After combining the newly obtained fragment with the previous two-thirds, Sherwin held the completed Paramecia Summoning Ticket and fell into deep thought.
Which attribute of Felyne should he summon?
His fingers subconsciously rubbed against the ticket, and the illustrations on the paper shifted with his movements.
Aside from the Explosion Fruit that had been eaten by Jinx, the fruits he still had were: Paper, Density, Bubble, Hook, Scythe, Slice, and Human sword—seven Paramecia-type Devil Fruits.
Technically, the Explosion Fruit illustration could still appear on the ticket, but since Sherwin intended to feed the summoned Felyne the corresponding fruit, the Explosion Fruit was automatically ruled out.
Besides…
If another bomb-type Felyne showed up, Sherwin himself would be nervous.
The Paper Fruit was eliminated for the same reason. Even if it might not actually summon Konan, and the probability of a Konan-Meow being a small scrap-paper cat was low, the point remained—
There were already more than enough bomb-type Felynes on the ship.
Next, he crossed off the Slice Fruit, which would likely summon a cutting-type cat. Since he still had the weapon pool as another option, using up this Paramecia ticket for that wasn't necessary.
The Hook Fruit was also removed. The ability was mediocre, and more importantly, he simply couldn't think of any character particularly associated with hooks.
Density Fruit was the same. Such a "scientific" ability didn't seem common in anime or games, and Sherwin couldn't recall any matching character.
That left only Bubble, Scythe, and Human sword…
Still too many.
Sherwin, suffering from a bit of choice paralysis, looked troubled.
Other than the Bubble Fruit user Kalifa from the pirate world, he could also think of the Six-Tails jinchūriki from Naruto, though that ability leaned more toward strong acid, with bubbles merely as a visual effect—so the chance of summoning something like that was low.
Also, there were plenty of Pokémon that used Bubble Beam, but weren't any of them cats? He couldn't possibly end up summoning something like a Poliwag-Meow or a Blastoise-Meow, right?
As for the Scythe Fruit—there were simply too many possibilities. Air-based slashing was such a common ability that the number of potential characters was impossible to count. And Pokémon had tons of air-blade-type moves too…
There were cats inside those categories after all.
When it came to the Human sword Fruit, the first thing Sherwin thought of was still the big gambling sheep Tsunade from Naruto.
But the illustrations on the Human sword Summoning Ticket didn't stop at the basic six-sided die—there were also eight-sided, twelve-sided, and other dice commonly seen in tabletop games, so the Felyne summoned might not necessarily be related to gambling.
And if he really did summon a gambling-addicted Felyne…
Sherwin glanced at Hana Meow, imagining how much more work Lord Huamei would be stuck with.
Of course, Sherwin knew that overthinking all this was pointless—he had absolutely no control over who would be summoned.
But having choice paralysis wasn't something that disappeared just because he understood that.
Just then, a furry little head peeked out from behind his shoulder.
"Sherwin-nii, why haven't you started summoning the new partner yet? Klee getting impatient, meow!"
(=ω=)
The little ragdoll rubbed its cheek against his, urging him with a puzzled expression.
"Oh, right. Since it all luck anyway, why not let you choose?"
Unable to decide, Sherwin tilted his head and asked, "Which Devil Fruit do you think we should summon a Felyne for?"
"Explosion Fruit, meow!"
(=`=)
Klee Meow answer didn't surprise Sherwin, and huamei Meow beside them tensed up exactly as expected.
"No, the Explosion Fruit has already been eaten by Jinx."
Sherwin shot huamei a reassuring look, then rejected the idea decisively.
The little ragdoll puffed her cheeks unhappily but didn't argue. After all, the idea of "feeding the summoned Felyne the corresponding fruit" was something Sherwin had proposed back on Skypiea, and everyone had agreed at the time.
So she stared at the ticket in Sherwin hand, whose illustrations continued to change, scanning it for a pattern she liked.
"Stop, meow! That the one!" The little plush suddenly yelled after staring for a while.
"Klee thinks this pattern looks good. It kinda looks like Jinx big sister Chomper grenade, meow!"
Sherwin paused his scrolling. The pattern on the summoning ticket was made up of various weights of different sizes.
It was actually the Density Fruit?
He scratched his head. If it were the Hook-Hook Fruit, he could at least remember "Silver Hook, Iron Brush" but when it came to the Density Fruit, he couldn't think of anyone at all.
Although it was unexpected, he had already left the choice to Klee Meow, so he wasn't going to go back on it.
After all…
The Spark Knight luck was much better than his as a Hunter.
So Sherwin didn't hesitate any further. He silently mouthed "Felyne Summon," and the summoning ticket in his hand floated gently into the air.
Right after, the ticket expanded to about three times its size, then gradually shrank until it completely vanished.
Right, aside from increasing hardness, the Density Fruit could also enlarge and shrink objects.
If you ignored the nature of the ability and only considered how it manifested, there were plenty of related characters.
But the first one Sherwin thought of was that bronze-headed, iron-armed monkey who always dove into people stomachs…
If he really summoned a Great Sage Meow King, that wouldn't be bad either. It was just that Huamei Meow would get a headache again—after all, that one was famously troublesome.
"Sherwin boss, where the new Felyne? Why don't I see it?"
Shirahoshi soft voice cut off his wandering thoughts. He waved his hand and explained,
"Each Felyne appears in a different way, and the time varies too. Just wait a bit longer and it'll show up."
Klee Meow nodded. "Brother Link fell from the sky for a really long time before landing back then, meow!"
(=ω=)
The old rascal from Hyrule rubbed the back of his head with a slightly embarrassed look.
But after everyone waited a good while longer, there was still no movement anywhere.
Even Shermie, whose Observation Haki had the widest range, said she couldn't sense the new Felyne location.
"What going on? Did we hit the party limit?"
Sherwin had never filled all his slots before, but he remembered that in the game there was a cap on how many Felynes you could hire…
But that limit was really high! And if we hit the limit, shouldn't there at least be some kind of notification?!
Just as Sherwin felt a chill in his heart, thinking the summoning might fail this time, Huamei Meow twitched her ears and said, "There movement in the cabin, meow!"
"Hm?"
Sherwin still couldn't sense anything with his Observation Haki.
So it was another one like Haibara Meow and Shermie, a Felyne who fainted the moment she appeared?
Sherwin let out a long sigh of relief, then followed Huamei Meow toward the cabin…
As long as the summoning didn't fail!
With the help of the Felyne keen hearing, Sherwin quickly found the newly arrived Felyne in the storage room.
Even though her entire head was stuck inside a wine barrel, Sherwin still recognized her identity from the purple dress, the wine gourd at her waist, and the chains wrapped around her—
Ibuki Suika, the drunkard with the ability to control density and dispersion.
…