Chapter 48

While David conversed with Myron, part of his attention was focused on manipulating the Shadow Attendant, all the while he himself seemed to casually drift toward the entrance of the passage. Because the Shadow Attendant could only stray ten meters from him, he needed to get closer to carry out his plan.

Sergeant Emery watched David and Myron chatting and observing, standing silently to the side. As long as the two did nothing excessive, he would not interfere. Though rigid and old-fashioned, he knew these two were not ordinary visitors.

David stopped moving as the Shadow Attendant slipped into an operations room within the passage, a room whose door had not even been closed. Sergeant Harold, upon leaving, had left everything open, requiring no further exploration or effort from David.

The Shadow Attendant grasped the control device and began adjustments; on the central display, the target appeared. Swiftly, coordinates already prepared were input, and a distant sniper cannon on the city wall emitted a mechanical grinding sound as its massive barrel swung abruptly toward the city.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Harold’s identity bracelet sounded an alarm as he was using the restroom—the sniper cannon under his charge was targeting a secure zone. Harold dashed out, pants barely pulled up, racing toward the operations room. Though not a martial specialist, his years of training had granted him seven hundred kilograms of strength and considerable speed; even at his fastest, it would take five seconds to reach the room.

On the display, the entire Sturt Hotel appeared. Under the rapid manipulation of the Shadow Attendant’s hands, the image zoomed in, finally locking onto the president’s office at the hotel’s highest point.

The office windows were equipped with reflective materials, preventing the sniper cannon from accurately targeting Mr. Sturt inside. In the hotel’s first-floor security AI, a program automatically activated, and the security surveillance scanners in the president’s office sprang to life. Normally, these scanners would only be activated when Mr. Sturt was out of the office. But under the AI’s control, all scanners commenced operation. With access to the hotel’s structural plans, the AI calculated Mr. Sturt’s precise position within the vast president’s office.

This data was transmitted to David’s identity bracelet, and as he chatted with Myron, he glanced at it briefly. Meanwhile, in the operations room, the Shadow Attendant swiftly adjusted the sniper cannon’s target and pressed the trigger.

At that very moment, Sergeant Harold burst into the room under Sergeant Emery’s furious gaze.

Emery’s anger was naturally provoked by Harold’s undignified dash with his pants half up, a spectacle witnessed by the two guests, tainting the reputation of the entire city defense battalion. As for the abnormal sniper cannon, Emery paid little attention—snipers often engaged in peculiar conduct; one more oddity was hardly surprising.

In the president's office at Sturt Hotel, Mr. Sturt was reviewing documents. He reached for his water cup, and just as he was about to drink, a sudden palpitation seized him. Had he been a combat specialist, he would have sensed the shadow of death upon him. Yet, though gifted in business, he was merely a civilian, perhaps a touch more sensitive than most, for he could perceive the dread.

He gazed out the window, just in time to see a flare of fire ignite in the distant city wall direction.

On the city wall, Emery, David, and Myron were shaken by the sudden thunderous blast, struggling to keep their footing. Emery instinctively pressed the two to the ground, bracing their bodies.

David, who had experienced the recoil of a professional sniper rifle in virtual training, found the city defense's sniper cannon far more powerful. He distinctly felt the steel wall tremble. Although mentally prepared, he dared not show any obvious reaction; he was genuinely startled, behaving much like Myron.

"Has Sergeant Harold lost his mind?" Emery roared, tapping several times on his identity bracelet, triggering the alarm.

As David and Myron stood, two armored soldiers clad in white military exoskeletons appeared on the wall. One entered the operations room and escorted Harold out.

David looked at Harold with a guilty conscience; it was clear Harold would bear the blame. Having looked into military protocols, David knew that soldiers in white uniforms were military police. They maintained internal discipline, monitored violations, possessed authority to detain soldiers, search and seal property, and, during wartime, kept order on the battlefield.

On Rockstone Planet, wartime was perpetual, and these two military police had the right to arrest any soldier. Officers, however, required formal evidence.

Harold was bewildered; he could not fathom why the sniper cannon had fired automatically. But he knew he was in serious trouble, for he had left the operations room without withdrawing control permissions as required. Under such circumstances, anyone entering could freely operate the cannon.

"It was them! Only they were here while I was in the restroom!" Harold, seeing Emery, David, and Myron, brightened and shouted loudly.

"Sergeant Emery, who are they? How did they come to be here?" one military police officer turned, questioning Emery in a stern voice.

"Report, these two are students arranged for a city government tour, with written applications and approval from Eaton Middle School. Please see the documents," Emery replied with a salute, extracting a file from his identity bracelet and transmitting it.

The military police officer opened the file on his own bracelet, reviewed it carefully, and used his authority to verify the procedures.

"Their identities are verified," the officer nodded. He did not bother to ask whether they had entered the operations room, for the entire area was monitored, and their swift arrival owed both to Emery’s alarm and the surveillance systems.

"Only they were here when I left! It must have been them!" Harold continued his desperate protests.

David, hearing Harold’s accusations—true though they were—felt his guilt evaporate. He had intended to leverage some connections to help lessen Harold’s punishment, since he was responsible for implicating him. But now David reconsidered. Perhaps this incident would strengthen military discipline; Harold was indeed at fault. Such laxity would inevitably lead to disaster.

The two military police ignored Harold’s cries, instead cuffing his hands and escorting him away.

"Please, don’t spread word of today’s incident. It was merely an accident," Emery said sheepishly to David and Myron.

"No problem, we saw nothing," Myron replied at once. The further from military affairs, the better—especially with lingering doubts about the event.

"Thank you. The tour ends here; allow me to escort you out," Emery gestured politely.

The two knew they could not remain after such an incident and followed Emery to the elevator.

In truth, Emery’s hope that this accident would not be publicized was doomed. The repercussions far exceeded a mere mishap.

In the mysterious attack, Mr. Sturt, owner of the Sturt Hotel, was struck by a large-caliber, first-grade shell from the sniper cannon, his body shattered to fragments—leaving not even a whole corpse behind.