Chapter 122: The Royal Guard
Having wandered the sea alone since he was young, King (Alber) also longed for compatriots. After all, to Lunarians, there were almost no trustworthy people in the world.
Only companions of the same race were relatively more trustworthy. Because of the World Government's attitude, Lunarians naturally shared a unified stance.
Alber was quite curious about how Amphelite managed to pull this off, wanting to see if there was a possibility for him to learn from it.
From where he was, it would take quite some time to reach Fish-man Island. Coupled with having to evade potential pursuers, his speed couldn't be fast.
Meanwhile, on Fish-man Island, Nereus was making arrangements for the next step. After a long period, Fish-man Island's census was finally completed.
Out of a population of 4.15 million, there was a total of 209 Flying Fish Fish-men and Merfolk. Excluding those who were too young or too old, the number of eligible individuals totaled 57.
Among them, there were 37 Fish-men and 20 Merfolk.
Currently, all 57 of these individuals had received Nereus's summons and arrived at the Ryugu Palace at the same time.
"Did you also receive His Majesty Nereus's summons?"
"Yeah, I don't know what it's for. Is he going to select a new Queen?"
"Don't be a lovestruck fool. There are so many men here; how could it be something like that... Drafting soldiers is more likely..."
"Where is His Majesty Nereus? Why haven't we seen him yet?"
Men and women were whispering among themselves. Although their outward appearances varied greatly, because they were of the same fish species, they shared significant similarities in form.
Beneath the arms of the Fish-men, there was a transparent wing-membrane structure.
And on both sides of the Merfolks' lower-body fish tails, there was also a pair of giant transparent fins, resembling a kind of fairy.
"Congratulations, you guessed right. I summoned you all here today indeed for the matter of drafting soldiers. But don't worry, this isn't mandatory."
A moment later, Nereus finally appeared in the hall. He had been there the whole time, just observing the state of these people.
"His Majesty Nereus!"
"No need to salute. That kind of thing doesn't matter. I just want to have a brief chat with you. Fish-man Island is currently in a developmental stage.
You are young; you are the future of Fish-man Island. Your strength can also play an important role in the future.
I have a question: among you, who is capable of flying? Even brief gliding counts."
Out of the 57 people, only two raised their hands in the end.
It wasn't that the others couldn't do it; rather, the majority of them had simply never attempted anything similar.
"Flight is a very special power. Even the most numerous ordinary humans need to undergo rigorous tempering to forge a superhuman body before they can master this power.
And even such superhumans can only master the power of brief mid-air suspension.
But you are different. This is your innate power, a unique talent. With just a little training, you can master all of this.
If you accept this recruitment, I will personally train you to master this power. And your future identity will be my Royal Guard."
After returning to Fish-man Island, Nereus didn't form any Royal Guard or anything like that. He had no use for such guards to protect his safety, and neither did Nanamo.
Even if such a guard unit existed, its function would be that of an honor guard—merely for prestige and appearances.
However, the position of the King's personal guard was actually very high within the Kingdom, and it was a position many desired to attain.
"The treatment and such will be higher than that of the ordinary Neptune Army. But if you join, I will personally train you. The training content will be harsh, and the process will not be easy.
So before giving me your answer, you'd best think clearly about whether you can endure this hardship. As long as you can persevere, you will all be proud of the choice you make today."
Mandatory conscription was possible but meaningless. What Nereus needed was an elite force capable of holding their own, not cannon fodder to consume the enemy's firepower and stamina.
If they themselves lacked the desire to become stronger, forcibly recruiting them was pointless. Monsters with natural talent like Charlotte Linlin couldn't be found in large numbers across the entire sea.
Nowadays, Nereus's own prestige had reached its peak on Fish-man Island. Working by his side was something for any Fish-man Island resident to be proud of when spoken aloud.
Under these circumstances, none of the 57 people left; instead, they all stayed right there.
"Seven days from now, you will begin a period of closed-door training. Go back and tell your families..."
At the same time, while Nereus was on Fish-man Island preparing to train a new batch of core subordinates, Babel also arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago with a portion of the Fish-man Pirates' elites.
"Leave Groves 0-9 to those guys to serve as a buffer zone between us and the Marines. From now on, Groves 10-19 are our territory."
On the Sabaody Archipelago, Babel had already begun his "salvation" operations. The Sabaody Archipelago already had swaths of Lawless Areas.
Groves 10-19 were located right in the center of the Sabaody Archipelago, connecting to the mangroves of all other surrounding areas, making it the most conveniently located section.
Actually, Groves 20-29 in the northwest of the archipelago were also Lawless Areas, where most arriving pirates would dock.
It was just because they had just arrived that they didn't include this outer area in their sphere of influence yet.
A major executive from a top-tier New World pirate crew facing pirates who had just arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago was inherently a one-sided slaughter.
Naturally, the people in the Lawless Area wouldn't just hand the place over to them because of Babel's single sentence. Besides some pirates passing through, there were also pirates who had long been entrenched here.
Seeing Babel make such a grand declaration of war, they immediately united and launched an attack on him.
"It's not too late to leave obediently now."
Babel rotated the prayer beads in his hand, not attacking directly, but continuously muttering something under his breath.
However, these pirates didn't take his words seriously at all. Seeing him standing motionlessly in a seemingly arrogant manner, all sorts of weapons were aimed at Babel.
Boom! Boom!
Bang!
Rat-tat-tat!
"Idiot! Why should we hand this place over to you just because you said so!"
"Such a huge body is just like a target. You really don't know the meaning of death!"
Machine guns, cannons, rocket launchers—the sounds of various firearms drowned out the sound of the waves surrounding the Sabaody Archipelago. But when the smoke cleared, there was only Babel's disdainful gaze.
"Vajra Body."
Armament Haki manifested externally, forming an invisible armor that blocked all attacks. At this moment, Babel's beard and hair seemed to burn, dancing wildly up and down like flames along with the flow of Haki.
"I gave you a chance. Since you didn't cherish it, then I have no choice but to send you to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss! Wrath of the Wisdom King!"
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