I knew Klee Meow's good luck wouldn't be that simple!
Xie Wen's eyes immediately lit up.
Only then did he remember that Luffy and Momonosuke hadn't connected with Zunesha right away either. Up in the Whale Tree, they had only heard a voice without being able to make out what it said. It wasn't until Jack attacked a second time and Zunesha came under fire from the Beasts Pirates that the two could clearly understand its meaning.
So Xie Wen came up with a reasonable theory-
Because the previous Joy Boy had punished Zunesha by making it walk endlessly, it was quite possible that it spent most of its time in a half-awake state, something like dozing or sleepwalking, as a substitute for sleep and rest.
In that state, Zunesha's perception of the outside world was probably rather sluggish. Only after receiving enough external stimulation would it fully awaken.
As for those indistinct sounds that could only be heard in the Whale Forest, they might well have been Zunesha talking in its sleep, or simply snoring.
That also explained why Momonosuke had later been able to speak with Zunesha from so far away in Wano Country. Naturally, communicating with it while it was awake would be a different matter from communicating with it while it was sleepwalking.
"Quick, try seeing if you can talk to Zunesha first!"
As Xie Wen urged Shirahoshi on, he also asked Meowrah and Ai Haibara Meow to bring out the "brainwave amplifier" they had made.
Since they had already planned to speak with Zunesha, the cats naturally carried the machine with them. The device they first took out was only the size of a fist. Then Suika Meow walked over and waved a paw, and the device, which looked like a toy model, returned to