The capital of the drum kingdom, Cassia, in the palace.

After listening to the report from the Chancellor of Finance Herbert, Gresham couldn't help but frown, and then looked at the antique wall clock hanging on the wall. The time on it showed that there was still half an hour before the early morning.

"Ahem cough ~"

Suddenly, there was a feeling of discomfort on his chest. The old king couldn't help but start coughing again, and his face quickly turned pale. The nearby guards immediately skillfully took out a dose of potion and gave it to the old king.

After a while, the old king gradually stopped coughing and his face gradually became rosy.

Seeing this, Herbert, who was also gray-haired, could not help but show a deep sadness on his face. As one of Gresham's most trusted people, he knew very well that His Majesty's body was almost at the point where the oil was exhausted, and that it was supported by precious medicine alone.

But if you use more medicine, the human body will develop drug resistance. In recent times, the amount of drugs Gresham needs has increased, which undoubtedly means that the drug is about to fail to work.

"Your Majesty, you might as well agree to the request of the shameless businessman. Although the finances are a bit tight, it can still be supported by cutting some expenses. However, we cannot suffer too much. Since that shameless businessman has the ability to collect devil fruits, let the shameless businessman help you find an animal-type turtle fruit."

Herbert knew the importance of Gresham to this country. He loved this country deeply and took a deep breath and spoke to the old king.

Since the medicine is almost unable to support the old king to survive, the only hope in the world that can make the old king continue to survive may be the magical sea secret treasure such as the Demon Fruit.

“….”

When Gresham heard Herbert's words, his face suddenly showed a hint of anger, but soon became helpless again, with deep fatigue on his face.

He knew very well what Herbert meant, and he couldn't hope that he would continue to live with the devil fruit.

According to the doctor, his body's vitality is almost exhausted. Even if it is constantly stimulating and replenishing drugs, it is almost useless. The only way is to naturally give birth to a new vitality in his body, so that he can continue to fight against the disease.

If he can eat an animal-type devil fruit, he might be able to gain more vitality, especially the Turtle Fruit, an animal-type devil fruit that can increase the user's lifespan, although it is not the root cause, it can indeed make him live longer.

But he was in so much pain. He had been fighting the disease for seven years. For these seven years, he had been in pain almost all the time. The disease was almost tortured him crazy.

The pain of losing his son once made him think of ending his life as soon as possible.

He was tired and had devoted his life to this country. He just wanted to have a good rest now.

"Please hold on for a while. Prince Mhuru is already on his way back. I believe he will be able to come back soon."

Of course, Herbert knew the pain of this old friend, and he knew very well that his old friend was indeed very tired and had long since he didn't want to live. He couldn't help but show shame on his face, but he still said to the old king firmly.

At least until Mushuru, the only remaining legal heir to the drum kingdom, comes back, Gresham cannot die. Once he dies, the hearts of the people in the country will be dispersed and the morale of the King's Army will be greatly reduced.

Gilbert, the rebel leader, will definitely not miss this godsend opportunity, he will immediately launch a full-scale attack.

By then, even if Mshuru comes back, the overall situation will be decided long ago, and all the people and forces standing on Gresham's side in China will be cleansed. No one can afford to lose this war.

"I get it, you go back."

Gresham was silent for a long time. Seeing that the time was almost over 0 o'clock, he finally sighed and said helplessly.

For this country, he still needs to continue to carry the burden and move forward for a while.

When Herbert heard this, he bowed and said goodbye.

"Fufufu~~"

Shortly after Herbert left the room, Doflamingo's extremely arrogant and smug laughter came from the room.

.........

Ice and Snow Town, a sea-backed town located only more than ten kilometers east of Fengxuecheng. Although there are no specialties and important resources, as an important window for foreign exchanges for Fengxuecheng, a military important place, it has also flourished because of its unique geographical location.

There is a good port here, which is a very rare deep-water port in the Magnetic Drum Kingdom. It is a little smaller, but it can still allow more than a dozen large ships to be parked at the same time.

Relying on the merchant ships that enter and exit every day, the ice and snow town gradually flourished and quickly developed from a small town with a population of only a few thousand to a large town with a population of tens of thousands.

Unfortunately, with the outbreak of civil war, in order to prevent the King's Navy from landing and quickly increasing troops, the rebels completely destroyed the docks here, and even plundered the wealthier town like pirates, resulting in the end of the prosperity here.

In the following two months, the place was often invaded by rebels, preventing the King's Army from restoring the port here smoothly, resulting in a large number of residents fleeing there. The once prosperous town quickly turned into a dilapidated town where robbers and thieves were occasionally present.

The next day, the sun rose as usual, and the remaining residents in the town who were unable to leave their hometown woke up from their sleep.

Humans are very tough creatures and have very strong adaptability to the environment.

The same is true for the residents living in the Winter Island of the Magnetic Drum Kingdom. The harsh living environment has allowed them to develop a tenacious will since childhood.

Although it was difficult for the residents of the town to adapt to the sudden harsh environment in the town and began to flee in large numbers, as time passed, the residents who stayed quickly adapted to their new lives. They began to make a living by fishing and hunting animals in the forest. Some shrewd and bold people even went to find nearby troops to do business.

But no matter what, the peaceful and beautiful life of the past is gone forever. They live a worried day, fearing that the rebels, robbers and pirates would bring disaster to the town and steal the food and wealth they had accumulated over the past period.

Due to another heavy snow last night, the streets and alleys were filled with a lot of snow. In order to facilitate walking, people had to organize some people to shovel the snow.

In the winter sun, residents chat while shoveling snow, enjoying this moment of peace.

"Dangdangdangdang~"

Suddenly, a loud bell rang in the direction of the town pier.

Hearing the bell, the residents showed panic expressions on their faces, threw down their work, then quickly ran back to the house, and ran to the woods outside the town with some food in bags.

At the same time, a pirate ship was quickly heading towards the dock.

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Due to the severe damage to the dock and the wreckage was everywhere, the pirate ship had been abandoned for a little while before successfully docking. Then, under the leadership of a pirate captain with a captain's hat, a large number of pirates came down from the ship and ran towards the town.

"What kind of broken place is this? Is it just a little bit? Did you hide it privately?"

An hour later, the pirate captain looked at the pitiful pile of wealth and food on the ground, scolded the subordinates around him with dissatisfaction.

"Absolutely, Captain, there seems to be no one living in this town. The people in the town discovered us in advance and all ran away. We only found this little thing." An old pirate said with a depressed look on his face.

When the other pirates heard this, they all agreed, with a depressed expression on their faces.

This raid was the worst harvest they had after coming to the Great Route.

"Damn it, what a broken town, burn it for me."

Although the pirate captain knew that what his subordinates were saying was the truth, he was still very dissatisfied. In anger, he made a terrible decision.

However, when the other pirates heard him say this, they all screamed excitedly, obviously they all wanted to use the destruction of this town to vent their depression.

Soon, many houses in the town were lit under the pirates' fire.

The residents hiding in the nearby woods saw the smoke from the town, and all their faces showed despair. In fact, they were almost gone, and now they were losing their homes.

"Bang bang bang ~"

A burst of dense gunfire suddenly came from the discovery in the town, causing the residents in the woods to shake, and then a loud sound of charge horns made their eyes burst into hope.
Chapter completed!