Chapter 174: She Is a Child, and You Are Also Just a Child
Arlong was only twelve years older than Shyarly. In the original timeline, when three-year-old Shyarly was dumped on him, Arlong was just a fifteen-year-old half-grown boy himself.
As Shyarly grew up, Arlong did fulfill his duties of taking care of her to some extent. However, a few years later, their lives no longer intersected. After Arlong set out to sea, they completely lost contact.
Jinbe and the others were worried that Arlong would commit a grave mistake out of his greed for money. It was the concern of youths, but it also showed they didn't fully understand Arlong yet.
When it came to treating his compatriots, Arlong couldn't be faulted.
Currently, Arlong was only thirteen years old. Facing this one-year-old little sister, he was naturally suffering from a massive headache.
"Send her to the orphanage established by His Majesty. You still have to go to school; how can you take care of her all by yourself?"
"Yeah, and with a child this young, do you even know how to take care of her? The things you usually eat aren't exactly on a Mermaid's dietary menu."
Seeing Arlong's frantic and irritable state, the others didn't have any better ideas and could only suggest that he send his little sister to a childcare facility.
After Nereus took control of Fish-man Island, he overhauled the orphan shelter facilities. Utilizing the method of creating branch islands with massive bubbles, he established quite a few new institutions, which also significantly expanded Fish-man Island's territorial area in the deep sea.
"I remember you mentioning before that your father abandoned you in the Fish-Man District, right?"
"That damn bastard doesn't deserve to be called a father... But yeah, that scumbag has always been like this. He even managed to find my address this time and dumped her here...
"Should I actually be saying that he has a bit of conscience for not just tossing this little squirt on the street?"
In the past, the Fish-Man District's function as a shelter had long since broken down, instead devolving into a lawless zone where thugs and gangsters congregated.
Now, although the Fish-Man District still existed, the original residents had gone through a relocation process, moving to areas much more suitable for living.
The original Fish-Man District had long been transformed into a military training ground.
New shelters had been established to adopt children who were abandoned or brought back from overseas.
Population had always been a crucial factor for the development of a nation.
For the Fish-men and Merfolk, if their fish species traits were suitable, they would become formidable combatants after a period of growth.
Although in the original timeline, both the Fish-men and Merfolk lacked true top-tier combatants, they held a generational lead in baseline combat power.
Arlong was an absolute tyrant in the East Blue. Besides holding the highest bounty in the East Blue, there were very few people in that entire sea who could deal with him.
Furthermore, if someone was there to teach them, they would grow much faster. Under Nereus's guidance, the Ryugu Kingdom could boast quite a few new powerhouses.
If the population base was large enough, new and powerful individuals would inevitably emerge in the future.
Years ago, encouraging childbirth was incorporated into Fish-man Island's national policy.
Relying on a massive tariff and commercial tax system, combined with the national trade since joining the World Government, and the accumulation of wealth in the deep sea over hundreds of years, Fish-man Island's treasury was exceptionally affluent.
Even though military expenditures and scientific research burned through large sums of funding, there were still ample funds to invest in the public's livelihood, providing significant subsidies for childbirth.
The physical and mental effort required to raise a child wouldn't decrease, but the financial burden was practically non-existent.
However, while the original intention of the policy was good, certain problems inevitably arose during its implementation.
Nereus could control the borders and restrict outsiders from harming the country, but he couldn't control the inner thoughts of every citizen.
Cases like Arlong's biological father—willing to birth a child but refusing to raise them—were not isolated incidents. Some people even lived in the outer seas, dumped their children back on Fish-man Island, and then continued living carefree lives abroad.
A comprehensive welfare system was the mechanism designed to deal with this exact issue.
Furthermore, because Nereus's personal guards were entirely composed of Flying Fish-type Merfolk and Fish-men, an underlying gambling mentality regarding children had taken root in the Ryugu Kingdom.
Two utterly average spouses with no talent would hope for a Flying Fish-type child to emerge among their offspring, allowing the child to join Nereus's personal guard and thus achieve a leap in their social class.
Arlong also suspected that his father harbored this exact mindset, which was why he had produced another little sister for him.
However, Arlong was a Sawshark Fish-man, and Shyarly was a Shortfin Mako Mermaid. Both were shark-types, so his father's hopes were destined to be shattered anyway.
"What's wrong? Are you still hesitating? Don't tell me you want to raise this kid yourself?"
"No matter what you say, she's still my sister... Isn't it a bit messed up to just throw her away?"
"What's messed up about it? That's an institution personally established by His Majesty Nereus. Even if you want to take care of her, you should at least wait until she's older, right? At this age, you absolutely cannot handle it.
"My little brother used to wake up crying eight times a night... Just forget about trying to do this alone."
One of Arlong's classmates spoke with a tone laced with fear, seemingly recalling the unbearable past of helping raise a child.
In the end, Arlong took his little sister to the facility. With his current capabilities, he truly had no way to take care of a one-year-old; he simply didn't have the time or energy.
Especially for a highly energetic child, they had the power to make an entire family lose sleep.
At this very moment, Nanamo was engaged in an intense staring contest with Chloe.
"Are you not sleepy?"
"?"
"When are you going to learn how to talk? Call me Big Sister."
"Ya... ah..."
A child of just a few months old naturally couldn't speak. However, her racial talents made the current Chloe resemble a superhuman. After awakening her flames, those tender little hands had become incredibly durable.
Even sharp objects couldn't harm her, and she had developed an extremely high adaptability to temperature. Coupled with the bloodline inherited from Nereus, playing with water or fire posed no threat to her.
It was just that someone still needed to keep an eye on her at all times, otherwise, her playtime might end up affecting the surroundings.
"It seems you two are getting along quite well."
Having finished her daily training duties, Amphelite returned to the Ryugu Palace. Seeing the dynamic between the two sisters put her mind at ease.
"Of course! I've actually taken care of quite a few kids, though none of them were as cute as Chloe."
"Go get some rest. I'll take over watching her. This child doesn't settle down at night."
Amphelite took Chloe from Nanamo's arms. With Chloe's energy levels, if someone didn't actively coax her to sleep, she really could keep them occupied all night long. The endurance of the Lunarian race also extended to a high resistance against the need for sleep.
Ordinary people deprived of sleep for long periods would experience severe mental strain, cognitive confusion, and extreme physical exhaustion. But Lunarians could endure much longer than normal humans in this regard, and even infants were no exception.
"I'm actually not that sleepy. But aren't you going to go be intimate with the Old Man?"
"Him? Your father has been busy cultivating a relationship with those two stones lately. Right now, he's probably reading bedtime stories to those two stones."
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