Chapter 99: Cat and Mouse Operation
Meanwhile, the Five Elders also had to face internal pressure from the World Noble.
The reduction in Heavenly Tribute caused the most dissatisfaction among the World Noble.
The original sixty percent of the Heavenly Tribute was already something the Five Elders had fought hard to secure.
Of course, the World Government is currently managed by the Five Elders.
The true power holders among the Celestial Dragons were also reasonable people, and those voices of resistance were quickly suppressed.
Naturally, the target of hostility was shifted to the Rocks Pirates.
Each Celestial Dragon Family voluntarily contributed money to supplement the World Government's finances, and even sent their family's Strength to reinforce the CP0 Agent.
This allowed the World Government to have more Strength to deal with the Rocks Pirates.
Of course, the demands put forward were extremely exaggerated.
Making Rocks D.
Xebec and the main members of the Rocks Pirates their Slave?
How could that be possible?
These Monster cannot be restrained by Slave Collars.
Naturally, to gain more support, the Five Elders readily agreed to everything, knowing full well that they would have the final say.
However, the main reason was that the World Noble felt a crisis.
Rocks D.
Xebec's momentum had already formed.
This is a "D"! The rumored Natural Enemy of God!
The World Conference concluded.
Ships transporting Heavenly Tribute, escorted by the Marines and World Government Agent, were sent to Mary Geoise.
Many Kingdom were waiting to see the World Government become a laughingstock.
Inside Information about the Heavenly Tribute Shipping Route was learned by the Rocks Pirates.
Some of this Information was true, some false, and some might even be Smokescreens released by the World Government.
The Rocks Pirates had limited manpower and could not target all the Heavenly Tribute.
Giving up was impossible; they could only specifically target a portion of the Heavenly Tribute.
Furthermore, Operation against Member Nation would not cease.
This could disperse the Strength of the Marines and the World Government.
Whether it was the Heavenly Tribute or plundering Member Nation, both were about plundering Wealth.
This was a cat-and-mouse Operation.
The World Government and the Marines were the cats, and the Rocks Pirates were the mice.
Similarly, the Rocks Pirates were also the cats, and the Heavenly Tribute guarded by the World Government and the Marines was the mouse.
The Marines and the World Government needed to prevent the Rocks Pirates from attacking the Member Nation and the Heavenly Tribute.
While escorting the Heavenly Tribute, the Marines' Strength was severely dispersed, leaving them with no Energy to actively launch an offensive against the Rocks Pirates.
Each Top Tier Combatant was being closely watched by the Rocks Pirates' Intelligence Force.
Once they moved out, the Rocks Pirates would also send out Top Tier Combatant to respond.
Both sides restrained each other.
This widespread Chaos revolved around the plundering and guarding of Member Nation and the Heavenly Tribute.
It remained to be seen how much Loss the World Government would suffer, which was an unavoidable situation.
In terms of Combatant Strength, Top Tier Combatant would likely not be involved.
Each Top Tier Combatant had the Role of a Sea Calming Pillar and could not be easily dispatched.
In the broader sense, the Rocks Pirates were increasingly resembling a syndicate, meticulous and planned, with Order within the Chaos.
He who the gods would destroy, they first make mad.
The Rocks Pirates haven't truly gone mad yet!
They haven't truly reached their Peak yet!
They haven't truly reached the point where they disregard everything!
Treasure, it's all about Treasure!
Attracted by the Heavenly Tribute, the Rocks Pirates became frenzied once again.
Shipping Route for the Heavenly Tribute, Information on each Member Nation.
Rocks did not specify the Action Plans and Targets, but instead Exhibited everything, allowing the Pirate below him to choose for himself.
Succeed, and what you get is yours.
If you fail, it's because of your own incompetence.
If you die, it means your Strength was insufficient.
In Hades' eyes, this wasn't the best Plan.
But it was very Pirate-like! Very Rocks Pirates!
He had no intention of rashly stepping forward.
The Situation that followed was very interesting.
The Marines and the Pirate went back and forth, with one chasing and the other fleeing.
The Rocks Pirates' attacks greatly delayed the Time it took for some of the Heavenly Tribute to be transported to the World Government, forcing the World Government and the Marines to change Shipping Route multiple times.
It wasn't until two months later that things gradually quieted down.
The number of Kingdom worldwide doesn't exceed a thousand.
After all, some Small Island with only a few thousand or tens of thousands of people can also be called Kingdom.
And the number of World Government Affiliated Nation is over two hundred.
The number of nation eligible to become World Government Affiliated Nation and capable of paying the Heavenly Tribute might be higher, but not by much.
Powerhouse Nation and Superpower are ultimately a minority in this World.
In the Future, the World Government will have over 170 Member Nation, and that's after the number increased following another Great Sea upheaval.
It's hard to imagine how many World Government Affiliated Nation were destroyed by the Rocks Pirates, and how many of those were Kingdom rebuilt after destruction.
What kind of severe damage did the World Government suffer during the period when the Rocks Pirates dominated the Great Sea?
The number of Kingdom destroyed by the Rocks Pirates would be even higher, as Rocks' Targets were not limited to just Member Nation.
Compared to powerful Member Nation with strong National Strength, Medium and Small Countries not eligible to become Member Nation were often easier to deal with.
Out of over two hundred portions of Heavenly Tribute, the World Government had one-tenth plundered by the Rocks Pirates.
This meant losing another tenth of the Heavenly Tribute on top of the already reduced Share.
The most remarkable Results were achieved by Shiki.
Relying on his powerful mobility and flying Ability, at least half of the Heavenly Tribute was plundered by Shiki.
This also led to a significant increase in Shiki's Bounty Amount, reaching 800 million Beli.
This was enough to show Shiki's Threat in the eyes of the World Government and the Marines.
More importantly, ever since obtaining the Float-Float Fruit, Shiki had not cut his hair again.
His thick, flowing golden hair allowed Shiki to officially shed the moniker of "Lion Ghost" and undergo a Transformation into the true "Golden Lion".
Shiki "The Golden Lion"!
During this period, another five Member Nation were destroyed.
However, the World Government and the Marines had done their best, and such Results were enough to satisfy them.
The Heavenly Tribute had dispersed too much Strength.
Once they were free, they would have enough Military Strength and Strongman to resist the Rocks Pirates.
(end of chapter)