Monster Hunter of the One Piece World

"Ahhhhhhh!"

"It hurts!"

"I'm wounded! I'm wounded!"

As Sherwin sheathed his blade, a chorus of screams erupted behind him. The men in black suits lay sprawled across the ground, clutching their wounds.

What Sherwin had done was actually very simple—just walk over, draw his sword, strike, sheath the blade… and then strike a cool pose.

It was just that his speed had been so fast the gangsters couldn't react at all. Of course, the fact that there weren't any real experts among them played a big part too.

"Let go." Sherwin ignored the gangsters he had just slashed and beckoned to the two cat-cats he'd temporarily set aside. Then he picked them up again and headed back toward the inn.

"Sherwin-nii is amazing, meow!" Klee Meow cheered as usual.

Even Sanji Meow gave a rare compliment: "Not bad. Did you master Uncle Bucks swordsmanship, meow?"

"Not even close," Sherwin replied with a shake of his head.

The sword technique he'd just used was actually the "Three-Pace Humming: Arrow Notch Slash" from the manga, performed by Brook.

The original name of the move was "Requiem: BANDOROU." "Three-Pace Humming" was what Brook had renamed it based on his own sword style, meaning:

hum a tune through the nose, take three leisurely steps, and only then would the enemy realize they'd been cut. It was a highly advanced iaido-style technique.

However, very few swordsmen could actually pull it off. Even Bucks, who had taught the move to Sherwin, couldn't truly execute it.

And Sherwin clearly hadn't reached that level either. The result he achieved was noticeably inferior—especially considering his opponents were just a bunch of weak flunkies.

But Sherwin wasn't aiming to replicate Brook exact technique anyway. Due to the difference between a wild longsword and a rapier, trying to achieve the "Three-Pace Humming" effect would only be harder.

When he said "not even close," he was referring to how far he still had to go before fully integrating that sword move into his own style.

"Crap!"

A short distance down the road, Sherwin suddenly smacked his thigh in frustration. He'd been too caught up in looking cool earlier—he completely forgot to loot the bodies!

Wouldn't it be a little embarrassing to walk back now and search the gangsters?

Sherwin hesitated for a moment, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to be that shameless. Still unwilling to give up, he turned to Sanji Meow and asked, "Are they following us?"

Because of what Cody and Bucks had told him, Sherwin had held back earlier—the gangsters had only suffered flesh wounds that wouldn't really impair their movement.

"Nope, meow." Sanji Meow perked up his ears and listened carefully for a while before replying with certainty.

Those gangsters were weak, sure, but they weren't stupid. Knowing they'd run into a monster, there was no way they'd come back to cause trouble again.

Such a shame!

Sherwin smacked his lips regretfully and continued on his way.

When he carried the two cat-cats back into the bustling streets, plenty of people cast him surprised glances—it was obvious they hadn't expected him to walk away unscathed from a confrontation with the Capone family.

But just as quickly, those people averted their eyes. No matter how Sherwin managed it, or whether the Capone family would retaliate, it was none of their business. This wasn't something they had the power to get involved in.

Once they were back at the inn, Sherwin gave Cody a detailed account of what had happened during his outing.

"The Capone family, huh?" Cody rubbed the little mustache by his lips thoughtfully. "I'd say it highly likely you ran into them."

Of the three major underworld families on Gules Island, the Simontes were more old-school and focused on maintaining order.

The Buono family—the ones who had invited Cody here—were fixated on aligning themselves with the World Government and turning the Kingdom of Gules into a member nation, so they generally played by the rules.

Only the Capone family was a true crime syndicate through and through—if there was profit to be made, they'd do anything. Especially their boss, Capone Bege: ruthless, unpredictable, and utterly cold-blooded.

Cody evaluation of Capone Bege and his forces was simple: there was no difference between them and any other pirates.

Sherwin fully agreed with that assessment—after all, Capone would eventually become a pirate, one of the "Worst Generation" who emerged at the same time as the protagonist, Luffy.

"Will that cause trouble for us?" Bucks asked worriedly.

"No. If it just the Capone family making a move, I'm actually more at ease," Cody explained.

"They even offered to pay for Klee and Sanji. That likely means they don't have any hidden agenda targeting merchants like us. And since the Capone family is taking the initiative here, we can leave this matter to the Buano family—the ones who invited us—to mediate."

Just as Sherwin expected, the cooperation between the crime families was as fragile as toilet paper.

Rather than saying the three families jointly controlled the country, it was more accurate to say they were constantly restraining each other to prevent any one faction from growing too powerful.

Still, just like how the Joker could toy with Gotham gangs, those who acted without scruples often had an easier time coming out on top.

According to the manga lore, Capone Bege would go on to become one of the Five Great Underworld Powers of the West Blue.

But precisely because he acted so recklessly, Capone Bege ended up being hunted by a coalition of enemies, and had no choice but to flee to sea with his subordinates in tow.

Sherwin only recalled this part of the lore thanks to Cody mentioning Capone Bege name, which stirred up a flood of related memories.

Although the Capone family would eventually rise to become one of the five major mafia powers in the West Blue, Sherwin wasn't too concerned.

It would still take them years to reach that level. Besides, the fact that the Capone family was currently offering money showed that they still cared quite a bit about the opinions of their allies—the Buano and Siment families.

And even if things did escalate into a fight, Sherwin wasn't the least bit intimidated.

Now that he had awakened Armament Haki, he was already strong enough to hold his own against the future "Supernova Bege." Not to mention, they had someone even stronger than him on their side: Klee Meow. And Klee Meow powers were a perfect counter to Capone Bege abilities…

Having eaten the Castle-Castle Fruit, Capone Bege possessed two main traits: the ability to store soldiers inside his body, and the transformation into a heavily fortified "castle man." But numbers meant nothing to someone like Klee Meow, who was both a Flame-Flame Fruit user and a walking demolition hazard.

As for that massive transformed "Big Father" form of his? Against Klee Meow souped-up, superheated kaboom bombs, it wouldn't be any more durable than a chocolate wafer.

In the days that followed, Sherwin continued to eat well and sleep soundly. By day, he roamed the city with the two Felynes as usual, even venturing again into some secluded areas.

But this time, no short-sighted gangsters tried to "buy the cats"—much to Sherwin mild disappointment, since he'd been hoping to earn a bit of extra cash.

Meanwhile, Cody didn't even bother asking the Buano family to step in—because the Capone family hadn't made any move against them at the inn. Judging by the silence, it looked like they had already backed off.

That didn't really fit Capone Bege usual character, but Cody didn't think a mid-tier merchant like himself was worth the Capone family going out of their way to target.

So he simply reminded Sherwin and the others to stay alert during the trade fair—just in case someone from the Capone side tried to start something under the guise of a "misunderstanding."

"But there no need to be overly worried," Cody added.

"With both the Buano and Siment families present, and the other participants watching as well, even if the Capone family does try anything, they won't be able to push things too far."

Time quickly passed, and the day of the trade fair arrived. Cody gave Sherwin and the others one last round of reminders, then left the rest of the guards with the caravan as a precaution. After that, he set out for the venue with his strongest lineup: Bucks, Sherwin, and the two Felynes.