Sherwin and the others didn't have to wait long. Before long, a warship flying the seagull flag approached from the distance.
So it really was Marine territory…
Since he had already suspected that this place might fall under official control, Sherwin remained fairly calm, and with his status as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, he didn't have to worry about the Marines coming to trouble him.
Still, he grew curious about what kind of place this was.
After all, a normal Marine base wouldn't set up territorial Sea Kings, and as far as he knew, the Marine G-series bases didn't have the capability to reach this deep into the New World…
From what Sherwin knew, places that fit the conditions of being deep in the New World, heavily garrisoned by Marines, and forbidding outsiders from approaching were limited to just a few:
Egghead Island, where Vegapunk was located, and the island shown in the movie that was used to store Dyna Stones.
However, the outline of the island before them didn't resemble an egg at all. Even if it was because it was too early and Vegapunk hadn't fully remodeled the island yet, Luffy and the others hadn't encountered any territorial Sea King warnings in the manga.
And most importantly…
This direction had been chosen by Klee Meow on a whim!
Sherwin rubbed his chin and had basically confirmed that this island was the unknown island where the Dyna Stones were stored.
But at this moment, he didn't have much intention of stealing Dyna Stones from here.
Because…
Klee Meow bombs were already powerful enough!
Especially with Jinx cooperation and Suika Meow further compression, the bomb power had skyrocketed by several levels. If you added something like Dyna Stones, whose theoretical power was said not to lose to that of an Ancient Weapon…
"Eek—"
Sherwin shuddered instinctively.
As for Jinx, she could try gnawing on a couple of Dyna Stones to boost her Devil Fruit ability.
Even so, Sherwin still had no intention of stealing any Dyna Stones.
After all, this thing was different from the Poneglyphs. It couldn't be copied—steal one and there would be one less. Even if they weren't discovered at the time, the Marines would only need to check who had visited the island recently to lock onto them.
If he were really going to steal any, it would have to wait until he had completely fallen out with the World Government.
Besides, with his current status as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, he might even be able to ask the World Government for them directly.
After all, this wasn't some top-secret technology—just a special material like Seastone.
Other Warlords could get Seastone from the World Government, so asking for one or two pieces of Dyna Stone shouldn't be too much of a problem, right?
Sherwin thought about it for a moment, still unable to make up his mind…
The main issue was that Klee Meow bombs were simply too nerve-wracking.
Not to mention that those little troublemaking cats were still tinkering away, planning to make an even bigger one.
"Sherwin big brother, are you thinking about something rude again, meow?!"
(=`н=)ジ
As if she had sensed something, Klee Meow decisively raised her little paw and unleashed a full set of kitty punches on Sherwin head.
"Ahem… I just suddenly thought of that big bomb you've all been secretly working on. You really can't tell me even a little bit about it?"
Sherwin said, half serious and half joking, while also trying to divert Klee Meow attention.
Sure enough, the little ragdoll was just as easy to fool as ever. She immediately stopped dwelling on Sherwin strange emotional reaction and instead shook her head rapidly.
"Nope! Klee already made a promise with Sister Ai, Sister Jinx, Sister Purah Meow, and Sister Suika Meow. We're going to secretly work hard and then amaze everyone, meow!"
(ω≡ω)
Sherwin: "..."
Whether it was gorgeous or not, he didn't know, but it would definitely be shocking.
As they were speaking, the warship had already drawn close.
As one of the protagonists of the "G-5 Branch Great Battle Incident," the appearance of the Dodo Advance had long since become widely known, so the other side did not conduct any routine questioning.
Instead, a commanding officer wearing a Justice cloak stood directly at the bow of the ship.
"This is Colonel Chaos of the Navy Special Unit SHIELD. Greetings to Lord 'Hunter' Sherwin!"
The other party led his subordinates and saluted Sherwin and the others with great momentum the moment he spoke.
So it really is that island where the Power Stone is stored…
Sherwin sighed inwardly.
If just now there was still a one-in-ten-thousand chance that he had guessed wrong,
that it was really just some bored Navy branch laying territorial sea bugs in the surrounding waters, then now the probability that there was Power Stone here could be said to be one hundred percent.
After all, even the special unit had come out—it couldn't possibly be anywhere else.
And besides… SHIELD… national land strategy sh—ah, pfft! Shield, huh?
Clearly, this unit should be on the same level as the SWORD unit that Koby later joined, and it was even possible that they were established around the same time.
Just from the name, though, it was obvious that their functions were different from SWORD, focusing mainly on guard and defense duties.
It was very possible that the Navy stationed on Egghead Island also belonged to this unit.
"I'm very sorry, but the island ahead is a key area sealed off by the World Government. No unauthorized personnel are permitted to land.
We can provide you with an Eternal Pose to the next island. If Lord Sherwin has any needs, you may state them—we will do our best to accommodate you."
Colonel Chaos attitude was excellent. Even while stopping Sherwin and the others from approaching, he remained extremely friendly, and without even waiting for Sherwin to speak, he proactively laid out all the compensatory terms.
The reason he behaved this way was not only because of Sherwin status as a Warlord, but more importantly due to the World Government and Morgans publicity.
As a result, the majority of the Navy held a very favorable impression of Sherwin and the cute Felynes around him.
"Eh— but Klee Meow wants to go play on the island… It just feels like it'll be really interesting there, meow."
(=｀3=)
The little ragdoll pouted and spoke unhappily.
In truth, there was something else she hadn't said—that is… on that island, she had smelled the scent of treasure.
But Klee Meow also knew that if she said that out loud, there would be even less chance of them being allowed onto the island, so she changed the way she put it.
The corner of Sherwin mouth twitched. Of course he understood Klee Meow unspoken implication,
but he had still been hesitating over whether to take her and avoid this place altogether. Now that Klee Meow had said this, that was clearly no longer an option.
Because…
The other Felynes had certainly understood Klee Meow implication with perfect tacit understanding as well.
If Sherwin dared to turn around and leave without making any attempt, then he'd better be prepared to face retaliation from this group of little troublemakers afterward!
So after weighing the lesser of two evils, Sherwin decisively chose to negotiate with this Navy officer named Chaos.
"You heard it too—my cats want to go ashore and have some fun." Sherwin shrugged at Chaos, negotiating with a helpless tone.
"I know you're carrying out your duties. How about this: we'll just circle around the outer area and won't enter your base. If you're still not at ease, you can assign people to follow us the whole time."
"This…"
Chaos showed hesitation, clearly unable to make up his mind.
If it were any of the other Seven Warlords, Chaos would have driven them away without a second word.
But Sherwin was different—if not for his responsibilities, he would even like to find a place to sit down and have a few drinks with Sherwin.
"Please wait a moment. I need to ask my superior for instructions."
After struggling with it for a while, Chaos decided to dump the problem onto his direct superior. Right in front of Sherwin, he used a Den Den Mushi to contact the vice admiral stationed on the island.
OGAuther
(The SHIELD unit is something I made up—there only SWORD in the manga.
Originally, I wanted to directly use names like Coulson or Nick Fury, but after thinking it over, that felt a bit too jarring, so I gave them a more ordinary name instead.)