Hunter in the One Piece World

" Tsk!"

As they spent more time together, Sherwin felt that this little yellow cat was getting bolder and more shameless.

But...

With a mouth full of cat food, he really didn't have the guts to argue with Sanji-meow.

Besides, the cat was just so cute.

A little impudence didn't matter—it not like he was going to lose a chunk of flesh.

Sherwin reached out and scratched under Sanji-meow chin as a gesture of repaying grievance with virtue, successfully making the cat squint his eyes in satisfaction and show a comfortable expression.

Heh heh heh, you foolish little kitty—my cat-petting skills are known in the industry as the divine technique of the "Hand of Kato Neko"!

Just as the little cat in front of him was getting into it, Sherwin suddenly pulled his hand back.

"Meow?"

Sanji-meow, who had just started enjoying himself, felt quite aggrieved. But he couldn't bring himself to ask Sherwin to continue, so he could only glare at him angrily, his tail swishing with audible whoosh sounds behind him, even snapping a few plant branches in the process.

Sherwin, however, pretended not to see any of it and picked up his hunting knife again, stabbing it into the wild bird corpse.

This time, the blade managed to pierce the carcass, and a small amount of blood seeped out from the wound Sherwin had made.

"Just as I thought…"

Sherwin pulled out the hunting knife and nodded as he spoke.

In the game, small creatures like this one, and even small monsters roughly the same size as a hunter, could only be carved once.

Only large neutral creatures like Popo and Slagtoth could be carved twice, while large monsters that served as bosses could be carved three times. If the tail was severed, you could even get one extra carve from the tail.

After explaining the hunting knife function to Sanji-meow, the little yellow cat who ranked cooking as the second-most important interest in his life immediately forgot all about Sherwin earlier "outrageous betrayal" and hurriedly rummaged through his pack to pull out all the ingredients.

"Quick! Give each one a slash, meow!"

Getting an extra portion of perfectly processed ingredients out of thin air—no chef would turn that down.

Sherwin also wanted to do more testing, so of course he was happy to oblige.

They ended up acquiring all kinds of "bonus materials": meat, bones, feathers, hides... Sherwin even managed to carve out a scent gland from a weasel corpse, which left his hands reeking.

There was nothing he could do about it—just like in the game, the materials you carved were completely random.

Finally, Sanji-meow pulled out the biggest piece of Forest Ram King meat and had Sherwin try carving it...

Just as Sherwin had expected, the carve failed.

Then he deliberately damaged an untouched wild rabbit corpse, and again failed to carve anything from it.

"Looks like the material can only be carved if the ingredient retains a certain level of integrity."

Sherwin put the hunting knife away, looked up at the sky, then said to Sanji-meow, "We've tested enough. We should pick up the pace. Who knows how long I'll be fighting those two Boar Kings."

"Don't worry, meow! We're almost there, and I remember their scent. We'll find them soon, meow."

With all the new ingredients he had just acquired, Sanji-meow was in a very good mood. Even his steps while leading the way became much lighter, and his tail stood proudly upright behind him, the tip swaying mischievously like it had a will of its own.

Sanji-meow hadn't been exaggerating, either. Before long, under his lead, Sherwin arrived near the location of two massive wild boars.

Judging by their size, the two Boar Kings were a bit smaller than the Forest Ram King, but even the smaller one was far larger than a normal wild boar.

At the moment, the two were rooting through the soil for plant roots, seemingly unaware of Sherwin and Sanji-meow arrival.

But Sanji-meow informed Sherwin that this was only because they hadn't yet entered the boars alert range. In fact, the boars had already noticed them.

"Once we get a little closer, they'll issue a warning, meow. If we don't back off fast enough, they'll attack, meow."

Sanji-meow hadn't just gotten familiar with the terrain during his previous explorations—he'd also gathered plenty of intel on Sherwin future targets...

Even though Sherwin had never asked him to do that.

Such a tsundere little cat.

Sherwin smiled with a fatherly warmth on his face…

"Why are you smiling so creepily, meow? And getting so close, meow."

With a look full of disgust, Sanji-meow used a little paw to push away Sherwin, who had leaned in to try and rub his head against him.

Sherwin: "..."

If it weren't for the timing being off, once I'm done with those two boars, I'm going to pet you into a Sphinx!

Sherwin muttered fiercely in his heart as he reluctantly pulled his head back, but on the surface, he said calmly, "You just stay here. Leave the rest to me."

"Even though I'm just a chef cat," Sanji-meow pulled out a frying pan and gave it a few swings, "I can still fight, meow!"

"Don't worry," Sherwin reached out and patted his little head, trying to persuade him again.

"I already took down the Forest Ram King, who about the same strength as these guys, without a scratch. No need to trouble you. What if you get hurt? Who going to cook for me then?"

If Sanji-meow had the same level of strength as the original Sanji, or if he were a combat-oriented Felyne, Sherwin wouldn't refuse his help. But since fighting wasn't his strength, there was no reason to let him take that risk.

Thankfully, Sanji-meow still stayed true to his "character setting." As long as it didn't involve a Beautiful big sister Felyne, this little yellow cat could think things through calmly. So even though he was a little reluctant, he was eventually persuaded by Sherwin.

"Alright, I'm going in!" Sherwin popped a meatball to fully restore his stamina, then gripped the hilt of the Longsword and charged at the smaller of the two Boar Kings.

Just as Sanji-meow had said, Sherwin had barely taken five steps when the two boars, who were previously munching away, suddenly stopped eating, turned in his direction, and let out deep growls as a warning.

According to the hunter legacy Sherwin had received, even early-stage bosses like the Boar Kings would usually hesitate for a moment when encountering an enemy.

After all, being apex predators in their respective territories, few creatures would dare initiate an attack on them.

Even if they did encounter another boss-level monster, they'd usually stare each other down first to evaluate whether a fight was worth it.

And that habit gave hunters a prime opportunity to strike, especially those skilled with dual blades, who could land an entire combo before the monsters had a chance to react.

With the experience and memories of seasoned hunters, Sherwin obviously wouldn't miss that chance. So as he charged in, he also activated Demon Mode.

However, things didn't play out the way they did in the inherited memories. The two Boar Kings didn't show any signs of hesitation at all—at the moment they saw Sherwin, they both launched straight into a charge.

"Tch! What kind of crappy luck is this?!"

Although this kind of situation was rare, the old hunters in the inherited memories had also encountered it before.

Just like how every person has a different personality, monsters of the same type could also have vastly different temperaments.

Even among the usually cowardly Snow Rabbits, there had been individuals more aggressive than a Rajang—let alone the naturally reckless Boar Kings.

Sherwin immediately decided to cancel his Demon Mode. Without a good opening to attack, staying in Demon Mode was nothing but a waste of stamina.

Still, there was just enough time for a single strike.

So just before colliding with the smaller Boar King, Sherwin sidestepped to evade the oncoming attack. At the same time, he drew the Longsword from his back, gripped it with both hands, twisted his waist, and executed a Demon Mode + Spirit Slash—

Hunter Style Secret Technique: Foot-Cutting Swordplay!

Yep... Since most of the hunters enemies were massive monsters, nearly every hunter had developed the habit of going for the legs first—get them down, then finish them off.

And then...

Slice, slice.

Both right legs of the Boar King were cleanly severed by Sherwin.

...???

Boar Kings… were they really this fragile?!

The unexpected result left Sherwin momentarily stunned. He instinctively deactivated his Demon Mode, came to a stop, and leaned on the longsword, staring at the Boar King lying on the ground, howling in pain from its severed legs.

Sure, in that strike, he had activated Demon Mode, used a Spirit Slash, leveraged the momentum from the Boar King own charge, and wielded the Longsword—a fully upgraded Longsword—but still,

cleanly slicing off the Boar King legs like that... that was something only those legendary Longsword heroes wielding the peerless Heaven and Earth Blade had managed in his inherited memories.

So, this really wasn't the Monster Hunter world, was it?

Sherwin was becoming more and more certain of that fact.

"You idiot, what are you spacing out for, nya?! There still one more Boar King, nya!"

Just as Sherwin was lost in thought, Sanji Meow anxious voice suddenly called out from not far away.

"...Eh?"