Chapter 719

“I don’t recall issuing an order to engage.”

“A thousand apologies, sir. At the time, we judged it was the best opportunity…” The retreating operative’s voice was taut as he reported, desperate for Lord Meiji’s forgiveness: “Our original plan was to land a precise hit on the suspected Militech contact’s mediastinum. A wound there incapacitates immediately without killing outright, but looks to bystanders like a heart shot. We calculated that in Militech’s line of sight, the contact would appear dead. In the chaos, we could capture him alive—someone who might hold intel on the NUSA President.”

He swallowed. “But we didn’t expect that Militech commander to react so quickly. Before our sniper even pulled the trigger, he dodged like he sensed the danger. What should have been a clean shot missed entirely. To avoid risking the intel source, we had to abort.”