"Boom——!"
Before the bomb Baby-5 had turned into could even touch the deck, Sherwin had already grabbed Robin, hoisted the cat in his arms, and jumped away together with Sanji Meow in time.
A blast like this was nothing. Forget Sherwin and palico Cat— even Robin remained perfectly calm.
Compared with the explosions caused by Klee Meow and Jinx, this missile form of Baby-5 wasn't even close. She didn't manage to destroy much of the deck beneath their feet.
"Looks bigger than Jinx missiles, yet the power only this much, meow?"
Sanji Meow curled his lip with disdain.
Sherwin subconsciously glanced at Jinx, who was still sleeping soundly on his shoulder. The explosion hadn't woken the little blue cat at all.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
The pieces of the missile scattered across the deck began to tremble and then melted like drops of liquid, gathering together again.
"Whoa~ it a maid!"
Sherwin couldn't help but exclaim as he looked at the outfit Baby-5 now wore.
Robin shot him a sidelong look, calm but sharp.
"Ahem, well..." Sherwin coughed awkwardly, voice dropping as if trying to defend himself.
"I just think maid outfits are interesting, that all... uh..."
Only, it seemed the more he explained, the worse it got. Robin now looked at him like she was staring at some kind of pervert.
"Does Sherwin like maid outfits? Then I can wear one for you later, okay, meow?"
Shermie rubbed her cheek against his, voice sweet and eager.
"Yes yes yes!"
The Hunter— cat-lover and maid-enthusiast —nodded without hesitation.
Unsurprisingly, Robin gaze toward him grew even more disdainful.
But Sherwin didn't mind at all…
Joking! This was an authentic cat-eared maid! Even if Robin thought he was a pervert, he had to agree instantly!
On the other side, Baby-5 had also heard their conversation. She shyly twisted, eyes sparkling with expectation.
"You– you mean you need me?"
In Baby-5 logic, liking maid outfits = liking maids = needing her.
Sherwin: "..."
Ah… he had forgotten how peculiar Baby-5 personality was.
A pity, really. Even if he could persuade her for now, she'd probably be swayed away later.
Otherwise, with her weapon fruit ability, she would actually fit perfectly with his "master of all 18 martial arts" style.
And also…
Robin gaze beside him was growing colder and colder. After thinking carefully, Sherwin decisively shook his head.
"Even though I really want a maid, if it you… I'll pass."
"Eh?!!! Why?!"
Baby-5 held her face, screaming with disbelief.
"Tempest · Yosaburo!"
At that moment, Buffalo— who had arrived a step late —launched an aerial attack toward them, cutting off Baby-5 and Sherwin conversation. He roared from above,
"What are you doing, Baby-5?! Did you forget why we came here— Hrk—!!"
"Diurnal Tiger, meow!"
Sanji Meow easily kicked apart Buffalo wind cannon. His feline Rankyaku continued forward without losing force, slamming straight into Buffalo stomach and sending him crashing down from the sky.
Baby-5, reminded of her mission, finally switched back to battle mode. Her arm transformed into a cannon barrel and she opened fire on Sherwin group— yet even as she attacked, her voice remained fixated on the previous topic.
"Why?! Didn't you just say you needed me?!"
The whole situation looked like Sherwin was some scumbag who had loved and abandoned her in the past.
"…"
Sherwin wordlessly swung his Longsword, blocking every bullet that came flying toward him.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something to explain— but the words simply wouldn't come out.
"Gehehe~ Sherwin dear, she really interesting, meow~"
Shermie tugged on his ear while laughing so hard she nearly fell over.
"Why not just let her join us? Klee Meow would definitely get along great with her, meow~"
"That makes it even less possible for her to join!"
With Shermie reminder, Sherwin instantly imagined Baby-5 running around with those mischievous kittens— helping them cause havoc everywhere.
Explosion fruit + Flame fruit + Weapon fruit…
Huamei already had headaches dealing with those little troublemakers! She'd kill him!
But what he said sounded completely different in Baby-5 ears— like he had confessed to her first, only to cruelly reject her afterward.
So—
"You dare toy with my feelings!!! Weapon Transformation · Pistol Girl!"
Baby-5 upper body morphed into a giant gun barrel, unleashing a mad storm of bullets at him.
Sherwin: "???"
Who the hell toyed with your feelings?!
He knew talking sense to someone with a brain like Baby-5 was impossible, so he didn't bother wasting the effort.
Instead, he continued swatting incoming bullets aside with his Longsword, then turned to glance at Sanji Meow, who was calmly watching the show.
"You're just going to stand there and watch?"
"Because it fun," the little yellow cat wore schadenfreude openly across his face.
"I'm not about to meddle in your romantic problems, meow."
Sherwin rolled his eyes so hard they nearly flipped.
Seeing that this little yellow cat was completely unreliable, Sherwin tightened his grip on the Longsword,
ready to cut down the still-unreasonable Baby-5 along with Buffalo, who had just climbed to his feet—when Robin, leaning in his arms, suddenly moved.
"Mil Fleur—Dos Flores!"
A massive… cat paw, formed by countless normal arms, burst up from the deck and pinned Baby-5 and Buffalo firmly to the planks.
Sherwin looked at Robin in surprise.
"I'm just a bit dizzy. Using my Devil Fruit is still no problem."
Robin retained her habitual pose—arms crossed—resting softly against Sherwin as she answered calmly.
But from her slightly pale complexion and the faint twitch at the corner of her eye, it was clear she had used more than just her Fruit ability.
"You don't want me to kill them?" Sherwin asked.
Obviously, Robin had sensed that he intended to finish them off, which was why she acted first—forcing herself to use Observation Haki despite her exhausted mind.
Robin pressed her lips together and nodded. "That child… reminds me of when I was young."
The "child" she referred to certainly wasn't Buffalo.
And since Sherwin knew what Robin had gone through as a child,
he immediately understood why she said that—long before Ohara was destroyed,
Robin had already been trying to earn the affection of her uncle family. And after Ohara fell, it was even worse.
Now that she encountered Baby-5—someone with a past similar to hers—Robin softening was only natural.
Tch.
Sherwin sheathed his Longsword and jerked his chin toward Sanji Meow.
This time, the little yellow cat didn't continue rebelling. After all, he understood the feelings of his companions other than Sherwin, and with the enemies defeated, the show was over. There was no point provoking Sherwin any further.
So Sanji Meow swiftly pulled a seastone chain from his pack, stepping forward to bind the two still held down by Robin.
"So what exactly was Doflamingo thinking? He actually dared to send you after me? And not only that—he only sent the two of you. Was he planning to throw your lives away on purpose?"
After helping Robin sit to the side, Sherwin leaned in front of them and asked curiously.
Baby-5 said nothing, only glaring at him with fierce hostility.
"…"
Sherwin shifted his gaze toward Buffalo.
"Young Master would never send us to die, ing!" Buffalo muttered defensively before answering honestly.
"When these pirates contacted Young Master, they never told him the target was on your ship, ing."
"I see." Sherwin nodded.
"Looks like Doflamingo didn't tell you he got beaten up by my cat at Marineford."
"Impossible!" Even Baby-5, who had been glaring without a word, widened her eyes.
"Young Master is a man destined to become Pirate King!"
"Oh? And what exactly does that have to do with my cat beating him up?" Sherwin asked calmly.
"The Marines at Marineford and a few other Warlords can testify for me. Or—since you probably know how to contact Doflamingo—I can call him right now and confront him directly."
"Exactly!" Shermie chimed in beside him.
"That string-playing guy was beaten half to death by me and Klee Meow back then! If that old man named Sengoku hadn't stopped us, we would never have let that vile slave trader walk away, meow!"
Seeing that Sherwin didn't look like he was lying, the faith Baby-5 and Buffalo held toward their Young Master wavered, and silence fell over them.