Chapter 394: Stealing the Heavenly Tribute (1)
July.
During this time.
From Member Nations around the World.
Warships, escorted by Navy Officer, World Government Agent, or Army Expert, transported the Heavenly Tribute to the World Government.
The combat strength guarding the Heavenly Tribute was at least Commodore, divided according to the danger level of the Transportation Route.
Heavenly Tribute from Member Nation in the New World required at least Vice Admiral for protection.
This month every year was a crucial time for the World Government and the Marines.
It concerned the development of the Marines and the World Government for the following year.
Because the World Government's dignity had been repeatedly trampled upon by the Rocks Pirates in the past.
To this day, many a Pirate or other Faction still sets their sights on the Heavenly Tribute every year.
Especially the Underworld, which had even developed an Intelligence Network focused on monitoring the whereabouts of the Heavenly Tribute from each Member Nation.
Every piece of information held considerable value.
As for this situation, the World Government and the Marines had no way to stop it; cutting off one route only led to another.
The only method was to use absolute strength and means to bring about the downfall of any Faction daring to covet the Heavenly Tribute.
Over time, seeing little hope, the number of people coveting the Heavenly Tribute naturally decreased.
And Ignis, in order to acquire a Base Camp for Sound Nest sooner, specifically targeted this year's Heavenly Tribute.
During this special period of Heavenly Tribute transportation, he began his own operation.
The map before him was the World Government's East Blue Transportation Route Map for the Heavenly Tribute.
The Kronos Kingdom had ways to obtain this kind of thing, but Ignis did not use that connection.
He acquired this from the Underworld.
It was compiled by Ignis based on the Underworld's analysis of the Heavenly Tribute Transportation Route from each Member Nation in the East Blue.
Naturally, some were fake, but there were also genuine ones, some even leaked from within Holy Land Mariejois.
This kind of information often became more certain only after the Heavenly Tribute began transportation.
This was because someone was secretly tracking the Heavenly Tribute Transport Ships in real-time.
Of course, it could also be fake news deliberately spread by the World Government, using a smokescreen to deceive them.
Ignis had enough time for his operation over the course of a month.
The time for transporting the Heavenly Tribute differed among Member Nation; although mostly within a month, there was ultimately a time difference.
This time could be estimated based on when the World Government dispatched Warships to each respective Member Nation.
Ignis, meanwhile, directly planned an operation route passing through twelve Member Nation in the East Blue.
The Marine Warships arriving at these Member Nation, unlike the hidden Heavenly Tribute Transport Ships, did not keep their movements a secret.
A month ago, while these Marine Warships were heading to each Member Nation, Ignis secretly placed Radar Positioning Devices developed by the Kronos Kingdom on these Warships.
The device was placed in a compartment inside the hull, completely undetectable by anyone.
To find the positioning device, the hull would have to be destroyed.
Ignis, possessing the voidification ability, could easily pass through the Warship's compartments and place the positioning device.
Finding the Heavenly Tribute's Transportation Route was very difficult; it could only be tracked in real-time.
It was already very difficult for the World Government to leak the Heavenly Tribute's Transportation Route in advance.
The World Government had already suffered from this.
Therefore, they implemented strict protective measures.
First, they prepared Responsible Party personnel.
Each Responsible Party would be in charge of the secret information for three or four Shipping Routes, which other Responsible Party personnel would not know.
If something happened, they would have to pay the price and bear the responsibility.
With this premise, the probability of a Responsible Party leaking the Heavenly Tribute Transportation Route in advance to protect their own head significantly decreased.
How could someone else's bribe be more important than their own life?
Second, the Transportation Route would change at any time during transportation, remotely controlled from the Holy Land.
Even if a shipping route was leaked beforehand, it was actually fake.
And the Official in Mary Geoise transmitting messages would be monitored in real-time by CP Agent personnel during this process, eliminating any chance of leaking intelligence.
The transportation of the Heavenly Tribute had begun.
Intelligence Officer personnel from Underworld Forces scattered across the Great Sea were monitoring the Heavenly Tribute's position and whereabouts, transmitting intelligence and notifying other Intelligence Officer personnel at other locations to pay close attention.
Thanks to the powerful propulsion, the small boats secretly following were quickly shaken off.
Even Strongman guarding the Heavenly Tribute personally took action to directly destroy these individuals with ill intentions.
World Government Agent personnel, in particular, showed no mercy.
Some agile Marine Warships quickly disappeared into unknown parts of the Great Sea, making it impossible for people to pinpoint the location of the Heavenly Tribute Transport Ships.
This was a game of cat and mouse.
Clearly, the World Government was the clever mouse.
They could always make others return empty-handed, especially when guarded by powerful strength.
There had been successful examples of plundering the Heavenly Tribute over the years.
Two years ago, two Pirate Crew who had hidden their strength united and snatched the Heavenly Tribute.
After obtaining treasure worth billions of Beli, the two Pirate Crew quickly disappeared without a trace.
It seemed they had peacefully divided the treasure and begun to enjoy the rest of their lives.
With the positioning device, Ignis wasn't worried about not being able to find the Transport Ship.
The first target was the first Transport Ship.
After the World Government personnel finished inspecting the Heavenly Tribute.
The Treasury storing the Heavenly Tribute was securely locked.
Without enough strength and without the key, it was impossible to open.
The entire Treasury protecting the Heavenly Tribute was also specially built, making it difficult to breach.
After locking the Treasury, the key would be destroyed on the spot.
Only upon reaching Mary Geoise would the Treasury be opened with a second key.
This also gave Ignis time to act, so he didn't have to worry about his operation being exposed prematurely.
Turning into voidification, Ignis passed directly through the hull and entered the Transport Ship's interior.
Along the way, no one saw him, even if Ignis passed right in front of them.
Ignis knew that the Treasury's door contained a bit of Seastone.
The Treasury's outer wall was also made from extremely hard ore, making it difficult to forcibly destroy.
Unfortunately, Ignis didn't need to destroy anything at all; such high-standard protective measures were useless.
Ignis's body passed directly through the Treasury's outer wall and entered the interior.
At a glance, it was a golden light show: gold, jewels, antiques, rare medicinal herbs.
Treasure worth 5.
5 billion Beli was inside the Treasury.
Ignis couldn't help but click his tongue at the sight.
However, he wasn't overly excited.
As the Prince of the Kronos Kingdom, he had seen plenty of treasure.
The Kronos Kingdom's accumulation over a thousand years, the treasure worth tens of billions of Beli plundered by Hades during the Rocks Pirates era.
And also the golden bell, several times taller than a giant.
Furthermore, treasure was only a part of it; fifty percent of it was Beli.
According to World Government regulations, only fifty percent of the treasure in the Heavenly Tribute was allowed to be replaced with Beli.
The value of the remaining treasure needed to be appraised by Professional personnel.
Even the World Government knew that treasure was better than Beli.
Especially with the rapid devaluation of Beli in recent years.
However, this was the current World Government regulation regarding the Heavenly Tribute.
In the past, only thirty percent of the Heavenly Tribute was allowed to be replaced with Beli.
The change in regulations was undoubtedly a compromise by the World Government, representing the increase in the power of Member Nation and a phased victory.
(end of chapter)