Let us shift our focus to Fish-Man District.
Unlike the dreamlike regions of Fish-Man Island bathed in the blessing of the Sunlight Tree Eve, this corner of the island was noticeably dim.
Light was scarce here, and beauty was nowhere to be found.
Most of the homes were little more than crooked, dilapidated shelters fashioned from enormous seashells and conches, a stark contrast to the carefully crafted coral-and-shell houses of Coral Hill.
The residents who lived here wore tattered clothing, and unlike the people in the prosperous districts, their faces bore the weary expressions of those struggling merely to survive.
"Boss!"
"Boss Tiger!"
As the tall red figure walked through the shadowy streets, a crowd of fish-man children of all ages—though most were still very young—cheered and rushed toward him from every direction.
"Boss Tiger! You're back!"
"Yeah, I'm back."
"Boss! What did you bring back today?"
Returning from the bay outside Coral Hill, Tiger carried a fairly large sea beast over his shoulder.
After parting ways with Sami and the others, he had deliberately gone hunting in the waters outside Fish-Man Island.
Thanks to Prince Neptune's and Sami's guidance over the past few days, dealing with these deep-sea predators had become much easier than before.
"Easy now, everyone. Make way."
Tiger smiled at the children surrounding his legs before lowering the beast and handing it over to several older fish-women responsible for caring for everyone.
"Aunt Messa, sorry to trouble you."
"Let's give the kids an extra meal today."
"Awesome! We're having meat!"
"Boss Tiger is the best!"
At the mention of food, the children erupted into even louder cheers, and the atmosphere throughout the district brightened considerably.
The older fish-men also smiled with relief as they quickly called over several older children to help prepare the meal.
Meanwhile, the younger children continued surrounding Tiger like a lively school of little fish.
He casually picked up one child who was clinging to his leg while rubbing another's head.
"So?"
"Were you all well-behaved today?"
"We were!"
The children answered all at once.
The Tiger who stood before Sami and Neptune had still been a somewhat immature, outspoken teenager.
But after returning to Fish-Man District, he naturally exuded the bearing and sense of responsibility of a true leader.
Although there were older residents who shared the workload, Tiger had always believed he had to shoulder more than anyone else—especially when it came to providing food and safety for these helpless children.
"Oh, right."
Setting the child down, Tiger crouched until he was eye level with the youngsters and asked seriously,
"Did you practice those exercises I taught you today?"
"I did!"
"Me too! I practiced for a long time! Look, Boss Tiger!"
Several children immediately demonstrated the basic stances and power-generation techniques of Fish-Man Karate that Tiger had taught them a few days earlier.
Their movements were clumsy, but they performed them with remarkable sincerity.
"Very good."
Tiger nodded approvingly, a smile spreading across his red face.
"Only by training seriously will your bodies grow stronger."
"You'll become more powerful."
"Then, in the future, it'll be easier to find good jobs."
"And maybe..."
Remembering Neptune's invitation, his voice became even more encouraging.
"...you might even have a chance to join the Ryugu Kingdom Guard!"
Clearly, Tiger had passed on everything he had learned from Sami and Neptune to the children of Fish-Man District without holding anything back.
In his eyes, becoming stronger was never about domination.
It was about giving people who had grown up at the bottom of society, just like him, one more path for their future.
After playing with the children for a while, Tiger supervised another round of practice.
"Dinner's ready!"
With a loud shout, the aroma of freshly cooked food spread through the district.
The children cheered as they ran toward the crude dining hall.
Although the meal was simple and each person's portion was small, the warm atmosphere drove away the chill that lingered over the neighborhood.
After the lively dinner came to an end, Fish-Man District gradually settled into exhausted silence.
The children soon drifted off to sleep, huddled together.
Tiger leaned against the outer wall of his crude shell house, staring into the deeper darkness at the far end of the district.
Sleep refused to come.
The conversation from earlier that day echoed repeatedly through his mind like unseen currents beneath the sea.
A healthy young mermaid... starts at fifty million Beli...
Capturing just one mermaid is enough to cover the entire cost of the expedition—and still earn several times that amount in profit...
Greed moves people's hearts, Tiger...
In their eyes... mermaids and fish-men aren't even considered people...
Sami's razor-sharp words.
Prince Neptune's solemn interruption.
Those unimaginably huge numbers.
And that terrifying implication left unspoken...
Is the outside world... really that dangerous... and that cruel?
Just because of those pieces of paper...
They want to kidnap us and sell us like merchandise?
Why?!
The angry question he had shouted during the day now sounded pitifully weak within the silence.
For the first time, the fifteen-year-old leader of Fish-Man District realized that all he could truly protect might only be the temporary warmth and peace of this gloomy neighborhood.
Beyond the district...
The immense shadow known as the human world, looming over all of Fish-Man Island with its cold and unforgiving rules, had only just revealed a corner of itself.
Morning arrived quickly.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of urgent, almost violent knocks yanked Tiger out of his restless sleep.
The chaotic thoughts from the previous day had kept him awake until who knew when.
As he opened his eyes, they were bloodshot with exhaustion.
"Who...?"
He had barely managed to utter a single word when a panicked young fish-man shouted from outside.
"Boss Tiger! Boss!"
"Something terrible has happened!"
Tiger vigorously shook his heavy head before pressing the heel of his palm against his throbbing temple.
He yanked open the crude shell door.
"What happened?!"
Outside, a young fish-man leaned against the doorframe, gasping desperately for breath.
His eyes were filled with terror.
"The children..."
"So many children..."
"They're gone!"
he cried between breaths.
"Aunt Messa just found out!"
"Children from several houses have disappeared!"
"A-Altogether..."
"...almost two hundred of them!!!"
"What?!"
The last traces of drowsiness instantly vanished from Tiger's mind.
Nearly two hundred children...
Missing?!
"When was this discovered?!"
"Where?!"
He grabbed the young fish-man by the shoulders, his voice rising sharply.
"Hurry!"
"Take me there!"
"J-Just now..."
The frightened youth shuddered beneath Tiger's intense gaze before hurriedly pointing deeper into the district.
"Aunt Messa is still over there..."
"She said..."
"...so many beds were empty."
"The children were just... gone..."
Tiger asked no more questions.
He didn't even bother closing the crude shell door behind him.
His figure shot away like a crimson arrow, racing toward the direction the young fish-man had indicated.
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