Monster Hunter of the One Piece World

"There an opening, meow!"

Sanji Meow, who was currently enjoying the services of Sherwin suddenly flashed a gleam in his eyes. He burst out from Sherwin embrace and launched an ascending kick straight at Sherwin chin.

Sherwin leaned back slightly, dodging the sneak attack from the little rascal. At the same time, he raised his right hand to catch a pebble flying at him from the side.

Immediately after, he ducked his head sharply to avoid a wooden stick swinging from behind, and finally rolled sideways just in time for Chinjao shiny bald head to smash into the spot where he had just been.

"So this is Observation Haki? What a fascinating feeling."

Blindfolded, Sherwin marveled as he sensed the "colors" suddenly appearing in his vision—both within and beyond his field of view.

At the exact moment that wooden stick had come sweeping at him, his Observation Haki had suddenly awakened.

There were no special signs or dramatic reactions it just came to him naturally, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

And then, he understood what Klee Meow had meant when she said she could "hear" other people emotions.

Maybe it was because his hearing wasn't as sharp as a Felyne, or maybe it was simply because humans primarily rely on sight—either way, Sherwin experience of Observation Haki felt more like "seeing," whereas for Klee Meow it was "hearing," and for Sanji Meow, it leaned more towards "smelling."

He could "see" rough outlines of various creatures even outside his field of vision, along with the "colors" representing their emotions and aura.

When focusing on a single target, he could even detect the "gaps" or injuries in their bodies—for example, Chinjao dented head.

Moreover, Sherwin Observation Haki had a different focus compared to Klee Meow and Sanji Meow.

Klee Meow haki leaned toward sensing others emotions—likely because her little doll-like heart was so pure. Sanji Meow haki was more adept at perceiving physical weaknesses in others, probably due to his role as a chef.

As for Sherwin, his Observation Haki was especially sensitive to the strength of an aura and the presence of danger. With just a sweep of his haki, he could roughly assess someone power in their normal state—though things like Haki activation or entering Gear Second or Third were beyond what he could perceive.

During battle, Sherwin reaction time was just a little quicker than the two cat-cats, and his ability to sense weaknesses wasn't much worse than Sanji Meow either.

Clearly, this all stemmed from the vast hunting experience passed down through the inherited memories of those Hunters.

"Aiya, Sherwin, you finally learned it, meow."

Sanji Meow, who had long since awakened his Observation Haki, shook his head and muttered smugly, "Observation Haki really isn't that hard, meow. You idiot actually took this long, meow."

Chinjao mouth twitched slightly at that. Although Sanji Meow was mocking Sherwin, the jab accidentally hit him too.

In fact, compared to Sherwin, Chinjao might've felt even more stung—after all, the age at which he awakened his own Observation Haki…

Let not bring that up. Best not to bring that up.

"Uuuu… Klee wants to make her paws turn black too, meow…"

After feeling happy for Sherwin for a moment, the little doll looked downcast, her head and ears drooping.

"Ahem… Just look at Sanji two hind legs—they're all pitch black and not cute at all, so not turning black is actually a good thing."

Sherwin, rather than truly comforting her, seemed more like he was teasing the cat again.

So naturally, this kind of "comfort" had absolutely no effect.

"Don't treat Klee like an idiot, meow!"

The little doll puffed up angrily and raised her tiny paw, giving Sherwin thigh two light punches.

"Alright, alright. Didn't Old Man Chinjao say it already? You're still young, and your body hasn't caught up yet, so there no need to rush about Armament Haki."

Sherwin picked Klee Meow up and rubbed his cheek against her little head, this time seriously comforting her.

"Besides, aren't you a Bomb Cat? You don't even need to join close combat. Klee just needs to throw bombs from a distance."

"Yeah, yeah! And Klee-chan bombs are so strong—no way enemies can stand up to them, even with Armament Haki, meow!"

Sanji Meow came over to comfort her as well. "And look at me! I don't even have Armament Haki either. So don't worry, Klee-chan, meow."

"Hm? Aren't you underestimating Armament Haki a little too much?"

Chinjao, completely lacking in social awareness, butted in and proudly gave an example:

"Back in the day, I could take Navy cannon fire head-on and smash their warships with my head! If your Armament Haki is strong enough, mere bombs aren't even worth worrying about."

Sherwin rolled his eyes at the old man who clearly couldn't read the room, then calmly dug a verbal hole for him to fall into:

"…The bombs Klee makes are a bit different from ordinary ones."

As expected, just like Sherwin had predicted, Chinjao completely ignored his warning and jumped right into the trap...

"Hahahahaha... Bombs are bombs. How different can they be? No matter how powerful they are, can they really compare to that bastard Garp fists?"

"I'm not too sure how strong Garp fists really are. Why don't you help Klee Meow test it out, Grandpa Chinjao?" Sherwin squinted as he shoveled in the final bit of dirt.

"No problem at all!" Still unaware that Sherwin had already buried him in a trap, Chinjao even started patting down the dirt on his own head to make it more solid.

He thumped his chest with a fist and volunteered, "Let head outside the city right now and test out little Klee bombs. That way, we won't have to worry about damaging anyone else stuff."

With that, Chinjao led Sherwin out of the city.

Sanji Meow nimbly climbed onto Sherwin shoulder and whispered approvingly into his ear, "You're bad, you know that? But... nicely done, meow!"

When it came to things involving Klee Meow, Sherwin and Sanji Meow were always on the same page.

As for Klee Meow herself, she was visibly excited...

After all, it had been a long time since the little fluffball had set off fireworks. Now that she had the chance, there was no way she was going to pass it up—especially since the other party had looked down on the power of her bombs...

Klee Meow wasn't someone to be underestimated! She was definitely going to show Grandpa Chinjao what her bombs could really do, meow!

Of course, Klee Meow was still a sensible kitten. She didn't plan on using her most powerful bombs, nor did she intend to enhance the explosions with her Devil Fruit ability.

Besides, Sherwin had once blocked one of her accidentally detonated test bombs with Armament Haki before, so there was no need to worry about the much stronger Haki of Grandpa Chinjao being a problem.

Before long, Sherwin and the two Felynes followed Chinjao outside the city.

"Let do it here," Chinjao said as he picked a patch of land with little vegetation.

Sherwin glanced at the distance between them and the Flower Country town and immediately spoke up, "Let go a bit farther. Just in case…" He paused for a moment, then came up with a reason that wouldn't arouse Chinjao suspicion—

"If the explosion scares the people in the city, that wouldn't be good. The rest of the navy might even mistake it for an enemy attack or something."

"Hmm… you've got a point." Chinjao rubbed his shiny bald head, clearly impressed.

"You really think things through. If only my boneheaded grandson had a brain like yours."

So this is what the joy of being a master bluffer feels like.

Sherwin pressed his lips tightly together, doing his best not to burst out laughing.

The group continued walking a good distance further—almost all the way to the seaside—before finally stopping in a rocky area.

"This should be far enough," Chinjao explained.

"This used to be an open-pit mine owned by the Flower Country. Once the ore ran out, they filled the pit back up with leftover rocks. So even if it gets blown up a bit, it no big deal."

Then he walked to the center of the rocky area, waved to Klee Meow, and coaxed her like a child, "Come on now, little Klee, let Grandpa see how powerful your bombs are."

"Sherwin-nii?" Provoked by Chinjao condescending tone, Klee Meow instantly changed her mind.

She turned her head and asked Sherwin, "Can Klee use the enhanced Boing-Boing Bombs, meow?"

"No problem. Just don't use your ability," Sherwin replied softly.

Right now, Klee Meow most powerful technique was her Devil Fruit ability, which she had developed to an unknown and dangerous extent.

A bomb enhanced by her ability was a completely different beast compared to a regular explosion.

Even though Sherwin now had mastery over Armament Haki, he still wasn't confident he could take a direct hit from one of Klee Meow full-powered bombs.

With Sherwin permission, Klee Meow jumped down from his body and trotted over to the edge of the rocky zone.

"Grandpa Chinjao, are you ready, meow? Klee gonna throw the bomb now!"

"Hahahahaha! Bring it on!" Chinjao laughed heartily, then activated Armament Haki Hardening, covering his entire body for protection.

"Boing-Boing Bomb, meow!"

Klee Meow pulled out a Boing-Boing Bomb from her little backpack—one that was even bigger than she was—and hurled it straight toward Chinjao.

And then…

"Boing~ Boing~ Boing~~~~~"

BOOM——!!!