Every industry within the Kingdom was developing steadily, and its trade with the Four Seas was growing ever larger.
Beyond building an impregnable defense system, Hades focused more of his attention outward.
He intended to strengthen the Kronos Kingdom by drawing on outside resources.
On Coral Island, off the Kronos Kingdom's western coast, the Fish-Man Race population had reached five hundred thousand.
Fish-Man warriors were a vital force in patrolling the waters around the Kingdom.
At that scale, roughly fifty to sixty thousand Fish-Men came to the Kronos Kingdom each year.
And that number kept growing.
Fish-Man Island had no intention of stopping them.
Despite its name, Fish-Man Island was only a small island, yet it held a densely packed population of five million.
Fewer than one in ten lived on the island itself, where they could feel the light carried ten thousand meters down through the roots of Sunlight Tree Eve.
The vast majority could only live in the coral formations beneath the island, crammed into tiny apartment-like spaces. They never saw sunlight. Some were even forgotten, as though they had no hope at all.
This had much to do with the Fish-Man Race's ability to reproduce. Many Fish-Men had seven or eight children, sometimes more than a dozen.
In lives marked by poverty, the only pleasure might be having children. As a result, the number of Fish-Man children kept rising, and so did the number of orphans.
The arrival of the Pluton Pirates and the existence of Coral Island gave countless Fish-Man Island residents hope of seeing the sun. There, they could set foot on land and feel its warmth. With the Pluton Pirates protecting them, they would not have to fear human traffickers.
Coral Island seemed like paradise.
Each year, more Fish-Men and Merfolk made their way