"Thirty-Floral Bloom · Claw Hook!"
Robin once again used her Devil Fruit to take down several pirates surrounding her, yet her expression showed a hint of dissatisfaction.
Although Sherwin and the Felynes had never placed high expectations on her combat strength—and judging by their power, they were fully capable of protecting her—Robin had never forgotten the warning that CP agent Cody once gave Sherwin.
Besides…
Even someone as timid as Shirahoshi was trying her best to contribute. Robin naturally couldn't just enjoy Sherwin and the cat protection without doing anything.
So this time, she wanted to use the plan as an opportunity to strengthen herself.
At the very least, she wanted to awaken a bit of Observation Haki for self-preservation.
That way, even if she were to encounter danger in the future, Sherwin and the others wouldn't have to split their attention too much for her sake.
But after several battles, her improvements were mostly in the application of her Fruit ability. Her Observation Haki still showed no signs of awakening…
"Is the pressure still not enough?"
She murmured. Having already witnessed several Felynes awaken their Haki, she knew about that "shortcut."
So she shifted her gaze toward a pirate who had also eaten a Devil Fruit. Earlier, he had tried to attack her together with the others, but Sanji Meow had blocked him. Now he was still exchanging blows with the little yellow cat…
Well, exchanging blows only because Sanji Meow was holding back.
"Sanji, let me take this one… and no matter what happens, please don't interfere."
After drinking a vitality potion that Haibara Meow had given her to restore her stamina, Robin stepped forward and spoke to the little yellow cat who was still toying with the enemy.
"Then Robin-sister, be careful, meow. If things get really dangerous, just call out for me."
Sanji understood exactly what Robin intended and didn't try to stop her. But after kicking the pirate away, he added a few extra warnings:
"His ability seems to compress air into wind blades for slashing. But compared to someone like Seijuro, his cutting power is far worse.
He can only release them with both hands, so just watch his arm movements carefully, meow."
"Thank you, I understand."
Robin patted Sanji Meow on the head and walked toward that pirate.
Meanwhile, on Jinx side, once the little berserk cat awakened Armament Haki, the pirates could no longer stop her at all.
With the absurd rate of fire from her Bang-Bang Gun, combined with bullets infused with Armament Haki, it was pure overwhelming destruction.
In just a short while, no pirate around her was left standing.
But…
This little berserk cat really forgot again that she was supposed to spare the Devil Fruit users, didn't she?
Sherwin rubbed his forehead in frustration. Expecting this cat—who completely loses control the moment a fight starts—to obey orders was indeed far too optimistic.
Still, frustration was one thing. At least those ability users weren't blown into pieces like last time, so he could still salvage the situation.
Sherwin quickly pulled out his Hunter Knife and rushed to the ability users who had just been killed by Jinx.
He stabbed down with the blade as fast as possible, then didn't even bother to check the results before sprinting to the next body.
However…
The Hunter Knife already had a low drop rate, and now he didn't even have Klee Meow around to boost his luck…
So Sherwin didn't really expect much from the outcome.
And just as he anticipated—
He gained absolutely nothing.
"Aahhh! I forgot again, meow!"
(=＞＜=)
Once all the enemies were taken care of and Jinx finally noticed Sherwin frantic movements, she remembered the instructions given to her earlier.
Sticking out her tiny tongue in embarrassment, she tried to act cute.
"…Forget it. None of those abilities were anything impressive anyway."
Sherwin rubbed the little blue cat head in exasperation. Of course he couldn't really blame her.
Besides, those Fruits weren't strong to begin with. On top of that, Sherwin had no memory of any of them—most were probably Fruits with no plot relevance, meaning their drop rates were already low.
So even if he missed them, there was nothing to feel too heartbroken about.
After all…
He had already missed the Sand-Sand Fruit, which practically guaranteed a full summon ticket. What else could bother him after that?
"More importantly, are you alright?"
Sherwin picked Jinx up and asked with concern.
"Meow?"
(=ω=)
The little blue cat tilted her head in confusion. "Why would anything be wrong with meow? Those pirates were way too weak. They couldn't possibly hurt meow!"
"You just awakened Armament Haki and immediately fired that many bullets infused with it. You're not feeling any strain?"
Sherwin vividly remembered how devastating his stamina consumption had been when he first used Armament Haki to skip training.
Even Huamei had collapsed from exhaustion the moment she awakened it.
The moment he finished asking, the lively cat in his arms suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon and went limp…
"Eh? Why can't my body move, meow?"
Completely drained of strength, Jinx still refused to stay quiet. Even though she couldn't move a muscle, her mouth kept running endlessly.
"Sherwin, I think I've been poisoned, meow! Hurry, give me the antidote that Ai prepared! They can't beat me head-on so they poisoned me—these pirates are too despicable, meow!"
Sherwin: "…"
This reaction was indeed very much in line with Jinx little-mad-cat personality.
"Everyone says you just overused Armament Haki and drained your stamina."
Sherwin rubbed Jinx small blue head, then casually slung her over his shoulder like a cat towel.
"Impossible! I'm full of energy! I only fired a few Armament bullets, there no way that would drain me, meow! Zzzz…"
The little blue cat was still talking tough one second, and the next she fell asleep without warning.
Yes, still very much the style of a little mad cat. Also… a bit like those two troublemakers from the Monkey family.
Sherwin chuckled, scratching the chin of the already-sleeping blue cat, then Sherwin looked toward Robin, who was still fighting the remaining enemies.
This battle was already nearing its end. Though streaked with several cuts, she was effortlessly dodging the wind blades the enemy kept sending at her—moves that looked dangerously close but were actually no threat to her at all.
Clearly, Robin had successfully awakened Observation Haki.
"Treinta Fleur: Hang."
After briefly testing her newly awakened Observation Haki, Robin activated her Devil Fruit powers and used her specialty—joint locks—to finish the fight.
"Hoo…"
Having finished off the enemies, Robin let out a long breath—then her body swayed a few times, her footing suddenly gave out, and she collapsed sideways.
"You just awakened Observation Haki, so mental exhaustion is normal." Sherwin quickly stepped in to catch her, supporting her as he explained.
Although neither Sherwin nor any of the Felynes had experienced this sort of backlash when awakening Observation Haki, they were actually the special cases.
It was simply because Felynes were far more naturally gifted in Observation Haki than humans.
As for Sherwin…
Maybe it was because traversers naturally had stronger "spiritual power/soul strength"?
Even though Sherwin never had any experience of merging with the original body soul, he did possess inherited memories, so it was reasonable for his mental strength to be greater than average.
"Are the other enemies dealt with?"
Robin, drained from overtaxing her mind, didn't bother with politeness. She leaned her weight against Sherwin naturally and asked offhandedly.
"Mm. Most of them were taken care of by Jinx." Sherwin nodded, then muttered in confusion,
"So where exactly did they get the confidence to come attack us?"
Though this group of pirates wasn't weak, compared to the ones they had encountered on Risky red Island, the only real difference was in numbers.
Their individual strength wasn't significantly higher. Given how cautious this group had acted before, it made no sense for them to charge in so confidently.
Just as Sherwin was puzzling over it, his Observation Haki suddenly reacted—
He looked up, and a massive missile was plummeting straight toward them.
Not only did this missile have a face like Jinx Reaper Missile, but attached behind it was the lower body of a woman wearing a short skirt.
Now Sherwin finally understood where these pirates got their confidence.
However…
Did Doflamingo not get enough of a beating back at Marineford last time?