"How—how—how—how do you know about dyna stones?!!"
Hilnans was utterly shocked. Instinctively, he raised his hand to grab Sherwin for interrogation, but halfway through he reacted, changing the motion to pointing a finger at Sherwin instead, and shouted sharply.
"I am a Shichibukai, after all. Of course I have my own intelligence network." Sherwin shrugged and casually bluffed.
"Just like how you can't tell me what hidden here, I can't possibly sell out my information source either, so stop asking."
Just as Hilnans was at a loss, Haibara Meow at the side propped her chin with a paw and muttered thoughtfully,
"No wonder you were acting kind of strange earlier. Klee Meow also sensed that something was off with your emotions… You already guessed there was dyna stones on this island back then, didn't you? At that time, you must have wanted to hide it from Klee Meow and not let her know, meow?!"
The little kitten grew more excited as she spoke, and in the end struck a "the truth is only one" pose, pointing at Sherwin with certainty.
"So that how it is, meow?!"
∑(=OДO=)
Klee Meow looked at Sherwin in disbelief. Although the Hunter maintained a calm expression on the surface, the little ragdoll kitten had already sensed the guilt in his emotions.
"Sherwin big brother, you big idiot, meow!"
(=◣皿◢=)
The angry little ragdoll pounced and hugged Sherwin head, then took a bite straight into his forehead, kicking furiously at his chest with her little cat legs.
After letting Klee Meow vent for a while while coated in Armament Haki, Sherwin finally picked the sulking little ragdoll off his head.
"Didn't I still tell you in the end?"
Sherwin said helplessly as he rubbed Klee Meow little cheeks.
Then Haibara Meow, the little schemer, added fuel to the fire from the side.
"If we hadn't run into Uncle Hilnans and brought this up, you would've just pretended you didn't know anything and brushed it off, right, meow?"
"You little brat—if you don't speak, no one will take you for a mute!"
Sherwin shot a fierce glare at the little schemer, then quickly turned back to placate the puffed-up Klee Meow.
"Klee, don't listen to Haibara Meow nonsense. I was actually thinking about whether I should tell you or not. I just hadn't made up my mind before."
While coaxing the little ragdoll, Sherwin didn't forget to soothe the Jinx beside him either, who was eyeing him like a cat stalking prey, considering where to sink her teeth…
"And I was even thinking about getting a couple of pieces for Jinx. How could I just casually brush it off like that?"
"Mm…"
(=ˇˇ=)
The little ragdoll stared at Sherwin seriously for a while. After confirming that he wasn't lying, she immediately broke into a smile.
"Hehe~ I knew Sherwin big brother is the best, meow~"
(=`=)
Klee Meow pounced back onto Sherwin head, licked the spot she had bitten earlier a couple of times, then rubbed against him hard.
Seeing this, Jinx also withdrew her dangerous gaze and, satisfied, leaned in to rub against Sherwin as well.
"Hoo…"
Having finally dealt with the two mischievous kittens, Sherwin first shot Haibara Meow another glare, then turned to look at the wary Hilnans.
"Uncle, don't worry. I don't plan to forcefully take it from you. Don't forget, I'm a Shichibukai. I can just go straight to the World Government or Fleet Admiral Sengoku and see if I can trade for one or two pieces… How could I possibly put you in a difficult spot?"
"Hoo…"
Hilnans let out a sigh of relief as well. He really didn't want to be enemies with the catfolk, and it wasn't false modesty on his part—his SHIELD unit truly might not be able to defeat Sherwin and the others.
Just the Burn-Burn Fruit and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, those two Logia abilities alone, were enough to give anyone a headache, not to mention Sherwin himself, someone capable of clashing head-on with a Yonko.
"…That good, then." After a brief silence, Hilnans forced himself to perk up and said, "So, should I continue showing you around?"
"Of course. Even without the Dyna stone, we're used to thoroughly exploring every island we come across."
Sherwin nodded in reply, but he didn't immediately follow Hilnans to continue the tour.
Because he could tell that, in the end, Hilnans had still been affected somewhat, looking as though he had something weighing on his mind.
That was only natural. If he had immediately acted as if nothing had happened… uh… well, in the world of pirates, that actually wouldn't be all that strange…
But regardless, Sherwin still decided to further put his mind at ease.
Before that, though, there was another matter he needed to clarify with Hilnans—
"By the way, do you know what Uncle Kody is doing now?"
"You mean the fact that he a CP agent?" Hilnans immediately understood what Sherwin wanted to ask. "I knew about it a long time ago…"
Then he sneakily glanced left and right, raised a hand to shield his mouth, and whispered,
"Otherwise, what do you think I relied on to get promoted from a non-headquarters colonel to a vice admiral of a special unit? Strength alone isn't enough for that."
Sherwin: "..."
How should he put it? This situation was both unexpected and yet not unexpected at all.
What was unexpected was that Uncle Kody authority seemed to be greater than Sherwin had imagined.
What wasn't unexpected was that, after noticing Hilnans promotion speed—on par with the Escape King—Sherwin had already known that he must have connections at the top.
If the "Escape King" hadn't been Garp disciple, could he really have provoked Akainu, come out completely unscathed, and then kept rising through the ranks?
Even on Earth, things like nepotism, academic cliques, and local protectionism were everywhere, let alone in the world of pirates.
What Sherwin hadn't expected was that Hilnans connection turned out to be Uncle Kody himself.
Sherwin didn't think it was a big deal that Hilnans had used Uncle Kody connections.
After all, hadn't he himself relied on Uncle Kody connections to swindle three Devil Fruits from the World Government?
"Since you already know, then there no problem."
After confirming that Hilnans was also in the know, Sherwin immediately took out a Den Den Mushi and called Uncle Kody.
"Sherwin? Why do you suddenly have time to contact me?"
The Den Den Mushi expression abruptly changed in shock. "Wait! You didn't go and do something big again, did you?! Can't you lie low for a while?!"
Kody voice sounded utterly exhausted.
"What are you talking about?" Sherwin was completely baffled. "Haven't I been behaving myself lately?"
"Heh heh heh…"
Coby let out a few cold laughs, but did not answer the question.
And as if to prevent Sherwin from noticing anything, he did not give him any time to think at all. Right after the sneer, he asked directly, "Speak. What exactly do you want from me?"
Sherwin, who was rather dull in this regard, naturally did not think too much about it and followed his words. "I want Dyna Stones. Please help pass the request up the chain."
"You're with Hernans right now?!"
Coby reacted immediately. "That idiot actually told you something that confidential?! Is he trying to get dragged off to Enies Lobby for trial?!"
"Wait a second! Instructor Cody! I can't just pretend I didn't hear that!" Hernans cried out in protest.
"That brat Sherwin learned about Dyna Stones from somewhere else! I didn't say a single word!"
So he really is his teacher, huh?
Hearing how Hernans addressed Cody, Sherwin understood at once.
Looks like the problem of academic cliques is pretty serious even in the pirate world.