Chapter 80: The Beginning of Change
Since Nereus's debut, the slave trade had suffered a major blow, yet the demand for slaves had always existed.
This didn't lead to the disappearance of the trade, but rather a surge in prices.
Especially for Merfolk; their prices had long been hyped to astronomical figures, making some desperadoes willing to risk their lives to do it.
As long as the person is sold, even if Nereus seeks revenge, he won't find me. Whoever bought them can bear that wrath. This was the mindset of some people.
It was precisely because of this mindset that such incidents occurred from time to time.
Umit was truly afraid. He was genuinely terrified that one of his subordinates would inexplicably drag him into a pit.
Umit planned to transfer the subordinate who had just asked that question to his side, preventing him from acting alone.
After all, he was an old subordinate who had even taken a blade for him in the past.
In the line of work of the Underworld, no one dared to claim their hands were clean.
Killing him directly now would have a bad influence.
But if he really couldn't change his ways, then for Umit's own safety, he would have to be eliminated preemptively.
Meanwhile, on the main island of Fish-man Island, Nereus was indeed setting out to change some things.
The political structure of Fish-man Island was quite simple. Besides a King, the main officials were only the Left and Right Ministers. The Left Minister was a civil official managing various trivial matters, while the Right Minister was a military official managing the Neptune Army.
Nereus didn't care much about the civil official. Current Fish-man Island didn't have much diplomacy to speak of; calling him a civil official was less accurate than calling him a palace steward.
But the military official, the Right Minister, was different. He was too weak, couldn't train troops, and lacked experience in commanding battles. At most, he could manage domestic public security issues.
However, the two of them didn't make things difficult for Nereus because they had already proactively submitted their resignations. After all, when the King changes, the ministers usually change too.
Nereus exchanged a few polite words with the Right Minister, but the Left Minister was kept on. He would only be allowed to resign after Nereus's own subordinates became familiar with these matters.
"However, on my side... there seems to be no one suitable to be a civil official..."
Sebastian—very good at fighting.
Babel and Sunbell—very good at fighting.
It wasn't that they couldn't handle anything, just that they weren't very good at it. Compared to studying those twisty and turny administrative things, using their fists was much more direct for them.
As for the remaining Big Pan—good at fighting, but not enough brains.
Thinking carefully, Nereus realized this seemed to be his own problem. After all, when he recruited subordinates, he prioritized martial power.
Wobbegong, who had the best brain, was currently still doing research with Vegapunk and wouldn't be back for a short while.
He really couldn't find a Prime Minister-like character under his command at the moment.
The one with the most active brain seemed to be Hermes, the Homie.
"No, Hermes should be sent to inspect defense issues. With its personality, it should do a decent job..."
If there weren't any for now, he would cultivate them slowly. With so many people on Fish-man Island, he would eventually find someone.
"Papa, this is the previous population data. According to these records, the current population of Fish-man Island is 4.15 million. However, there is no classification by fish species. We'll have to wait a bit for more specific information."
When the timeline reached the canon story years, Fish-man Island had a population of five million. Calculating based on the current data, the growth rate wasn't fast.
This was normal. When the environment wasn't suitable for survival, living beings would actively reduce reproduction.
Although the situation in Fish-man Island wasn't good, it hadn't reached a terrible level yet. It was just slow growth, not negative population growth.
"Princess Nanamo, at this time you should call him 'Royal Father.' You are the legal first-in-line successor; you must pay attention to etiquette..."
Hermes had bought a new top hat at some point. Right now, acting like a royal advisor, it was whispering words into Nanamo's ear that she found very boring.
"What's the point of caring about such things..."
"It's different. You are a veritable Princess now..."
"In other words, when you called me 'Princess' before, you were just coaxing me and weren't sincere at all?"
"Of course not! I, Hermes, am the Homie most loyal to you!"
Nanamo knew Hermes well enough. After this one sentence, Hermes began to ponder if it had made any slip of the tongue, leaving no time to think about Nanamo's form of address for a while.
"Why did you bring this over?"
Nereus had ultimately asked Sunbell to handle these matters. Nanamo should have been playing on Fish-man Island right now.
"Nothing much. Ms. Napolai is researching new songs, so I came over... But more importantly, I want to visit the treasury of Ryugu Palace."
Nanamo didn't beat around the bush; within two sentences, she revealed her true intentions.
Compared to being an heir, she might be more interested in being the Minister of Finance.
"Go if you want. It needs to be inventoried anyway. But remember, don't touch some messy things. Hermes!"
"Present!"
"There is a small box in the treasury called the Tamatebako. Inside are special pills. Absolutely do not touch that thing."
"Yes! I will remind Princess Nanamo!"
Energy Steroids (E.S.), a type of energy steroid. Eating it doubles a person's strength.
It sounds good, but this thing consumes life span. It's unknown who created it.
After taking over Fish-man Island, Nereus had briefly looked through Fish-man Island's past history. He felt this thing might have been something like a stimulant prepared by the previous generation's Poseidon for the Sea Kings.
In short, it had value, but it wasn't suitable for human consumption.
To prevent Nanamo from focusing too much on the treasure and forgetting this matter, Nereus asked Hermes to remind her.
The treasure accumulated in Ryugu Palace was indeed substantial. However, Nanamo had seen big scenes before. The treasure of the God's Land, the treasure of certain ruins—compared to those, Ryugu Palace's hoard was comparable.
Right now, she was just enjoying the fresh joy of counting money.
Meanwhile, Nereus went to the Fish-man District himself.
The atmosphere in the Fish-man District today was extremely joyous, as cheerful as if it were a festival.
"Big Bro Nereus?"
"No, that's wrong. It's His Majesty Nereus!"
Just like the last time he came here, Nereus received a warm welcome. And this time, Nereus didn't just look around and leave.
He summoned all the residents of the Fish-man District and declared his purpose for coming here—military expansion.
Although Fish-man Island had the Neptune Army, compared to a standing army, these troops were more like mercenaries. Soldiers joining the Neptune Army just found a job; the threshold for joining and leaving was very loose.
Nereus's goal wasn't just expansion, but accurately speaking, a major reform of the military system. Therefore, he planned to recruit a new core team from the Fish-man District...
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