The uproar of the banquet forced Rubick and the others to move a little farther away before they could discuss business.
"Everyone."
Rubick said, "Since I've become the first King of Sky Country, I naturally have to work for its future."
Old Knight said, "As King, you have even less reason to put that responsibility on us. Enel was God for years, and in all the decades I held office, Sky Island stayed just as it is now."
The Chief added, "I've done even less. Hidden Cloud Village hasn't changed at all in decades."
Rubick clapped his hands. "Which is exactly why I need you two to keep things running for a while."
Everyone looked at Rubick in confusion. Only Robin sat beside him, her pen scratching across the paper. Every detail of this meeting would go into the national archives.
Rubick said, "You've lived up here for decades, so you know what's holding this country back: a terrible shortage of resources. Apart from land, we have nothing."
It was true. A country had to engage with the outside world to develop, or it would end up like the Indigenous Americans in history. When Europeans brutally invaded North America with cannons, they were still living in tribal societies.
Geography was the first reason for that, just as it was for the Skypieans.
The Indigenous Americans of North America had mountain ranges to the east and west, with the sea beyond them. Glaciers lay to the north, and endless forests to the south. Within those natural boundaries, they lived comfortably in central North America.
There were also many tribes, and no one had emerged to unite them all, so none of the tribes developed further.
Ancient China, by contrast, had mountains to the west and seas to the east and south.