Chapter 98: World Summit
Did the Rocks Pirates have no thoughts on attacking the Heavenly Tribute? Of course they did.
The World Government had already made their move, so why would they worry about angering the World Government?
Those transport ships were all fully loaded with treasure.
However, the escort of the Heavenly Tribute hasn't even begun yet.
Even the Rocks Pirates knew about the Member Nations' resistance against the World Government.
From the moment the Member Nations began their resistance, the conflict between the two sides was already out in the open.
Now it just remained to be seen how the World Government would resolve it.
The transportation and shipping routes of the Heavenly Tribute were absolutely confidential for the World Government and the Marines.
Even the Heavenly Tribute from each Member Nation would be transported by several transport ships, each taking a different route, and they would change direction multiple times.
Could the Rocks Pirates know the transport routes of the Heavenly Tribute? Of course they could.
The World Government was already corrupt from within.
There were quite a few Officials who knew the Heavenly Tribute's transport routes, and as long as one had connections, they could obtain the relevant intelligence.
The development of the Rocks Pirates was secretly being promoted by hostile forces within the World Government and the Member Nations.
As long as they wanted to, the Rocks Pirates could know.
Once the Heavenly Tribute left the national territory, all responsibility for it had nothing to do with the Member Nation.
It needed to be protected by the World Government and the Marines.
If it was lost, that was just their losses.
There would never be a second Heavenly Tribute in a single year.
The World Summit attracted attention, and the topics discussed within it were watched closely from all angles by the outside world.
Compared to this year's World Summit, the previous two World Summits were simply far too peaceful.
With the deployment of the Rocks Pirates and their series of major actions, the World Government's foundation was shaken, causing the World Government's prestige to suffer greatly.
Many problems were exposed.
Especially the backstabbing by the Member Nations at this time caused people to somewhat doubt the necessity of the World Government's existence.
There were even rumors that the World Government was about to disband because of this.
Every day, explosive news for the entire world flowed out from Mary Geoise.
Topics included discussions about the share of the Heavenly Tribute.
Some Member Nations demanded the Heavenly Tribute be halved, while others demanded a 70% reduction.
Some even directly declared they would cut this year's Heavenly Tribute and would decide whether to submit it based on the World Government's results next year.
The World Government naturally wouldn't agree; the Heavenly Tribute was their lifeblood!
This single topic alone was discussed for a full five days.
Besides the fifty Kings of the Member Nations, the other Member Nations also sent envoys to attend the World Summit, as the share of the Heavenly Tribute concerned their own interests.
And during this process, the Member Nations held the complete upper hand.
The World Government's inaction was a fact, the destruction of Member Nations was a fact, the chaos of the Great Sea, the losses of the Member Nations, and the rampantness of the Rocks Pirates were also facts.
The defeat of the Marines was also a fact.
Although they captured "Violence King" Kosa, weakened a major fighting force of the Rocks Pirates, it couldn't change the current situation.
Of course, a more important point was that the World Government did not send anyone to rescue the Royal Family of Stone Country.
And several other Member Nations.
The Marines fully evacuated, focusing their energy on rescuing people and capturing "Violence King" Kosa.
How could they have the energy and time to protect the Member Nations?
This completely became the reason for the Member Nations to attack the World Government.
Stone Country was a powerhouse nation and was friendly towards the World Government.
Even this was given up, making people somewhat doubt whether the World Government truly cared about them.
It was a symbol that caused some Member Nations who were already friendly towards the World Government to waver.
They were considering whether they should continue to implement policies friendly to the World Government, and whether this was beneficial to them.
Even the Five Elders were somewhat helpless.
Although they stood at the peak of authority and possessed great strength, they were repeatedly left speechless when facing these 'ordinary people'.
Standing at their level, for the interests of the World Government, they needed to follow the rules.
Some things couldn't be done.
Once they did, the World Government would fall apart.
No one would wish for such a situation to occur.
Except for those top-tier powerhouse nations, superpower nations, and hostile forces of the World Government who wished for nothing but chaos.
The vast majority of Member Nations still hoped for the World Government to exist.
A stable Great Sea was what they desired, and the World Government was still maintaining the stability of the world.
Giving a lesson was acceptable, but they didn't want to completely destroy the World Government in one go.
After continuous compromises from all sides, it was finally determined that the Heavenly Tribute from each Member Nation would be 60% of the original amount.
This was a price the World Government had to bear.
If the funds were insufficient and the World Government didn't want the value of Beli to be weakened, they could only use the treasure they had collected to support their finances and alleviate financial pressure.
And the impact was multifaceted.
The weakening of financial funds would directly lead to a reduction in the World Government's expenses across various areas.
The Marines' military budget, the World Nobles' "living expenses", the "salary" of various departments, and the development of secret organizations.
Topics included discussing the threat of the Rocks Pirates and how to deal with them?
However, whatever was said was just the World Government and the Marines' side of the story.
The Member Nations ultimately only looked at the results.
And the World Government didn't dare to guarantee anything; the Rocks Pirates were truly powerful now.
Topics included discussing the incompetence of the Marines; some hoped the Marines could change their Fleet Admiral, but it was just a suggestion and ultimately came to nothing.
Topics included allowing Member Nations to have the authority to purchase navy warships, arming their own navies to resist invading pirates from the outside.
The World Government naturally wouldn't agree, announcing that they would dispatch more strength to the Four Seas to maintain the stability of the Great Sea.
The World Summit usually only needed to be held for a week.
From the arrival to the departure of the Member Nation Kings, the actual time the meeting was held might only be three or four days.
However, this time, the duration of the World Summit broke historical records, lasting for a month.
During this period, the Rocks Pirates also didn't settle down.
Although there were no large-scale joint actions, there were still quite a few actions.
From time to time, they would send out Great Pirates, destroying one Member Nation today and another a few days later.
In just one month, seven Member Nations became targets of the Rocks Pirates.
This also significantly eased the pressure on the Marines.
Just a few Great Pirates were something the Marines could handle.
Among the seven Member Nations, three were destroyed by the Rocks Pirates.
For two others, the Marines arrived in time during the plundering process, drove out the Pirates, and prevented significant losses.
Two other Member Nations were very lucky.
Their targets were known to the Marines in advance, and sniping actions were taken before the Rocks Pirates' Legion arrived, blocking the Rocks Pirates' action plan.
Both sides suffered casualties, with casualties kept within a certain limit.
Of course, the World Government still suffered losses, but at least the situation was much better than before.
As long as the Intelligence Force could be redeveloped, under such resistance pressure, the Marines would not be weaker than the Rocks Pirates, especially with the support of the World Government.
And such terrible things happening during the World Summit were undoubtedly like rubbing salt in the World Government's wound.
The Member Nations wouldn't care if the Marines' record was slightly better than before; a loss was a loss.
The news of three Member Nations being destroyed would only make the World Government more embarrassed.
The World Summit finally ended, and both the Marines and the World Government felt immense pressure.
Especially the Five Elders and Black, they had never been so humble when facing the Member Nation members.
They felt guilty!
The lack of results was a fact.
(end of chapter)