While Sherwin was discussing the Poneglyphs and the Ancient Weapons with King Neptune, the Felynes were already running wild throughout the Dragon Palace.
Naturally, the cats soon noticed the strange building with several giant weapons embedded in its outer walls—the Hard-Shell Tower.
"Uncle Fishman, Klee Meow wants to go in and have a look, meow!"
(=ω=)
The little doll cat pattered up to the guard outside the Hard-Shell Tower and politely asked.
"Sorry, outsiders aren't allowed in here."
Even though he knew these little cats were honored guests of the Dragon Palace, the guard still firmly shook his head.
"Why can't we go in? Is there something good inside meow?"
The more the guard refused, the more the rebellious Jinx became intrigued. "Your king already said we could look around freely, meow!"
"Yeah! Klee Meow just wants to take a look, meow!"
(=`н=)
Following Jinx, the little doll cat began making a fuss in front of the guard.
Faced with honored guests who were clearly children, the Fishman guard couldn't bring himself to act too harshly. He could only repeatedly insist that they couldn't enter.
As the leader, Haibara Meow had originally intended to stop the two naughty kittens, but Sanji Meow suddenly twitched his nose several times, then muttered with sparkling eyes,
"So fragrant… What top-tier ingredient is that? I can't even recognize it, meow!"
Thanks to their chef cat reminder, the other Felynes all flared their nostrils, sniffing hard in the direction of the Hard-Shell Tower.
"Meow!!!"
(=﹃=)×7
Every cat except Sanji Meow had eerie green light in their eyes—even Haibara Meow.
"So that where you're hiding the good food!" Jinx immediately protested.
"Didn't your king say he'd treat us to a feast? But you secretly hid the best ingredients! That too much, meow!"
The little blue cat complained as she slipped past the Fishman guard and ran straight toward the Hard-Shell Tower.
"W-wait! There really no food inside!"
The guard hurried after them, but he had only taken two steps before he collapsed, foaming at the mouth with his eyes rolled back.
Haibara Meow was usually the sensible one, but she was still a cat—and no cat was free from acting on impulse.
More importantly, the cats were once again in a state similar to when they first entered Fishman Island, their hunting instincts fully triggered. In fact, this time their instincts were even stronger.
So even the normally composed Haibara Meow couldn't restrain her urge to hunt.
Seeing that Huamei had already made a move, the other cats—also fully overwhelmed by instinct—grew even bolder. Ironically, Sanji Meow, their chef, was the calmest among them.
But…
With Shermie, Purah Meow, and Haibara Meow—the three beautiful big sister Felynes—all wanting to charge into the tower, how could the little yellow cat object?
And so, with a chorus of excited meowing, the huge and heavy door of the Hard-Shell Tower was pushed open by their combined strength.
The cats slipped inside one after another, their little heads turning everywhere as they searched for the intoxicating scent that drew them.
"W-who… Who are you?!"
Shirahoshi, who had been chatting with her pet shark, Megalo, was startled when a group of cats suddenly burst into her room. She instinctively hid behind Megalo.
"Sha! Sha!"
The big, slightly goofy-looking shark bravely placed himself before Shirahoshi, baring his sharp teeth at the cats.
"Meow?"
The cats, all in full hunting mode, turned toward the sound.
"Sha—!"
"Eek—!"
Facing so many glowing green cat eyes at once, Shirahoshi and Megalo trembled violently.
Even though the combined size of the entire group of kittens wasn't even as large as one of Megalo fins or one of Shirahoshi hands, they still couldn't muster even the slightest will to resist.
Sanji Meow, whose sense of smell was the sharpest, twitched his little nose a few times and quickly located their "target"…
"What the meow… It just this mermaid…" His ears drooped in disappointment. "We can't eat this, meow…"
Klee Meow, Jinx, and Shermie —three mischievous kittens—refused to give up. They crowded around Shirahoshi tail, pressing their noses against her scales and sniffing carefully.
"Aww… the good food is gone, meow…"
"It smells so good, but we can't eat it, meow… I'm heartbroken~"
Unlike the relatively well-behaved Klee Meow and Shermie, Jinx was unwilling to accept defeat.
She licked Shirahoshi tail once, rolled her eyes, and said, "She so big. If we just cut off a tiny bit of meat to taste, it won't affect her at all, right?"
Jinx words snapped the other cats out of their daze. Their eyes gleamed green once more.
"Uwaaaaaah! Father! Sharkstar brother! Ryusei brother! Manboshi brother! Hurry and save me! I'm going to get eaten by cats!"
Shirahoshi, who had been trembling and listening to the cats discuss her flavor, finally broke down and bawled.
"It Princess Shirahoshi voice!"
"Where are the guards?!"
"Not good, the guard fainted! There are intruders!"
Amid the chaotic shouting, the seahorse merman—the right minister of the Dragon Palace Kingdom and the one responsible for guarding Shirahoshi—rushed over with a group of Fishman soldiers.
"You fiends! What do you intend to do to Princess Shirahoshi?!"
He froze for half a second when he saw that the "intruders" were Felynes, but no matter how honored these guests were, they couldn't compare to the mermaid princess. He quickly recovered and charged forward with his soldiers—
Only to be instantly knocked unconscious by a single glare from Haibara Meow.
"Awoo… Haibara big sister, did we cause trouble, meow?"
Sherwin group arrived to find Klee Meow, already experienced in such chaos, perking her ears at the way the Right Minister addressed Shirahoshi.
She quickly understood what was going on, her tail flicking nervously as she asked in a small voice.
But even though the little doll-like cat realized she had caused trouble again, she still couldn't resist the "delicacy" before her.
Imitating Jinx, she leaned in and gave Shirahoshi tail a lick… then another lick.
Shirahoshi burst into even louder tears.
Hua Mei Meow had already snapped out of her "hunting mode" the moment the Right Minister and the others shouted.
She knocked them all out with her Conqueror Haki—pure instinct, nothing more.
"…" Huamei, who had been assigned to watch over the little kittens yet had ended up causing trouble with them, fell silent for a moment before suggesting, "Maybe we should run, meow?"
Compared to the reckless little kittens, Hua Mei Meow thought much further ahead.
If the Ryugu Kingdom had only one mermaid princess, then the crying, trembling Shirahoshi in front of them was most likely the ancient weapon known as Poseidon…
She didn't understand why an ancient weapon would have such a timid personality, but the best plan right now was to get everyone out quickly. After all, they hadn't actually harmed Shirahoshi.
The other cats had also snapped out of their "hunting state," but aside from Sanji Meow, none of them really wanted to leave.
Among the four little kittens, Haibara Meow behaved just like Klee Meow—they had started hugging Shirahoshi fishtail and licking it as well.
As for Jinx, who had instantly become the leader of the little kittens right after being summoned, she had already moved on to gnawing directly.
Fortunately, having recovered from her hunting mode, she still remembered Sherwin warning and didn't bite down for real.
She only nibbled lightly, like when she played with her companions, just enough to satisfy the craving.
By the time Sherwin and the others reached the Hard-Shell Tower, they were greeted with a bizarre scene:
a group of fishmen unconscious on the ground, four little kittens clinging to a sobbing Shirahoshi while licking and nibbling, and four more cats standing around looking eager to join in.