"No… if there are still more than three thousand people left… my dear father, you're not going to make me fight three thousand matches in a row, are you?"
Three thousand was by no means a small number. Large Marine warships were usually staffed with 800 to 1,200 Marine soldiers; depending on the ship's size and mission requirements, the exact number varied slightly.
Smaller standard warships were typically staffed with around 500 soldiers, enough for the Marines to organize a small fleet to carry out certain missions.
Put them all on a training ground, and they would form a dense, black mass.
Even if it were one punch per person, that would still mean throwing three thousand punches; after all, there was no way they'd be allowed to rush in all at once in a situation like this.
"I won't do something so meaningless. Fights at this level won't help you improve much. Instead of that, I might as well personally train you for a while."
"That somehow sounds even worse than fighting three thousand people…"
"Don't overthink it. You're not some nobody. There won't be that many people daring to challenge you."
Nanamo also had a bounty on her head. Though it wasn't as high as Nereus's, it had still broken the one-hundred-million mark, reaching a neat 110 million Berries.
Part of that was due to her own strength, and part of it was because of Nereus.
Bounty calculations were inherently complex. Aside from strength, influence, and threat level, the identity of "captain" was also a crucial factor.
Officers serving under great pirates often saw their own bounties inflated to some extent because of their captain.
Fish-Man District itself also had its own internal hierarchy of strength. After a few would-be minor leaders failed in their challenges, the rest abandoned the idea altogether.
The busiest ones, in fact, were the Fighting Fish.
Once the gap between people became clear, defeating a Fighting Fish to improve their own wages became the better option in their eyes.
But even Fighting Fish were not easy to take down. The deep sea was indeed the Fish-Men's home turf, but it was also the domain of all kinds of Sea Beasts and marine creatures.
Fighting Fish were an extremely ferocious species, and anyone capable of taming them was already among the elite of Fish-Man District.
At present, Tiger had achieved the most remarkable results. Relying purely on brute strength, he subdued the largest Fighting Fish barehanded, and after gaining its acknowledgment, successfully mounted the saddle on its back.
If the goal were simply to hunt Fighting Fish, Fish-Men would find it much easier using various weapons and traps.
But the objective now was to beat them into submission, which significantly raised the difficulty.
The more than three thousand people were divided into thirty squads of a hundred each. Outstanding performers were promoted to squad leaders, while the Corps Commander position of the First Corps was given to Sebastian.
Since most of the members came from Fish-Man District, Fisher Tiger, the current Boss of Fish-Man District became the Deputy Corps Commander, jointly commanding these soldiers alongside Sebastian.
The newly formed First Corps also doubled as the planned training corps. These people would undergo training for a long time to come, eventually becoming the backbone of the entire Neptune Army.
The original Neptune Army was not disbanded outright. Instead, just as before, it continued to be responsible for maintaining domestic security.
In a sense, this counted as a demotion. After all, handling internal security and conducting external combat were duties of two forces at entirely different levels.
But given the state of the Neptune Army, it wasn't much of a downgrade anyway, since they never really had any external combat capability to begin with.
At the same time, the craftsmen of Fishman Island also became busy, opening up brand-new bubble zones.
Nereus was not renovating the royal palace; rather, he was building schools, intending to properly cultivate the next generation.
Although Fishman Island's total area was limited, its architectural space was three-dimensional.
As long as a new bubble was created and a foundation installed, an entirely new area could be formed very quickly.
Ryugu Palace itself had been established in this way, built at the very top of Fishman Island as a small, independent area separated from the main island.
With specialized bubble pipelines connecting them, Fishman Island could even transform into a Fishman Archipelago, like a molecular chain.
The construction speed of both bubbles and island foundations was not slow. In the past, the reason Fishman Island didn't do this was due to limited resources; they couldn't even fully maintain one main island, let alone expand into new areas.
Under these circumstances, everything proceeded in an orderly fashion. The former grand hall of Ryugu Palace was even converted into a training arena.
Nanamo, Amphitrite, and the other members trained here every day, steadily improving their strength.
Fishman Island itself was also changing bit by bit, presenting all its residents with a brand-new sight, or rather, the sight that a place like Fishman Island should have had all along.
At dawn, sunlight was transmitted through the Eve Tree and arrived at Fishman Island right on time. Accompanied by the deep sound of conch horns, Tiger stepped out of his resting quarters, ready to begin his new life.
"Miss Rachel, I'm ready."
When Tiger and his Fighting Fish partner arrived near the entrance to Fishman Island, Rachel was already fully prepared. With the help of several other Merfolk, the Sea Rhinoceros and Sea Giraffe had already been fitted with saddles and distinctive armor.
However, when Rachel and the others turned around, Tiger was startled.
She was wearing a terrifying siren mask on her face, and combined with the others' varied styles of ghostly masks, it gave Tiger quite a shock in the dim morning light.
"Is this… some kind of welcome ceremony for newcomers on Lord Nereus's side?"
"Not really. All the female Merfolk under Boss Nereus have similar masks. As you know, Merfolk are naturally beautiful, it's hard to find an ugly Merfolk.
But beauty isn't always a blessing; sometimes it's a disaster…"
The beauty of Merfolk was also one of the reasons they fetched such high prices on the slave market. Human standards of beauty were, broadly speaking, quite similar.
Aside from a small minority with unusual tastes, most people could distinguish beauty from ugliness, unless they were forcing themselves to be politically correct.
These masks were simply meant to make them look a bit more frightening, adding an extra layer of intimidation against enemies.
After a few casual exchanges, the group mounted their Sea Beasts and headed into the dim depths in the distance.
Because of the seabed's terrain and the push of sea currents, surface ships had only a few routes by which they could reach Fishman Island.
Their task was to patrol those routes.
Before long, a pirate ship appeared in their field of vision.
"Pirates! Halt!"
The Sea Rhinoceros's massive body blocked the ship's path, stopping the pirates who wanted to continue forward.
Staring at the two Sea Beasts, each nearly as large as their own ship, even the most lawless pirates couldn't help but feel nervous in the deep sea.
"What do you want?!"
"Up ahead is Fishman Island. Anyone entering must pay a transit tax, 100,000 Berries per person. Pay the tax, or turn back the way you came. So, pirates, what's your answer?"
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