Under Manaphy's persuasion, the Sea King Type creature swam away obediently like a good child. Neptune and Princess Otohime watched it depart with dazed expressions, while the Sea King Army following them were so startled their jaws nearly dropped.
"King Neptune, Princess Otohime?"
Tesoro waved his hand for quite a while before they regained their senses. Anyone would be frightened upon encountering a sea monster in the deep sea. Tesoro and Stella were unafraid because they had already witnessed Manaphy's abilities on the way here.
The big ones can be persuaded to leave, and the smaller ones are even more obedient than pets.
"He... he is..."
"I am Manaphy, sent by the master to ensure the safety of this area, so there's no need to worry about the Sea King Type creatures—they won't cause any trouble."
For the first time, Princess Otohime's thoughts were so chaotic. Although Manaphy claimed to merely communicate, such communication and control are practically indistinguishable. These were ultra-large Sea King Type creatures, and communicating with them is a privilege of the Sea King.
The Sea King would only be born among Mermaid Princesses, a power inherited through their bloodline. What was happening now had already exceeded Otohime's understanding.
Moreover, she could not sense any emotions from Manaphy; this inconspicuous little fellow's mind was a blank slate, as was the mysterious master he mentioned...
"Princess Otohime, that's why I previously mentioned that we have prepared many things; there's absolutely nothing to worry about. All we need is some merfolk labor force."
This was the first step of the plan. Once sufficient trust was built on Fishman Island, they would prepare a deep-sea exploration team to search the ocean floor ruins for what they need.
With Manaphy guarding them, the greatest crisis in the sea had been resolved. Soon, they arrived at the designated mining site. As their operation was just starting, their target was certainly the nearby Fishman Island mines.
Working close to home made people feel more at ease. Here, Otohime also witnessed the special mining method Tesoro had mentioned, involving the frog-like creatures trailing them—Swampert.
Tesoro motioned with the blueprint for a while, and they found their target. This was a semi-open mine on the deep sea floor; clearing away the surface silt would reveal the exposed ore.
The Swampert's arms were like impact drills, directly smashing through the rock layers in front of them. The remaining work was not complicated for the merfolk. Under preliminary examination, Princess Otohime and Neptune saw no drawbacks; the next step was recruiting employees.
Princess Otohime guaranteed with her reputation to quickly find some ambitious merfolk willing to change their circumstances through work. They were residents of Fishman Street, lacking fixed jobs, but unlike those who chose to join Tiger, they were unwilling to engage in the sea battles.
Most people hoped for a stable life. In the past, they had lived a semi-lounging lifestyle due to a lack of goals to strive for.
There was nothing essential for them to buy within Fishman Island. Food and drink could be solved in the sea; even in a quest for a partner, they could find beautiful shells and pearls in the ocean.
Although Fishman Island had high-consumption shopping streets, the products offered had replacements, and Kojiro's department store indirectly changed the situation.
Novel items from the continent and Sky Island stimulated Fishman Island's economy, with many specialties having no alternatives. To purchase those items required money, and they were quite stable types, making suitable job positions crucial.
Kojiro's department store even indirectly boosted the employment issue on Fishman Island.
Now Kojiro was about to return to Wano Kuni, and some people were quite reluctant to see him go. Ultimately, he had added quite a few people to his contact list.
Before leaving, Kojiro made another visit to Mandfeish's home. Jack's training was nearly complete, everything that needs teaching had been taught, and what remained was just practicing. Thus, he had no reason to stay on Fishman Island.
He planned to return to Wano Kuni with Kojiro. Now, he was acquiring local Fishman Island souvenirs, intending to distribute them upon return. At least half of the items in his backpack were prepared for Page One.
"Mandfeish, I'm going back."
"Understood, stay safe, and thanks for everything before."
"No biggie, no biggie, after all, we're comrades."
"Jack might not be coming back anytime soon; aren't you going to take something back?"
Kojiro knew more people within Wano Kuni, so Mandfeish thought he might need some Fishman Island souvenirs too.
"I have already prepared. By the way, these are for you."
Kojiro handed Mandfeish a bag, which contained some Gold Coins. They were surplus funds from the department store after deducting contributions to Hundred Beasts and stock purchases—the remaining funds were entirely under his management.
"What are you doing?"
"You're short of money right now; take these for emergencies. You've likely had substantial expenses lately."
Dating is an expensive endeavor. Although Rushaka never asked for anything, Mandfeish's expenses were not insignificant.
Mandfeish counted as a High-Level Official with some shares in the Hundred Beasts Fruit, though it wasn't dividend season yet. Plus, the biggest fund source for pirates is treasure shares, but Hancock had dealt with the outside pirates, tightening his purse.
"Thank you, I'll pay you back later."
"No worries, my funds are much more abundant than yours."
Kojiro understood that merely having money was useless. His father was an example; in the world, money without connections made one a fat sheep, so he maintained relationships with officials. As long as Hundred Beasts remained, even if he went bankrupt, he could make a comeback.
Shortly after Kojiro left, Rushaka returned here with another mermaid who seemed about thirteen or fourteen years old. She wasn't her daughter or sister but Ah Long's sister, Sharley.
She and Ah Long shared the same father but different mothers, abandoned to Fishman Street by their father at the age of three. During that time, it was indeed Ah Long who raised her, but she was very different from him.
Their father was highly irresponsible, towards both Ah Long and Sharley. Now, Ah Long had taken all his subordinates to venture with Tiger, leaving Sharley behind.
Mandfeish discovered her while she relied on divination to earn living expenses. Despite her young age, she was already a renowned Divination Master on Fishman Island.
However, business wasn't good. Though her predictions were incredibly accurate, she hadn't failed yet, the tragedies foretold were many, so people rarely sought her for divination unless necessary.
He and Ah Long had some rapport back in the day, and this sister was nothing like him, so he helped take care of Sharley as much as possible. Fishman Street was not ideal for a young female mermaid to reside alone.