After Klee Meow Devil Fruit ability progressed further by absorbing and fusing the Mother Flame, creating "Little Girls," and other methods, the maximum speed of the Dodo Advance she drove even surpassed Kuma "Kuma Express."
Although limited by the hull of the Dodo Advance itself and the endurance of the members on board, requiring a gradual acceleration process before reaching maximum speed, it took less than half a minute in total. Kuma Paw-Paw Fruit merely had the advantage of an instant start.
Therefore, when the Dodo Advance arrived at the Island of Music, Elegia, Shanks and the others who had gone to Egghead Island to check on the situation had not yet returned...
"Yo-ho-ho-ho-ho~ Sherwin, long time no see!"
Brook, who was still staying on Elegia, walked over together with Uta, Gordon, and the members of the Red Hair Pirates who had stayed behind to protect them.
"I have already seen Laboon at Twin Cape. Thank you very much for bringing me news of it back then."
Brook bowed to Sherwin.
And then...
"Miss Robin, long time no see, and these two lovely young ladies, nice to meet you for the first time." Brook took off the top hat on his head and performed a very elegant chest-stroking salute, "May I see your panties?"
"Fufu, Mr. Brook is still the same as always."
Robin covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled, quietly dodging the other party request.
Yamato, on the other hand, grabbed her trousers, gesturing to take them off while asking in confusion, "Looking at panties? Is this some strange etiquette on the outside?"
"It not etiquette at all! This skeleton is clearly a pervert, okay?! Weapon Transformation: Scythe Girl!"
Baby-5 raised her leg and kicked toward Brook, directly turning it into a massive scythe.
Fortunately, her extreme people-pleasing personality had mostly been corrected under the influence of Sherwin and the Felynes otherwise, she would probably have been like Yamato, preparing to give Brook some fan service.
"Waaaaah—!"
Brook hurriedly leaned backward, narrowly avoiding Baby-5 attack.
Taking advantage of the momentum to roll on the ground, the perverted skeleton knelt on the floor and pounded the ground with a face full of resentment: "Damn it! This was the first time a beautiful woman was willing to let me see her panties!"
Sherwin looked at this guy with lines of black lines on his face. His originally somewhat heavy mood was so disrupted by this antics that for a moment, he didn't even know what to say.
"Honestly! He clearly a very excellent musician, so why is he a pervert?!"
Uta put her hands on her hips and complained crossly.
Meanwhile, Gordon covered his face with his hand in shame, seemingly embarrassed to be a fellow musician with Brook, and when he looked at Brook, his gaze was both disgusted and angry.
Obviously, this lecherous skeleton must have made the same request to Uta as well...
Come to think of it, how did he manage not to get killed by Shanks?
"Because Mr. Brook said he knew you and your group, Sherwin, the captain showed mercy," explained Bonk Punch, who looked a bit scary but was actually the musician of the Red Hair Pirates, coming forward. "Though he was still hung from a tree by the captain for a week as a warning."
"Oh, actually, we're not that close. Even if you had just killed him directly, it wouldn't have mattered much to me."
Sherwin narrowed his eyes and said in an emotionless voice.
"How cruel! That too cruel! Young man Sherwin! I don't remember you being such a heartless person!"
Brook, who had been pounding the ground, jumped up in excitement, his afro seemingly growing two sizes larger.
Sherwin curled his lip in disgust, "I should have forcefully kept you back then and handed you over to Haibara and Purah Meow for research, saving everyone from you, a pervert, going around acting like a hooligan."
"It not too late now! Back then, I was thinking about whether we could use Mr. Brook soul ability to research a way to grant souls to the Guardians, meow! Check-it~"
(ゝω)~☆
Purah Meow quickly approached.
Squatting on Sherwin shoulder, Haibara Meow also nodded with her eyes shining brightly, "Exactly, exactly. We shouldn't have let this guy get away before. What a great guinea... ahem... research subject, meow!"
(=ω=)
"You were just about to say guinea pig, right?! You were definitely about to say guinea pig, weren't you?!"
Brook became even more agitated, though his movements contrasted with his heated interrogation as he quietly began to back away and distance himself from Sherwin and the others...
You actually know how to do the moonwalk?
Looking at the familiar movements Brook was executing, Sherwin couldn't help but complain internally.
And then...
"Ouch!"
Brook, who was "secretly" using the moonwalk to distance himself from those two terrifying little cats, suddenly felt his foot catch and fell to the ground with a thud.
"Who tripped my foot?!"
Brook grumbled with dissatisfaction as he propped himself up from the ground.
Then he saw a reddish, goofy-looking Husky wagging its tail at him.
"Woof—!"
Vodka barked at Brook, then lowered its head again to continue gnawing on his shinbone.
"Stop biting! My bones aren't delicious at all!!!"
If Brook was only wary of the two scientific Felynes a moment ago, he was now in a complete panic. He kicked frantically with his truly bone-thin legs, trying to break free from Vodka mouth.
However, Vodka was no ordinary dog, but an elemental beast. Even when Brook eventually used sixty to seventy percent of his strength, he still couldn't break free from the dog mouth. Instead, the silly dog mistakenly thought Brook was playing with it and bit down even more enthusiastically.
In the end, Brook was even forced to use his soul projection technique.
As a result, whether it was because Vodka true form was just a puddle of potion and not considered a living creature, or because it possessed a Devil Fruit power... Brook failed to possess it, and his soul passed right through Vodka body.
"Hmm, soul abilities are ineffective against elemental beasts. This is a very interesting discovery, meow!"
(=`ー=)
"Oh dear, if souls can't possess inorganic matter, does that mean I won't be able to create Guardians with souls? Souls really are fascinating things, meow! Check-it!"
(ゝω)~☆
The two science-oriented Felynes gathered together, evaluating and commenting on Brook, who was still entangled with Vodka.
"Is now the time to talk about this?! I'm about to be eaten by this strange dog!!!"
"Actually, Vodka..."
"Vodka is an elemental beast created by me, so it only listens to me, meow!" Haibara Meow interrupted Sherwin explanation, taking advantage of the crisis.
"It not impossible to make it let you go, but you must cooperate with my and Sister Purah Meow research after this, meow!"
(=ΦΦ=)
As the little kitten spoke, the silly dog Vodka actually cooperated perfectly and stopped tearing, merely continuing to hold Brook calf in its mouth.
Haibara Meow stood in front of Brook with her hands on her hips, looking completely confident in her victory.
Under these circumstances, she didn't believe the other party wouldn't cooperate.
"I'll cooperate! I'll definitely cooperate!"
Sure enough, Brook agreed easily. After all, cooperating with the Felyne experiments was just a bit uncomfortable and posed no danger to his life, which was much better than being eaten by a dog.
"Alright, Vodka, let him go meow."
Haibara Meow nodded in satisfaction and spoke to the Husky beside her.
And then...
Vodka, who had just been quiet for a short moment, went right back to tearing and biting at Brook calf.
"Haven't I already agreed?!"
Brook questioned in grief and indignation.
Fortunately, Haibara Meow quickly pulled out her Seastone gloves and beat away Vodka, the disobedient, stupid dog.
"Cough, cough. Actually, I wanted to say this just now. Vodka was only playing with you, not trying to eat you..." Sherwin cleared his throat and said with hindsight,
"He usually eats high-end cuisine made by Sanji Meow, so he doesn't have much interest in your old bones that don't have a single shred of meat on them."
"You should have said that kind of thing sooner!!!"
"Cough, cough. You already promised me just now, so you can't go back on your word meow."
(=ω)
Haibara Meow also cleared her throat to remind him. It was just that the little Felyne was ultimately a bit embarrassed, so she didn't dare to look at Brook eye sockets, which surprisingly managed to convey a look of resentment.
Brook was now in utter despair because he realized that aside from getting news about Laboon and recovering his shadow, nothing good seemed to happen whenever he encountered Sherwin and his group of Felynes.