Vegapunk, who was still conducting various research on Egghead Island at this time, was naturally unaware that he had already been targeted by two Emperors of the Sea and one future Emperor of the Sea.
However...
His current mood was also not very beautiful.
"Damn it! If I had known, I would have destroyed that Artificial Devil Fruit!"
Vegapunk looked at the cherry-colored giant dragon on the newspaper, slapping his thigh in annoyance.
Of course, he wasn't annoyed because of a minor flaw like "the color is different"... well, at least not entirely.
Rather, after this fruit, which he had deemed a "failure," was exposed, the World Government would certainly come to cause him trouble.
Being held accountable by the World Government wasn't a huge problem, but Vegapunk could foresee that he would definitely have to duplicate more Devil Fruits for the World Government next, or simply hand over the method for cultivating Artificial Devil Fruits.
In fact, duplicating a few Artificial Devil Fruits for the World Government or handing over the cultivation method didn't mean much to Vegapunk, because this was originally one of the exchange conditions for the World Government supporting his research.
Vegapunk wasn't naive enough to think he could get the World Government funding for free.
The problem that truly troubled him was—in doing so, he would have to produce more "failed" Artificial Devil Fruits, or hand over a cultivation method that hadn't "succeeded"...
That was what Vegapunk found most unacceptable.
"This Hunter too, if you took the Artificial Devil Fruit, then so be it. As long as you kept your mouth shut, others would only think you had obtained a similar type of Devil Fruit. Why did you have to reveal everything about your background so clearly?"
Vegapunk felt a headache coming on and harbored a bit of resentment toward Sherwin, whom he had never even met.
Originally, he felt the design of the Dodo Advance was very creative and wanted to find an opportunity to exchange ideas with Purah Meow.
But now...
He had to first find a way to deal with the World Government accountability and figure out how to gloss over the matter of the Artificial Devil Fruit.
"It seems I can only prioritize the research on 'Green Blood' and eraphim' to shift the World Government attention away from the Artificial Devil Fruit... Edison! We need to adjust our research plan!"
After muttering to himself for a while, Vegapunk called out loudly to the clone he had specifically created some time ago to speed up his research efficiency.
...
Meanwhile, after Sherwin explained the entire situation clearly to Sasha Meow, the misunderstanding with the island residents was quickly resolved.
Just as he had guessed before, this island was merely a transit station for the Beasts Pirates, primarily used to transport weapons and equipment forged in Wano.
After Kaido fled Wano with the Beasts Pirates, this island became completely worthless to him it was just that his pirate flag hadn't been taken down in time, or rather, Kaido simply didn't remember this island at all.
Therefore, the people on the island still used the flag of the Beasts Pirates to bluff and intimidate others.
Actually, they had considered that since this place was so close to Wano, Sherwin and the others were very likely to pass by or even conduct a specific search here.
However, the terrible living environment of the pirate world led them to hold onto a glimmer of hope and continue flying the Beast pirate flag...
At worst, they would simply raise their hands and surrender when Sherwin and his group appeared.
They just hadn't expected the Dodo Advance method of "landing" to be so... aggressive. They assumed that Sherwin, like many other pirates, had no intention of listening to their excuses and wanted to loot and intimidate them first...
After all, that was exactly what the Beasts Pirates had done back then.
Fortunately, what they feared did not happen. The "Hunter" was just as the early World Government propaganda had described—a righteous and kind person who hated evil.
Not only did he refrain from looting their town, but he also took the initiative to pay compensation for the damaged pier.
Relieved, the townspeople treated the investigation team well and even brought out the recent newspapers for Sherwin and the others to read...
Regarding the reports about Wano and Kaido, Sherwin and the others were the primary parties involved and knew the details all too well, so they only gave them a casual glance.
Instead, they took great interest in reading through the news that wasn't on the front page.
Then Sherwin saw—
"Eh? The Whitebeard Pirates are heading toward Wano?"
Sherwin was only stunned for a moment before guessing one of the reasons.
"It must be Ace and Izo wanting to come and see the situation."
"Right! Ace! So you know him too? He said back then that he wanted to take that bull-headed gorilla head and save Wano!"
Yamato also remembered that friend who she had fought before becoming close, and who similarly refused to acknowledge his own biological father.
"Sherwin! Let wait here for Ace and the others to arrive! And Whitebeard—Oden spoke very highly of him in his journal! I didn't expect Ace to join the Whitebeard Pirates as well!"
"Yeah, even if you hadn't said anything, I was planning to wait here for Whitebeard and the others to arrive."
Sherwin nodded. Since he had benefited from the Bat-Bat Fruit, he naturally had no reason to avoid them now that he knew they were coming.
Furthermore...
"The way the Whitebeard Pirates have been making such a grand show of themselves along the way is likely a reminder to me that they are coming."
Although he couldn't immediately think of another reason for the Whitebeard Pirates to rush over since he wasn't a drunkard, Sherwin could still guess the meaning behind their behavior.
The town mayor, who had handed the newspaper to Sherwin, was trembling.
A single Hunter had already scared them out of their wits, and now Whitebeard was coming too?!
However, the mayor didn't have the courage to kick Sherwin out, so he could only bitterely order the others in town to prepare for the reception of another Emperor of the Sea...
Sherwin certainly noticed the mayor uneasy expression, but since he didn't want to return to Wano, the mayor would just have to endure a little longer.
Looking at it from another perspective, it was actually quite rare for such an ordinary, unremarkable little town to host three Emperors of the Sea one after another.
If the mayor had any business sense and enough courage, he could use this as a gimmick to develop the island tourism.
But judging from the man performance just now, he likely didn't have the guts for it.
"Sherwin brother, look quickly meow!"
Just as Sherwin was habitually letting his mind wander, the little Ragdoll beside him suddenly tugged at his clothes and shouted cheerfully, "Klee Meow bounty has increased again! And the bounties for Purah Meow, Jinx, Suika, and Kaido have all gone up a lot too!"
Well, this was also within expectations.
Sherwin took the bounty posters from Klee Meow paws.
"Fleeing Sunlight" Klee Meow, bounty 3 billion Berries, Only Alive.
"Seven-Colored Puppeteer" Purah Meow, bounty 1 billion Berries, Only Alive.
"Shuten-Doji" Ibuki Suika, bounty 1 billion Berries, Only Alive.
"Runaway Blue Cat" Jinx, bounty 500 million Berries, Only Alive.
"Blazing Flames" Kaido, bounty 2 billion Berries, Only Alive.
Sherwin could understand why the four Felynes who had created the "Little Girl" were only wanted alive, but what was going on with Kaido? He had already eaten the Artificial Devil Fruit, and it wasn't like he could spit it back out.
Could it be...?
"That Felyne named Kaido is also your doing, isn't it, Vegapunk!"
The CP0 agents who had come to Egghead Island to hold him accountable didn't continue to dwell on the explanation regarding Artificial Devil Fruits. Instead, they shifted the focus onto Kaido himself.
Vegapunk: ???