Apocalypse: Reborn with a Soul Sync Farming Space System-Chapter 138 Traitor in your midst (Bonus)

Chris kept the document in his hand for a few seconds longer, his eyes moving slowly across the lines of ink as though he were not merely reading the transfer order but trying to understand the mind of the person who had written it, because whoever had prepared this accusation had not acted carelessly.

The paper carried the Lennox command seal, the authorization format followed the correct armory protocol, and even the timing recorded in the logbook matched the period when the night shift had been busiest, which meant the person behind this had carefully chosen a moment when oversight would naturally weaken.

That alone told Chris something important. It was not a random mistake, but someone had orchestrated it.

He lifted his gaze slowly from the document and studied the Wayne officer standing before him, whose posture remained confident but whose eyes held a faint tension that only someone accustomed to observing people closely would notice.

Chris had spent most of his life surrounded by political games, subtle manipulations, and carefully disguised hostility, and although the situation unfolding before him looked chaotic on the surface, his instincts told him that the chaos itself might be part of the orchestration.

"Tell me something," Chris said calmly, his voice steady enough that several soldiers who had been raising their rifles slowly lowered them again without realizing it.

"When exactly were these weapons transferred?"

The Wayne officer frowned slightly at the question, though he quickly answered. "Shortly after midnight."

Chris nodded once and turned his head toward the Lennox soldiers standing behind him.

"Which unit was assigned to the inner gate last night?"

Dylan stepped forward immediately.

"The second Lennox military squad," he replied. "All of them remained at the gate and watchtowers until sunrise. Meanwhile, the other squads were situated at the fortress’s walls and watchtower, none of them left their positions."

Chris looked back at the officer again.

"So according to your accusation," he said slowly, "my soldiers managed to transport several heavy weapon crates across the inner district after midnight while simultaneously guarding the gate and towers."

The Wayne officer’s expression tightened slightly. "That is what the records indicate."

Chris tilted his head faintly. "Records," he repeated.

For a brief moment, he looked around the square, allowing his gaze to pass over the soldiers gathered there, the civilians who had begun crowding along the outer edges, and even the armory staff who had arrived earlier to confirm the missing inventory.

Then he raised the document again.

"These crates," he said calmly, "contain rifles and ammunition. Each crate weighs nearly forty kilograms, and the armory stores them in reinforced steel boxes that require two men to carry comfortably. If five crates were removed last night, that means at least ten men were needed to transport them."

He paused briefly.

"And yet," he continued, "no one in the fortress reported seeing ten armed soldiers carrying steel weapon crates across the district."

The murmuring among the crowd grew slightly louder.

Several people exchanged glances.

The Wayne officer’s expression hardened. "Guards at the inner gate reported seeing Lennox soldiers moving crates."

Chris nodded slowly. "Then bring those guards forward," he said.

The officer hesitated for a fraction of a second before gesturing toward two soldiers standing near the Wayne formation to bring the witnesses out.

After a while, they returned with the witnesses.

Chris studied them quietly. "You saw Lennox soldiers moving crates last night?"

"Yes," one of them replied firmly.

"At what distance?"

The soldier blinked slightly as if trying to recall. "Across the square."

Chris nodded thoughtfully. "And how many men were there?"

The soldier hesitated. "Four... maybe five."

Chris lowered his gaze briefly, as if calculating something.

"Four men carrying five steel crates," he said calmly. "Impressive strength."

A faint ripple of laughter moved through several civilians standing nearby before quickly dying away.

The guard’s face reddened slightly.

Chris continued speaking before the tension could rise again. "And the soldiers you saw," he said, "were they wearing Lennox unit markings?"

"Yes." The other answered with a convincing nod of his head.

Chris tilted the paper slightly in his hand.

"Then allow me to ask one more question," he said. "If Lennox soldiers were secretly stealing weapons from the fortress armory, why would they wear their own unit markings while doing so?"

The silence that followed felt heavier than the shouting that had come before. Even several Wayne soldiers shifted slightly where they stood.

Because the question was simple, but the answer was not.

Chris watched their reactions quietly, and inside his mind, he felt the faint outline of the trap forming more clearly, because whoever had planned this had not expected the accusation to collapse immediately.

They had expected tension, perhaps even violence.

Chris’s gaze drifted briefly toward the Wayne officer again. And in that moment, he noticed something else. The officer’s earlier confidence had faded slightly.

Which meant one thing, the accusation had not gone exactly the way it was supposed to.

Behind Chris, Dylan folded his arms and glanced across the opposing line of Wayne soldiers, clearly enjoying the shift in the atmosphere.

But Chris was not finished.

He turned toward the armory workers who had been standing quietly near the steps.

"Who approved the seal verification?" he asked.

One of the older men stepped forward nervously.

"The seal matched Lennox’s command authorization."

Chris nodded slowly, turning to Dylan. "Bring out the original seal stamp."

Dylan lowered his head before quickly sending one of the soldiers to go retrieve the seal.

The square remained quiet while everyone waited.

Several soldiers who had been holding their rifles lowered them fully now, though the tension between both factions had not disappeared.

A few minutes later the soldier returned carrying a small metal seal stamp used for Lennox military documentation.

Chris examined it briefly before glancing again at the paper in his hand.

Then he spoke calmly. "This seal was not used."

The Wayne officer’s brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Chris held up the document so the nearest soldiers could see. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"This impression was made using a copied stamp," he said quietly. "The pressure marks are uneven, and the metal ridge pattern does not match the original seal."

The square grew quieter again as several people leaned closer to look.

The Wayne officer’s expression hardened further. "Anyone could say that. But the real question is not whether this document was forged."

He looked at Chris. "The real question is who had access to Lennox’s command seals and armory transfer protocols? I believe it is you and a handful of the people youtrust." his eyes wandered to Dylan. "If this is not your doing, then I’m afraid there is a traitor in your midst."

The words settled heavily over the air.