This was, without a doubt, very bad news.
“”Ms. Linsor! What happened? Where did the desert rats come from?” Garret asked as he walked toward her.
“Captain Wilder, shouldn’t I be the one asking that question?”
Grace said indifferently, “You’ve been to Deadlands many times and are very familiar with this place. You even chose this place for us to set up camp.
“Don’t you know that there would be desert rats around this area?”
“Ms. Linsor, I had no idea this would happen.”
Garett quickly explained, “Normally, desert rats will only appear at the border of the oasis, and even then, they are only active in a specific area.
“The place that we chose to set up camp is not in that area. The invasion shouldn’t have happened.”
“Ms. Linsor, accidents are inevitable. Once we’re in Deadlands, you should have prepared yourself for all scenarios. Our captain has done his best. No one knew that there’d be desert rats here.
“If you want to blame anyone, you should blame your subordinates for not guarding the food supplies well.” The short-haired girl from the Black Scorpion Squad spoke up.
“That’s right!” The bald guy agreed and continued, “Your subordinates were responsible for looking after the food supplies. Don’t blame us when there’s an accident!”
“Mr. Will, who was responsible for guarding the food supplies? Get all of them here,” Grace said coldly.
“Right away!” Osley answered and left quickly.
After a few moments, he came back with a few others from the team and reported, “Ms. Linsor, these are the five who were on night guard duty.”
“What happened? Why didn’t you realize the problem in time?” Grace sounded very calm but cold.
This expedition was of utmost importance as the fate of Dragonmarsh depended on it. She wouldn’t tolerate any apathy from her subordinates.
“Ms. Linsor, we fell asleep.” The leader of the night guard said with a guilty expression.
“Fell asleep? All five of you?” Grace raised her eyebrows.
“Yes.” The leader lowered his head as he explained, “I have no idea what happened. As soon as night descended, we felt very tired and dozed off in a daze.
“The desert rat invasion was our fault, and we’re ready for punishment!”
As he spoke, all five of them got on their knees in unison and readied themselves for any punishment.
As army men, their mistakes had caused irreparable damage, and the only way to atone for their mistakes was to offer their lives in penance.
“There’s something fishy about this incident, and all of you are not entirely responsible for it.” Grace frowned slightly with a thoughtful expression.
She had selected only trained elites for this expedition. They were able to go without sleep for three days and three nights straight.
If one of them dozed off, she could probably chalk it up as laxness. However, it was difficult to justify the situation with laziness if five of them fell asleep at the same time.
The most important factor was that the desert rat invasion started as soon as five of them fell asleep. The timeline of events was too much of a coincidence.
It was so coincidental that she suspected foul play.
“Mr. Will, gather a few people with you and conduct a rigorous search in the vicinity of the incident.
“Please check for any signs of irregularity. Remember not to disregard any clues!” Grace immediately ordered.
“Right away!” Osley responded quickly and immediately instructed a few others to conduct the search. He suspected that this was no simple accident from Grace’s tone.
“Ms. Linsor, we found something!” After a while, Osley came jogging back with a pile of black stuff in the palm of his hands.
