After the Five Elders made their decision, the world did not immediately witness war.
There was no declaration of war.
No announcement.
Even the newspapers maintained a superficial calm.
But those with truly keen instincts knew that undercurrents had begun to stir.
The World Government had officially entered its counterattack phase.
Cipher Pol 0, powerful operatives from its direct covert branch, and shadow pawns cultivated by the Holy Land over many years began to disperse into action.
Some headed to regions where the Revolutionary Army was active.
Some infiltrated nations that refused to pay the Heavenly Tribute.
Some set their sights on merchant associations around the Golden City.
Others turned their blades toward the nobles, merchants, and underground intermediaries supporting the Navy's new system.
The Five Elders understood clearly.
They could not openly fall out with the Navy yet.
At the very least, they could not do so in public.
So they chose the method they knew best.
Assassination, framing, intimidation, fomenting rebellion, cutting off funds, destroying food routes.
They would make everyone seeking to draw close to the Navy, to Rock, and to the order of the new era feel the Holy Land's terror once more.
Yet the moment they reached out, they discovered they were not alone in the darkness.
At the border of a nation that refused to pay the Heavenly Tribute.
Three Cipher Pol 0 agents infiltrated the royal palace under cover of night.
Their objective was simple.
Assassinate the king, leave behind traces of the Revolutionary Army, and plunge the nation back into civil unrest.
Once the king died, infighting within the royal family, power struggles among the nobles, and fractures in the army would spread swiftly like a festering wound.
By then, the World Government would only need to step forward and declare