, Sanji, try cooking one and see how it tastes."
Sherwin tossed the strange-looking sky fish to Sanji ow.
The little yellow cat, excited by the sight of a new ingredient, didn’t bother arguing with Sherwin this ti.
Wagging his tail happily, he darted into the kitchen. Monts later, a plate of freshly pan-seared sky fish was served before everyone.
"What an unusual texture. Sanji cooking is still as amazing as ever," Robin said with a warm smile, gently patting the little yellow cat on the head in praise after tasting a piece of the fish.
The other Felynes also took a brief mont to voice their agreent before returning to their al, heads lowered as they devoured the food.
There was nothing they could do—cats have always been powerless against fish dishes.
"Sherwin-nii, can we catch so more sky fish and raise them, ow?!"
After finishing the delicious al, Klee ow eyes sparkled with excitent as she made the suggestion.
In fact, the Dodo Advance aquarium already housed several particularly tasty sea creatures—specins that Sherwin and his crew had collected from all over the world.
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Sherwin replied, "Raising a few sky fish isn’t a problem, but the question is—once we bring them down below, will they be able to adapt and survive in that environnt?"
"Even if they survive, it useless, ow." Haibara ow shook her head regretfully as she continued, "The altitude difference is too great. Even if they live, it’ll be nearly impossible for them to reproduce, ow."
"Besides, the texture of these sky fish cos from their high-altitude environnt. Once they return to sea level, even if we manage to breed their offspring, the at quality will gradually beco the sa as that of ordinary fish..." Haibara ow spread her tiny paws helplessly.
"So it better for us to just catch more sky fish now and store them in our packs as reserves, ow."
The Felynes on board imdiately sprang into action. Each of them displayed their own unique skills, launching a sweeping hunt on the sky fish and other sea creatures drifting beneath the clouds.
Among them, Seijuro ow was the calst. He simply took up a fishing rod, sat at the edge of the ship, and began fishing leisurely.
Klee ow, who was always the most energetic, wasn’t about to give up so easily. Seeing that her regular Boom Bombs weren’t effective,
she quickly switched to a new kind—Push Bombs—which not only stunned the sky fish but also used a specially enhanced blast to launch them straight out of the cloud sea.
Right beside her, Purah ow, who had been waiting in position, imdiately pulled the trigger on her net-launching gun, casting a wide net that captured the sky fish blasted out of the clouds in one go.
And to avoid disturbing Seijuro ow fishing, the two little cats boarded the Spark Knight and flew off from the Dodo Advance, blasting their way through the skies as they went.
Huai ow didn’t bother to stop Klee ow this ti. After all, Purah ow was with her, and since they’d rarely ever co to such an altitude, she decided to let the little doll play to her heart content.
Of course, there was another reason—Huai ow herself was deeply fascinated by the sea of clouds floating in the sky.
She was far too busy piloting her Anglerfish-class submarine, diving into the White Sea to explore and fish at the sa ti.
At the stern of the ship, Link ow stood with his Twilight Bow, firing a rope-tethered physical arrow far into the distance.
After traveling a certain range, the arrow exploded midair, unfolding into a massive fishing net that descended into the White Sea below.
Link ow quickly grabbed the rope attached to the arrow and began hauling the large fishing net back with all his strength.
anwhile, Haibara ow, the little kitten, circled around the Dodo Advance once before stopping at a spot where sky fish were most concentrated.
She then pulled a small test tube from her pocket, filled with a deep purple liquid. The mont she popped the cork, a skull ford from purple smoke appeared at the mouth of the tube and lingered without dispersing.
"Stop right there!"
Sherwin hurried forward and snatched the test tube from the paws of the deadly little poison cat.
"You idiot, give it back to , ow!" Haibara ow hopped angrily, trying to grab it back from his hand. "This potion is perfectly safe! It won’t kill anyone, ow!"
Looking at the skull of purple smoke still faintly hanging above the open tube, Sherwin didn’t believe a single word she said.
Still, he returned the test tube to Haibara ow but strictly forbade her from pouring its contents into the White Sea.
"Hmph!"
(=`へ=)
Feeling wronged after being stopped, Haibara ow crossed her tiny arms in displeasure. Sherwin could only resort to his ultimate move—the "Cat-petting Hand of Kato"—to comfort the little kitten who’d just been stripped of her right to experint.
Aside from Haibara ow, there was another Felyne who didn’t join the fishing operation...
(`」∠)
Sanji ow, who hadn’t managed to sneak aboard the Anglerfish submarine or hop onto the Spark Knight in ti, now lay sprawled out on the deck, his fur gray with soot, looking utterly lifeless—as if the world had ended. Clearly, he had no energy left to fish.
Fortunately, Nico Robin was still on board. Mimicking Sherwin technique, she used her masterful cat-petting skills to soothe the dejected little yellow cat.
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