The growth of pirate power and the Flying Pirates' confrontation with the World Government merely weakened the World Government's strength.
As long as it had its affiliated nations and vast amounts of heavenly tribute to sustain it, the World Government would recover sooner or later, given enough time.
But would there always be great pirates like Golden Lion Shiki, dedicated to opposing the World Government?
No. Apart from Golden Lion Shiki, the other great pirates might have been enemies of the Navy and the World Government.
Yet none had the intention or courage to confront the World Government head-on.
Because the World Government was a behemoth.
They had no advantage to begin with, unless all the monsters of the New World united.
Even now, Golden Lion Shiki still fell short of Rocks D. Zebek.
That was certainly how Hades saw it.
Because the Rocks Pirates had not only weakened the World Government and the Navy, but also shaken the foundations of the World Government's rule.
They had destroyed a great many affiliated nations.
With those affiliated nations destroyed, the amount of heavenly tribute the World Government received each year naturally declined.
Some affiliated nations had even suffered such devastating losses from pirate invasions that they could no longer afford the heavenly tribute.
For a time, some affiliated nations paid less heavenly tribute, while others paid none at all.
Yet the World Government had not dared strip them of their status as World Government Member States.
In the past, any nation that failed to pay its heavenly tribute would have lost its affiliated status, leaving it without protection against pirate invasions and even allowing internal unrest to erupt.
The entire kingdom would collapse as a result.
Many kingdoms had fallen that way.
To pay the heavenly tribute in full, a kingdom's