The Old Trade

August 4, 1506.

At the Drum Mountain Drum Kingdom, where the White Iron Royal Palace is located in the Drum Kingdom, a grand enthronement ceremony is being held!

Due to climate and geography, the Drum Kingdom has no so-called "capital" or any large cities; the Royal Palace is located on a mountaintop far from all towns and cities.

At this time, a group of residents were "driven" to every village and town to "celebrate" Wapol's accession to the throne while trembling in fear.

On the high platform in front of the Royal Palace Square, Wapol announced the new national policy of the Drum Kingdom: "From now on, the Drum Kingdom will only retain twenty doctors. They will reside in the Royal Palace at all times. Anyone else who wants to see a doctor must apply at the Royal Palace!"

"What if it's too late?" A young man, perhaps with a sick family member, couldn't help but step forward and ask.

Wapol gave a look to the side, and immediately some guards dragged him away.

"For the future of the Drum Kingdom, private medical practice is strictly prohibited. After September, any doctor who has not left will be wanted! During this period, the list of 'Doctor 20' will be decided!" Wapol continued his declaration to himself.

The reason the situation was eased until September was due to Dalton's pleas.

"Hahaha, by the way, if you illegal doctors want to go to sea before September, you can buy a boat or a ticket from me." Wapol laughed as he looked at the people below, a large portion of whom were doctors he had "invited".

The burly Dalton beside him was clearly uncomfortable, glancing at Wapol several times with obvious distress, but in the end he could only sigh.

"Afterwards, I, the King, will ride in the royal sleigh to tour my lands. If any clinics are found to be operating without Door Opening... heh heh." Wapol sneered.

Sig, with his hair disheveled, was hiding in the crowd.

Looking at Valba now, he is still "slender" and doesn't resemble the short, stocky figure from the original work. There are also no signs of metal fusion on his body yet.

The surrounding crowd dared not speak out in anger, while Valba rode down from the high platform in a huge, luxurious sleigh, with Chess and Krocomol on either side as his drivers, and a large escort on sleigh motorcycles following alongside.

Wapol's loud laughter echoed through the silent crowd.

Sig took a few steps back, subtly withdrawing from the crowd. Instead of following Wapol, he headed deeper into the Royal Palace.

Wapol's sled, to signify his status, was pulled by several animals resembling hippos, while the other guards' sleds were equipped with some kind of power device.

The scientific name for this hippopotamus is White Beast *, also known as the Snow Hippo or Furry Hippo, a species endemic to snowy regions.

The slopes of Drum Mountain are steep. Whether it's a snowmobile or a seemingly luxurious sled, they don't need the Snow Hippo in front to pull them downhill or any power unit. They are already incredibly fast. The speed only slows down when they reach the foot of the mountain.

The Snow Hippo that used to pull the carriage finally came in handy, slowly pulling His Majesty the King's chariot.

At this moment, Chess, who had a rather dull appearance and long arms, turned his head and looked at the hillside where the trail had been left, and made a puzzled sound.

"Kindness?"

Seeing this, Krocomol with the afro asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

"Is it... on fire?" Chess pointed blankly to the mountaintop.

The castle atop the mountain was now radiating Red Light and emitting black smoke.

Meanwhile, in the Royal Palace, Dalton, who was holding an iron fan that looked like a hammer, finally cornered Sig, who was wearing a cloak and holding a torch.

"Damn it! What are you doing?" Dalton looked at the surrounding fire, ordering the other guards to put out the flames while glaring angrily at the figure in front of him.

Sig then removed the cumbersome cloak. "I didn't expect you wouldn't come along on the tour? Well, that's fine..."

As he spoke, Sig threw the torch onto the roof of a nearby wooden house—what for? Clearly, Sig was quite adept at this.

"You... are you a pirate? Trying to take advantage of our misfortune?" Dalton said angrily.

"He's definitely a pirate, but right now he's also working part-time as... a doctor's assistant," Sig said, turning to look at Dalton.

Sig had now transformed into Fish-Man, with scales spreading across his cheeks.

"Fish-Man? What doctor's assistant? This is simply... incomprehensible! Surrender!" Dalton said, swinging his iron fan at Sig.

As he sprinted, Dalton's already imposing physique swelled even more, and horns sprouted from his head.

Dalton dared not be careless, and the fire in the Royal Palace at this time also made him want to finish the battle quickly, so he directly used his Human-Beast Form.

Sig immediately adopted a straight punch stance, Armament Haki emanating from his right arm, and delivered a hard punch.

A fist clashed head-on with an iron fan; in this clash of strength, like a bull versus a fish, the bull was actually forced to take two steps back.

Sig then leaped onto the wall behind him, crouched on it, and scooped up some melting snow water with his hand...

Water cannon!

The snowy and icy environment wasn't ideal for Fish-Man Karate, but now fires are raging everywhere, and the Royal Palace grounds are covered in water from melting snow and ice.

Sig raised his hand, and several water balloons the size of heads surged up from the puddles on the ground and floated in mid-air. Before they could fall, Sig immediately punched them one by one, all of them aimed at the other side!

Upon seeing this, Dalton immediately bent over and crossed his arms in an attempt to defend himself.

But the water cannonballs whizzed past him one by one, accompanied by several crisp sounds, Dalton immediately understood Sig's intention!

The building behind him, which was already on fire, collapsed immediately after several beams and pillars were broken.

While it might not actually do anything to Dalton, it will at least keep him scrambling for a while...

Sig didn't finish the job; instead, he took the opportunity to leave the Royal Palace.

"Those unruly people... how dare they... how dare they... I'm furious!" Wapol was enraged, believing that the people had burned down the Royal Palace because they were dissatisfied with his policies.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, Captain Dalton is here," Krocomol said deliberately.

If Sig were there, he would definitely see that this guy is a "green tea" (a manipulative woman).

Sure enough, Wapol, upon hearing this, became even more indignant, exclaiming, "Him? That's right... What is Dalton doing? Watching those scoundrels set fires?"

Unfortunately, no matter how agitated Wapol was, the Snow Hippo's speed remained slow, and it continued to drag him up the mountain at a leisurely pace.