Sherwin had originally wanted to say something.
However, faced with Nico Robin half-smiling expression and Baby-5 "wandering for half a life without finding a true master" attitude—looking ready to bow down and pledge loyalty at any moment...
The words stuck in his throat eventually turned into a long sigh.
"I get it, let just leave it at that..."
Sherwin waved his hand weakly and rubbed his aching head. Taking advantage of the gesture of leaning his forehead on his hand, he shot a fierce glare at Nico Robin, the culprit behind all this.
As a result...
The little skin-clad cats by his side suddenly jumped out to join the commotion.
"That right, that right! Brother Sherwin really loves maids! He even bought a maid outfit for Klee Meow!"
(=＞＜=)
"Sister Klee maid outfit is super cute! And Sister Shermie Meow maid outfit is like a goddess descending to earth, meow!"
(=﹃=)
Consequently, the expression on Baby-5 face became increasingly excited, as if she might grab Sherwin and demand a wedding on the spot.
Fortunately, at that moment, a massive yet shrill voice drew everyone attention...
"Don't even think about destroying the Young Master great ambition!!!"
A familiar stone giant rose from the ground, though its appearance was slightly different this time. It was a mix of grayish-white and earthy yellow, more like ordinary stone, and its size was much larger than before—almost as tall as the Dressrosa Royal Palace built on the highest ground.
"Pica?"
Sherwin raised an eyebrow in surprise.
He could somewhat understand Lao G appearing, as he hadn't hit him that hard back then, but Pica...
That guy had essentially taken one of Klee Meow Jumpy Dumpties head-on. How could he regain his mobility so quickly?
"Master Sherwin, the Young Master... no, Do-Doflamingo has a Princess of the Tontatta Tribe in his hands. She is a Heal-Heal Fruit user."
Having switched sides, Baby-5 quickly stepped into her new role and proactively explained the situation to him.
Right, there was still Mansherry...
If not for her reminder, Sherwin would have forgotten the "hostage" he had initially demanded from the Heavenly Yaksha.
But that wasn't right—when Shermie Meow dealt with Sugar, didn't she bring Mansherry out with her?
Just as Sherwin was feeling puzzled, a flash of lightning erupted from the VIP seats diagonally above. A streak of orange light spanned the entire arena, slamming violently into the ribs of the massive stone giant, blasting a seemingly inconspicuous gap there.
Yet, it was this single gap that caused the stone giant, which had been flaunting its might just a moment ago, to instantly freeze in its tracks.
Well... Shermie Meow definitely didn't bring Mansherry out...
Sherwin understood what was going on in an instant.
In his original plan, since he wasn't sure how the specific battle would play out, the opponent he had selected for Pica was actually Suika Meow. So, even if Kuma hadn't made a move just now, it should have been Suika Meow turn—who could also turn giant—to play "Kaiju" with Pica.
There was no other explanation for why a lazy little cat like Shermie Meow would take the initiative to strike so urgently other than her trying to mend the fold after the sheep had bolted.
Furthermore, knowing the cat personalities as he did, Sherwin also deduced why she hadn't bothered to rescue Mansherry along the way...
She must have been dissatisfied with that group of unreasonable Tontattas back at Green Bit, so Shermie Meow deliberately "forgot" their princess inside.
Little kittens can be very vengeful.
Shaking his head helplessly, Sherwin naturally wouldn't blame Shermie Meow for such a small matter. After all, he had also been a bit annoyed back at Green Bit. Besides, with Doflamingo subordinates, was there really any difference between beating them once or twice?
He just wondered where the other recovered fellows were hiding...
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Two fat men and one small fat man fell from the sky, crashing down right in front of Sherwin. Unsurprisingly, they were all bound by Sea Prism Stone chains.
Immediately afterward, Purah Meow descended on her mechanical bird. Just before touching the ground, the mechanical bird swiftly transformed into a complex-patterned mechanical sphere, hovering about ten centimeters above the surface.
"I ran into two other fat guys while I was going to pick up this fat guy, so I just brought them along too, meow! Check-it!"
(ゝω)~☆
Purah Meow, perched atop the mechanical sphere, claimed credit from Sherwin. Sherwin, being very sensible, naturally stepped forward to scoop her into his arms and give her a good rub.
Well, with this, that just left Diamante and Dellinger as the two who hadn't been caught yet.
Sherwin wasn't in a hurry. These people were extremely loyal to Doflamingo anyway, so there was no need to go looking for them they would run into him on their own.
Besides, with the Birdcage in place, they couldn't escape even if they wanted to.
Just as Sherwin was preparing to lead everyone and the "trophies" back to the VIP seats, another familiar figure crashed down in front of them...
"Yo! Isn't this the Law who is 'different from before'? Why do you look so pathetic?"
Sherwin, still stroking Purah Meow, leaned over and teased him with schadenfreude.
Actually, when Law said he was "different from before," he wasn't lying he had just slightly underestimated Doflamingo strength...
Heavenly Yaksha hadn't even used his Awakened fruit abilities yet.
"Cough, cough, cough... Instead of taking the time to make sarcastic remarks, why don't you... come and help, you bastard!"
Law gave Sherwin a weak, weary roll of his eyes, no longer pushing to save face.
Luffy had not yet set sail, and the combat intensity in the North Blue was far inferior to the Grand Line.
Therefore, although Law strength had grown faster than originally destined, he was still far too green compared to his self from the Dressrosa arc.
Had Doflamingo not wanted to keep him alive for the Perpetual Youth Surgery, combined with Law own refusal to admit defeat, the outcome would have been decided long ago.
Understanding this, Law felt incredibly unwilling, but he knew that if he wanted to succeed in his revenge, his only choice was to seek help from Sherwin.
"Fuffuffuffuffu, it seems what you want isn't just one or two of my subordinates... Sherwin."
Doflamingo, who followed shortly after, stared coldly at Baby-5 standing behind Sherwin and the pile of his own men at Sherwin feet, speaking with a fake smile.
The Heavenly Yaksha indifferent gaze did not linger on his subordinates for long. After a careless sweep, Doflamingo eyes shifted from cold to fervent, landing on Klee Meow on Sherwin shoulder.
"However... I've won this third round."
"...Huh?!"
Sherwin instinctively picked at his ear, thinking he had just misheard him.
He never would have imagined that with things having developed to this point, the notoriously cunning Doflamingo would actually be naive enough to believe that Sherwin would continue according to the rules of the game.
Actually, it was Sherwin previous actions that gave Doflamingo this misconception. Specifically, after exposing the conspiracy from years ago, he even let Law duel the Heavenly Yaksha one-on-one, which further misled Doflamingo into thinking Sherwin would abide by the rules of the Davy Back Fight.
Furthermore, the status of the Davy Back Fight among pirates is quite high if someone breaks the rules, they are technically supposed to be attacked by all other pirates.
Of course, in the case of someone like the Four Emperors, even if they didn't follow the rules, no fool would go looking for trouble.
But the point is, once you reach the level of the Four Emperors, why bother playing a Davy Back Fight at all? You could just take what you want by force.
And so...
"Do you really want to become the enemy of all pirates?!"
Realizing things were different from what he had imagined, Doflamingo finally began to grow desperate and exasperated.
"Emmmm... is there a possibility..." Sherwin pointed to his own nose. "Even though I became a Warlord, I'm not actually a pirate... Doffy."
The Hunter used the same logic the Heavenly Yaksha had used not long ago, even calling him by his nickname.
Doflamingo: "..."
"Of course, if you want this guy, I have no objection."
Sherwin kicked Law, who was still playing dead on the ground, and received another eye-roll in return.
"And finally..." Sherwin drew his Longsword and pointed it at Doflamingo. "Let settle the score for you placing a bounty on me in the underworld and framing me as a mole to the World Government!"
The Heavenly Yaksha: "!!!"