For the next stretch of time, Bright focused his life on only two things.
The first was training. He wanted to awaken Observation Haki as soon as possible, while also honing his Armament Haki to become even stronger.
The second, naturally, was capturing sea beasts.
The sea lions had already been assigned. The squad that performed best in training had successfully earned the right to raise them.
The other squads were unconvinced on one hand, but on the other, they were also yearning for sea beasts of their own.
Bright did not want to disappoint them. The enthusiasm he had finally stirred up had to be kept going.
But as always, finding suitable sea beasts was no easy matter.
To that end, Bright could only spend money by the fistful, hiring people in Fish-Man District to search the deep sea for sea beasts.
Money had a noticeable effect. In one week, Bright captured another three sea beasts—an average of one every two days.
At this rate, they would soon achieve the modest goal of one sea beast per squad.
The three newly captured sea beasts were assigned as well. Naturally, the squads that had earned them through outstanding performance were ecstatic, while the ones passed over were deeply discouraged.
But their discouragement was quickly replaced by determination.
They knew that rather than wallowing in disappointment, they should work harder. New sea beasts would arrive soon enough, and if they continued performing poorly, being the last squad to receive one would be truly humiliating.
This was what they called healthy competition.
Honestly, assigning the sea beasts ahead of time disrupted the training schedule somewhat, but there was no helping it.
Bright had indeed subdued the sea beasts through force, but making them truly become part of the Immigration Bureau's fighting strength was not so simple.
The warriors needed to slowly build bonds with them.
Although sea beasts were far less intelligent than Sea Kings, they were still sentient creatures. They had emotions, likes, and dislikes.
Simple coercion through force was not enough.
They had to truly become companions.
So, during breaks in training, the warriors from the squads assigned sea beasts did their best to get close to them.
They fed them, trimmed their claws, smoothed their fur—whatever made them feel comfortable.
The results were encouraging. The sea beasts were not especially intelligent, and after being treated this way, they quickly became friendly with the warriors.
The Sea Beast Knights plan had begun to show results.
But they could not be satisfied just yet. At the very least, they needed to gather ten first, right?
That evening, during dinner.
"Another week, and I think the preliminary training will be more or less complete."
Jinbe said, "The Immigration Bureau can begin operating on a preliminary basis."
"Is that so?"
Bright scratched his head in frustration. "Looks like we won't be able to gather ten sea beasts before the training is complete."
"There is no need to rush. We can take this slowly." Jinbe did not seem to mind. "These men are not so fragile that they cannot survive without sea beasts."
Bright nodded lightly. For now, that was all they could do.
He had already done everything he could to search for them. What else could he do if he could not find any?
The squads that had not received sea beasts by the end of training would just have to wait a little longer.
"By the way, Arlong said you ran into that Sea King again today?"
Jinbe suddenly asked.
Bright also found it strange. "That thing seems to have been wandering around Fish-Man Island lately."
The Sea King they were referring to was the Lizard Shrimp Sea King they had encountered before.
Today had not even been the second time they had seen it. They had already run into it several times.
That creature had been lingering near Fish-Man Island recently, and every time they saw it, it was fighting other Sea Kings.
Although its opponents were larger every time, it won every battle, always beating them until they fled in panic.
"A Sea King circling Fish-Man Island?"
Jinbe frowned deeply. "Could it be planning to attack Fish-Man Island?"
You were definitely overthinking this, Brother Jinbe.
Anyone in the world might attack Fish-Man Island, but Sea Kings were the one exception.
The king they had waited hundreds of years for was currently inside Ryugu Palace, sweetly calling out for Mother.
"Who knows?"
Bright said, "But it does not seem to have any intention of approaching Fish-Man Island."
"Drive it away next time you see it."
Jinbe said seriously, "There was once an incident where a Sea King smashed through Fish-Man Island's gate."
Bright knew about that incident.
It happened when Roger came to ask Shyarly for a prophecy.
Because the Sea Kings had been anxiously awaiting the birth of their king.
"Fine."
But Bright did not refuse.
That Sea King really was too violent. What kind of Sea King spent every day picking fights with its own kind?
It might truly cause trouble later.
After all, the Sea Kings only cared about Poseidon, Shirahoshi. They gave no special consideration to any other merfolk or fish-men.
Over the next few days, Bright continued training every day as usual. He also captured another sea beast along the way, bringing their total number of sea beasts to five.
But they did not see that Lizard Shrimp Sea King again.
Perhaps it had already left the waters around Fish-Man Island.
Then, one evening, after finishing a day of training and returning to the Mermaid Cafe for dinner, Bright pushed open the door and saw an unexpected visitor.
"Yo! Bright!"
The woman sitting in a chair greeted Bright with a grin.
Bright raised an eyebrow. "Queen Otohime?"
What was this woman doing here at this hour?
"Her Highness the Queen has been waiting for you for quite a while, Bright."
Shyarly, who was sitting opposite Otohime and appeared to be chatting happily with her, still had a smile on her face. "She has something she wants to ask of you."
Although Shyarly was not particularly fond of Otohime's ideals, she apparently did not dislike this woman either.
"So, Her Highness the Queen,"
Bright looked toward the other large figure in the restaurant. "What is it? Does it have something to do with Prince Shark Star?"
The blue-haired young merman, Shark Star, the Ryugu Kingdom's eldest prince, floated behind his mother. His eyes were filled with excitement as he looked at Bright.
"As expected of Bright! You guessed it right away!"
Queen Otohime stood up and patted her eldest son's arm. "This fool pestered me endlessly until I brought him here."
The eldest prince's face reddened slightly, perhaps because the secret of him acting spoiled with his mother had been exposed.
"Come on, tell Bright what you want, Shark Star." Otohime cheerfully patted her son's lower back.
The eldest prince took a deep breath, then solemnly said to Bright, "Please allow me to join the Immigration Bureau, Brother Bright!"
Bright was somewhat surprised.
Was this kid joking?
He was the future heir of this country.
"May I ask why?" Bright did not rush to refuse.
"I have already heard about Fish-Man District! It is incredible, Brother Bright! In such a short time, you actually made Fish-Man District completely change!"
Shark Star immediately launched into an excited stream of words. "This has never happened before! Father was right—you are someone who can change Fish-Man Island!"
"I also want to do something for this country!"
"I want to stop enemies who might threaten Fish-Man Island outside the island! I want to be part of an organization like that too! I want to use my strength to contribute to protecting Fish-Man Island!"
Bright had a terrible headache.
So this guy had been this fired up when he was young?
He looked at Otohime.
A gentle smile appeared on the woman's face. She stroked her nervous son's back and said seriously, "Please agree to it, Bright. This is the first time in this child's life that he has so actively wanted to do something."
"Yes!"
Shark Star nodded heavily. "I know it is an unreasonable request, but please agree to it, Brother Bright!"
Bright fell silent for a moment.
Letting a prince join might really be troublesome.
What if he died in battle by accident someday?
What if Bright came into conflict with the royal family?
But—
Bright looked into Shark Star's sincere eyes.
"Fine."
Bright nodded.
This kid truly wanted to do something.
Then Bright would give him a chance.
"Really?!"
An uncontrollable smile of excitement appeared on Shark Star's face.
"But do not expect me to treat you like a prince."
Bright said seriously.
"Of course!"
Shark Star nodded solemnly.
Then, excitedly, he tightly embraced his mother to share his joy with her. "This is great, Mother! I did it—"
Crack.
"Ah! That hurts!!"
"Whoa! Mother!"
Bright's mouth twitched.
Before you continue