"Holy crap!"
Sensing the presence of Garp and Sengoku and hearing their shouts, Sherwin was startled and quickly assumed a defensive stance.
And then...
He was swayed by a shockwave that wasn't particularly strong.
But immediately following that, a very familiar, immense force slammed into Sherwin longsword, sending him sliding backward more than ten meters. Even in her form as the maid longsword, Baby-5 let out a muffled groan despite being protected by Sherwin Armament Haki clearly, that hit just now was not easy to take.
This familiar punch was naturally thrown by Garp. However, compared to the pathetic situation where he was sent flying by a single punch in the past, Sherwin had withstood it this time completely unharmed. Even Baby-5 wasn't actually injured it just hurt a bit at most.
"Wahahahahaha! Sherwin kid, your strength has improved quite a lot... no wonder you dared to do something like this!"
Garp, who had always looked down on the Celestial Dragons, withdrew his fist and laughed with a bit of schadenfreude.
Sengoku, who had already transformed into a giant golden Buddha, couldn't be as lighthearted as him. Although he had shown mercy to Sherwin just now, his attitude was much more serious.
"...Was it necessary to go to this extent, Sherwin?" Sengoku glanced at Mariejois, where fires were breaking out everywhere, then looked at Akainu, who had lost a leg, and sighed helplessly. "The World Government will never let you go."
Besides the two of them, many high-ranking Navy officers had also arrived at Mariejois, surrounding Sherwin, the Felynes who followed, and the Fishmen.
Against this lineup, plus the predatory Akainu on the side and a weary-looking Kizaru, Sherwin and his group likely couldn't win...
But running away was no problem. Taking everyone from Fishman Island along would be a bit troublesome, but not a major issue.
The ever-steady Hunter was well-prepared.
"It not like those Celestial Dragons were going to let us go before anyway." Unfazed, Sherwin curled his lip, still in the mood to bicker with Sengoku. "They were the ones who started it."
"Even so, there was no need to cause such a scene..."
Sengoku surveyed the surroundings once more and spoke with a massive headache.
Regarding Sherwin, who had effectively avenged his foster son, the retired former Fleet Admiral actually felt a heart full of gratitude.
He similarly couldn't stand the Celestial Dragons as a group however, as a member of the official authorities—and a high-ranking one at that—he was bound by all sorts of frustrations.
If it were just a matter of fighting against the Celestial Dragon slaves and CP agents, there might still be some room for maneuver.
But Sherwin had not only attacked and killed Celestial Dragons, he had also burned the "Domain of the Gods" into this state. No matter how much Sengoku might want to shield Sherwin, he was powerless to do so...
Not to mention he was now retired, and his say in such matters was far less than before.
"What is there left to say to trash who has betrayed justice!"
Akainu, whose leg had been severed by Sherwin, roared in a low, heavy voice.
In reality, if it were any other pirate or wanted criminal, Akainu would still be intent on their elimination, but his emotional fluctuations wouldn't be so violent as to make him lose his reason.
However, Sherwin situation was somewhat special.
Because he wasn't a pirate—and was instead a bounty hunter who was equally merciless toward pirates—Akainu had actually started out greatly admiring him.
It was only after Akainu personal attempt to recruit him failed, followed by being framed for Sherwin actions, that his perception of the man took a nose-dive. Now, on top of that, there was the grudge of a severed leg...
If the arrival of reinforcements like Garp and Sengoku hadn't diverted his attention, Sakazuki would likely still be getting led around in circles by Sherwin, driven by pure rage.
"Ha!" Sherwin let out a disdainful sneer.
"By your logic, when the Celestial Dragons want to forcibly take our friends and family as slaves, we not only shouldn't resist, but we should actively hand them over? Such a Navy is truly 'just'!"
Sherwin mockery caused most of the Navy who had come to provide support to avert their eyes in shame.
Although the Navy in the pirate world was not "just" at its core, most of those who joined the Navy did so with the original intention of seeking justice.
Even if their definitions of justice varied, their most basic sense of right and wrong remained normal.
Even the extremely radical Sakazuki felt somewhat lacking in confidence when it came to the matter of the Celestial Dragons.
Furthermore, Sherwin Felyne Investigation Team and the Ryugu Kingdom were different from those evil pirates.
The Marines could not even find peace of mind by using the excuse of "eradicating evil" to take action against them.
The words Sakazuki had just blurted out were merely spoken in a moment of burning rage, coupled with a habit of saying such things regularly.
Although Sakazuki was cold-blooded and ruthless, his conviction in pursuing justice was not fake it was simply that his justice was too extreme for most people to accept...
Well, Sherwin could not accept it either.
This was also one of the main reasons why he had fallen out with Sakazuki. However, the effect of Sherwin soul-searching speech ended there.
These high-ranking Navy officers, who frequently dealt with the Celestial Dragons, were able to follow the World Government orders with peace of mind because they had their own considerations. Some had even organized a set of rhetoric specifically for this purpose.
As for whether that rhetoric was logical...
In any case, they had already convinced themselves—or pretended to convince themselves—to acknowledge the existence of the Celestial Dragons and their privileges through self-gaslighting.
"This is to maintain the stability of the world! Your actions will only make the global situation more chaotic!"
A Vice Admiral, whom Sherwin had no memory of, retorted with conviction.
Indeed, compared to those pirates, the existence of the Marines and the World Government was certainly a bit more "stable."
However, the difference between the two was essentially the distinction between draining a pond to catch all the fish once and draining it sustainably.
Unfortunately, Sherwin had seen this kind of "moral high ground" tactic long before he crossed over, so there was no way he would be fooled by it...
To be precise, anyone with normal intelligence and values could not be convinced by such superficial reasoning.
Therefore, Sherwin sneered once more and decided not to debate these people any longer.
They were fundamentally different in how they viewed the issue continuing a verbal spat was meaningless.
Of course, the more important reason was...
"Hmm? Sengoku, hasn't the sky turned quite dark? Is it evening already?"
Garp picked his nose and asked with some confusion.
"Oh no!"
Sengoku suddenly remembered the ultimate move Shermie Meow had released back at Marineford.
He quickly looked up at the sky and saw that a massive, thick layer of black clouds had gathered over Mariejois at some point.
Furthermore, the smoke from the buildings ignited by Lunastra and Akainu was continuously feeding into them.
In truth, if it were just smoke from a fire, it would be unlikely to generate a massive thundercloud directly like in "Naruto."
This was especially true for the black cloud currently above them, which had grown large enough to cover almost all of Mariejois, looking not much different from the perpetual storm clouds of Raijin Island.
So, the reason Sherwin let Klee Meow set fires everywhere was actually to use the thick smoke to prevent Akainu and the others from quickly discovering his true arrangements.
The primary source of that layer of dark clouds above was actually Haibara Meow and the others aboard the Dodo Advance, who used a massive amount of Cloud Dials up there, along with Kaido Meow in his Sakura Dragon form using his fruit abilities to gather a vast amount of rain clouds.
The reason Sherwin wasn't worried about the Holy Knights and the Five Elders was that he planned to have Shermie Meow unleash a frantic barrage of lightning as cover if things turned south.
To this end, before coming to Mary Geoise, they specifically had Shermie Meow store extra lightning within Thunder Dials when Haibara Meow and the others used the Cloud Dials, they would release this lightning along with them.
In this situation, the destructive power Shermie Meow could produce was not inferior to Klee Meow at all, and more importantly... it was more controllable and wouldn't accidentally injure the people from the affiliated nations.
"Boom!"
Accompanied by a roar of thunder, a massive bolt of lightning crashed down in front of Sherwin and his group, and the Dodo Advance in its Golden Lion form descended from the clouds along with that lightning.
"Don't think you're escaping!"
The Navy was naturally no stranger to the capabilities of the Dodo Advance. Seeing that Sherwin and the others intended to flee, Akainu, whose hatred was firmly locked on them, immediately lunged toward them.
However...
"Sakazuki! Come back! Block the lightning from the sky first! Everyone! Attack the thunderclouds in the sky!"
As Sengoku quickly barked out orders, a massive thunder beast—resembling both a horse and a deer—poked its head out from the layer of clouds.
"Sage Art: Lightning Style: Kirin Meow!"
(=`Д=)
Shermie Meow raised her paws high and then swung them downward with all her might.