With their strategy settled, Hua Country, that great beast of war, began deliberately sheathing its terrifying claws and fangs, draping itself in a carefully woven cloak of "weakness." This effort was chiefly planned and carried out through Zhuge Liang's meticulous projections using Mewtwo's power and the vast intelligence network under Guo Jia's command. Its attention to detail made it a grand "deception" directed at the entire West Blue and even the World Government.
In diplomacy and public messaging, Hua Country abandoned its former aggressive posture in favor of a calm yet firm strategy of "reciprocal responses." When the Saint Poplar Kingdom and its allies stirred up border incidents or seized Hua Country's merchant ships, the military no longer attacked other nations' fleets directly. Instead, the diplomatic authorities issued statements and immediately enacted reciprocal countermeasures-when a Hua Country merchant ship was unjustly detained, warships of Gan Ning's Brocade Sail Battalion appeared in the corresponding waters within twenty-four hours to conduct escort drills and demand the immediate release of the crew and ship; when border outposts were harassed, Guan Yu's border cavalry immediately advanced into the corresponding area to hold "defensive exercises." Every operation had legitimate grounds and was restrained and precise, neither escalating the conflict nor accepting any losses.
Hua Country followed the same principle of reciprocity in trade. If the other side raised tariffs on a particular category of goods, Hua Country's commerce authorities studied the reports before selectively imposing equivalent tariffs on the other side's key exports. Precisely calculated by Guo Jia, these measures protected core interests while making it difficult for their opponents to use them as a pretext.
Meanwhile, large quantities of carefully fabricated "inside information" spread through various channels: "The new policies have met resistance from powerful local clans," "Heavy snow has caused a disaster in