After temporarily lifting his ice demon state, Queen realized he was in a difficult position.
However, he only dazed for a moment before a look of determination quickly appeared on his somewhat comical face...
"Since science and technology are useless, then I'll let you witness the true power of a dinosaur without modifications!"
Clamoring like this, Queen dropped to all fours, switched to his beast form, and stretched out his neck and tail, aiming them at Sherwin like a javelin.
Could it be that?
Sherwin suddenly remembered a certain move of Queen from the manga that was extremely unscientific, yet he insisted was exactly how a brachiosaurus functioned...
"Look! This is the power of the king who ruled the world for over a hundred million years!!! Brachiosnake!!!"
It really was this move!!!
Sherwin, who had been charging toward Queen, came to a halt. Although there were many things to criticize, Sherwin was quite interested in Queen unconventional way of developing his fruit, so he didn't mind letting him show it off...
Regardless of how Queen struggled, there was no way he could win.
With this thought, Sherwin propped the Longsword beside him and waited for Queen to launch his "true body."
However, while Queen did launch, the situation was slightly different from the manga. His "true body" didn't rush toward Sherwin instead, after opening its mouth to spray a blast of fire, the "Brachiosnake" used the recoil of the flames to fly backward with a "whoosh."
Before Sherwin could even react, the "Brachiosnake" landed on the ground with a "splat," quickly wiggled its body, and disappeared into the ruins of the giant skull building.
All that remained in front of Sherwin was a dinosaur body missing its head and tail, with a massive hole in the middle.
Sherwin: "...Huh?"
"Looking at your righteous and ambitious appearance just now, was it all just to run away?!"
Sherwin, feeling tricked, felt his temples throbbing violently. He raised the Longsword in his hand, intending to hack the body Queen left behind into pieces to vent his frustration.
However, just as he was about to strike it, Sherwin voluntarily pulled back his strength...
Even though it lacked the "Brachiosnake" that served as its "true body," the dinosaur body Queen left behind had undergone extensive modifications.
Although the manga mostly showed him using Germa technology, as a scientist on par with Judge, there should still be plenty of his own self-developed technology inside.
Thinking of this, Sherwin decisively stored the body Queen had left behind, planning to take it back for Purah Meow and Haibara Meow to dismantle and study they would surely enjoy it.
After putting away the half-modified body, Sherwin looked around...
King were still entangled.
Although the little black cat was faster and more agile, the talent of the Lunarian race was indeed top-tier.
Coupled with his formidable Armament Haki, even with Hunter using Adept Style, he could only inflict minor flesh wounds. Under the exaggerated recovery power of an Ancient Zoan user, it amounted to nothing.
On the other side, Suika Meow was pummeling Jack.
During their last encounter, the little drunk cat had to provoke Jack emotions to make him lose his sanity to deal with him, but now such trouble wasn't necessary.
Although Suika Meow own strength hadn't grown by much, after developing cold-air attacks under Sherwin reminder, she used a combat style that alternated between heat and cold, tossing Jack around until he was completely unable to fight back.
Klee Meow and Jinx were teamed up, hunting down the small fry of the Beast Pirates...
Well, it was mainly the crazy little Felyne who was doing the work. Although the little Ragdoll also had her flame clones help out, the movement speed of the flame cats couldn't compare to the bullets of the Bang-Bang Gun, so she was essentially just there for the atmosphere.
After Huamei released her Conqueror Haki once, she stopped fighting and simply kept an eye on Klee Meow and Jinx, the two mischievous Felynes, to prevent them from getting carried away during the fight and being lured away by the enemy schemes.
"Um, Kaido Meow, if you're not busy, why don't you come with me to chase after Queen?"
Sherwin extended an invitation to the idle Kaido Meow.
He suddenly remembered that this Onigashima seemed to have several floors, so Queen had likely fled to the laboratory he had set up inside that giant skull...
Additionally, as the headquarters of the Beast Pirates, Onigashima should have many good things inside, right? No wonder this was Klee Meow first choice!
Sherwin once again felt grateful that he hadn't chosen to go against the Destiny Felyne and had instead followed the revelation given by the God Klee.
Now that he had such a great opportunity thanks to Klee Meow revelation, he wouldn't be a Hunter if he didn't follow up and do some looting.
Sherwin had originally wanted to bring along Klee Meow, but considering that the probability of Kaido happening to return would increase significantly if he took her away, Sherwin painfully decided to leave her outside.
As for bringing Kaido Meow along, it wasn't because he was worried about any changes below it was purely because Sherwin storage space wasn't quite enough, so he pulled this big Maine Coon along to serve as a mobile warehouse.
Kaido Meow had no idea that Sherwin was treating him as a porter. After confirming that the enemies here posed no threat to their companions, he nodded and followed Sherwin toward the ruins of the skull-shaped building.
The man and cat quickly reached the skull building that had been split in half by Sherwin. The interior was actually divided into many sections the above-ground portion alone had five or six floors, and beneath the floor he had sliced open, there was clearly another space.
However, whether above or below ground, the place seemed empty, with no sign of anyone else.
Sherwin guessed that the people inside had likely all gone outside to participate in the reconstruction of Onigashima or had headed to the main island of Wano to hunt down fugitives.
"Sniff, sniff... Hunter, that strange snake went this way, Meow."
(=ΦωΦ=)σ
Kaido Meow lifted his nose and sniffed the air a few times, quickly locking onto Queen trail and pointing toward the crack beneath their feet.
It was just Queen bad luck most of the people in the underground space had already left, so there were far fewer distractions than usual. Furthermore, because he had just used the ice demon virus on himself, his body still carried a lingering, chilly scent...
At least, that was what Kaido Meow told him.
Although his burning Hunter soul made Sherwin want to loot the place immediately, he and Kaido Meow still jumped down through the crack in the floor right away...
He was going to loot Queen laboratory anyway.
Following that "chilling scent," Sherwin and Kaido Meow headed all the way down. Since no enemies stood in their way, the process was very smooth Sherwin Observation Haki could even sense Queen presence now.
However...
In the middle of tracking Queen, Sherwin and Kaido Meow both turned their heads simultaneously toward a certain fork in the road.
From that direction, an unfamiliar presence had appeared, yet the individual made no move to block them.
Setting that unfamiliar presence aside for the moment, Sherwin and Kaido Meow chased him all the way to the very bottom, the second basement level.
There were actually several intermediate layers in between, but the spaces were too small to be considered actual "floors."
"To think you'd chase me all the way here..."
Queen Observation Haki had naturally detected the pursuers behind him. With nowhere left to run, he simply stayed put and waited for Sherwin and Kaido Meow to arrive.
To Sherwin slight disappointment, the second basement level was not Queen laboratory, but rather the Beasts Pirate armory. The reason Queen had come here was because his spare bodies were also stored in this location.
By the time Sherwin and the others arrived, he had already stuffed his "brachiosaurus snake" essence—his "true body"—into a brachiosaurus form that looked no different from his previous body, and had successfully switched into his man-beast form.
Clearly, these spare bodies likely utilized cloning technology one had to wonder if Queen had once again copied Germa work.
"Everyone, stay back!"
Queen spread his mechanical palm, aiming it at a large pile of ammunition stacked nearby, and threatened, "If you come any closer, we'll all go down together!"
To prove he wasn't joking, a light gradually began to glow in the center of his mechanical palm, as if it would fire a laser at any second.
"Alright, alright, we'll back off."
Sherwin twirled his blade, sheathing the Longsword at his waist, and then slowly stepped back half a pace, quietly shifting into a stance that bore a slight resemblance to an Iai draw.
Right at that moment, Queen, who had just begun to breathe a sigh of relief, suddenly realized he had lost all sensation in his arm.
Monster Hunter Style: Concealment of the Night.
This sword technique, passed down from the kingdom guards where Brook originated, wasn't particularly powerful in terms of raw destructive force, but its level of stealth was absolutely top-tier.
After silently severing Queen mechanical arm, Sherwin smoothly completed a standard sheathing motion...
Monster Hunter Style: Ultimate Secret: Crimson Sky End!