Aokiji Visits Drum Kingdom!

The world was a vast expanse of white, snowflakes swirling endlessly on the frigid wind. Under its snowy adornment, the entire island looked as though it had been covered in a pristine white carpet.

The mountain range formed by snow-covered peaks made the eight towering summits seem incomparably magnificent. This was Drum Kingdom, one of the World Government's allied nations.

A quintessential winter island located in the first half of the Grand Line.

Though snow was drifting through the air now, this was already relatively rare good weather for the country. At the very least, today's wind was fairly gentle.

At the docks, the current king, Arnold, with purple hair, a white fur hat, and thick winter clothes, glanced over the gun-toting soldiers standing guard before repeatedly instructing the officials behind him.

"Is everything ready? The World Government's visiting ship will arrive in half an hour. No mistakes are allowed!"

The official nodded and bowed as he hurriedly answered.

"Rest assured, Your Majesty. There absolutely won't be any mishaps along the route from here to the main peak. Those carnivorous Lapahns have been lured five kilometers away with raw meat. They definitely won't be back for several hours. The cable car is ready too—we've inspected it many times, and there are no problems."

"Mm. Where are those two boys? Why aren't they here yet?" King Arnold asked unhappily.

"Well... First Prince Mushuru and Second Prince Wapol thought it was too cold outside. After all, both princes are only five or six this year. They really are still young," the official replied awkwardly.

"Cold?"

King Arnold sneered. "When it was even colder than this, didn't they still have snowball fights outside the castle? Who are they trying to fool? They just think waiting here is too boring. Forget it, leave them alone!"

He had originally wanted to bring his two sons along to make an appearance before Minister Malvani, who was visiting this time.

This man was the head of the World Government's Administrative Department!

"Your Majesty, why has this minister suddenly decided to visit our country?" the official asked doubtfully as he looked out over the unobstructed sea. The snow-filled ocean looked rather poetic.

"I don't know either. The notice didn't say. But I'm guessing it has something to do with this year's Reverie. Other than that, I truly can't think of anything worth a high-ranking minister coming here in person for."

As King Arnold spoke, he stood patiently in place and waited.

Sure enough, the World Government's visiting ship was punctual. Thirty minutes later, escorted on either side by two Navy warships, it slowly entered Drum Kingdom's harbor.

Soon, a white-haired middle-aged man over two meters tall, dressed in a suit beneath a thick black leather coat, stepped down from one ship, while a Navy officer who looked to be three meters tall descended from another.

At the same time, energetic and burly Headquarters Marines spread out, taking over security for the entire harbor in the blink of an eye.

"Hahaha, welcome, welcome! It is a great honor to receive Minister Malvani on behalf of my country. I'll certainly treat you well this time!"

King Arnold strode forward with tremendous enthusiasm. As Minister Malvani shook his hand, he smiled and said, "I came under the orders of the higher-ups as well. The matter is rather complicated and highly important, so I came personally."

"Oh? May I ask what this matter is?"

King Arnold's heart trembled. Something tied to the World Government, complicated and important—no matter how he heard it, it did not sound like good news.

"Hehe, it's a good thing. This time, Drum Kingdom has truly struck it lucky. Mainly because your reputation as a great medical nation is well known overseas."

After saying that, Minister Malvani introduced the tall Navy officer beside him.

"This is Navy Admiral Candidate Kuzan, known as Aokiji. He is also here with a very important mission. He isn't merely escorting me here—I'm not qualified to receive such high-level protection."

"Greetings, King Arnold. Please take care of me," Kuzan said seriously, lowering his head in greeting.

"An Admiral Candidate? That top-tier Logia user of the Ice-Ice Fruit?" King Arnold was stunned. This only made him feel even more uneasy and worried.

Having ruled an allied nation for so many years and attended the Reverie for so long, he had some knowledge of the world. With Vice Admiral Aokiji's strength, even if all of his guards attacked together, they probably would not be a match for him.

"Ara ara ara~ That would be me. Come to think of it, this country is quite nice. Especially the climate and the wind here—they're just comfortably perfect. I already like this place."

Enjoying the cold wind and falling snow, Kuzan looked at the island's rolling snowy mountain ranges and the eight exaggerated drum-shaped peaks rising from the highlands. It was said that every one of those peaks stood five thousand meters tall.

But when he thought of the orders he had received this time, looking at those peaks only left him weary and helpless.

"Hehehe, you will surely enjoy Drum Kingdom's climate. If you don't mind, you can stay for a few more days!"

King Arnold maintained his enthusiasm, thinking that with this man here, they would at least no longer need to worry about pirates for the time being.

For some reason, more pirates had recently been landing on the island in attempts to plunder it, causing the guard force's casualties to rise sharply.

"Then I'll trouble you. I really will need to stay for some time during this visit," Kuzan said with a nod.

Hearing this, King Arnold was even more confused, but he did not continue asking. He quickly led the two men into the already prepared snow hippo carriage.

About an hour later, the entire party passed through the town under the watchful eyes of countless citizens and arrived atop a snow-covered mountain, where an extravagant oversized cable car had long been waiting.

"Since the royal castle is located atop the main peak, we'll need to take this cable car up. Rest assured, the entire trip is very safe and stable. You can also enjoy the scenery of our snowy kingdom along the way!"

As King Arnold introduced it, he led Minister Malvani and Vice Admiral Kuzan into the cable car. Five minutes later, it started moving, gliding along the taut cable toward the towering snow-white peak.

"It's five thousand meters from the ground to the summit. The cable car is decent enough, but its load capacity and efficiency should still be somewhat lacking, shouldn't they?" Minister Malvani said softly as he looked out the window.

"Yes. There are two aerial cableways connecting the ground to the main peak, so only two cable cars can operate at once. Each can carry at most twenty people. This makes transporting large quantities of supplies far too time-consuming. If there's a blizzard, operations have to stop temporarily as well," King Arnold sighed.

"Hehe, Vice Admiral Aokiji came this time specifically to help you solve that problem. Drum Kingdom really ought to thank the World Government this time!"

After saying that, Minister Malvani looked at Kuzan beside him and asked with a smile, "Well? Now that you've seen the environment in person, can you solve it?"

"Five thousand meters is a little difficult. I can't do it all in one go at my current level. It'll probably take ten days?" Kuzan felt utterly exhausted.

King Arnold was completely baffled by their conversation. Then Minister Malvani pointed at the other Drum Peaks surrounding the main peak.

"Your Majesty, how does your country make use of those peaks? Are there any buildings on them?"

"No. They're all empty. Our kingdom doesn't have that many citizens," King Arnold said, shaking his head.

In truth, the royal families throughout the generations simply did not want commoners living at the same elevation as them. It somewhat imitated the atmosphere of the World Nobles' Mary Geoise.

"Is that so? Then good. That's wonderful!" Minister Malvani clapped his hands happily.

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