However, commander Brant's eyes moved toward the sealed phones before he could stop himself. He could not understand how Ethan knew about the private arrangement or the unrecorded passage through the northern lane.Brigadier general Lorne followed Brant’s glance and placed one hand on the evidence bag containing the commander’s phone. His expression remained hard. “Looking at it will not help you. The records have been secured.”Ethan noticed the frightened movement of commander Brant's eyes. “Do not make your situation worse by protecting the courier’s identity,” he warned. “I know you received the call, disabled the cameras and opened the barrier. Your only remaining choice is whether you cooperate now or allow the evidence to speak without you.”Brant pulled against his handcuffs, searching the faces around him for anyone willing to support his denial. Nobody looked back. “Opening a barrier is not treason. I followed security instruction from authorised officials.”Brant’s surprise

Victor arrived upon the invitation of Ethan twenty minutes later with his personal security chief. His dark suit was neat, but anger showed in the way he entered the room without waiting to be welcomed. “My convoy has been delayed, my drivers have been replaced, and your soldiers have blocked every entrance to my residence,” he said. “I want to know whether I am being protected or detained master Ethan.”“You are being kept alive,” Ethan answered. He remained beside the digital map and indicated the empty chair opposite him. “Sit down, Victor. What you hear inside this room cannot leave until your journey begins.”Victor stayed on his feet. “You suspended the election and placed the capital under curfew. Now that the curfew is over, you interfere with the few public duties I am still permitted to perform,” he said. “If you expect my cooperation, begin by treating me like a presidential candidate instead of a prisoner.”Ethan accepted the criticism without reacting. “About Five days ag

“They have been selected for the operation and they know they may face resistance,” Ethan answered. “The convoy vehicles are reinforced, medical units will remain close, and hidden Tribunal teams will secure the bridge. My order is to capture the assassins, but every escort has permission to defend himself against an immediate threat.”Victor looked toward Mira. “And if the attackers discover that I am not inside the vehicle before your soldiers surround them?” he asked. “They could retreat and search for the relief vehicle.”“The unmarked vehicle will never approach the bridge,” Mira replied. She traced a separate road toward eastern Avalora. “You will travel through the industrial district and enter the relief centre from its underground supply entrance. Even your campaign staff will believe you arrived with the official convoy.”Victor walked away from the table and stared at the dark security screen on the wall. Ethan could see that accepting the plan offended his pride. The decis

“They are impostors!” the escort commander shouted through the convoy channel. “Defensive formation around the second vehicle. Do not allow them to reach the candidate.”A young escort swung his rifle towards movement beside the lead vehicle. The commander recognised their medic and pushed the barrel aside. “Check your targets before you fire. Our men are wearing those uniforms too, and they are coming through.”The convoy vehicles moved into a protective wall around Victor’s armoured car. Gunfire spread across the bridge while the stolen Tribunal vehicles attempted to block the escorts from retreating.Inside the Presidential Villa, Mira looked at Ethan. “They have opened fire. We have the evidence.”“Close both ends of the bridge,” Ethan ordered. Suppressed anger entered his voice. “Shield units advance. Disable their vehicles and take every attacker alive if possible.”On the screen, an escort stumbled and clutched his bleeding forearm. Ethan remembered Victor’s warning about the f

Ethan stared at the authorization code while Mira compared it with the Tribunal’s secure records. The number on the forged order disturbed him more than the failed attack.“This code belonged to your office,” Mira said. “It was retired three months ago, but its cancellation never reached several field databases. It could still pass a basic inspection.”“Who could have obtained it before it was retired?” Ethan asked. He kept his voice controlled, although anger pressed against every word. “I want positions, access dates and the names of every office that received it.”“Senior Tribunal commanders and four executive security offices had access,” Mira replied. “Accusing anyone before tracing the copy would warn the person who leaked it.”Ethan looked at the scorched edges of the document. “The case was protected, and the order was written to survive public examination. They wanted this found beside Victor’s body.”“They wanted the country to believe its Supreme Leader secretly ordered a p