Monster Hunter of the One Piece World

With the enthusiastic hospitality of the Navy comrades, Sherwin naturally achieved his goal of opening up the map with ease.

The entire island had already been lit up, and most importantly, he even saw a map of the entire West Blue inside the Navy base.

The pre-rendering progress was suddenly pushed to seventy or eighty percent.

As for why it didn't reach 100%, Sherwin thought it over carefully and made a rough guess—most likely there were still some undiscovered or worthless islands that they were too lazy to include on the map.

Anyway, it was all free gains, and Sherwin was already very satisfied.

Then...

He realized that aside from petting Felynes, he didn't seem to have anything else to do for the time being.

Although the sea areas outside the island were still pitch-black, before getting a proper ship, Sherwin had no plans to explore the ocean.

Besides, since there was such a quick way to light up islands, there must be other methods to deal with the much larger ocean areas.

Sherwin guessed that it might be similar to the regional occupation design in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 14.

As long as all the islands in West Blue were visited, the ocean parts would naturally light up.

Of course, whether this guess was right or not was something to consider after getting a ship. For now, he had to honestly keep working for Cody, hoping to earn himself a mast or a deck.

It just that the fleet hadn't set off yet, so he didn't need to go to work for the time being.

But Sherwin didn't just idle away the time. While waiting to depart, Sherwin reluctantly cut down his cat-petting time and resumed the training he had long put on hold...

Mm, along with Uncle Bucks, who had suddenly gotten serious again.

And successfully pushed him back into self-doubt once more.

Actually, Sherwin hadn't meant to provoke him on purpose—it just that Uncle Bucks had better training equipment.

Though Zoro trained mostly with stones, and the Garp-style training was also very wild, a better training environment did indeed improve efficiency. Those with monstrous talent might not care about that bit of improvement, but Sherwin did.

What more, after training with Bucks, he could also spar with him conveniently...

"Another spar?" When Sherwin challenged him again, Bucks looked reluctant. "Come on... didn't we pretty much finish things last time? Doing it again won't change much."

Last time, he had sensed the tide turning and pulled back just in time, so he didn't end up embarrassing himself in front of all his underlings. Although anyone with eyes could tell he couldn't beat this brat Sherwin, at least he hadn't actually lost, right?

But if they fought again, Sherwin—who had by now adjusted his combat style—wouldn't be as easy to deal with.

However, Sherwin wasn't thinking that deeply. The reason he wanted to spar with Bucks wasn't because the last battle was inconclusive or anything like that.

"I wasn't using the Longsword last time..." Sherwin set down the training wooden sword, pressed his hands together, and pleaded to Bucks, "Uncle, your swordsmanship really helps me a lot. Just help me one more time~"

"...You really leave me no choice. These old bones will train with you one more time." Bucks shook his head with a bitter smile and finally agreed.

This time the spar ended quickly. After all, the Longsword was Sherwin most proficient weapon, and he had already witnessed Bucks swordsmanship. So after just a bit of adjustment, he quickly got into rhythm.

Bucks didn't even have time to pull out like he did last time when the situation turned bad—he got hit square in the face by Sherwin Iai Slash.

"...Hey, brat Sherwin, interested in learning my swordsmanship?"

Bucks lay sprawled on the ground, arms and legs stretched out, staring at the ceiling in silence for a while before suddenly speaking.

"Huh? Didn't you learn your swordsmanship from the Guard Corps, Uncle? Is it even allowed to teach outsiders?" Sherwin paused in surprise and asked.

Of course, he was interested in Bucks swordsmanship. It wasn't because he thought Bucks sword style was stronger than his own Monster Hunter style, but because he wanted to understand the differences in combat techniques between the two worlds.

His plan to go to East Blue to find Koshiro had been for the same reason.

So, Sherwin didn't see Brook swordsmanship as something he absolutely had to learn. More importantly, he didn't want Uncle Bucks, who had been pretty good to him, to get in trouble because of it.

"Of course it not a problem. It not like it some big secret or anything."

After Bucks explained, Sherwin finally understood. The Guard Corps that Brook and Bucks belonged to originally only taught basic swordsmanship.

But over generations of captains and members refining the techniques, a thrust-focused sword style had gradually taken shape. And from that core sword style, each member of the Guard Corps developed their own variations and styles.

So while Brook and Bucks had both learned the same foundational swordsmanship, in practice, their approaches were quite different.

Sherwin totally understood that. Even the Marines Rokushiki had evolved in different directions. It was completely normal for sword styles to differ. Even Sherwin himself was like that...

Sherwin combat techniques came from the inherited memories of various Monster Hunters. But he didn't just copy those hunters fighting styles—he continuously fused and adjusted them through training and battle until he developed a style that suited him best.

So... I really do have some talent for combat, right?!

"Ahem..." After letting that thought inflate his ego a little, Sherwin cleared his throat and said, "Since it not a secret, then of course I'd like to learn it."

...

The fleet rest period passed quickly. On the day before departure, the longsword that Cody promised Sherwin finally arrived.

Since it wasn't anything particularly special, the blacksmith didn't even bother to give it a name. The whole blade was slightly shorter than the Longsword, but it handled well enough...

At least it was way better than carrying a fish sword on his back.

As for Bucks swordsmanship, Sherwin had pretty much learned the basics. Of course, he had only just managed to learn it.

To fully master and apply it smoothly would still take time and combat experience—and truly integrating it into his own fighting style was something that would take much, much longer.

The swordsmanship of the two worlds is indeed somewhat different—it not so easy to fuse them together.

While Sherwin continued to refine his strength, his two cats had already become big celebrities on this island.

Especially Klee Meow—Sherwin originally planned to custom-make several sets of cute clothes for her to wear when attending the trading fair later, but the women in the village had already spontaneously made a whole pile of clothes for her...

Sherwin wasn't surprised by this situation. Klee herself naturally had that kind of charm, not to mention in her cat cat form as Klee Meow.

What truly surprised Sherwin was...

During this whole period, Klee Meow actually hadn't caused a single explosion incident!

Well, the time she blew up fish at the seaside doesn't count.

Although Sherwin had repeatedly reminded Klee Meow before, and even had Sanji Meow watching her from the side, he didn't really hold out much hope that Klee Meow would actually behave herself.

He had originally planned to use the half of his salary that Cody had paid him in advance to compensate the villagers for any damages—but unexpectedly, he could save it after all!

"Klee really is the most well-behaved cat in the world!"

Having luckily saved a large sum of money, Sherwin scooped up Klee Meow and gave her a flurry of kisses.

Klee Meow, though unsure why Sherwin was praising her, was very happy just to be praised. So she returned the favor by kissing Sherwin several times, then rubbed her little head against his face over and over.

This was one way Klee Meow differed from the original Klee. Compared to the original Klee, who was used to entertaining herself when others were busy, Klee Meow was much clingier. Maybe it had something to do with her main body being a cat…

Either way, it was a good thing for Sherwin, so he didn't bother thinking too much about the reason.

"Don't get too happy too soon, meow." Just as the one person and one cat were enjoying their close bonding time, the always buzz-killing Sanji Meow jumped out again to pour cold water on them.

"The reason there haven't been any explosions is because little sister Klee has recently been researching explosive tags, meow. Even then, there were still a few small fires, only they were quickly controlled by little sister Klee using her powers, meow."

"..."

At this moment, Sherwin felt extremely grateful that he had told Klee Meow the story of Naruto ninja Meow.