Looking at Sherwin dangerous smile and movements, Buggy and his subordinates finally remembered that the initial identity that made this "Hunter" before them famous was a pirate hunter, and a "pirate killer" type who showed absolutely no mercy at that!
"Of course we'll help! Straw Hat is our sworn brother, our dearest friend!"
The beast tamer Mohji, who had styled his hair and beard into a plush headpiece shape, quickly declared his stance.
The acrobat Cabaji, whose face was half-hidden by his hair in a rather visual-kei style, sold out his own captain without the slightest hesitation: "The only one who doesn't want to help is Captain Buggy, it has nothing to do with us!"
The rest of the Buggy Pirates, including that large lion Richie, all nodded their heads one after another in agreement.
"Y-you bastards!!!"
Buggy, who had suffered a tragic backstab, widened his eyes, staring at his group of subordinates with a face full of shock and a long trail of snot hanging down.
However, Mohji and the others completely ignored Buggy condemnation, swarming off the Thousand Sunny in a rush and charging toward the Marines...
Of course, with their strength, they were actually just acting as a hype squad, providing almost... no, absolutely no help whatsoever to the overall battle.
As expected of a clown circus, these guys really are just here for comic relief, aren't they?
Sherwin looked at the heavily demoralized Buggy, whose mentality had completely broken down, feeling somewhat amused and annoyed at the same time. His desire to eliminate the guy wasn't all that strong anymore.
Well, in truth, Sherwin hadn't particularly wanted to do so from the very beginning.
Aside from respecting the conventional, unwritten rule of "not killing comic relief characters," Sherwin was still somewhat intimidated by the metaphysical concept of "Conqueror Luck."
After all, among his own Felynes, there were two "children of fortune" on the metaphysical side, and he had seen plenty of unscientific events caused by the unscientific luck of Klee Meow and Touma Meow.
So after careful consideration, Sherwin ultimately gave up on the option of eliminating Buggy.
Anyway, even if this guy ended up with a massive horde of powerful subordinates later on, he would only ever use them to run a delivery service, so he really couldn't be considered a threatening character.
But Buggy wasn't exactly a good person either, so letting him off the hook just like that obviously didn't fit Sherwin personality—he hadn't even finished getting his amusement out of him yet!
Furthermore, Sherwin was also very interested in the abilities of the Chop-Chop Fruit, which was the perfect counter to swordsmen.
"You ate the Chop-Chop Fruit, right? Can this fruit really grant immunity to all slashes?"
"Eh?"
Buggy looked at Sherwin with a foolish expression, not knowing why he suddenly brought this up.
However, before he could figure it out, he saw the hand Sherwin used to hold the Longsword seem to blur for an instant. Immediately after, his arms detached from his body.
"Waaaaah! Why did you suddenly slash at me?!"
Realizing what happened a moment too late, Buggy cried out in a panic while quickly reattaching his arms.
"Oh? Immune to Armament Haki and automatically split before you could even react... As expected of a wordsman Bane'..."
Sherwin rubbed his chin and couldn't help but marvel, "Even Logia types can't pull off something like this."
"Really? Ehehe~ I'm not as amazing as you say~"
Suddenly channeling Chopper, Buggy bashfully and humbly deflected the praise, but he quickly snapped out of it, "Wait, no! I asked why you suddenly slashed at me?!"
Sherwin remained silent, merely staring at Buggy with an emotionless, icy glare.
After shouting at Sherwin in a burst of emotion, Buggy rationality quickly returned under that deathly gaze. Recalling Sherwin various reputations, he instantly broke out into a cold sweat and quickly plastered on a flattering smile...
"Of course, I didn't mean to blame you, Lord Sherwin. I just hoped you could give me a heads-up before slashing me—Waaah!!!"
However, before he could finish his sentence, Sherwin swung the Longsword once more.
Only this time, he switched from cutting to slapping, using the flat side of the longsword to smash down onto Buggy shoulder.
This time, Buggy didn't "automatically split." Instead, he was knocked straight down onto the deck of the Thousand Sunny by the Longsword, which carried no Armament Haki.
After slapping Buggy down, Sherwin then said in a slow and deliberate manner, "Oh, then be careful, I'm going to slash you now."
"You clearly slashed me first before saying anything!!!"
Buggy, who had just been rolling around on the ground clutching his shoulder and screaming in agony, let his emotions get the better of him again, jumping up from the deck to loudly berate him.
"Yeah, so? You seem to have a big problem with that?"
"No, no, no, how could I dare have a problem with Lord Sherwin?"
As a comic relief character, Buggy speed at changing faces was naturally second to none. Before Sherwin words even hit the ground, he had already put on that flattering smile again and said obsequiously, "Whatever Lord Sherwin wants to do, this lowly one will do his best to cooperate!"
Sherwin nodded, and then, once again without even a greeting, slashed at Buggy arm twice with a swish-swish. But this time, he used the back of the blade... which was the fish belly of the Longsword.
Yet this time, Buggy Devil Fruit ability automatically activated again.
"Interesting..."
Sherwin rubbed his chin, then pulled out all the famous swords of various thicknesses he had collected. He intended to properly test the judging criteria of Buggy ability.
Looking at Sherwin enthusiastically picking out weapons, Buggy naturally guessed what the other party intended to do.
Though his heart was gnashing with hatred, he dared not show the slightest bit of dissatisfaction, deeply afraid that the other party might actually finish him off if he became unhappy for a moment.
"What are you doing here, you idiot Meow?!"
(=`ω=)
Just as Sherwin picked out a longsword with a relatively wide spine and was preparing to make a move on Buggy, Haibara Meow, riding Vermouth, leapt down from mid-air and landed accurately on the shoulder where she usually stayed.
Although the little kitten was also part of the logistics personnel, she was different from Sasha Meow. If she was too far away, she couldn't provide timely treatment to allies. Furthermore, as Whitebeard "primary doctor," Haibara Meow had not stayed on the Dodo Advance but had entered Marineford aboard the Moby Dick alongside Sherwin and the others.
After the battle commenced, as a medical unit, the little kitten naturally remained on the Moby Dick, surrounded and protected by a bunch of Whitebeard Pirates members and the "Black Organization Squad."
"Haha~ Don't worry, I didn't suffer any real injuries, and I've already drunk an Angel Potion."
Sherwin happily stroked Haibara Meow small head.
Although this tsundere little kitten was very sharp-tongued, Sherwin, who knew his own cat personalities inside out, understood that she was worried he had sustained some hard-to-recover injuries in his previous battle with Mihawk, which was why she had been waiting on the Thousand Sunny and hadn't come down until now.
"Who... who is worried about a dummy like you, meow?!"
(>Д<)
Shame turned to anger as the little kitten swung her paws, throwing a flurry of chaotic cat punches at Sherwin head.
Sherwin hurriedly diverted her attention.
"I stayed here because I discovered an interesting Devil Fruit ability..."
He pointed at Buggy, who was nearby and hesitating over whether to take the opportunity to run away, and quickly explained the opponent ability and his own plans to Haibara Meow.
"Oh?! That indeed sounds like a very interesting ability, meow!"
(=ω=)┣▇▇▇▇═─
The little kitten swiftly pulled a syringe that was almost as tall as herself out of her bag, her eyes shining as she looked at Buggy, who still wore a sycophantic smile.
"Let me draw a few vials of his blood for the records first, just in case you chop him to death while testing him later, meow!"
Buggy expression instantly turned to sheer horror...
"Don... don't you people come any closer, ahhhhh—!!!"