Immigration Bureau

Bang!

Their fists collided, sending shockwaves rippling through the air.

Jinbe stumbled back several steps. "You've gotten even stronger, Bright."

Opposite him, Bright, now in Dragon Human form, had his right arm crackling with lightning and enveloped in an invisible aura. "My punches are so much more powerful with Haki."

"Of course, Haki is a power on par with Devil Fruits."

Jinbe smiled. "The top powerhouses in the world can do without Devil Fruit abilities, but they absolutely must possess strong Haki."

"So I still can't beat you, huh?"

Bright returned to his human form, sighing with a touch of melancholy.

"Hahaha, you're already incredibly strong."

Jinbe laughed heartily. "It wouldn't be easy for me to defeat you now either."

In just two or three months, Bright had become overwhelmingly powerful.

With his new taijutsu, Armament Haki, and a constantly strengthening body, he was several times stronger than when he first returned to Fish-Man Island.

But of course, defeating Jinbe was still impossible.

Jinbe's Haki was immensely strong, a world apart from Bright's newly awakened Armament Haki. Not to mention, Bright hadn't even awakened Observation Haki yet.

However, if Jinbe didn't use Armament Haki, it wasn't entirely out of the question for him to put up a fight.

"Let's continue, Brother Jinbe!"

Bright clenched his fist.

Even though he had learned Armament Haki, it was only just awakened. The training had to go on.

His Haki quantity and quality were both poor.

His usage was limited to the most basic form of wrapping, with the common hardening technique still a distant goal, let alone the more advanced emission and internal destruction.

Haki only grew stronger through clashes with powerful opponents.

It needed constant training to improve.

He should at least learn hardening, something everyone else could do.

As Bright and Jinbe resumed their spar, Arlong, squatting on a thick coral branch below, impatiently grumbled, "So you spend most of your time on this every day, Bright. When are we going to get down to business?"

"Business?"

Bright's fist met Jinbe's, and he asked casually, "What do you mean by business, Brother Arlong?"

"What else could it be?"

Arlong exclaimed excitedly. "Now that we've unified the entire Fish-Man District, shouldn't we set our sights on the whole of Fish-Man Island?"

"Neptune is too weak! We should overthrow him from the throne!"

Arlong leaped down from the coral. "Bright, you should become the new king of Fish-Man Island! With the support of the Fish-Man District, you can absolutely do it!"

Bright's lips twitched.

Setting aside what kind of person Neptune was, his daughter was Shirahoshi.

If he did something that made that little girl cry, things would get very complicated.

"Don't say such foolish things, Arlong."

Jinbe frowned. Although Arlong was on their side now, he was still radical. "Neptune isn't our enemy!"

"If he can't change the status quo of Fish-Man Island, then we will!"

Arlong sneered. "You say he isn't our enemy? Anyone who stands in our way is our enemy!"

Bright's lips twitched again.

As expected of Brother Arlong, he thought.

Jinbe sighed, resigned to dealing with Arlong. "Bright—"

Bright shook his head. "Brother Arlong, instead of thinking about that, why don't you train with me and get stronger?"

"Huh?"

Arlong tilted his head.

"To achieve our goals, we'll face many terrifyingly strong opponents in the future. You wouldn't want to be unable to help, would you?" Bright said.

Arlong's strength was truly lacking.

But that was okay. Strength could be improved through training.

While innate talent at birth was important, training was no less significant.

Humans were naturally much weaker than races like Fishmen or Mink, let alone Giants, but humans could surpass such innate advantages through training.

Even guys like Coby and Helmeppo could become strong through rigorous training, so there was no reason Fishmen couldn't.

"It's not impossible."

Arlong stroked his chin, pondering.

If he was too weak, how could he hold a high position in the future Fish-Man Empire?

"Very good,"

Jinbe grinned. "Arlong, I'll train you well."

Arlong immediately shivered. "Hey, Jinbe, you're not going to get back at me for personal reasons, are you?"

"How could I?" Brother Jinbe smiled his usual honest smile.

Bright clapped his hands. "Arlong alone isn't enough. It's best to select the most talented youngsters from Fish-Man District to train together."

Wild growth couldn't compare to planned training.

Even if not everyone mastered Haki, under Jinbe's guidance, it would be enough for everyone to master a strong Fish-Man martial art, right?

"That's not a bad idea."

Jinbe agreed. "To change Fish-Man Island, we need more, stronger power."

"Then it's settled."

Bright smiled. "We'll try to implement it later. But before that, there's something more important."

He looked at Jinbe. "Brother Jinbe, can you help me arrange a meeting with Neptune?"

"Are you talking about the previous matter?"

Jinbe nodded. "Sure, I'll help you contact Ryugu Palace."

"Thank you for your trouble."

Bright said gratefully.

Brother Arlong was right, it was time to do some real business.

As it turned out, Brother Jinbe had a lot of influence in the Ryugu Kingdom, and Neptune quickly agreed to Bright's meeting invitation.

Next, they had to head to Ryugu Palace.

Ryugu Palace was located above Fish-Man Island.

Literally above.

The royal palace of the Ryugu Kingdom was not within Fish-Man Island's large bubble; it floated above the bubble, inside a slightly smaller bubble.

To get there, one could take a specific water path or a reception ship sent by Ryugu Palace.

Bright and Jinbe chose the water path and arrived directly outside the gates of Ryugu Palace.

"Oh! Welcome, Jinbe, and, we meet again, young man!"

Unexpectedly, Neptune was waiting for them at the main gate.

He was really giving them a lot of face.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Neptune!"

Jinbe greeted him and walked over.

Bright also smiled in response. "It's been a while, King Neptune."

"Truly remarkable,"

Neptune looked down at Bright and sincerely praised him. "I heard about what happened in Fish-Man District. Well done."

It really made one wonder how to react.

Was this something a king should say?

He had integrated the entire Fish-Man District, commanding hundreds of thousands of Fish-Men.

The entire Fish-Man Island had a population of only five million, and the power he commanded was already astonishing.

But Neptune seemed very happy.

"With this, Fish-Man District can finally be stabilized,"

Neptune sighed. "This country hasn't made things better there. This is my failure, the failure of Ryugu Palace. So, Bright, I hope you can succeed."

One didn't know whether to call him carefree or someone who shirks responsibility.

But upon closer thought, Neptune's mindset was quite normal.

The kings of this world truly had little leverage in front of real powerhouses.

"That's exactly why I'm here."

Bright said seriously.

"So I've set aside the afternoon for you."

Neptune smiled. "Let's go, tea and desserts are ready, we can talk slowly."

Later, in the tea room of Ryugu Palace.

"Mining undersea minerals, what a genius idea!"

Neptune said seriously, "I've already sent our kingdom's mineral scholars to explore the surrounding areas, and we've had quite a few discoveries."

"That's excellent, we can discuss that in detail later. But for now, there's something else."

Bright said, "It's about immigration control."

"Ah, that..."

Neptune nodded, saying with a headache, "The resistance is greater than I imagined. Many ministers are strongly opposed, mainly out of fear that pirates who refuse to cooperate will cause trouble."

"Then leave this matter to us,"

Bright's voice was calm. "We will build the first line of defense for Fish-Man Island!"

"Bright..." Neptune's eyes widened.

"Let's call it the Immigration Bureau. Its duty will be to screen all those entering and leaving," Bright continued to himself. "The goal is to ensure our brethren are protected from harm by humans, at least here on Fish-Man Island."

"Of course," Bright added with a smile, "even if you refuse, we will still do it."

"Hey, kid, at least show me some respect! I'm the king of this country, you know!"

Thank you to the readers '20190612200005278' and '20212031221303185' for their 100-point tips. Thank you, thank you.