The revival of the Flower Kingdom and its control over the entire West Blue dealt a further blow to the Celestial Dragons' ruling order. If they stood by and did nothing, not only would the World Government's already greatly diminished prestige be shaken even further, but the nearly thirty percent shortfall in Celestial Gold would also be difficult to make up.
What enraged and terrified the Five Elders even more was that, riding the momentum of his great victory, Li Dayong issued the Flower Kingdom's own paper currency and announced a total ban on the circulation of Berries throughout the West Blue. This dealt a far greater blow to the World Government's finances than the reduction in Celestial Gold revenue.
As the world's most populous superpower, the Flower Kingdom's Celestial Gold payments had not amounted to much when spread across its population. However, the profits the World Government gained by using Berries as paper currency to carry out economic aggression were far beyond anything the smaller nations could compare with. Now that this important source of wealth had suddenly been cut off, how could the Five Elders not be beside themselves?
Nor was that the full extent of the impact brought by the Flower Kingdom issuing its own currency. Backed by a superpower that had unified the West Blue and could utterly defeat a Marine Admiral, this currency could very well be accepted by people outside the West Blue, further squeezing out the Berries' share.
Therefore, there was no way the World Government and the Celestial Dragons behind it could simply let this defeat pass.
But if they wanted to send troops on a punitive expedition, there was already the precedent of losing a Marine Admiral. This time, they would need to dispatch at least two of them to have