Since Nereus made his debut, the slave trade had suffered a major blow, yet the demand for slaves has never disappeared.
What this led to was not the disappearance of the trade, but a sharp rise in prices.
Merfolk in particular had long been driven up to astronomical prices, enough to make some desperados willing to risk their lives for it.
As long as they sold the person, even if Nereus sought revenge he wouldn't be able to trace it back to them; whoever bought the slave would bear that fury instead. That was how some people thought.
And it was precisely because of this mindset that such incidents would crop up from time to time.
Umit was genuinely scared. He was truly afraid that one of his subordinates might, for no apparent reason, drag him down with them.
The subordinate who had just asked that question. Umit had already decided to transfer him to his side, no longer letting him act independently.
After all, they were old subordinates, and that man had even taken a blade for him before.
In the Underworld, no one dared to claim their hands were clean.
Killing him outright now would look bad.
But if he really couldn't be corrected, then for the sake of his own safety, Umit could only strangle the problem in its cradle.
Meanwhile, on Fishman Island itself, Nereus truly was beginning to change some things.
Fishman Island's political structure was fairly simple. Aside from the king, there were only two main officials: the Minister of the Left and the Minister of the Right. The Minister of the Left was a civil official, handling all sorts of trivial administrative matters, while the Minister of the Right was a military official, in charge of the Neptune Army.
Nereus didn't care much about the civil official. Fishman Island currently had little in the way of diplomacy. Calling him a civil official was less accurate than calling him a palace steward.
But the military official, the Minister of the Right, was different. He was far too weak, unable to train troops, and lacking any real experience in commanding battles. At best, he could handle domestic security issues.
Even so, neither of them gave Nereus much trouble, because they had already submitted their resignations of their own accord. After all, when a king changes, ministers always change with him.
Nereus exchanged a few polite words with the Minister of the Right, but the Minister of the Left was kept on for the time being. Only after Nereus's own subordinates became familiar with these matters would he be allowed to step down.
"But on my side… there doesn't seem to be anyone capable of being a civil official…"
Sebastian—very good at fighting.
Barbell and Sunbell—very good at fighting.
It wasn't that they couldn't handle any matters at all; they just weren't very good at it. After all, compared to studying complex things, throwing punches was far more straightforward for them.
As for the remaining Big Pan, he can fight, but he isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.
Thinking it over carefully, Nereus realized this was probably his own fault. When recruiting subordinates, he had always valued combat strength above all else.
The sharpest mind among them, Wobbegong, was still over at Vegapunk's place doing research and wouldn't be back anytime soon.
For the moment, there really was no one under him who could fill a chancellor-like role.
The most quick-witted one seemed to be Hermes, that Homie.
"No, Hermes should be sent to inspect the defenses. With its personality, it should do a good job…"
If there was no one suitable for now, they could be cultivated slowly. With so many people on Fishman Island, someone suitable was bound to emerge eventually.
"Dad, this is the population data you asked for earlier. According to these records, Fishman Island currently has a population of 4.15 million, but they haven't been classified by Fish-Type yet. More detailed information will have to wait."
By the time the timeline reaches the canon year, Fishman Island would have a population of five million. Judging by the current numbers, the growth rate wasn't very fast.
That was normal though. When an environment isn't suitable for survival, living beings naturally reduce reproduction.
Fishman Island's situation wasn't good, but it wasn't so bad as to reach that point yet. Growth was simply slow; it hadn't entered negative population growth.
"Princess Nanamo, you should call him 'Father' now. You are the legal first in line of succession, so you must pay attention to proper etiquette…". [TN: The term author uses here translates to "father king" or simply "father" in English, specifically as a historical term used by royal children to address their emperor or king father.]
Hermes had bought a new top hat at some point, and was now acting like a court advisor, whispering things into Nanamo's ear that she found utterly boring.
"What's there to care about with stuff like that…"
"It's different now. You are a princess in both name and fact…"
"So that means when you used to call me 'Princess,' you were just humoring me for fun and didn't mean it at all?"
"Of course not! I, Hermes, am your most loyal Homie!"
Nanamo knew Hermes well enough. After saying that, Hermes immediately began wondering whether it had misspoken, leaving it no time to think about the issue of how Nanamo should be addressed.
"Why are you the one who brought this over?"
In the end, Nereus had told Sunbell to handle this matter. Nanamo should have been out enjoying herself on Fishman Island right now.
"It's nothing really. Ms. Napole is working on a new song, so I came over… but more importantly, I wanted to take a look at the Ryugu Palace's treasure room."
Getting straight to the point, Nanamo revealed her true intention within just a couple of sentences.
Compared to being some sort of heir, she might actually be more interested in things like being the minister of finance.
"Go ahead if you want. It's a good time to take stock anyway, but remember, don't touch any of the odd junk lying around. Hermes!"
"Present!"
"There's a small box in the treasure room called the Tamate Box. Inside it are a kind of special pills. Absolutely do not touch that thing."
"Yes! I'll be sure to remind Princess Nanamo!"
ES, its full name being Energy Steroid. Consuming it could greatly increase a person's strength.
It sounded great, but the stuff consumed one's lifespan, and it was unclear who had invented it.
After taking over Fishman Island, Nereus had skimmed through its past history. He suspected this was something like a stimulant prepared by the previous generation's Poseidon for Sea Kings.
In short, it had value, but it wasn't suitable for human use.
To prevent Nanamo from becoming too fixated on the treasures and forgetting about this, Nereus had Hermes remind her.
Ryugu Palace had indeed accumulated a significant amount of treasures, but Nanamo was someone who had seen it all; the treasures of God Valley and those of certain ruins were no less impressive compared to what is here in Ryugu Palace.
At this moment, she was simply enjoying the newfound pleasure of counting money.
Meanwhile, Nereus himself headed to the Fish-Man District.
The atmosphere in the Fish-Man District was extremely joyous now, lively as if it were the New Year.
"Boss Nereus?"
"No, no…His Majesty Nereus is here!"
Just like the last time he came, Nereus was once again greeted with great enthusiasm. And this time, he wasn't just stopping by to take a look before leaving.
He gathered all the residents of the Fish-Man District and stated the purpose of his visit - expanding the army.
Although Fishman Island had the Neptune Army, compared to a standing army they were more like mercenaries. Those who joined the Neptune Army were simply taking a job, with very loose thresholds for both joining and leaving.
Nereus's goal wasn't merely to expand the army; more accurately, it was to carry out a major overhaul of the military system. As such, he planned to recruit a new core group from the Fish-Man District…
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