World Government Medical Development Cooperation Country!

Back at the summit of the main peak, King Arnold took his rightful seat upon the white iron throne and looked down at Minister Malvani and Vice Admiral Kuzan standing below.

From this moment on, the formal talks between the member nation and the World Government began.

The earlier welcome and polite exchanges along the way had merely been private courtesies, meant to show the other side sufficient respect. But now, he had to display the bearing expected of a king.

"So, can the two of you tell me what exactly brings you to my Drum Kingdom?"

All along the way, the Administrative Department minister and the Admiral candidate had spoken in riddles, their words vague and elusive. The king's curiosity had long been piqued.

"Your Majesty King Arnold, under orders from the State Council, I have come to discuss designating the Drum Kingdom as a 'World Government Medical Development Cooperation Country.'"

As he spoke, Minister Malvani took a gold-threaded scroll with a white background from his robes. "This is the cooperation agreement. If you agree, you need only sign it."

At the same time, the official from before stepped forward, accepted the scroll, and presented it to the king on the platform. The king casually took it, unfurled it, and began to read.

The more he read, the more delight filled his eyes.

This really was wonderful news!

The scroll stated that being a "World Government Medical Development Cooperation Country" meant the World Government would advocate for, support, and encourage the Drum Kingdom's medical research and development.

Starting next year, so long as the Drum Kingdom's medical development passed the State Council's review, its annual Heavenly Tribute would be reduced by a certain amount, up to fifty percent.

At the same time, the World Government and the Drum Kingdom would jointly establish a Medical Academy, specifically responsible for collecting, organizing, and conducting in-depth research into medicine from around the world. It would also be required to serve the World Government free of charge.

Of course, "free of charge" merely meant that whenever the World Government needed the Medical Academy's services, the academy could not charge a fee. In reality, the World Government would bear the larger share of the academy's funding, while the Drum Kingdom would bear the smaller share.

It also appointed the 117-year-old Dr. Kureha as the Medical Academy's first dean.

King Arnold's eyelids twitched when he saw that. In terms of both medical skill and seniority, Dr. Kureha was indeed unrivaled in the Drum Kingdom's medical community. But her temperament was far too eccentric.

Honestly, having her serve as dean felt rather unreliable.

He continued reading.

The World Government hoped that the Medical Academy, led by Dr. Kureha, could establish a rigorous physician promotion system and standardize doctors across the world. In the future, any doctor wishing to raise their physician rank would need to come to the Drum Kingdom to undergo assessment.

King Arnold's eyes lit up at that.

He was no fool.

This was practically turning the Drum Kingdom into the center of world medicine!

"Quick! Send someone to invite Dr. Kureha here at once! Tell her the World Government wishes to see her, and that it concerns an important matter!" the king hurriedly ordered the officials below.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The official swiftly left the castle hall.

Just then, Minister Malvani of the Administrative Department spoke again.

"I imagine you have seen the matter regarding the Medical Academy. Earlier, I asked about the other Drum Peaks because I hope to build the Medical Academy atop one of them. What do you think?"

"This..."

King Arnold felt a headache coming on. To be honest, he did not really want to do this. Otherwise, would those commoners not be able to freely reach the same height as the royal family in the future?

But the minister had already put it that way, and he truly had no suitable reason to object. Besides, he very much wanted the Medical Academy to be established.

In the end, he gritted his teeth and nodded. "Fine, no problem. In a few days, I'll have people set up an aerial ropeway and cable cars on the peak to the left!"

"Hehe, the World Government has also prepared a plan for this matter." Minister Malvani was delighted that everything had gone so smoothly.

"Vice Admiral Aokiji will find a way to solve the transportation difficulties."

"Oh?"

King Arnold looked in surprise at the unusually tall Admiral candidate. Kuzan stroked his chin and said thoughtfully, "When we came in earlier, I looked over the surrounding Drum Peaks. I found that they aren't very far apart. We should be able to connect them all with ice bridges, allowing free passage between the peaks."

"What? Connect all eight Drum Peaks together?!"

King Arnold shot to his feet in shock, ecstasy written all over his face. If that happened, the seven Drum Peaks that had been left unused could all be put to use. It would be equivalent to expanding the kingdom's territory.

"Yes. I actually strongly recommend that your country relocate the citizens living below to the peaks, because the towns are situated too low, right beneath the snowy mountain range. If an avalanche occurs, it would be far too dangerous," Kuzan sincerely advised.

The Drum Kingdom did not have many citizens. Even if one Drum Peak was set aside for the Medical Academy, the remaining six would be more than enough to house them all.

"This..."

King Arnold was conflicted again. It was one thing to let doctors stand on equal footing with him, but now even the lowliest commoners were to be brought up here?

As for avalanches, he truly did not care. Avalanches did occasionally occur within the kingdom, but over all these years, had the citizens below not continued living just fine?

Yet just as before, Kuzan's words made perfect sense. He had no suitable reason to refuse. And considering the man's status—a future Navy Admiral!

If exceptionally powerful pirates ever attacked, he would still need to rely on this man to come help deal with them.

"Vice Admiral Aokiji, even if we are to relocate the citizens up here, that won't be an easy task. With the transport capacity of cable cars alone, it would take several years to complete, wouldn't it?"

King Arnold attempted one last struggle.

"Yes. Cable cars cannot be abandoned, but they can no longer serve as the main means of transportation in the future. So for most of the coming period, I'll be building a staircase connecting the ground to the main peak."

"Since the height is a full five thousand meters, there will need to be a fairly spacious rest platform every thousand meters. A la la la, no matter how you look at it, this is a major project~"

Kuzan let out a helpless sigh. Ever since he had created that sturdy, practical ice field battlefield for Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Garp, it seemed the World Government had set its sights on him.

Now he had become a construction crew. Well, a one-man construction crew.

But he also knew that this would be a tremendous benefit for the people of the Drum Kingdom. It could absolutely be called a mission of justice, worthy of the word justice he carried.

So he did not actually feel much resentment. Instead, he was somewhat happy and expectant, and his impression of the World Government had improved considerably.

He would only have to tire himself out for a few days, after all. His Ice-Ice Fruit had not yet awakened.

A notice to all my dear readers: this book has successfully changed to contracted status, so please support it! To keep the plot continuous, the second chapter will be released on a timer in three minutes. The Drum Kingdom arc is coming to an end, so please leave more comments—I really enjoy reading them!