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Several days passed, and the Hoenn Government Daily was quietly distributed in the North Blue. Although the efficiency was slow, it was fortunately limited to the North Blue.
The Lubni Kingdom is for sale at a high price!
The royal family and nobles are leaving the North Blue!
When the royal family and nobles wanted to leave, their final act of betrayal was just to make an extra buck. Even if the price was not ideal, it pleasantly surprised the Lubni royal family.
Besides, 10 billion Berry is not a small sum.
The newspaper featured a photo of the royal family shaking hands with the Hoenn Government envoy, and the royal family and nobles' ships safely left the North Blue under the escort of Hoenn Government warships.
This piqued the interest of other royal families.
Now, with pirates rampant and the Marines' main forces withdrawn from the North Blue, the Marine branches can barely protect themselves, let alone protect them.
Coupled with the World Government's inaction and the Hoenn Government's might, they now felt no sense of security!
It was also nearing the end of the year, and new Heavenly Tribute was due. However, at least half of the member nations hadn't gathered enough Heavenly Tribute, and their people were on the verge of madness.
The overall environment was declining. There was nothing that could be done.
With the Lubni Kingdom setting a good precedent, other countries would naturally follow suit. As long as they had money, they could start over in other sea areas.
Holy Land, Power Hall.
The Five Elders looked at the report delivered that morning.
"The Lubni Kingdom has betrayed us."
"A small hole not mended will eventually become a big hole."
"It's too late now."
"Look at this. This is intelligence from Spandam regarding the prices of Groudon Company's goods."
"They possess the cheapest labor and resources."
"We have no competitiveness at all!"
The Five Elders flipped through the intelligence. The atmosphere was quite oppressive. The North Blue had already become the Hoenn Government's backyard. Lacking military support, the World Government couldn't intervene even if it wanted to. It was only a matter of time before the North Blue member nations were swallowed by the Hoenn Government.
Lubni was just quicker to surrender.
At Erumalu Trade Port, the situation was also not optimistic.
The prices of Hoenn Government's goods, for the same quality, were generally half of the market price, far exceeding their expectations and even seeming incredible.
Maintaining the World Government's operations requires a large amount of capital, and trade is an indispensable part. Once impacted by the external market, it could very likely lead to the complete economic collapse of the World Government.
As for Heavenly Tribute, that is the private property dedicated to the Celestial Dragons and absolutely cannot be used to subsidize the mortals below.
Everyone looked at Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro.
"Don't be impatient."
Saint Nusjuro was as steady as an old dog.
"I did underestimate Hoenn Government and wasn't sufficiently prepared, but it doesn't matter. I've already thought of an excellent countermeasure!"
Given the selling price of Hoenn Government's goods, a price war was definitely unwinnable. He tried to curb the other party with tariffs, but it also had little effect.
The kings of the member nations were not united with them, especially Cobra, who repeatedly rejected his tariff policies.
This made him very angry, but more than that, he was helpless. Among the many royal families, the Nefeltari family was the only exception. Moreover, Hoenn Government's current trading partners were the member nations, not the World Government.
But he thought of a countermeasure.
Saint Nusjuro pointed to the map.
"Five Elders, look here!"
"Reverse Mountain?"
"Exactly!"
"Reverse Mountain is the only entrance to the Grand Line. The Hoenn Government relies on Reverse Mountain to connect the Four Blues, allowing them to conduct close trade with various sea areas!"
"As long as we set up toll booths at Reverse Mountain, we can, like the Golden Route, collect high entry and exit tariffs, increasing the cost of trade between Hoenn Government and various countries!"
The Five Elders' eyes gradually lit up.
Brilliant!
This way, even if the World Government did nothing, it could still gain a large amount of money while simultaneously curbing Hoenn Government's development.
"What about the member nations?"
"They have no right to bargain!"
Saint Nusjuro's gaze was cold.
"Those fence-sitters need a lesson, and the Lubni Kingdom's royal family cannot be let off either!"
If it were before, the Lubni royal family's decision would have been fine. Squeeze a country dry, then move to another place.
Just like the Amber Lead mine in Flevance.
But now, the Hoenn Government posed a serious threat to the World Government, and the Lubni royal family's act of defection made him extremely angry!
They must make an example of them!
Assets worth hundreds of millions of Berry could be used to offset the expenses of the World Military Draft while also showing the member nations the consequences of betrayal.
Hoenn Government Headquarters.
Daichi looked at the newspaper, which contained some developments in the New World.
The most active pirate recently was Katakuri, who had continuously defeated many strong individuals and had been hunting strong individuals.
Many of these strong individuals were prisoners who had escaped from Impel Down.
Golden Lion was recruiting subordinates, seemingly wanting to rebuild his former glory. Many forces now regarded him as one of the Yonko.
Though old, his reputation remained.
There was also a fellow who called himself "Whitebeard Junior," who was hunting down Whitebeard's division commanders. Several division commanders had already died, and his formidable strength attracted much attention.
In short, it was a pirate free-for-all.
After this trade war with the World Government ended, he would also have to return to the New World to rectify the chaos.
The situation in the New World was too chaotic and would affect his business. Now, Beast Pirates officers like Ulti and Page One were almost becoming Groudon Company's bodyguards, specifically escorting transport ships.
Speed came into the office.
"Daichi-sama, the Notis Kingdom has agreed to our acquisition."
"Good."
Daichi's spirits lifted.
This was the third country to sell out!
Moreover, Notis was quite wealthy among the North Blue member nations, several times stronger than Lubni, and could be considered a major power.
Speed saw that there were no outsiders and sat on the sofa, stretching. She had been in charge of acquiring member nations recently.
The woman complained a bit. "Daichi, why is it so troublesome? Can't we just directly occupy those countries?"
"We are a legitimate government now, not pirates. We must act with proper justification and always hoist the banner of righteousness, without any stains."
Daichi patiently explained.
Of course, he wanted to forcibly occupy them, but doing so would lose public support. Kuzan joined him primarily for "righteousness."
Simply put, it means winning the hearts of the people.
Even if he did something bad, he would have Lucci, a professional, do it, and it would have to be done secretly.
"Oh, by the way, news came from Erumalu Port."
Speed held her teacup. "The World Government has sent an engineering team to Reverse Mountain. It seems they are going to build houses there."
"Build houses?!"
Daichi's eyes lit up.
They finally made a move!
When the World Government did nothing, he felt a little uneasy.
It was like an empty fort strategy.
Building at Reverse Mountain, besides being a toll station, there could be no second option. It was probably the World Government's solution to the trade crisis.
But doing so would undoubtedly offend all beneficiaries. The World Government was going against "righteousness"!
However, with the World Government's intimidating power, even if the member nations had grievances, they wouldn't dare to speak up. The only variable was the Hoenn Government.
A reason for war had emerged.
He absolutely could not miss the opportunity to shake the World Government's "justice." Trust was eroded little by little this way.
And this time, he held the moral high ground!