Strangled to Death

The Drum Kingdom is a famous medical powerhouse in the Grand Line!

Well, moving on!

The climate here is cold, belonging to the Winter Island among the four types of islands in the Grand Line, which are Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter Islands.

Most of the year, it is snowing, and the land is covered in white.

The population is approximately one hundred thousand, and the military force is over three thousand!

In theory, it would be challenging for a kingdom like this to develop since most of the year is covered in snow, and the cold temperatures make it difficult for plants and resources to thrive.

However, the Drum Kingdom unexpectedly thrived and became renowned as a medical powerhouse in the Grand Line.

The main reason for this was the current king of the country, Wartar!

Wartar was an intelligent king who, despite the unfavorable geographical conditions, cleverly developed the country's specialized industry in medicine, which compensated for other deficiencies of the kingdom.

In a short period, this led to significant growth in their national strength!

Unfortunately, the one drawback of this otherwise great king was that he had two idiotic sons, Musshuru and Wapol!

Among them, Musshuru marked the beginning of the Drum Kingdom's official recognition as a medical power.

This year, when Wartar left the country to attend a meeting, his son Musshuru used the castle's cannon and launched a cannonball, causing numerous casualties among the kingdom's citizens!

The reason was simply that Musshuru wanted to entertain himself and test the abilities of the Shroom-Shroom Fruit!

Upon Wartar's return from the council, he immediately apologized to the citizens and exiled Musshuru to the Land of Fire, requesting the Land of Fire's king, Zhiravia, to keep an eye on him and restrict him using his fruit ability.

Only after this incident did the Drum Kingdom gain fame as a medical power worldwide.

As for Wapol, if nothing unexpected happened, after the current king's passing, he would inherit the throne and, under his reckless rule, the Drum Kingdom, which Wartar had so painstakingly developed, would rapidly decline!

This was the consequence of not valuing family education!

His two idiotic sons had successfully played the kingdom to death, and it wasn't even for the sake of a throne; they were just reckless!

If Arthur had two dumb sons like this, he would have strangled them long ago!

Fortunately, this had nothing to do with Arthur. He was just here to buy some local specialties along the way!

Port of Drum Island

When Arthur arrived at the Drum Kingdom, the king had already gone to the World Government with the captain of the guards, Dalton, and was not in the kingdom. The one receiving them was an internal affairs minister named Hubble.

"Your Majesty Arthur, welcome to our kingdom!" Hubble bowed slightly, speaking calmly and confidently.

Hubble was a middle-aged man in his forties, broad and stout, with a kind and amiable face. He was dressed in thick clothes and wore a fur hat.

"Hello!" Arthur replied with a smile.

"Your Majesty Arthur, may I ask the purpose of your visit to our kingdom?" Hubble asked with a smile.

"I heard that the medical development here is excellent, so I came to take a look while passing by. I'd like to buy some medicines, medication formulas, medical equipment, and other things developed here. If possible, I'd also like to recruit some doctors from your kingdom!" Arthur said straightforwardly.

There was no need to hide anything. The Drum Kingdom, which was still not well-known, should be eager for such an opportunity.

As expected, upon hearing Arthur's words, Hubble's eyes lit up, and he quickly said, "Your Majesty Arthur, there is no problem with the medicines, medication formulas, and medical equipment. We can discuss the specifics in detail! As for the doctors, I need to consult with His Majesty the king!"

If the medicines, formulas, and equipment were the eggs, then the doctors were the hens laying them, and the status between the two was evidently different. Hubble had the authority over the medicines, formulas, and equipment, but the decision about the doctors depended on Wartar!

"Sure, no problem!" Arthur agreed straightforwardly.

"In that case, I will go and consult with our king using the Den Den Mushi. I apologize for leaving you for now!" Hubble said apologetically.

"No problem, do as you wish!" Arthur smiled and said nonchalantly.

After parting ways with Hubble, Arthur explored the scenery of the Drum Kingdom with curiosity.

Though it wasn't snowing now, the Drum Kingdom still appeared as a silver-clad wonder, which Arthur found quite novel.

St. Martin also had winter, but it was just slightly colder, with no snow whatsoever. This was the first time Arthur had seen snow since coming to this world!

Accompanied by some Saints and officials from St. Martin Kingdom, Arthur strolled around the port of the Drum Kingdom with the company of officials from the Drum Kingdom.

After a short while, Arthur decided to return because all he saw was vast expanses of white snow, and after a while, his interest waned. Moreover, the air was very cold, and despite wearing a coat, he still felt the chill, causing him to shiver!

Thus, he realized one thing: being strong and feeling cold were two different things. Even if one's physique was excellent, they would still shiver if it was cold!

After returning to the ship not long after, Hubble hurriedly came back.

"Your Majesty Arthur, after careful consideration, our king has agreed to your request. But when it comes to doctors, our kingdom will not force anyone, so it must be those who are willing to go with you!" Hubble said seriously.

"That's good, but let me ask one more thing. If there are a lot of people willing to join me, will you prevent them from doing so?" Arthur asked meaningfully.

"Heh heh, it's no problem; we won't stop them!" Hubble said with a smile.

In his view, recruiting doctors could be achieved in two ways: persuasion or coercion!

However, with Arthur currently in the Drum Kingdom's territory, and accompanied by the Marine no less, coercion was entirely impossible, leaving only persuasion.

But how much could persuasion achieve?

Although the Drum Kingdom had a population of only a hundred thousand, under Wartar's strong development, the number of doctors had reached over two thousand.

Persuading so many people would require a massive amount of money. And if the money was scarce, it wouldn't entice many people.

After all, when leaving their hometown to go to a strange place, normal people would evaluate it internally, and if the money offered wasn't enough, it might not be attractive enough!

Furthermore, there were those genuinely dedicated to medicine who valued the medical environment more, and money might not tempt them. Ironically, these were the ones who possessed the highest-level medical skills.

Taking all these factors into account, Hubble believed that even if Arthur produced a considerable amount of money, he could only recruit a batch of average doctors; it wouldn't attract many high-level doctors. So he didn't take Arthur's words seriously.

Just then...

"Boom!"

A loud explosion reverberated throughout Drum Island.

"What's going on!?"

Hearing the sound, Hubble turned around abruptly, staring at the smoke and fire rising from the island with widened eyes.

He hurriedly said, "Your Majesty Arthur, forgive me for not accompanying you further. If you want to recruit doctors, you can proceed as you like. As for the medicines, formulas, and medical equipment, I will have someone send you a list later, with prices marked, and you can choose what you need!"

After saying this, he didn't even look back and rushed back to the island to see what was happening!

In a hurry, Hubble returned to the island, but after careful consideration, Arthur revealed a sighing smile.

There was only one troublemaker who could do this.

It was Musshuru, indeed!

Doing something like this at this time, it was simply brilliant!

Thinking about it, the shadow under Arthur slid away like water, heading at great speed towards the castle on the island.

With such an enemy, Arthur naturally had to cooperate properly; he couldn't be a hindrance!

In no time, the island was shaken by more than ten massive explosions.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"