The next day, News Coos flapped their wings, scattering newspapers bearing the headline "All of X113 Branch pledges allegiance to Hua Country" across the West Blue. The news was less a report of victory than a silent thunderclap exploding over waters rife with undercurrents. Hundreds of nautical miles away, X115 Branch, renowned for its formidable position and its "loyalty" to the World Government, instantly went on edge like a disturbed nest of venomous creatures.
In Branch Commander "Iron Clamp" Horne's secret chamber, the air was as foul and oppressive as the pressure before a storm. Smoke curled through the room, and several faces looked uncertain beneath the dim yellow lamplight.
"Pledged allegiance? That spineless bastard Bastille!" Deputy Commander "Gray Shark" Barton spat viciously, his eyes blazing with malice. "Our X115 Branch isn't X113 Branch! They want us wagging our tails and begging like dogs? In their dreams!"
"That Liu Bei... Xerneas's power..." Another officer with a scarred face spoke hoarsely, his fear impossible to conceal. "Bastille surrendered without even resisting. We..."
Horne abruptly ground his cigar into the ashtray with a harsh hiss. He raised his eyes, his face, rough as a deep-sea reef, utterly expressionless save for cold calculation. "Resist? Of course we'll 'resist.'" His voice was low. "But we'll 'resist' intelligently. Isn't Liu Bei coming to 'pacify' us? Then let him come. We'll prepare a 'submission banquet' for him."
An invitation couched in the humblest possible terms and bearing X115 Branch's seal soon reached Liu Bei's flagship. It lavishly praised the benevolence of Hua Country's sovereign, declared them "profoundly moved" by his lenient treatment of X113 Branch's officers and men, and claimed that everyone in X115 Branch "eagerly awaited the royal army." It earnestly requested that the Pacification Commissioner visit to offer guidance and discuss the "great undertaking