19 "Nice sword you’ve got—I’ll take it!"

"Boom——!"

Even as the distant explosion rang out, Sherwin, in the middle of his physical training, didn't even blink and continued his exercises without pause.

It had been over a week since he summoned Klee Meow. In that time, explosions had become a daily occurrence.

Both he and Sanji Meow—along with nearly every other creature on the island—had pretty much gotten used to the commotion.

Take this latest one, for example. Not even a few birds were startled...

Well, to be fair, that might also be because most of the birds in the area had already moved out.

Ahem... In short, while the sounds may have seemed intense, just like Klee Meow had said herself, she had plenty of experience with this kind of thing.

Except for the first day, when her control over fire was a bit off, all the explosions and flames afterward had been well within a manageable range.

In fact, most of the later explosions weren't even related to her combat training. She was just experimenting with different kinds of bombs.

And, just as Sherwin had suspected before—after eating the Flame-Flame Fruit, Klee Meow had gained the full ability to clean up her own messes.

Even if she accidentally set nearby trees on fire, she could instantly bring the blaze under control.

So...

What wrong with letting a little Felyne play with bombs?

Sherwin put down the massive boulder that far exceeded his own size, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and planned to take a short break.

Ever since realizing this was the One Piece world, he had been ramping up his training intensity to match Zoro.

But instantly cranking it up to that level wasn't realistic. He still needed time to adjust, and for that, he had even temporarily paused his work mapping out the island...

At the very least, he had to master Armament Haki—that was the minimum requirement Sherwin set for himself before going out to sea.

After all, without knowing which part of the sea this island was located in, he had to prioritize the safety of his Felynes.

Armament Haki, a power that became as common as dirt in the latter half of the Grand Line, was absolutely essential for him.

As for training Haki, Sherwin wasn't completely clueless.

He'd already noticed that using demon mode + Spirit Slash seemed to brush up against the edges of Armament Haki.

After repeated trials, he confirmed that this path was mostly correct. Even charging attacks from greatswords, hammers, and lances—as well as the super burst of the charge blade—all helped him move closer to mastering Armament Haki.

As for Observation Haki, techniques like Foresight Slash and Perfect Guard could also serve as indirect stepping stones.

As for Conqueror Haki...

Being quite self-aware, Sherwin had almost immediately chosen to give up on it.

Of course, that didn't mean he had completely ruled it out.

After all, in the later parts of the manga, characters with Conqueror Haki were everywhere.

And in all sorts of fanfics, the protagonists were always blessed with kingly potential... even if before transmigrating, they were the most average of people—some who couldn't be more un-kinglike even if they tried.

So as another transmigrator, Sherwin figured he might still have a tiny chance of awakening Conqueror Haki.

It just that its awakening wasn't something that could be trained—it depended entirely on fate. Which was why Sherwin couldn't be bothered wasting energy on it.

Stay calm and go with the flow.

Aside from Sherwin pushing his training intensity like a madman, Sanji Meow—who originally just wanted to be a happy little cook—had also joined the training regiment.

In his own words—

"You already said this world is dangerous, meow! As a gentleman, how could I just stand by and watch little sister Klee fight while I do nothing, meow!"

Tch! Funny how he didn't have that kind of awareness back when I was the one fighting alone.

Though that may be true, Sherwin had also been the one who asked Sanji Meow to focus on protecting himself and not join in the fights.

And compared to the adorable Klee Meow, he really couldn't complain. So rather than criticizing Sanji Meow, Sherwin just grabbed him and gave him a vicious RUB session to vent his frustration.

While ramping up his training, Sherwin also started to loosely plan out his goals for after setting out to sea.

If it were just up to him, the simplest plan would be to run off to Windmill Village in East Blue, find a place to lie low, and wait until Luffy found the One Piece and his dad toppled the World Government before coming out to play.

But that was just wishful thinking. First, he had no idea what point in the timeline he was in—what if Roger wasn't even dead yet? That would be game over.

Second, Sanji Meow, who wanted to visit Zou to see the big sisters of the Furry Mink Tribe. and Klee Meow, who loved to explore, definitely wouldn't agree to staying put.

Joining the Marines wasn't a bad option either. Sure, the Marines were basically lapdogs for the Celestial Dragons and not nearly as righteous as they claimed to be, but compared to pirates, most of whom were just scum, they were a much better alternative.

Plus, the Marines had a more structured training system. For most transmigrators, it was a solid choice.

If Sherwin didn't have "a family to take care of," he probably would've chosen to join the Marines himself. But with two cats who wanted to roam freely—especially when one of those Felynes was named Klee...

If a Marine base just suddenly exploded one day, Sherwin wouldn't be the least bit surprised.

Besides, Sherwin golden finger wouldn't allow him to stay in one place for too long. If he joined the Marines, he'd most likely be stationed at some base.

Even if he got to go out to sea, the destinations and routes would likely not be up to him, which was clearly unacceptable for someone like Sherwin who wanted to unlock more pages.

As for becoming a pirate, Sherwin had zero interest. Even being an adventure-driven pirate like Luffy was a no-go…

If you want to explore the world, why bother waving the pirate flag? All it does is get the Marines on your back, with absolutely no upside.

Having never even considered becoming the Pirate King, Sherwin simply couldn't understand people like Luffy—those who didn't enjoy pillaging or plundering, but still treated becoming a pirate as some kind of dream.

Since his golden finger was related to Monster Hunter, why not just form a Research Commission?

That was Sherwin current positioning for himself and his Felynes.

As for what the Research Commission would mainly do—it'd naturally involve exploring the world, hunting various creatures, and occasionally moonlighting as bounty hunters.

Sherwin had also come up with a preliminary plan for their sailing route after setting out.

No matter where they currently were, he intended to head for East Blue first.

Aside from East Blue being the "weakest" sea in terms of power levels, it was also rich in "opportunities."

First was the golden finger page unlocking feature. If he wasn't mistaken, the weapon-related page probably required him to collect famous blades like the 21 Great Grade swords and the 50 Skillful Grade swords.

And in East Blue Loguetown, there were two easy-to-obtain famous swords.

He had already snatched the Flame-Flame Fruit from both Ace and Sabo, so of course he wouldn't pass up on Zoro two swords.

As for the Wado Ichimonji, Sherwin didn't dare hope for that one, but he could look forward to the Shusui… Though stripping Zoro of all these swords did feel a bit excessive, it not like the manga had ever explained the acquisition of Zoro swords in great detail.

In any case, Zoro was a member of the main crew. He'd never be short on blades.

Next, Sherwin planned to visit Shimotsuki Village to study swordsmanship—or more accurately, kenjutsu—from Koushirou in a more systematic way.

While the sword techniques from Monster Hunter were plenty useful, they were ultimately designed to fight giant monsters and operated under a different power system from the one in the pirate world.

So learning this world kenjutsu would definitely help improve his overall strength.

Sure, it'd be a bit shameless to rob Zoro of his swords and then swagger right up to him to train under his master, but Sherwin skin was thick enough to not care.

Besides, he still didn't know the exact timeline. Maybe Zoro had already gotten those two swords, or even the Shusui, for all he knew.

Of course, Sherwin still hoped that Luffy hadn't set sail yet. Because aside from the two named blades in Loguetown, he also had his eyes on the sea charts that Nami had drawn.

He wasn't sure if relying on maps drawn by others could help unlock the map progression in the Hunter Manual, but having those sea charts would definitely make it easier to chart their course through East Blue.

And lastly… Sherwin was genuinely curious about what might happen if Sanji-meow ever ran into the original Sanji. That meeting would definitely be something worth watching.