"Just one bite is enough, right? I really don't want to take a second one, meow~"
After forcing down a small piece of the spiky fruit, Shermie tilted her head back, teary-eyed, and looked at Sherwin as she asked.
Sherwin nodded and replied, "Yeah. Though eating the whole thing would let you master the power faster, taking just one bite isn't a big problem. Try seeing if you can use the power of lightning first."
Hearing that, Shermie immediately shoved the now slightly bitten Rumble-Rumble Fruit back into Sherwin hand, then tightened her expression and silently focused for a moment…
A moment later, she turned into a flash of lightning and appeared on Sherwin shoulder.
"Hehehe! I did it~! Thank you, Sherwin dear~ and thanks everyone for letting me have this fruit, meow~!"
With her body still sparking with electricity, Shermie hugged Sherwin head, making his scalp tingle and all his hair stand up straight.
"Ah~ sorry! I'm still not very good at controlling my power yet, meow~"
(=＜=)
Shermie playfully stuck out her tongue as she apologized, then withdrew the lightning crackling around her body.
Just then, Sherwin felt his other shoulder suddenly sink — Haibara Meow had hopped up.
"Sherwin, can you let me study that Rumble-Rumble Fruit for a bit, meow?"
Sherwin didn't think much of it. He immediately handed her the fruit and even added,
"Once a Devil Fruit been bitten, its power disappears. Now it just a weirdly shaped, bad-tasting fruit. If you really want to study one, I can get you another."
"No need, meow. My current research doesn't need a Devil Fruit for now…" Haibara Meow turned the fruit over in her paws, then suddenly shouted, "Sherwin!"
"Huh?"
Sherwin instinctively responded, and before he could react further, a soft, furry paw shot out like lightning, shoving the small, pointy piece of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit straight into his mouth.
"..."
With Sherwin reflexes, he could've easily dodged it — but…
Forget it. Might as well play along with her.
The ever-doting cat slave and daughter slave, Sherwin, stopped himself from dodging and allowed the cunning little Haibara Meow to push the bit of Rumble-Rumble Fruit between his lips.
To be honest, he'd always been curious about what exactly made Devil Fruits taste so terrible.
And then — he instantly regretted it.
The moment the fruit touched his tongue, every taste bud in Sherwin mouth exploded under an indescribably bizarre and revolting flavor.
The sensation was even worse than that one time, before he came to this world, when he lost a bet and drank a blended mix of fish mint, cilantro, garlic, and ginger juice.
His entire mind went blank — like he'd taken a direct hit from one of Klee Meow bomb blasts.
"Urrgh—!"
Caught off guard by Haibara Meow sneak attack, Sherwin dropped to his knees, gagging violently.
Normally, he wouldn't have reacted so dramatically. After all, before crossing into this world, he'd been the type who often did stupid challenges for fun and had eaten plenty of weird things.
But ever since arriving in the world of One Piece and eating the gourmet meals made daily by Sanji Meow, Sherwin standards for food had risen sky-high.
So when he suddenly tasted a Devil Fruit — the very same thing even Luffy thought was disgusting — it hit him hard enough to knock him flat.
Fortunately, the horrific taste faded as quickly as it came. After retching a few times, Sherwin mouth was completely clear again, as if he hadn't eaten anything at all.
"haibara!"
Once he recovered, Sherwin sprang up from the ground, darted forward, and swiftly caught the little kitten who had just "ambushed" him and was already trying to make a run for it.
"You little troublemaker! Why did you do that to me, huh?!"
Sherwin growled, roughly rubbing Haibara Meow cheeks as he questioned her.
"I just wanted to observe how a human reacts after eating a Devil Fruit, meow! And to compare which one tastes worse — this, or my No.1306, meow!"
the little kitten protested, puffing up her chest though her tone was far from convincing. "It scientific research! Not mischief, meow!"
Then she proudly tilted her head and added, "As expected, my No.1306 is still the stronger one, meow~"
"Your No.1306 is a healing potion! What there to be proud of about that?!"
Sherwin shot back instantly, snapping off another small piece from the discarded Rumble-Rumble Fruit and aiming to shove it into the mischievous kitten mouth.
"If it for scientific research, then you should experience it yourself too!"
Naturally, Haibara Meow had no desire to taste the revolting flavor of a Devil Fruit. She struggled desperately, crying out, "Help me, Sister Huamei! Sherwin the idiot bullying me, meow!"
But today, Lord Tiger — already exhausted from dealing with a bunch of troublemakers — pretended not to hear anything.
And so, Haibara Meow ended up reaping what she'd sown, forced by Sherwin to taste a piece of the Devil Fruit herself and personally experience that "unique" flavor.
"Uuurrgh—!"
The little kitten, whose taste buds had also been spoiled by Sanji Meow cooking, had no resistance at all to the flavor of the Devil Fruit.
The moment it touched her tongue, she was instantly overwhelmed.
However, after she recovered, the usually vengeful Haibara Meow didn't start another squabble with Sherwin. Instead, she wore a thoughtful expression.
"This taste… I wonder which is worse — this or my No.1306, meow… Hmm, no, something not right.
This doesn't seem like just a taste issue. If it were, the flavor shouldn't fade away this quickly, meow…"
Originally, Haibara Meow only wanted to find an excuse to mess with Sherwin, but now she had genuinely developed an interest in researching the Devil Fruit.
So, she immediately picked up the Thunder Fruit, which was missing three of its sharp points, and quickly ran toward her laboratory.
After all the commotion, Sherwin and the others finally got ready to handle their real task — transporting the Golden Bell down below and returning it to the Shandians.
Even without Klee Meow control, the Dodo Advance in its Comet Dragon form was still far too fast, making it unsuitable for carrying the massive Golden Bell, which was several times heavier than the ship itself.
Therefore, Sherwin switched the Dodo Advance to its third mode...
The clawed wings on both sides folded in, replaced by a pair of white bat-like wings.
At the same time, an opening appeared at the position of the main mast — but instead of raising the mast again, a white sphere was launched from it.
The sphere burst above the Dodo Advance, transforming into a huge white balloon.
At the edges of the Dodo Advance deck, several palm-sized hatches opened up, and ropes shot out from them, swiftly connecting to the balloon above.
Finally, the ship figurehead changed from the Comet Dragon to that of a rodent-like creature with large ears.
This was the Dodo Advance form designed for mid- to low-speed flight and hovering in the air — the Airborne Dragon form.
The Airship form had actually been the first configuration planned. Initially, Sherwin only intended to add that single transformation.
The other forms were ideas added later after everyone brainstormed together.
In the earlier design drafts, following Sherwin suggestion, Purah Meow had designed the airship to resemble a Darjok Dragon, one of the enormous Elder Dragons.
The name "Darjok Dragon" certainly sounded more imposing, after all.
However, even before a model was made for testing, the Felynes unanimously agreed that the Darjok Dragon design was too ugly.
So, it was later changed to the Airborne Dragon design instead… even though that thing looked exactly like a giant mouse.
Of course, that might have also been one of the reasons the Felynes preferred that design — because it looked rather appetizing?
Although in the Monster Hunter world the Airborne Dragon was far weaker than the Darjok Dragon, for the Dodo Advance it was simply two different appearances. There was no difference in performance.
Thanks to that, Sherwin and his crew smoothly used it to transport the Golden Bell back to the surface, bringing along the maidens of the Shrine of God as well.
Not long after the Dodo Advance landed with the Golden Bell, Gan Fall and the Shandian guerrilla fighters had already defeated the Divine Soldiers who had tried to intercept them.
They arrived at the beanstalk together with the former Divine Soldiers who had previously been rescued by Klee Meow.
"Oh, you've come just in time."
Sherwin waved to Wyper, then pointed to the Golden Bell, which was still wrapped layer upon layer in cloth. "This is the Light of Shandora. Come, ring it."