The War Begins

In the press conference hall of the Orb Prime Minister's Residence, camera flashes began to flicker in rapid succession.

Hundreds of reporters were crammed inside, their cameras trained on the podium. Every one of them resembled a vulture circling a shark, having caught the scent of blood.

Uzumi Nara Athha stood beneath Orb's national emblem, his expression utterly unshaken.

He did not look at a single camera. He merely delivered Orb's latest statement calmly into the row of Shure KSM8 microphones before him.

"Orb reiterates that we will continue to uphold our national policy of permanent neutrality."

His voice echoed through the hall via the loudspeakers, then traveled across countless lines to the entire world. "We have no wish to make enemies of any nation or organization.

"But that does not mean Orb fears threats of force in any form."

Those words were like a chunk of ice thrown into boiling oil.

People before countless screens around the world stopped what they were doing.

In the South American Union, a GNN live broadcast was playing at an open-air bar in Rio de Janeiro.

A man wearing a Brazilian national team jersey whistled and slammed his bottle of guaraná soda onto the table. "They're crazy. Those bushido fanatics are really crazy.

"What are they going to use to fight the Earth Alliance? Their samurai swords?"

The drinkers around him burst into laughter.

To them, Orb's declaration was like a Chihuahua barking at a Tibetan Mastiff—nothing but ridiculous.

That was what most of the world thought: Orb had gone mad.

Until a few days later, when GNN reported another piece of news.

[Breaking News: Siegel Clyne, Chairman of P.L.A.N.T.'s Supreme Council, and Uzumi Nara Athha, leader of Orb, held a meeting in Apricot Moon City, the capital of P.L.A.N.T. The two sides