Arlong was only twelve years older than Shyarly. In the original timeline, when three-year-old Shyarly was dumped on him, Arlong himself had only been a fifteen-year-old kid.
While Shyarly was growing up, Arlong did fulfill some responsibility in taking care of her, but a few years later, the two barely had any interaction. After Arlong went out to sea, they completely lost contact.
Jinbe and the others were worried that Arlong might commit some grave mistake out of greed for money; they have a youth's concern, but they also do not understand Arlong well enough.
When it comes to his own kind, Arlong was largely without any problem.
Now that Arlong was only thirteen, facing this one-year-old little sister naturally gave him a massive headache.
"Send her to the orphanage His Majesty established. You still have to go to school. How can you take care of her alone?"
"Yeah, and she's such a small child. Do you even know how to take care of her? The stuff you normally eat isn't even part of a Merfolk diet, right?"
The others looked at Arlong's current agitated state and had no better solution, so they could only suggest that he send his little sister to the childcare institution.
After Nereus took control of Fishman Island, he reorganized the orphan care facilities. By using the bubble-partitioned island method, he established many new institutions, which also greatly expanded Fishman Island's territorial area in the deep sea.
"I remember you once said your father abandoned you in Fish-Man District back then, right?"
"That damned bstard doesn't deserve to be called a father... Yeah, that bstard was always like that. This time he even found my address and dumped the kid here on me...
Should I say he still has a bit of conscience? At least he didn't throw the little brat away?"
Back then, Fish-Man District had originally functioned as a welfare institution, but its purpose had long since become obsolete. Instead, it had become a lawless area filled with delinquents.
Nowadays, although Fish-Man District still existed, the original residents had already gone through relocation and moved to more suitable living areas.
The old Fish-Man District had long since been turned into a training ground.
Meanwhile, new welfare institutions had been established to take in those who were abandoned or citizens returning from overseas.
Population had always been an important factor in a nation's development.
For Fish-Men and Merfolk, if their Fish-Type abilities were suitable, then after some growth they could become fairly formidable combatants.
Although in the original timeline neither the Fish-Men nor the Merfolk possessed truly top-tier powerhouses, they had an overwhelming, tiered advantage in terms of basic combat strength.
Arlong was practically a tyrant in the East Blue. Not only did he possess East Blue's highest bounty, but there also weren't many people in the entire East Blue capable of dealing with him.
And with proper guidance, growth would always come much faster. Under Nereus's teachings, Ryugu Kingdom had also produced quite a few additional strong individuals.
As long as the population base was large enough, more powerful individuals would eventually emerge in the future.
Many years ago, encouraging childbirth had already been incorporated into Fishman Island's national policy.
Relying on its enormous tariff and commercial tax system, along with trade between nations after joining the World Government, plus the deep sea's centuries of accumulation, Fishman Island's finances were in an extremely prosperous state.
Even though military expenses and scientific research burned through huge amounts of funding, there was still plenty of money available to invest into civilian welfare, including substantial childbirth subsidies.
Raising a child did not require any less effort, but the financial cost was hardly much of a burden.
However, although the original intention behind the policy was good, problems were unavoidable during its development.
Nereus could control the checkpoints and limit the harm outsiders brought to the country, but he could not control the thoughts inside every citizen's heart.
Cases like Arlong's biological father, who only cared about having children but not raising them, were not uncommon. Some people even lived in the outer seas, tossing their children back onto Fishman Island before continuing to enjoy themselves overseas.
A complete support institution was precisely the mechanism designed to handle situations like this.
In fact, because Nereus's royal guards were all Flying Fish-Type Merfolk and Fish-Men, Ryugu Kingdom currently even had a mentality of gambling on children.
A couple with no talent or special qualities would hope that one of their descendants would awaken as a Flying Fish-Type child and join Nereus's royal guards, thereby achieving a leap in social status.
Arlong had previously suspected that his father had exactly that kind of idea in mind when he produced another little sister for him.
However, Arlong was a sawshark Fish-Man, and Shyarly was also a shortfin mako shark Mermaid. Since both of them were shark Fish-Type children, his father's hopes were ultimately doomed to fail.
"What? You're still hesitating? Don't tell me you want to raise this kid yourself?"
"No matter what, she's still my little sister... Wouldn't it be kind of wrong to just dump her there?"
"What's wrong with that? That's an institution personally established by His Majesty Nereus. Even if you wanted to take care of her yourself, you'd at least have to wait until she's older. At her age, there's no way you can handle it.
"My little brother cries eight times a night... You living alone? Forget it."
One of Arlong's classmates spoke with a trace of fear in his voice, as though recalling a terrible past experience of taking care of children.
In the end, Arlong still sent his little sister there. With his current ability, he truly had no way to care for a child who was only one year old. He simply did not have the energy for it.
Especially energetic children, who were fully capable of making an entire family unable to sleep peacefully.
At this very moment, Nanamo was locked in a staring contest with Chloe.
"Aren't you sleepy?"
"?"
"When are you going to learn how to talk? Call me big sister."
"Ya... ah..."
A child only a few months old naturally could not speak. However, because of her racial talent, Chloe already resembled a superhuman. After awakening her flames, her tiny hands had become extremely strong.
Even sharp and pointed objects could not harm her, and she had also developed an extremely high resistance to temperature. Combined with the bloodline inherited from Nereus, whether she played with water or fire, neither could pose any threat to her.
Still, someone always had to keep an eye on her, otherwise she might affect the surrounding environment.
"Looks like the two of you are getting along pretty well."
After finishing her daily training, Amphitrite also returned to Ryugu Palace. Seeing the relationship between the sisters left her much more at ease.
"Of course. Actually, I've taken care of plenty of little kids before, but none of them were as cute as Chloe."
"You should go rest. I'll take care of her from here. She can be quite restless at night."
Amphitrite picked Chloe up from beside Nanamo. With Chloe's energy levels, if nobody coaxed her into sleeping, she really could cling to someone the entire night. The Lunarian race's endurance also included resistance to sleep.
Ordinary people would become mentally strained after going without sleep for too long, their thinking would grow muddled, and their bodies would become exhausted. But Lunarians could endure far longer in this regard than normal humans, and even infants were no exception.
"I'm not sleepy though. But aren't you going to keep being lovey-dovey with Dad?"
"Him? Your father's been busy lately cultivating feelings with those two stones. Maybe right now he's even telling bedtime stories to those stones."
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