With his second brother, the family's guardian deity, proving even more reliable, Mousse acted with fewer and fewer reservations. Not only did he reveal the several thousand tons of gold previously collected from Sky Island, he even planned to use it as reserves and issue his own currency independent of Berries.
Totto Land had uniquely favorable conditions for issuing banknotes. First, Charlotte Linlin's Soul-Soul Fruit ability and Mousse's Book-Book Fruit ability could be used, making counterfeiting impossible for outsiders.
Combined with Totto Land's current strength, which had likely surpassed even the World Government's, and its long-standing, fairly solid credibility to bolster users' confidence, such banknotes would surely become a powerful competitor to Berries after issuance. They might even drive Berries entirely out of circulation.
That would not only bring Totto Land astonishing wealth far exceeding even Sky Island's gold, but also undermine the foundation of the Celestial Dragons' rule over the world. Besides possessing formidable military power represented by Marine Headquarters, the Berries hegemony, whose reach extended even farther than the World Government's rule, was an equally important reason they could collect Celestial Gold across the world.
Mousse understood this principle, and even Katakuri, whom Mousse did not consider especially clever, understood it. Thus, as soon as he learned of it, Katakuri immediately halted the issuance of "Soul Coins."
The reason was simple. Even if Totto Land now possessed the power to overthrow the Celestial Dragons' rule, and even if Katakuri alone could accomplish it so long as he disregarded his reputation, a dog would bite when cornered. The Celestial Dragons' formidable military forces could not possibly be wiped out completely in an instant. If they were truly driven to desperation and retaliated by targeting his younger brothers and sisters, Katakuri would not be able to protect them all.
Especially