After Issho had demolished the Shogun palace in the Flower Capital, Kurozumi Orochi and his subordinates fled, leaving the place in ruins.
Consequently, Sherwin and his group ended up resting at the teahouse where Kozuki Hiyori had resided while posing as the oiran, Komurasaki.
After sending the Felynes off to play on their own, Sherwin spoke privately with Issho regarding the current problems facing Wano Country.
Naturally, he refrained from mentioning the Ancient Weapon. It wasn't that he feared Issho might take it—the man lacked such ambition, and even if he did take it, Sherwin wouldn't particularly mind.
Purah Meow had already seen the blueprints for Pluton, after all if necessary, they could simply build their own later.
The reason for his silence was twofold: first, he didn't want to burden Issho with unnecessary pressure second, the fewer people who knew of such things, the lower the risk of exposure.
In the original story, the secret of the Ancient Weapon was easily overheard by Caribou, largely due to the lack of any sense of secrecy from the Straw Hat crew and King Neptune.
"...I see. The World Government?"
Issho fell into a brief silence after hearing Sherwin warning.
Even without the factor of the Ancient Weapon, he still felt an immense headache coming on.
Being targeted by the World Government was far more troublesome than being targeted by Kaido the CP agents under the government command were much harder to guard against than pirates like Kaido.
More importantly, Wano had once been protected by powerful samurai. Later, though Kaido occupied the land, he had passively taken on the role of keeping the World Government at bay.
But now, Kaido was gone, the once-mighty samurai of Wano were nearly extinct, and the position of Shogun remained vacant.
To block the infiltration of the World Government amidst such chaos truly required someone like Issho—someone with sufficient strength and exceptional mastery of Observation Haki—to stay behind and oversee things.
"Sherwin, you have truly presented this old man with a difficult problem..."
Issho shook his head with a wry smile.
Although he didn't say it explicitly, Sherwin could tell what his choice was from his expression.
"If you need help, remember to contact me."
Sherwin did not interfere with Fujitora choice, merely leaving his Den Den Mushi number with him. "Our ship mobility is quite high, after all."
Despite his dislike for Kozuki Oden and his lack of affection for Wano Country, the prospect of Kozuki Momonosuke becoming the Shogun seemed somewhat more acceptable than Wano being occupied by the World Government.
After all, if the World Government occupied Wano, they might discover traces of Pluton.
In truth, if Wano weren't so isolated, Sherwin would have planned to notify the Revolutionary Army to clean up the aftermath, just as he had done in the past.
After noting down Sherwin Den Den Mushi number, Fujitora remained silent for a long time. Then, gritting his teeth, he unfastened the Gambler Fuse from his waist and held it out to Sherwin.
"I recall, Sherwin, that your hobby is collecting famous blades, isn't it? Although this Gambler Fuse was merely a gift from a friend, it had the honor of being selected as one of the twelve Supreme Grade blades. It should be worthy of your interest, shouldn't it?"
Tsk, tsk, tsk. As expected of the man who, as a future Marine Admiral, would kneel to apologize to civilians. Fujitora magnanimity was far more open-minded than those petty Scabbards.
Sherwin did not refuse the other kindness. He accepted the Gambler Fuse with a smile and drew it to admire it for a moment.
"Truly worthy of being a Supreme Grade blade," Sherwin praised, lightly flicking the edge of the blade with his finger.
"Among the various famous blades I have seen, aside from Mihawk Black Blade Yoru, this one and Red-Haired Gryphon possess the strongest sense of sharpness."
Although he had seen Whitebeard Murakumogiri, Sherwin had never examined it at close range, so he refrained from judging it for now.
As for Big Mom Napoleon, it was essentially a Homie created by a Devil Fruit power and wasn't particularly outstanding in the realm of "swords," being roughly on par with a Grade blade.
As for Sherwin own most frequently used Longsword...
While it was the one Sherwin found most comfortable to use, it simply could not compare to a Supreme Grade blade in terms of sharpness or durability.
It was even slightly inferior to Shusui, which had already been forged into a Black Blade. Essentially, it was at the level of a standard Great Grade blade.
Furthermore, its Monster Hunter-style water element attack was only useful for bullying an unlucky fellow like Cracker in the pirate world.
It even interfered with his combined technique with Klee Meow. It was only later, with Purah Meow help, that the Longsword elemental attack was adjusted to be toggled manually, so Sherwin didn't have to specifically switch swords every time he used a combined technique.
Hearing Sherwin praise, although a trace of heartache still lingered on Issho face, he also revealed a proud smile. After all, the owners of the other two blades Sherwin mentioned were the world greatest swordsman and one of the Four Emperors, respectively.
After admiring "Gambler," Sherwin slid it back into its scabbard and tossed it back to Issho.
He collected famous blades solely to complete his collection guide. Having the previous experience of coaxing "Wado Ichimonji" from Zoro, the single act of taking "Gambler " just now was enough to grant him temporary ownership.
Of course, he couldn't explicitly say that to Issho...
"A gentleman does not take what others love. While I may not be much of a gentleman, I won't take a blade of such great significance to you just for a small hobby of mine."
Sherwin spoke with such righteous dignity that Issho was deeply moved.
...
"Meow-hahahahaha! Sherwin brother, look quickly! Big sister Yamato fruit ability actually lets her turn into a Palamute meow!"
ヾ(=＞＜=)ツ
Walking out of the private room with Issho and into the small courtyard of the flower house, Sherwin saw Klee Meow waving her little paws at him while riding atop a white, canine-like creature.
Zoan, Dog-Dog Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Okuchi-no-Magami.
In terms of appearance, Yamato beast form truly resembled a Palamute, especially if one compared it to the Palamute skin from the Okami collaboration in the game...
Though in the lore of Okami, that white wolf-god was actually an incarnation of Amaterasu, not Okuchi-no-Magami.
"Sherwin brother~"
(=`ω´=)
When Sherwin approached, Klee Meow immediately lunged from Yamato back straight into his arms.
After burrowing her small head haphazardly against Sherwin chest for a while, the little Ragdoll skillfully and swiftly climbed onto his shoulder.
Gently tugging on his ear, she acted spoiled, saying in a milky voice, "Klee wants to invite big sister Yamato to join the investigation team, is that okay meow~"
As the little Ragdoll spoke, she proactively pressed her head close, rubbing it back and forth against Sherwin head...
Whenever this little fellow wanted to bring something back to the ship to keep, she would use this move.
Therefore, Sherwin remained completely unmoved, instead turning his gaze toward Yamato herself.
In the manga, she didn't even board the Straw Hat ship, so she probably wouldn't be interested in the investigation team either, right?
Although she was a youthful and beautiful woman who could also fill the vacancy of a Palamute, Sherwin actually didn't particularly welcome Yamato...
Who would want to be friends with a brainless fan of someone they disliked?!
However, to Sherwin surprise, the gaze Yamato returned toward him actually revealed a look of expectation and entreaty.
Furthermore, she would occasionally use the corner of her eye to peek at a certain large Maine Coon currently being held in Shirahoshi arms.
Sherwin: "..."
You aren't actually thinking about finding yourself a new dad, are you?!