CHAPTER 174 UNCOVER THE TRUTH

"Rocky," Marin said through her gritted teeth. She was starting to get annoyed by Rocky's repetitive

reappearances. Her beautiful face was now painted with a dark shade of annoyance. She could not

believe Rocky still had the guts to defend himself. He killed people, for crying out loud. It was now

obvious he never took her, his Commander, into account.

When Rocky heard Marin's voice, he immediately shifted his focus from Matthew to the commander.

He looked firm; his eyes were filled with clearness and indifference. He knew he did not do anything

wrong. No trace of regret nor shame could be found in his face.

"Commander, can you believe this guy? He is so arrogant! How dare he do such thing in front of you?

He has no respect for the military rules! Commander, you can never go easy on him again. You cannot

let this kind of thing slide. Justice must be served. Commander, you have the power to make this right.

Please give my two fellow brothers the justice they deserve, after passing so unjustly," Matthew wailed.

His face was sullen and morose. He looked like he just lost both his parents. His mind was set on

having Rocky killed. If Rocky remained alive, his own life would be in danger. His plan for revenge

would be harder to pull off.

"Commander, please listen to Matthew. What he just said is right. Rocky is plain evil! He seems to

show no remorse for cruelly killing two spirit manipulators. The crimes he committed are enough to

earn himself a death sentence. Aside from that, he also disrupts the northeast military camp

operations. Our people's mind would never be at ease knowing a murderer is among our ranks,

someone who shows no respect to the military disciplines. If we stay lenient and not do anything about

him, the wrath of the public might never die down," Evan respectfully told Marin, all whilst maintaining

an intense eye contact. With a situation this bad, he knew Marin would never side with Rocky. Once

Rocky was convicted, Marin could no longer do anything to retract it. This would be the end for Rocky.

"Rocky, would like to say anything in your defense?" Marin turned to Rocky. She had known Rocky for

a while now. The idea of Rocky killing people without reason just did not sit well for her. Despite her

anger towards the murder, she tried her best to keep a clear mind and gave Rocky a chance to speak

for himself. She could proceed accordingly only after hearing what the accused had to say.

"Well, for starters, who would you trust more, Commander? Me or Matthew?" Rocky nonchalantly

asked Marin. He looked straight at her eyes with utter determination.

Marin was taken aback by Rocky's question. She hesitated for a while and replied, "The truth is of the

highest importance today. It has nothing to do with who I believe more."

"Okay then. The truth is Matthew and the two spirit manipulators had been harassing the villagers in

the nearby villages. They rob innocent civilians like bandits, all the while claiming it was a just

compensation for keeping them safe. Furthermore, Matthew here killed an innocent elderly man from

the east village. Not long after, he also attempted to rape a young girl, the granddaughter of the man he

murdered. Had I arrived any later, he would have succeeded in desecrating that little girl." Rocky's

eyesight almost went black while recounting the horrible things that had happened to Sue and Jackson.

He was glaring at Matthew the whole time. If eyes could kill, Matthew would have been long dead.

He was terrified at the way Rocky was angrily staring at him. He was frozen solid. Rocky's eyes pierced

through his soul, unraveling every bit of darkness Matthew harnessed inside. He could not help but feel

frightened.

Marin was at loss for words with what Rocky had just revealed. Matthew's and Rocky's versions of the

truth were the total opposite of each other. Rocky's question finally made sense. Who should she

believe? Finding out the truth just became a whole lot more challenging.

Matthew's heart sank as he saw the hesitation from the Commander's face. He was worried Marin

would take Rocky's and called out in an instant, "Commander, he's obviously lying! The truth is he took

advantage of that girl and killed her grandpa. And now he's pinning those crimes on us! He's trying to

get us all killed. He would have succeeded if I did not get lucky. Unfortunately for my brothers, they lost

their lives under this murderous man. Losing them from the war would have been more preferable. He

is so full of shit."

"Commander, make no mistake of trusting a word from Rocky. He need not to kill those two spirit

manipulators and severely injure Matthew if what he said was true. What he just said was a cover up.

He intends to bury the truth," Evan added. He gave Matthew a suspicious look. He was starting to

doubt Matthew's story. He was aware of how Matthew constantly bothered the villagers. Rocky's

statement made sense. If Rocky were saying the truth, he just made a huge fool out of himself.

Protecting his subordinates might had just cost him largely. His reputation in the army would be

tarnished. He was not directly involved in this whole mess, but he would at the least be reprimanded for

giving his underlings an order to attack Rocky without proper investigation. It was too late to regret now.

If Evan wanted himself cleared from this whole mess, Rocky must die. He set his mind into making

Rocky disappear from the face of the earth.

"Rocky, if everything you said were true, I must ask you this one question. Why did you feel the need to

kill those people? You knew you could come to me anytime. If you informed of the situation, you know I

would have dealt with it." Marin felt iffy the entire time. It did not make sense for Rocky to be impulsive.

He was not one to act in a whim, let alone kill a person.

"Commander, is what I did wrong? The people I killed took advantage of their military status. They

committed crimes against civilians as well as their talents. They robbed them, burned their crops and

other belongings, and even took innocent lives. They were no different from the bandits we are

obligated to chase and kill. If I waited for you to deal with it, they could have done more evil and more

people would have gotten killed. I needed to protect those innocent villagers to fulfill our responsibility

of keeping their lives safe and peaceful. I killed them to carry out the military's obligation to the people,"

Rocky answered coldly. His voice was authoritative. The way he was standing imposed power, making

it hard to ignore what he was saying.

Marin's face was contorted in confusion. Her face was the exact of copy of her company's. Rocky

indeed killed two spirit manipulators but he was showing no remorse. He spoke nobly, as if

campaigning for justice. This whole situation was extremely puzzling.

"So, you resorted to killing those people instead? That doesn't make you any less of a murderer," Evan

sneered on the side.

"I killed those people knowing full well they deserved it. Unlike other people who don't have the full

picture of what's going on, I actually know what I did was right." Rocky shot Evan a sympathetic look.

Evan was such a tragedy. He blindly devoted himself in standing up for his guys who ended up fooling

him.

"You—" Evan was cut off by his anger. Seeing Rocky's dismissive expressions made his blood boil

even more.

"Enough!" Marin exasperatedly put a halt on the exchange between Rocky and Evan. "I will send

Deputy Commander Chen to investigate on the matters immediately," the Commander said, almost

shouting. "But you still killed two spirit manipulators. You are no longer the sixth team's leader. You'll

also be temporarily under custody. The final decision will be passed after everything is cleared up.

Guards! Put Rocky in detention. Now."

Two spirit manipulators arrived immediately and headed for Rocky. The two once laughed at Rocky.

But now that Rocky's at the second grade of the Earthly Stage, they were totally frightened of him.

They did not dare touch him. They nervously gestured to Rocky the way to where they were headed.

Rocky gave Marin a composed look for a while. Then he glanced at toward Matthew and Evan's

direction. He let out a little laugh, then walked slowly out the tent. He did not contest Marin's decision.

He trusted her. Rocky knew Marin would deal with this matter, fair and square. Matthew's plan on

pinning the crimes on him did not scare him one bit. He did not regret killing those people, and he knew

Marin would not let it slide so easily. The worst case scenario was him getting kicked out of the team. Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

"Deputy Commander Chen, the investigation is on you. I need to find out the truth as soon as possible.

Do it as fairly as you can. This investigation has no room for favoritism. Got that?" Marin ordered her

right-hand man.

"Yes, ma'am," Deputy Commander Chen answered. With a newly appointed assignment, he left in an

instant.

"I really hope you're telling the truth, Matthew. If you were not, your execution would be a grisly one,"

Marin warned Matthew. She turned to look at Matthew with threatening eyes. Between the two, she

totally would pick Rocky. She would definitely believe Rocky more than she would Matthew. Rocky had

proven himself incapable of doing something as horrible as what Matthew and the others did.

Additionally, the whole time he was speaking, Matthew appeared to be guilty. Marin was already

suspicious of Matthew. She'd heard some rumors about him before. She paid them no mind; she had

more important things to think about. Marin could spare no time dwelling on some baseless hearsays.

But those were just her initial opinions towards the issue. They needed to wait for Deputy Commander

Chen to conclude his investigation. Until then, they could only wait for the truth to reveal itself.