The World Council officially begins tomorrow, so after some initial conversation, everyone was arranged to go to their respective rooms to rest.
Although he was not royalty, Sherwin was still a Warlord, so the room he was assigned followed royal standards. In addition to a luxurious and comfortable room, there were various services available on call.
Well, including a certain type of special service.
"Sigh... if I had known, I would have come alone..."
After learning about this, Sherwin couldn't help but mutter in a low voice.
Hearing his mutter, Baby-5 immediately stepped forward.
"Master Sherwin! If you need it..."
"Shut up! You idiot!"
With practiced ease, Sherwin delivered a hand-chop to interrupt the airheaded maid dangerous suggestion.
On the other side, Sanji Meow also complained indignantly, "Unfair! Why does only Sherwin get this kind of service, meow!"
(=`н=)
"You idiot, shut up too!"
Sherwin also gave the little yellow cat a hand-chop.
"Shermie Meow, what are Brother Sherwin and the others talking about, meow?"
(=ω=)
A confused Klee Meow tugged on Shermie Meow and asked curiously.
"Sherwin is up to no good again. A good child like Klee should probably not know about it, meow~ That little idiot Sanji is definitely going to be lectured by Huamei later, meow~"
(=ω=)
Shermie Meow was quite reliable she knew exactly how to quell the little Ragdoll curiosity.
And indeed, upon hearing that she might be targeted by Huamei, Klee Meow immediately covered her mouth, no longer curious at all about what Sherwin and the others were saying.
"Then Klee doesn't want to know anymore, meow!"
(==)
"Stop fooling around for now. I need to give Robin a call. Shermie, help me keep watch."
After settling into their room, Sherwin gave a reminder to the restless Felynes and then picked up a cat-paw-shaped ornament hanging from his waist.
Unlike Oberstein Island, where the World Government had summoned the Seven Warlords to stay temporarily, Mary Geoise was not equipped with signal jamming devices. Instead, it featured a surveillance and alarm system.
If a Den Den Mushi not on record was used in Mary Geoise, the World Government would immediately know and conduct eavesdropping even if an Interference Den Den Mushi was used, it would still trigger an alarm.
However, this time Sherwin did not use a signal enhancement device, nor did he even use a Den Den Mushi. Instead, he brought their Research Commission own communication device, which was similar to the walkie-talkie inside "Shermie Meow" back in Dressrosa.
As for why Sherwin chose to use their own developed communication device instead of the previous signal enhancer, it wasn't because he knew in advance about the layout of Mary Geoise.
The real reason was actually quite simple: when entering Mary Geoise, their belongings would be inspected, and Sherwin and the others could not bring their spatial bags.
Therefore, if they were discovered carrying a Den Den Mushi plus anti-eavesdropping encryption equipment and a suspected signal enhancement device...
It would clearly look like they were planning to cause trouble. Being barred from entry would be the best-case scenario at worst, the World Government might use it as an excuse to arrest Sherwin for interrogation.
So, Sherwin and the others simply didn't bother bringing Den Den Mushi at all, replacing them with this "Cat-Paw Phone" disguised as an ornament.
As for the specific details of this Cat-Paw Phone...
To put it simply, Purah Meow had set up a signal tower on the Dodo Advance. Within the coverage area of this signal tower, all Cat-Paw Phones could communicate with each other like mobile phones.
To be precise, this was originally something Purah Meow had tinkered with while preparing to deal with the Heavenly Yaksha, based on a brief mention Sherwin made regarding his understanding of mobile phones.
According to Sherwin original idea, he actually wanted to see if they could penetrate the isolation of the Birdcage.
Therefore, the Den Den Mushi network, which would have been cut off by the Birdcage anyway, was abandoned, and Purah Meow and Haibara Meow tinkered together to create an entirely different information system.
Although the signal of the Dodo Advance signal tower was still blocked by the Birdcage back in Dressrosa, its existence provided the Research Group with a regional communication network independent of Transponder Snails.
This resulted in the monitoring and alarm devices here in Mary Geoise being completely unable to sense Sherwin signal... after all, they weren't even on the same system. After pressing the pads and toes of the cat paw phone in a specific sequence, Robin voice came through from the paw.
Well, it sounded a bit muffled.
It couldn't be helped to prevent the World Government from noticing anything amiss, Sherwin had specifically asked Purah Meow to put a layer of camouflage on the outside before coming here.
"...That the general situation. Have you seen or heard of Nefertari D. Lili, or any history related to her, anywhere?"
After the call connected, Sherwin immediately relayed the content of what King Cobra had told him to Robin.
"Nefertari..." On the other end of the communicator, Robin pondered for a moment before slowly replying,
"No, I haven't seen any relevant records. Perhaps they were in the library of Ohara back then, but I just hadn't finished reading them yet..."
"Ah... speaking of which..."
Sherwin memory was triggered once more. "The books of Ohara weren't destroyed."
Without waiting for Robin to ask, Sherwin continued, "After Ohara was blasted into ruins by the Buster Call, the Navy discovered a large number of books in the lake at the center of the island.
It just that they didn't know their value, so they didn't salvage them.
Then, a few days later, a group of Giants arrived at Ohara, salvaged those books, and transported them to their hometown, Elbaf... At that time, Garp son and Vegapunk were also there."
To prevent Robin from getting curious about his source of information again, Sherwin proactively mentioned Dragon after all, Robin knew he had contact with the Revolutionary Army.
Along the way, this could also "explain" why Sherwin hadn't told Robin this news before.
Sure enough, after hearing Sherwin say this, Robin entire focus shifted to the books of Ohara.
"The will of Ohara... it hasn't died out yet... that wonderful..."
Robin wept with joy.
"There one more thing. The captain of those giants back then was said to be a man covered in bandages. So, your giant friend is likely still alive."
Sherwin thought about it and decided to reveal this as well.
Although the manga was vague and didn't state it explicitly, the "man with the burn scar" was basically Saul without a doubt, so it shouldn't be a case of giving Robin false hope.
This time, Robin didn't say a word Sherwin could only hear her faint sobbing.
Feeling that Robin needed some time to calm her emotions, and since there was nothing else to discuss, Sherwin took the initiative to hang up the phone.
And then...
"What are you two little ones doing?!"
As soon as the call ended, Sherwin spotted the small blue Felyne and the small ragdoll Felyne wandering near the door.
"Klee Meow and Jinx sister want to go out and play meow!"
(=`=)
Before Jinx could open her mouth to stop her, the blunt Klee Meow had already answered Sherwin question.
"Sigh..."
(=△=)
The small blue Felyne, who failed to stop her in time, resignedly pressed a paw to her forehead and let out a helpless sigh.
After joining forces with Huamei Meow to shut down Klee Meow and Jinx "plan" to explore Pangaea Castle at night, Sherwin had to spend quite a bit of effort telling stories to these restless little ones to prevent any more mischief.
Once he finally managed to coax them all to sleep, Sherwin, as usual, fell into a deep slumber surrounded by a circle of Felynes.