"Great, the indicators have finally come down. A few days of rest will make everything fine."
Looking at the latest blood test results, the doctor finally felt relieved.
Platinum and lead are toxic, and people are only exposed to trace amounts. However, the most terrifying aspect of platinum lead disease is that if a person already has residual platinum and lead in their body, the actual lifespan of their children will be shortened, eventually leading to a situation where several generations suffer from the disease together.
Previously, no one in Flevans had escaped unscathed. The hostility from neighboring countries, the shortage of manpower, the plague of disease, and the chaos of order brought immense pressure.
Before the arrival of the Piltover team, the hospital doors were tightly locked, partly because the hospital's supplies had reached their limit, and partly because the evil of human nature had been amplified infinitely in the chaos.
Suffering from a terminal illness and with nowhere to go, many people do all sorts of crazy things before they die.
The soldiers on the Power Gear have killed several key figures and are currently placing temporary military control over Frevans under Oran's orders.
"elder brother."
"Rami? You're finally awake. How are you feeling?"
"Does the fact that it doesn't hurt anymore mean Daddy cured my illness?"
"Yes, didn't I tell you before? Dad is the number one doctor in the country, he can definitely cure your father! Rami is awake!"
Luo called out to the side. He hadn't reached the onset of his illness yet. After removing the platinum and lead from his body, he quickly recovered and was now able to run freely.
"Phew, that's all right now. We're out of danger. As expected of Dr. Sidier, he's conquered platinum lead disease, which had left us helpless."
"Dr. Sidier? The previous recipient of the Iber Prize?"
"Yes, it's him. He published those articles I told you about before. This time, it was thanks to the doctor's equipment that we were able to separate the platinum and lead."
"Didn't you cure him, Dad?"
"Haha, it's not me. Being number one in the country is nothing compared to being world-renowned."
Luo learned medicine from his father when he was very young, and in Luo's subconscious, his father was already an excellent doctor.
He had only seen the rest of the people in the newspaper, and he didn't know how big the difference was.
Crack, crack.
Luo wanted to ask some more questions, but then he heard heavy footsteps from the side, and a group of soldiers in powered armor entered.
Their stated mission was to protect Oran as guards, but their true mission was to serve as a ceremonial guard. It was rather difficult to expect them to protect a king who was stronger than themselves.
However, these people are still doing their jobs to the best of their ability.
Not just anyone can get close to the King; this is a truth that even pirates understand. They may not be able to handle big problems, but they can certainly manage small ones.
"Dr. Trafalgar, many people in Flevans don't trust us right now. Could you please cooperate with us and explain the current situation?"
Some things are actually quite complicated to deal with; it's not as simple as just shouting on the street that we have a treatment for lead poisoning and everyone will line up to come out.
The patients in the hospital were already critically ill, and most of them were bedridden and had little ability to move. After seeing the patients who had been cured, they naturally believed the fact.
The situation outside was even more chaotic, with troops from several countries operating in Flevans. The locals couldn't tell who was there to help them and who was there to kill them.
At this point, a well-known figure who had been cured could play a role. In addition to this doctor, the people of Piltover found other examples, such as the owner of a chamber of commerce and nuns from the church.
"It's no trouble at all, it's what I should do. You've already helped us so much by coming all the way across the ocean."
Luo's father thought it all made perfect sense. Piltover might have had ulterior motives, but so what?
This was the only help they received when the world abandoned them.
Even if it's a pact with the devil, it's the last resort for survival, not to mention that Piltover's current actions are genuinely international aid.
"Luo, I'm going out for a bit. Take good care of your sister and mother, Luo?"
"Oh, I understand. I'll take good care of them."
Luo was a little stunned, but not because of Oran, but because of the power armor next to him.
This is Beihai, the sea area with the largest influence of "Warriors of the Sea: Sky", where special effects hero culture is prevalent.
There are some differences between mechs and combat suits, but the allure of these real things is far greater than that of the comics. Even after Oran and the others left, Luo was still staring at the empty gate, deep in thought.
If we could bring his ideas to life, we could probably make a whole season of tokusatsu (special effects) films, and even collaborate with Zephyr's team.
You never know what kind of thoughts lie behind a seemingly aloof face.
"Little brother, are you envious? If you sign up for the army, you'll have a chance to be assigned a powered armor unit. If you do well enough, you can even pilot a more advanced mech."
Both small, single-soldier mechs and large war mechs have a chance.
"Hey, stop teasing the kid. Come help when you've rested enough! That's Dr. Trafalgar's son. He dreams of becoming a doctor too."
"Here he comes! Don't be so old-fashioned. What if he actually does it? There are medics in the army too."
Two Piltover nurses walked by, one of whom even joked with Luo.
That's a special system in Piltover where outstanding performance can even earn you exclusive equipment, which you can take with you even after retirement.
The nurse was just joking, but her words piqued Luo Zhen's interest.
In fact, in Piltover's recruitment propaganda, the ability to pilot mechs has always been a constant slogan. Even if they fail to pass the training later, they can still get a chance to handle a few training mechs during training.
"There is no despair in the world; the Father's merciful and compassionate hand of salvation will eventually reach out to all beings."
A few days later in Flevans, the chaos was largely brought to an end. The nuns in the church were doing their daily prayers, and the hospital had begun treating patients with milder symptoms.
Military control of the town continues, as the attitudes of neighboring countries toward Flevans have not changed.
Because of the prevalence of the platinum and lead industry, everything in Frefans' economy revolved around platinum and lead, and the vast majority of its food and medicines were imported.
Under this lockdown, Flevans could only rely on external aid for supplies.
The surrounding kings have held a small meeting these past few days to discuss how to handle this situation, but they haven't come up with any effective solutions.
Oran himself completely ignored them, simply using his army to blockade the surrounding borders, and it's unclear what he was doing.
However, after several days, none of the soldiers in Piltover showed any symptoms of lead poisoning, which led some soldiers to believe that lead poisoning had been cured.
Their actions were essentially killing. If platinum lead poisoning were truly an infectious disease, they would carry out orders without much psychological burden in order to protect their families.
But they are all innocent people.
Not everyone can be completely unburdened by the act of slaughter.
"What exactly are Piltover and the others trying to do?"
"Who knows? They actually came all the way here from the Grand Line. Is it because the King himself led the delegation? Have His Majesty and the others not yet reached a conclusion?"
"No, His Majesty feels that we have not suffered any loss in this matter. If platinum lead disease can really be cured, everything can continue as before."
However, some kingdoms are very interested in Flevans' interests and have been arguing about it for days. I think this alliance is about to fall apart.
A few months ago, when platinum lead poisoning began to break out, neighboring countries formed a temporary alliance to deal with the situation, and they are still in the process of working together.
Even when they disagreed, they didn't just walk away; instead, they hoped to reach a consensus.
While these people were still speculating, Morgans had already arrived.
A dozen or so newsbirds parachuted into Frevans, pulling something that looked like a hot air balloon.
Although Morgans is a user of the Albatross Fruit, he cannot fly and still relies on the Newsbirds to get around.
The accompanying reporters and Morgans were all wearing gas masks, clearly indicating that they still had doubts about Frevans' condition.
However, faced with the temptation of big news, Morgans was still willing to take the risk and did not choose to push the matter to a subordinate, but personally led the team.
"They actually came in person. They've got guts."
"Since His Majesty Oran invited me, of course I had to come to discuss it. How about tearing out the first page of your notebook?"
Seeing that only Kate came to pick them up, Morgans leaned over and whispered his request in Kate's ear.
"Okay, but are you sure only dead people disappear from the cat notebook?"
"Hahaha. You're joking, aren't you? I think being on the first page is pretty good. Speaking of which, did you really cure platinum lead disease?"
"Isn't it obvious? Do you still see platinum lead poisoning patients outside? Take off that gas mask."
Sometimes Morgans is both bold and timid, daring to appear in places that sound dangerous, yet worrying about other things that might happen.
Scattered along the streets were a few residents of Frevans, and from their conversations, Morgans sensed some big news.
The royal family of Flevans has abandoned this place; it's now unclaimed territory. What should we do?
[Join Piltover if King Oran is willing to accept us.]
Similar voices were everywhere; those were messages spread in advance by people arranged by Oran. Not many people were needed; in this environment, just a few people were enough to spread the message quickly.
"Your Majesty Oran, do you intend to announce to the world that Flevance now belongs to Piltover? This is indeed a major news story."
If Flevans were not a member state, Morgans would not have been so interested, since those lands are legally unclaimed territory, and member states can do whatever they want with them.
But Flevance is still registered with the World Government, and that won't change even though the royal family has now fled.
Morgans couldn't say what would happen if Piltover had directly occupied the area.
In normal times, if member states were to so openly seize territory, a major war would be inevitable.
But the current situation is that even if the royal family of Frevans wanted to fight, they probably couldn't muster a single soldier.
From the moment they abandoned Flevans, Flevans was destined not to support them anymore, but bloodshed could still occur.
War-related deaths are enough to grab attention, and this is one of his favorite news stories.
"You can't just say whatever you want. I've always followed the rules. I'm only here to provide humanitarian aid. But I've discovered a little problem during my investigation. It's up to you whether you dare to expose it."
Oran picked up a file folder and tossed it to Morgans, gesturing for him to see what was inside.
[Platinum-lead disease is not contagious, but rather a conspiracy concealed by the Fryvanes royal family for over a century. While the use of platinum-lead products does not harm health, mining does.]
"King Oran, this is quite a generous gesture."
"What, you're afraid to report it?"
"How could that be? This kind of news not only needs to be reported, but it also needs to be widely publicized! Otherwise, it would be a waste of this kind of news. However, the impact of this news after it is released will not be small."
There are many tyrants and incompetent rulers on the high seas, and other countries are too lazy to care about the affairs of other countries. Some people even actively learn those tyrannical practices.
However, such matters cannot be discussed openly. If the actions of the Fryvanes royal family, who profit from the lives of the entire nation, were made public, other kings would have to condemn them in order to show that they were not the kind of people who would collude with them.
Once the news is released, the Flevans royal family will be completely humiliated, and without the World Government's help, they will basically have no chance of ever recovering.
Considering the rumors circulating on the street, Morgans had some guesses about Oran's intentions.
"Is Flevans going to change its name?"
"Who knows? The news the day after tomorrow has nothing to do with tomorrow, right? Abu, show him the photos."
A stack of photographs was handed to Morgans, documenting Flevance's previous miserable state. Beneath these photographs were images of the army maintaining order, busy medical staff, and recovering patients.
"The photo angle is good, Your Majesty Oran. How about we consider having him work for me? I think the World Economic News Agency could allow him to fully utilize his talents."
Morgans understood the meaning of these photos perfectly and did not object. The contrast would better highlight the corruption of the Fryvanes royal family, and the more incompetent they were portrayed as, the more newspaper sales would increase.
Oran gave Morgans this news, and Morgans had to respond in kind. Morgans was an expert at using subtle language.
The following day, a newspaper article titled "The Truth of Frevans" was carried around the world by newsbirds.
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