By the time Xie Wen returned to the reception room, Doflamingo and Boa Hancock had already left. Only Hawk-Eye and Jinbe remained.
And...
They were getting along pretty well with the Palicoes?
Meow Jūshirō and Link Meow were discussing something with Hawk-Eye... Well, swordsmanship was the only thing they could be discussing.
Meanwhile, the Research Commission's little troublemaking cats had all gathered around Jinbe, looking as though they had spotted something delicious.
(=﹃=)×4
Jinbe: "..."
"Sir Xie Wen, you're finally back!"
When he saw Xie Wen return, Jinbe, who had been sitting stiffly upright, looked as though he had spotted his savior. He sprang out of his chair and hurried over to Xie Wen.
He could actually tell that the kittens were mostly teasing him, but being stared at by all those gleaming feline eyes still put enormous pressure on him as a Fish-Man.
"Your next destination should be Fish-Man Island, correct?" After a brief hesitation, Jinbe extended a sincere invitation. "King Neptune would like to meet you. Please be sure to visit Ryugu Palace once you reach Fish-Man Island. Of course, we'll arrange for someone to pick you up."
Although letting a group of cats into Ryugu Palace felt rather like inviting wolves into the house, those cats hadn't actually taken a bite out of him, had they...
Besides, through Xie Wen's actions, Jinbe and King Neptune had seen a quality rarely found in other humans-he treated all members of the Fish-Man Race as equals. He had wiped out the Arlong Pirates only because they were pirates who committed evil, and he had shown no prejudice toward the Fish-Men when freeing those slaves.
Xie Wen hadn't expected that, despite having wiped out the Arlong Pirates, merely rescuing two Fish-Men along the way would earn him treatment similar to what