Monster Hunter of the One Piece World

The Land of Flowers was considered one of the top nations among the many countries in the West Blue. More importantly, several characters from this country played notable roles in the original Dressrosa arc of the manga.

Not only did those characters wear outfits with a distinctly Chinese aesthetic, even their signature martial art, the "Hasshoken," carried the flavor of traditional wuxia-style kung fu. So naturally, Sherwin was quite looking forward to visiting the Land of Flowers.

However, after digging a little deeper into his memories about the country, Sherwin began to realize something felt… off.

Logically speaking, the Land of Flowers had Chinjao — a legendary pirate with a bounty of 500 million berries from decades ago.

On top of that, Sai, the 13th leader of the Happo Navy, was a capable user of Armament Haki. With that kind of strength, their forces should be overwhelming, nearly unmatched in the West Blue.

But in the manga, the Land of Flowers was portrayed as constantly losing ground in a war — all because Doflamingo had sold weapons to their enemies.

They ended up having to pull Chinjao out of retirement to go to Dressrosa and disrupt Doflamingo underground arms distribution…

Never mind how absurd that strategy was — just the elite members of the Happo Navy alone were high-level fighters.

Sherwin didn't think anyone in the West Blue could realistically overpower them… unless Red-Haired Shanks just happened to be back home buying booze.

Even someone like Capone Bege, who couldn't use Haki at all, managed to become a major underworld boss in the West Blue.

Meanwhile, the Land of Flowers had Chinjao, a man who could use all three types of Haki, and they still got stomped? What kind of nonsense was that?

In the face of Conqueror Haki, numbers were meaningless.

If it were just the manga, you could explain it away — maybe the Happo Navy got a power boost thanks to narrative convenience. But to Sherwin, this world was real now, and that logic didn't quite add up anymore.

Unless… in a few years, a bunch of Haki experts would suddenly pop up in the West Blue, not to make their names on the Grand Line, but to stay holed up in a tiny West Blue nation squabbling over turf? Yeah, right.

If that really were the case… just how stupid would the rulers of the Land of Flowers have to be?

When the tide of war is turning against you, and you still send your strongest fighters off to the Grand Line — aren't you afraid your enemies will wipe you out in one go while you're defenseless?

Still, to Sherwin, this wasn't all that important. After all, he had no direct conflict with the Land of Flowers or their unnamed future enemy nation, so at most, he just mentally ranted about it for a bit.

What he cared more about was whether he'd have the chance to meet Chinjao, Sai, and Boo — three characters from the storyline — and whether he might be able to learn something from them.

He wasn't expecting to pick up the Hasshoken or anything, but even just exchanging ideas about Haki training would be valuable…

Even Luffy, the protagonist himself, had gone through Haki training under the likes of Rayleigh, Hyogoro, and Kaido.

Someone like Sherwin, who was fumbling around on his own, would likely spend an absurd amount of time and take countless detours trying to master high-level techniques.

So now that he was in the Land of Flowers and had the chance to seek out actual mentors, of course he'd do everything he could to seize it.

"Uwaaah—! What a bustling city, meow!"

Klee Meow perched on Sherwin shoulder, craning her neck to take in the view, unable to stop herself from exclaiming in awe.

It was true — this city before them was easily the most prosperous one Sherwin and his group had encountered so far.

The streets were teeming with people, and the shops lining both sides were clearly a tier above those in the towns they'd visited previously.

Most crucially, there were very few people in black suits on the streets — and even those few didn't seem like gangsters at all.

Judging by the look of things… that so-called "Top Five Underworld Powers of the West Blue" Capone Bege boasted about seemed seriously overhyped.

At least for a powerful nation like the Land of Flowers, the underworld didn't appear to have any foothold whatsoever.

Sherwin rubbed his chin with a smirk, amused.

"Hahahahaha! Of course it is!" an old man nearby overheard Klee Meow amazement and responded with pride,

"Our Land of Flowers is protected by a mighty navy! No pirate or gangster dares cause trouble here — that why we're able to enjoy such prosperity!"

The old man laughed heartily toward the sky for a while, then finally rubbed his eyes and took a closer look at the figures on Sherwin shoulder — Klee Meow and Sanji Meow…

"A cat! A cat just talked!!!"

That tongue sticking out almost rivals that weird gun guy, Vito.

You're only realizing that now...?

Sherwin glanced at him speechlessly. That delayed reaction really fit the style of One Piece.

He gave a polite nod to the still-stunned old man and continued walking into the city with the two Felynes in tow, looking around as he went.

Unlike the Happo Navy, the ordinary residents of the Land of Flowers didn't wear many traditionally Chinese elements in their clothing.

Out of every ten people, maybe only two or three wore Chinese-style outfits—and even those didn't look very authentic.

Instead, it was the architecture that leaned more toward traditional Chinese styles. As for which dynasty it was based on, Sherwin couldn't quite tell.

It didn't feel very faithful either... He'd originally assumed the Land of Flowers was designed to resemble ancient China.

"Sherwin, let check that place out, meow!"

Just as he was feeling slightly disappointed and muttering to himself, Sanji Meow suddenly tugged on his hair and pointed toward a shop in the distance.

Following Sanji Meow little paw… it turned out to be a baozi shop.

Clearly, seeing a dish he didn't recognize had sparked the yellow cat rarely seen culinary passion.

As it happened, Sherwin hadn't eaten Chinese food in a while either. Without hesitation, he headed toward the baozi shop… though he wasn't holding out much hope for the baozi here.

Chinese food in a Western-style alternate world manga drawn by a Japanese artist… no matter how you looked at it, it just seemed sketchy.

And sure enough...

What the hell is a kelp and tuna bun?!

Calm down, calm down… this is a world centered around the ocean. Fillings like that are probably normal here...

Sherwin had to run through a whole set of mental exercises just to stop himself from shouting out his inner rant.

"Sherwin-nii, Klee wants to eat this one, meow!" The little ragdoll pointed excitedly at the very bun that had nearly made Sherwin lose his composure.

Sanji Meow, after scanning the menu, pointed to another type and said, "Then I'll try this octopus and scallop one, meow."

Sherwin clutched his chest and stayed silent, worried he might cough up blood on the spot.

The bun shop owner, meanwhile, wore the exact same expression as the old man from earlier...

"Th-the cats… they're talking!!!"

Exhausted, Sherwin didn't even bother explaining. He just picked the sea beast meat bun that looked the most normal, quickly paid, and left.

"Huh? It actually tastes pretty good?"

After taking a bite of the sea beast meat bun, Sherwin felt his mood improve significantly.

Although the taste was still a bit different from what he was used to, that was mainly because of the type of meat filling used. There was nothing wrong with the baozi itself.

Then he glanced at his shoulders—on each side, the two little Felynes were happily munching on their buns.

Sanji Meow, as a skilled chef, had incredibly high standards when it came to food—not to mention that Klee Meow had long since been spoiled by him.

Back when they were on Cody ship, she had once whispered to Sherwin that the food made by the ship cooks wasn't as good as her Sanji-nii.

The comment had delighted the little yellow cat so much that he immediately stormed into the kitchen to seize control. It didn't take long before the ship cooks were completely won over.

So, while the fillings might have looked odd, the flavor should be reliable.

Just as Sherwin was debating whether to go back and try a few more flavors, a noodle shop came into view ahead. To its left was a dumpling place, and to its right, a sesame flatbread stall...

Hmm. Maybe the Land of Flowers is more authentic than I thought.

Sherwin nodded in satisfaction and started walking toward the trio of eateries.