Apocalypse: Reborn with a Soul Sync Farming Space System-Chapter 139 Tension (Bonus)

Chris’s brows furrowed slightly at the sudden accusation. "You claim I have a traitor in my midst, but where is the evidence?" He asked.

He knew pretty much for a fact that if he answered defensively, he would risk losing the people’s trust and end up tying the chains of suspicion around his own neck, and if he ignored the question, he would be seen as unworthy and perhaps a corrupt leader.

"I am very surprised that the Waynes couldn’t identify the faces of the soldiers. Every district has security cameras monitoring the fortress twenty-four-seven a day. And the inventory has tighter surveillance in comparison to other places, so how was it possible that you could not get the identity of the perpetrator?" Chris added.

To his questions, the people nodded their heads. It was not like they didn’t have the necessary tools to identify the thief, so why couldn’t they point out who it was?

The unanswered hung in the air. The soldier raised his chin defensively. "The soldiers were able to avoid the security spot. We couldn’t identify them, but it was clear as daylight that they were soldiers from the Lennox military force."

"When the issue was first discovered why didn’t you bring it to my notice? I only found out about it from the disturbance you are causing right in front of the civilians, are you trying to create unrest and division within the fortress?" Chris asked, his eyes narrowing, that the soldiers felt shivers down their spines.

The Wayne soldier who had been confident earlier couldn’t shake off the spider-like fingers of fear crawling up his back from merely meeting Chris’s gaze. He had believed his nickname which was the scarlet beauty meant the famous Mr. Lennox would be nothing but a weak man who relied solely on his family’s name and power. But how could someone so weak cause so much fear in his heart, even his knees are already trembling.

The soldier swallowed. "We were conducting the investigation..."

"But that is not your jurisdiction. Your leader is in charge of the engineering sector of the fortress and despite you being from the Wayne’s military force, you are still under me. This matter should have been discussed and investigated thoroughly before bringing it to the face of the civilians.

Fine if you didn’t bring it to my notice, what about the commander, does she know about this?" Chris’s gaze darkened, his words as cold and sharp as blades.

Beads of sweat formed on the Wayne soldiers’ temples, especially the one talking to Chris.

"W-we haven’t." He stammered, lowering his head.

"You haven’t?" Chris drawled. "Doesn’t that mean that you disregarded your leaders? You made decisions without informing your head?"

Chris stepped closer to him. The soldier unconsciously stepped back.

"What about Mr. Wayne? Is he aware of this?" Chris said with a dangerous glint flashing through his eyes.

He had his own suspicion about who the real master mind pulling the strings behind the scenes was.

The Wayne soldier froze.

For a brief moment, the square fell completely silent, as if the name itself carried weight heavy enough to press down on the crowd gathered around them. The soldier’s lips parted slightly, but no answer came out immediately, and that hesitation alone was enough to cause the murmurs among the civilians to grow louder. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Why isn’t he answering?"

"Does that mean Mr. Wayne doesn’t know about this?"

"Then why accuse the Lennox military force publicly?"

The voices spread through the crowd in waves, and the Wayne soldier could feel every pair of eyes in the square slowly turning toward him. Sweat rolled down the side of his face as his fingers clenched slightly around the strap of the rifle slung across his shoulder.

Just as he was about to speak, a new voice came from behind the civilians gathered near the edge of the square.

"I wasn’t aware."

The crowd parted almost immediately. Alexander Wayne stepped forward calmly, his tall figure emerging from between the civilians as though he had been standing there long enough to hear most of the exchange. His expression was composed, yet his gaze was sharp as it moved briefly across the square before settling on Chris.

The murmuring among the civilians quieted almost instantly. Even the soldiers standing on both sides straightened subconsciously when they saw him approach.

Alexander walked forward slowly until he reached the open space between the two factions of soldiers and stopped there, placing himself neither beside the Wayne military force nor opposite Chris, but directly in the center where every pair of eyes could see him clearly.

His gaze shifted briefly to the Wayne soldier who had been speaking earlier.

"You are saying several crates of weapons disappeared from the armory," Alexander said evenly.

"Yes, Mr. Wayne," the soldier answered immediately, relief flashing across his face.

"And the investigation concluded that the soldiers responsible belonged to the Lennox military unit."

"Yes."

Alexander nodded, though his expression remained unreadable.

Then his eyes moved toward Chris.

"And Mr. Lennox claims the document authorizing the transfer was forged."

The soldier quickly nodded his head. "Yes, Mr. Wayne."

Alexander turned to meet Chris’s gaze. "For someone who should be checking his men to eliminate any threat of traitors, you sure know how to turn the situation around and use your authority against the poor man who is trying to do his job."

"I always believed the Waynes operated modestly, I guess I was wrong. You couldn’t even control your own men that they had to keep information from you." Chris said calmly as if he were reciting a poem.

The tension between the two men grew so heavy that the crowd had to hold its breath.

Alexander studied him for a moment before glancing briefly at the document still in Chris’s hand.

"I see," he said thoughtfully. He was poking to see Chris’s reaction but he never expected him to poke back so decisively even under pressure.

For a few seconds, he remained silent, as if considering the situation carefully. The civilians watching them held their breath, waiting to see what he would say next.

When he finally spoke again, his voice remained calm.

"If the authorization was forged, then someone clearly intended to create the impression that the Lennox command was responsible." He ignored the exchanged words with him.

The words caused another ripple of murmurs to spread through the crowd.

"But," Alexander continued, his tone thoughtful rather than accusatory, "five crates of rifles and ammunition still disappeared from the armory."

Alexander slowly turned to look at the civilians gathered around the square. "Those weapons did not simply vanish," he said. "Someone removed them and of course, it is not so they could have toys to play with." His gaze drifted back to Chris.