Bucks was still wondering why Sherwin had made such a strange, inexplicable move when, in the next second, the figure before him suddenly vanished from sight. Immediately after, he felt a chilling sharpness against his neck.
At the same time, Sherwin slightly teasing voice rang in his ear: "Uncle Bucks, I think you'd better take this a little more seriously~"
The sailors who had been making a racket on the side instantly quieted down, and the unlucky dealer who had just collected Klee Meow bet looked like he was on the verge of tears.
But what gave them a bit of relief was that, after teasing Bucks, Sherwin took the blade off his neck of his own accord—it was clear he intended to start over and go another round.
"You're right, little brother Sherwin! Boss, you better get serious now!"
"I bet this month wages all on you, boss!"
"Come on, boss! Losing to a kid would be too humiliating!"
This time, all the sailors were genuinely cheering Bucks on from the bottom of their hearts.
However, Bucks could only give a bitter smile deep down. He didn't think that getting serious would let him beat Sherwin. That speed just now—he couldn't react to it at all. No matter how serious he got, it wouldn't change anything.
But just giving up like this wasn't Bucks style. He drew the rapier at his waist, fully focused his attention, and locked eyes with the seemingly youthful boy before him. In a deep voice, he said, "I did underestimate you just now… then, here I come!"
This time, Bucks didn't dare act generous and let Sherwin make the first move—instead, he initiated the attack.
A swift thrust was, unsurprisingly, blocked by Sherwin. Bucks then dodged the counter-slash by twisting his body, a trace of surprise flashing through his heart...
The speed slowed down?
Was I... being held back?
A flicker of humiliated anger rose in Bucks chest, but he quickly suppressed it with a bitter smile.
If it had been his younger self, he probably would've still refused to back down.
But now, his fighting spirit had already been mostly worn down by laffitte, and besides, he was the one who had underestimated his opponent in the first place—he had no standing to criticize Sherwin.
Bucks quickly adjusted his mindset, twisted his wrist, and the sword thrust out a good bit faster than before.
Even though he already knew his chances of winning weren't high, Bucks still didn't want to lose too disgracefully.
On the other side, Sherwin was having a blast swinging his blades.
Dual Blades, this thing... it addictive!
Once you start slashing, it easy to get carried away—especially after activating demon mode, it was all too easy to go completely wild and not be able to pull back.
Back on the island, once Sherwin forged his Dual Blades out of boar tusks, the beasts on the island couldn't even withstand a full combo from him.
What more, back then, Sherwin didn't even realize he had transmigrated into the One Piece world, so he still tried his best to follow the Hunter code of not overextending during a hunt.
Because of that, he never really got the chance to slash to his heart content, and he ended up abandoning the boar tusks pretty quickly.
But now, Bucks was the perfect opponent for Dual Blades…
Not only was his swordsmanship also speed-focused, but his strength was just right. He could block Sherwin attacks while his own counterattacks didn't pose too much of a threat.
As mentioned before, Sherwin combat techniques were all developed to fight large monsters, so his style leaned toward wide, sweeping strikes. Although he had improved a bit while sparring with Sanji Meow, the guy was, after all, just a chef cat—with limited capability.
Besides, as a severe cat-lover, Sherwin had always focused on defense and dodging when training with Felynes. The sparring mostly improved those two aspects.
Now that a rare opponent like Bucks had appeared—someone who could help him work on his offensive skills—there was no way Sherwin would activate demon mode and finish it all in one burst.
The most important part was that, after trading blows with Sherwin for a few rounds, Bucks also gradually picked up on his intentions—or rather, he saw Sherwin current shortcomings through his moves.
So, as the battle went on, Bucks silently changed his fighting style. From an even back-and-forth, he switched to a primarily defensive approach, only launching counterattacks when Sherwin revealed a clear opening—offering guidance through his strikes.
Sherwin had naturally noticed Bucks change in fighting style. Although his offense was still fierce, the force behind each strike had clearly lessened.
"No more, I'm done."
After nearly an hour of back-and-forth, Bucks took the initiative to sheathe his sword and jumped out of the fight circle.
"I'm not as young as you folks, don't have that kind of stamina," he said while waving his hand and walking toward the dock, muttering as he went, "Young people these days are really something… if we keep going, I'll just end up embarrassing myself."
Sherwin rolled his eyes. In the world of One Piece, everyone basically had monster-level stamina. Besides, neither of them had gone all out most of the time.
Bucks didn't even break a sweat, and his breathing hadn't changed much. The real reason he stopped was because Sherwin had gradually adjusted his fighting style...
That last mutter of his wasn't entirely wrong either. If they had kept going, not only would Sherwin have surpassed him in strength and speed, but even in combat technique, he was already catching up fast.
And the reason Sherwin had improved so noticeably—aside from already being strong to begin with—was thanks to all that hunter knowledge and combat experience passed down through the Hunter legacy. Plus, there might be another reason...
Maybe I'm actually a decent battle genius?
Just as Sherwin stood there staring at his hands, stunned by his own talent, Klee Meow came bouncing over, hugging a big stack of Berries.
"Sherwin-nii! Klee made lots of money meow!" The little ragdoll Felyne presented the Berries in her hands proudly like a treasure.
"Klee, you're amazing!" Sherwin immediately snapped out of his random self-admiration and praised her without hesitation.
He reached out and gave Klee Meow a gentle pat on the head, then pushed the money back toward her. "Since you earned it yourself, you should keep it and spend it on whatever you like."
Even though he barely had a few coins left on him, the upcoming journey food and drinks were all covered by Cody, and they'd also be paid extra for the escort mission. There was absolutely no need to spend the Felyne money.
And Klee Meow really was such a good kid, bringing the money she earned straight to him.
Sherwin had originally wanted to say something like "kids shouldn't gamble," but seeing how sweet and thoughtful the little cat was, he wasn't about to ruin the mood with a lecture. There'd be plenty of time for that kind of teaching later.
So Sherwin scooped the little ragdoll up in his arms and gave her two big smooches, then cast a sideways glance at Sanji Meow, who was silently standing off to the side…
"What're you lookin' at meow?!" The little yellow cat nervously clutched his cat-paw pouch. "This money for buying ingredients meow!"
Tsk! No wonder they say daughters are the most thoughtful little cotton-padded jackets.
Sherwin hadn't planned on taking Sanji Meow money anyway, but the contrast between the two cats was just way too obvious.
"Didn't think you were this strong, Sherwin-bro! Even Boss Bucks wasn't your match!"
"Cody-san sure knows how to spot talent…"
"Well, that why he the boss, huh?"
The sailors who had lost money had gathered around too. Rather than resenting Sherwin for making them lose their bets, they actually looked happy—some even looked like they were trying to curry favor.
Sure, in this world where strength commands respect, that kind of reaction wasn't too surprising. But Sherwin still felt like there was more to it than that.
And before he could even figure out how to ask, the sailors themselves explained the reason—
This trade meeting Cody was attending? It was actually being organized by a bunch of gangsters. And while the mafia in the West Blue technically had a little bit of a bottom line… well, everyone knew just how flexible that so-called bottom line could be.
Originally, with Cody personality, even if the trade meeting promised profit, he wouldn't have been interested in going. But the invitation from the organizers was delivered straight into his hands—leaving him no room to refuse.
And the reason Cody recruited Sherwin and the others wasn't just to help defuse the situation. Truthfully, he was also considering that if the gangsters were actually planning something shady, they could use the powerful bombs in Klee Meow paws to create chaos and make their escape with their own people.
In fact, he hadn't even intended to take Sherwin and the others into the trade meeting proper. His original plan was to find an opportunity to buy a few of Klee Meow bombs, then drop Sherwin group off on some safe island.
But now…
"With you here, Sherwin-bro, our chances of escaping just shot way up!"
One sailor patted Sherwin enthusiastically on the back, saying something utterly defeatist with the tone of a rousing pep talk.
Speaking of gambling—there been a big stir lately on a certain fishy site. Who knows how many people might end up getting caught in it.