Originally, Sherwin level of embarrassment wasn't that high, and he would have tossed it to the back of his mind after a bit of small talk.
However, Sai simply couldn't get over the hurdle in his heart, causing Sherwin to experience a long-lost sense of awkwardness and restlessness during a stalled conversation...
Having been transmigrated from Earth for so many years, Sherwin had almost forgotten this feeling.
The last time he had such an awkward chat with someone seemed to be at a high school reunion, facing old classmates whose names he couldn't even recall.
Just as Sherwin, Sai, and Baby 5 were facing each other in awkward silence, a voice from the side saved them.
"Jinbe-san! Aladine-san!"
A somewhat slender figure rushed in front of the members of the Sun Pirates.
The scale of the bubble lift was so massive that it was naturally impossible to carry only the personnel from the Ryugu Kingdom and the Kano Country on this trip.
However, considering that the Ryugu Kingdom had not participated in the Reverie for a long time, and Fish-men had always been unwelcome by most humans, Jinbe and the others never expected to run into someone they knew here...
Furthermore, it was an old acquaintance they hadn't seen in years, whose appearance had changed significantly.
After staring blankly for a moment at the young woman who had rushed before them with a face full of pleasant surprise, the crowd of the Sun Pirates began to clamor in a chaotic fashion.
"Koala? Is that Koala?!"
"The little girl Tiger-boss saved back then?"
"I remember she was only about ten years old when she boarded the ship she was only this small!"
"Then isn't she the one who caused Tiger-boss to..."
"Shut up! This has nothing to do with Koala!"
"How does it have nothing to do with her? If it wasn't for the sake of sending her home..."
Hearing these words, Koala mood plummeted instantly, and tears began to well up.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
Just like when she had first boarded the Sun Pirate ship, she bowed and apologized repeatedly to Jinbe and the others.
Seeing this scene, the Fish-men of the Sun Pirates gradually fell silent.
Jinbe let out a sigh, then stepped forward and gently stroked Koala head, saying with a smile, "You've grown up, Koala."
"Jin—Jinbe-san..."
"You don't need to blame yourself we know that what happened back then had nothing to do with you. Big Brother Tiger... even until the moment he died, he never once blamed you."
"Waaaaah—! Jinbe-san! It all my fault! If it weren't for me, Tiger-san wouldn't have died!"
Koala finally could no longer suppress the grief and guilt in her heart. She lunged forward, throwing her arms around Jinbe and crying loudly.
"Is this the human girl you told me about?"
Once Koala crying had gradually subsided, Sherwin immediately ditched Sai and Baby 5—with whom he had been having that awkward chat—and leaned in, asking a question he already knew the answer to.
Shirahoshi, who had also leaned in, let out a very regretful sigh. "It was clearly such a good beginning... it a pity it was all ruined by those villagers who discriminated against the Fish-man tribe."
Sherwin curled his lip.
The villagers who remained silent might have done so out of discrimination and prejudice, but the person who first notified the Navy might not have been motivated by the same thing.
However, he didn't voice such mood-killing thoughts. Instead, he looked around curiously.
He knew Koala true identity. Since she was appearing here so brazenly as a member of an entourage, it meant that on this lift, there was at least one country being supported by or in contact with the Revolutionary Army...
He just didn't know if it was only Koala, or if there were more people and countries acting as "undercover agents."
Unfortunately, after looking around, Sherwin didn't find any other familiar faces. This didn't necessarily mean she was the only one, as Sherwin knowledge of Revolutionary Army members was limited, and those he did know were mostly high-level officials who weren't suitable to appear here.
After Jinbe and the others briefly caught up with Koala, they introduced her to Sherwin.
"Lord Hunter Sherwin, it is an honor to meet you."
Koala gave a serious bow, though the look in her eyes as she watched Sherwin was quite complex, much like Sai...
As a high-ranking officer promoted from the younger generation of the Revolutionary Army and someone primarily responsible for intelligence work, Koala was one of the few who knew Sherwin had ties to the Revolutionary Army.
She only knew there was a connection and that he was a close friend of the former member Kuma, and that Leader Dragon valued him highly, but she wasn't entirely clear on the specific reasons why.
However, based on her intuition for intelligence, Koala guessed it might be related to the way the Revolutionary Army had changed its operational patterns in recent years.
Combined with the fact that Sherwin had once liberated slaves at the Sabaody Archipelago and helped the Mermaid Princess improve relations between humans and Fish-Men everywhere, Koala actually respected and admired Sherwin from those perspectives.
But at the same time, she also knew that Sherwin had once wiped out the Arlong Pirates.
Koala naturally didn't care much about Arlong and his cronies, who had never treated her well, but she had been on very good terms with Hatchan back then.
After she was rescued from the Celestial Dragons by Fisher Tiger, the first piece of new clothing she ever received was bought for her by Hatchan.
This resulted in Koala psychological state being no less complex than Sai when facing Sherwin.
Fortunately, Sherwin had only approached to escape the awkward small talk with Sai. After getting acquainted with Koala, he slipped away to pet the cats.
While Koala breathed a sigh of relief, she introduced the king she was currently accompanying to King Neptune.
In the Revolutionary Army plan, Fishman Island was already a target that needed and was worth winning over.
Besides them, other royals on the elevator also began chatting with familiar faces or those they wished to form alliances with.
Some kings even sent representatives over, hoping to establish good relations or even recruit Sherwin.
Luckily, there were no fools among them who couldn't read the room even when their attempts to recruit Sherwin failed, they remained perfectly polite.
Considering that he might need them to speak up for him later, Sherwin was equally polite, and everyone got along quite pleasantly.
In such a harmonious atmosphere, the elevator reached its destination.
Stepping off the elevator, they were met with a wide and long staircase. Flanking the stairs were several giant statues, but these statues all wore hoods, making it impossible to see their features, and there were no inscriptions or identifiers nearby.
"The climate here is no longer within the range of Sabaody. To the merfolk, please switch to these reinforced bubbles."
World Government personnel, who had been waiting there early on, handed several items similar to Bubble Coral to King Neptune and the other merfolk.
Sherwin raised an eyebrow as expected, the resin bubbles of the Yarukiman Mangrove could be used in other locations as well.
In fact, Haibara Meow and Purah Meow had suggested this possibility long ago, but they had too many things to research, and since these bubbles weren't a necessity, they hadn't delved into their study or development.
But now that there were finished products...
"Can I have a few? I want to take them back for them to play with."
Sherwin scratched Klee Meow on his shoulder and held out his palm to the other party.
Bubble technology wasn't some incredible secret to begin with, so Sherwin easily obtained some of these reinforced bubbles.
The moment he got his hands on them, he stuffed one toward Klee Meow, who was currently biting his ear...
Although the little Ragdoll was indeed very interested in these bubbles, she still had a lot of opinions about Sherwin using her as an excuse, so the Hunter ear naturally suffered for it.
After receiving the reinforced bubbles, Sherwin and the others followed the people from other countries, ascending the long staircase before them. After climbing the stairs and passing through an incomparably magnificent gate, a beautiful, clean, and massive city appeared before everyone eyes.
"Wow—!"
"It so big here, meow!"
(=ω=)
Arriving here for the first time, Shirahoshi and the Felynes all let out exclamations of wonder, and even Sherwin was somewhat awestruck.
If considering scale, greenery, aesthetics, or cleanliness alone, there were cities on Earth that could compare, but Sherwin had only ever seen a city this "perfect" in every aspect within games or movies.