As the smoke gradually dissipated, Ringo, which had just suffered a "nuclear strike," was revealed once again before everyone.
Looking down from the sky, it appeared as if Ringo had been bitten a massive, nearly circular section of land was missing near the coast. Even the neighboring Hakumai had been affected, losing a small piece of its territory.
As vast amounts of seawater surged through the breach, a colossal whirlpool formed in the hollowed-out land, dragging in all the debris and fragments of the island that had been blasted to pieces... assuming any fragments remained at all.
"Whew—it a good thing I escaped quickly, meow."
Kaido Meow, who had already returned to the ship, swallowed hard and patted his chest with lingering fear.
Although he already knew that Klee Meow and Jinx possessed a special talent for explosions, seeing this world-destroying scene below made the large Maine Coon feel that it was all a bit surreal...
Setting aside that little mad cat Jinx, he truly found it difficult to associate the usually charming and cute Klee Meow with the image currently before his eyes.
It was only because Kaido Meow had joined late after being educated by Sherwin and Huamei, Klee Meow was already much better behaved than she had been at the very beginning.
Had he been summoned by Sherwin earlier, he might have been more accustomed to such a scene.
"Ah... ah..."
Kozuki Hiyori, having regained her sight, looked at Ringo—which had lost nearly a quarter of its area—and Hakumai, which was missing a small corner.
She stood stunned for a long time, unable to speak, only letting out indistinct, dry groans from her throat.
Even Fujitora was somewhat startled by the bomb from Klee Meow and the others.
Although his eyes could not see, his Observation Haki—which was no less, and perhaps even wider in range than Shermie Meow—had already sensed the current state of Ringo while everyone else was still rubbing their eyes.
"This is truly... breathtaking power..."
His voice even trembled slightly, not out of fear, but because he had not yet fully recovered from the shock.
However, at this moment, he heard that adorable-looking little Ragdoll Felyne mutter, "Strange, why does it feel like the destructive power doesn't quite match meow? Given the situation of the explosion just now, the blast radius should have expanded by about 10% to 20% more meow."
(=ω=)
Kozuki Hiyori and Issho, who had not yet regained their composure, were once again startled by the words of the little Felyne...
The power could be even greater?!
Right, didn't she also mention earlier that there was still room for improvement with this bomb?
Hiyori felt a bit dazed, and she suddenly began to wonder... was asking Sherwin to help Wano Country deal with Kaido and the Beasts Pirates truly the right choice?
Fortunately, she quickly adjusted her mindset if Kaido could be driven out of Wano, losing a portion of the land seemed like an acceptable trade-off.
After all...
Ringo had already been mostly destroyed by Kaido before this. Aside from the swords used as funerary offerings in the Northern Cemetery, this perpetually snow-covered region was arguably in worse shape than Udon, which was essentially just a prison and quarry.
Furthermore, even before Kaido invasion, this area had the fewest residents. Wano is not purely a winter island, and the inhabitants could easily choose to live in regions with more pleasant climates rather than struggling against the ice and snow.
This was the primary reason why the samurai chose this location for their graves.
So, if it was gone, it was gone. Hiyori Kozuki quickly convinced herself to let it go, but she immediately turned her concern toward the samurai who had gone to face the Beasts Pirates—she just hoped Denjiro, Kawamatsu, and the others hadn't been caught in the blast.
Although Sherwin had reminded her to notify them in advance, it was impossible not to worry while staring at the land being completely swallowed by the explosion. Thinking of this, Hiyori hastily pulled out the Smart Snail Denjiro had left her, intending to contact him.
However, due to the explosion, the signals in the surrounding area were completely disrupted, leaving her Smart Snail with no reception at all.
"Stupid Klee Meow!"
(ω)
Just as Hiyori was becoming privately anxious and debating whether to ask Sherwin to take her to find the others, Jinx chimed in from the side:
"Did you forget that the 'Little Girl' was detonated while it was still mid-air Meow? You have to factor that in Meow!"
"Oh right! Klee forgot about that Meow!"
∑(=ΦДΦ=)
The little Ragdoll cat had a sudden realization, then turned around and indignantly waved her tiny fists at Jinx. "Klee is not a dummy Meow!"
(=`н=)
"Let go! We're going down to take a look. Don't you want to collect some more detailed explosion data Meow?"
Seeing that the two little troublemaker Felynes were about to escalate from a verbal spat to a flurry of cat-punches, Sherwin decisively shifted the topic to something that would interest them more.
The two little Felynes, who had been baring their claws at each other, cooperatively broke off their confrontation and instead urged Sherwin to descend quickly.
"By the way, what happened to Kaido? Shermie Meow, can you still sense him?"
Huamei craned her head to observe the ground for a long while before turning to ask Shermie Meow, "He couldn't have been killed in the blast, could he?"
"How is that possible?"
Sherwin shook his head with a wry smile.
Although Wano Country in the manga seemed to have fixed the bug where 'bombs don't kill people,' and the power of the Little Girl explosion was indeed exaggerated, he still didn't believe it was enough to take Kaido life.
In fact, Sherwin was seventy to eighty percent certain he could tank the Little Girl blast himself using Armament Haki...
Of course, it would definitely be impossible to come out completely unscathed.
"That right, that guy won't die so easily."
"Regrettably, the most terrifying things about my bastard father are his exaggerated defense and his stubborn, undying vitality. So, he is likely still alive."
The 'otherworldly counterpart' Kaido Meow and the 'dutiful' Yamato spoke in unison.
Issho, who had also clashed with Kaido, nodded a beat later and said, "Although my Observation Haki has not detected Kaido presence, I do not believe he is dead either... He has likely fled, and I suspect he won't be returning to Wano Country anytime soon."
"I-Is that so? That is truly wonderful!"
Kozuki Hiyori eyes immediately filled with tears, and she once again performed a kowtow toward Sherwin and the Felynes.
"Thank you all for your help with Wano Country. From this day forward, if there is ever any request, the Kozuki Clan will risk their lives to fulfill it for you!"
Even Issho followed suit with a deep bow. "Friend Sherwin, I consider my strength to be passable. Should you have any need for my services in the future, I shall not refuse!"
Sherwin quickly stepped forward to help the two of them up.
He had no intention of being overly polite regarding their promise.
Although the current strength of the Investigation Team meant they likely wouldn't need help in most situations, human relations functioned on such gestures whether one actually needed the help and whether the offer existed were two different matters entirely.
As the Dodo Advance landed back on the ground, Sherwin and the others approached the edge of the crater created by the explosion.
The seawater that had poured in earlier had not yet settled, but the Felynes, equipped with their waterproof combat suits, were not worried at all.
Jinx activated her Cat Claw Cans and jumped into the water alongside Shirahoshi, intending to see if they could salvage anything from below.
Meanwhile, Klee Meow took Purah Meow and Haibara Meow to collect scorched earth samples and measure data changes in the vicinity.
However, even without using tools to measure, Sherwin could sense one obvious change...
Ringo had become hot.
The heat generated by the "Little Girl" explosion had not yet dissipated. The Ringo region, which was always locked in a severe cold climate, had now uncharacteristically entered "summer," and there was no telling how long it would last.
Fortunately, the "Little Girl" created by Klee Meow and the others did not use radioactive substances like Uranium-235 or Plutonium-239.
Its core explosive was actually a gunpowder Klee Meow had developed based on Dyna Stones, combined with Jinx cat hair.
Therefore, this "Felyne Nuke" was actually very "clean" and would not leave behind any nuclear pollution.
After a period of salvaging, Jinx and Shirahoshi failed to find any trace of Kaido... or a corpse.
Upon hearing this news, Yamato breathed a sigh of relief. Although she had already decided to sever her father-daughter relationship with Kaido, she still didn't particularly want to hear word of his death.
Given Kaido physical toughness and his mastery of Armament Haki, it was impossible for him to be blown away without leaving a trace, so he had most likely escaped while wounded.
Furthermore, after the "signal" of the Smart Den Den Mushi was restored, good news arrived from Denjiro side stating that the Beast Pirates had retreated, further confirming Kaido withdrawal.
Thinking about it carefully, it made sense. Although Kaido maintained a persona of a battle maniac, his essence was still that of a pirate when he saw that the situation was unfavorable and there was nothing to be gained, he wouldn't hesitate to flee.
"Sherwin, look quickly! Klee discovered this meow!"
(=＞＜=)
Instead of entering the water, the little Ragdoll, who had gone to collect data, ran back together with Haibara while holding a long horn.
From the curved and unbranched shape of the horn, it appeared to be Kaido own Oni horn, only it had been greatly enlarged after he transformed into an Azure Dragon.
Hmph, later he would have Haibara process it into a weapon, to be brought out and used the next time they fought Kaido!
The moment Sherwin saw this horn, he had already decided on its use.
Zephyr survived manually detonating an entire Dyna Stone Kaido, with his even higher defense, naturally wouldn't die so easily.
Besides, he still has a role to play later on.