"Has everything been settled?" Justin asked, looking at Nika.
"Yes, the group has finally settled down in the camp. But we need to arrange for the camp expansion." Nika reported.
Inside the conference room, all the executives sat and stared at Justin.
"Good." Justin nodded and turned to Chloe.
"With the supply of beasts. The issue of beast bones should be solved, right?"
"Yes." She nodded.
"We have enough to experiment and make better weapons." She answered confidently.
"That's good to hear." Justin nodded and shifted his gaze from her.
He moves his gaze from one person's face to another before he finally announces.
"What do you think of our current situation?"
"Fragile and exposed," Merab answered immediately.
"I don't agree with that?" Kira responded.
At once, all eyes turned to the quiet Kira. Noticing everyone's gaze was on her. She didn't fluster and said calmly.
"The world has changed and everyone is starting from scratch for a new beginning. With the current situation of things, the most important thing in this brutal world is strength. And that, we are not doing badly. Are we?"
She swept her gaze at the faces of everyone in the room before she continued.
"Fragile and exposed is undermining all our efforts. If we're not exposed, where should we live? I don't think you suggest for us to go hiding inside a hole."
"With the rate of our development, we can hardly find ourselves in a beast and zombie tide that will annihilate us in one swoop. And if that can't be done. We have room to escape or retreat."
"Fragile and Exposed should be used for the other camp using human beings as a sacrifice."
"In my opinion, what we need right now is to fortify our defense and try to be self-sustaining."
"And how do we do that?" Nasir asked.
'Let others do the talking now.'
Justin's voice echoed in Kira's head. She paused for a moment before she said.
"That's what everyone should think of. That's my opinion, others may have better ones." She shrugged.
The room descended into an abrupt silence and everyone looked at each other, waiting for someone to speak.
"As Mack left the camp?" Justin asked out of the blue.
He turned his gaze to Nika, expecting an answer.
Everyone was shocked. They looked at each other and a bitter smile crept onto their faces.
"Nika" he called.
Nika looked at Justin and was lost. This didn't go according to their plan. They all agreed to plead for him when Susan stood up for him.
But no one expected the impromptu meeting. Nika cleared his throat and said slowly.
"He's still in the camp?"
Bang!
Nika was hit by a powerful force and was sent out of the room through the window.
Crash!
From the 9th floor, he crashed outside, creating a deep crater. Blood was gushing out from all his major orifices and the ghastly injury appeared on his chest, showing all his broken ribs and innards.
No one knew whether he was dead or alive.
Inside the conference room, fear gripped the heart of everyone. This was the first time they witnessed such fierce behavior from him.
No one dared to look at Justin's face. They lowered their head and their brain ran on Mach 10.
"Who are the people that support this rebellious act?" Justin's cold voice reverberated inside the room with powerful power.
His powerful domain covered the room and a sharp invincible needle assaulted their bodies.
"Are you talking?"
The atmosphere was heavy and the space was vibrating. With every second, the room vibration was getting stronger.
Everyone was panic streaking. What should they do now? The situation has gone way more than they planned.
Everyone was now regretting their decision. Kira looked at Justin's face from the corner of her eyes.
'What a fierce action…' she thought.
'But I like it. That's my man.' She shook her head quickly.
'No. No. It's not my man.'
'How could I think like that.' She sighed, trying to put the strange thought behind her mind.
However, the thought keeps popping out in her mind.
'Why can't I delete this strange thought from my mind.' She complained with a bittersweet smile on her lips.
Crash!
A tingling sound echoed in the room and everyone's fear was raised by another bar. The continuous shattering of glass continued to echo.
"Please stop," Susan shouted, standing on her feet.
"I met everyone and pleaded on his behalf and they allowed him to stay in the shelter. Then we prepared to tell you." Her voice cracked.
She was the princess of the business mogul in the country. But now, she was begging a nameless nobody and a species she hated the most in the universe.
"What do you want me to do?" She cried when she saw the cold expressionless gaze on Justin's face.
"He's my childhood and family friend. Allowing him to go into the dangerous city all alone is suicidal."
"I-I just want to give him one last chance." Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes.
Her cold and aloof behaviors had disappeared into thin air. She was lost. Lost on what to do and how to react to the ever-changing situation. And how to handle this nameless prick.
She hates herself for being weak. She hates herself for not being able to stand up for her ideals.
She hates everything.
Everyone in the room could feel the sudden change in Susan's emotions. And we were surprised.
Her emotion was laced with fury and sorrow.
"Do you think everything revolves around you?" Justin asked coldly, not giving a damn about her conflicted emotion.
"Because of your friend you go against my order?"
"If by tomorrow, It's against your boyfriend, family, or whatnot."
"What would you do then? Take over the camp and rebel" the more he talks the more his voice raised an octave.
"And you!" His gaze was fixed on Nasir, Merab, and Chloe.
"You disappoint me."
"Grandpa Philip, I expect more from you"
"Pipe man, you also disappoint me?"
"I did what I did because I didn't want us to start on a wrong note. Killing shouldn't be the only option when someone questions your authority?" Grandpa Philip looked at Justin and said calmly.
"Oh, Really!?" Justin turned to face him.
"Then what should I have done?"
Everyone in the room raised their heads and looked at grandpa Philip. They didn't expect him to speak.
"We could punish them with another means. Killing our comrade made no sense, no matter what you say?" He said seriously.
He accepted Susan's plea because Mack fought alongside him in the just concluded battle.
And if not for his support, he would have long been dead. Thus, he thought, having more friends was better than having more enemies.
"Now, I get where you are coming from." Justin nodded with a smile that was not a smile.
"Is this how everyone thinks of me?"
"A tyrant?"
"We didn't think like that. That was grandpa Philip's thought." Nasir said seriously.
"For me, he deserves his punishment. I agree to her plea not because of anything but because of her contribution to the camp and also because we agree to tell you immediately."
"Killing someone or not is your decision. You are our leader and king. Many people died during the battle. Who should we blame for that? Hmm?"
"Perhaps, I could say you're more lenient. Previously, Merab said we're fragile. This was what she meant." Nasir paused and looked at the face of everyone.
"Are we not fragile? A single person could convince us against the person we agree to be our leader. What signal are we sending out to the people below us."
"Now, I realized it. I regret agreeing to her plea. It is selfishness. We're at war here. Every hand must be on deck, but we're not."
"If she could convince us today, can't she convince us tomorrow? It is a chain reaction, it will never end unless it stops."
"I regret my decision and I will accept my punishment wholeheartedly," Nasir concluded his monologue.
"I regretted my decision and I accept my punishment. All I ask is to give us one more chance to prove my loyalty to you." Merab said.
Chloe and Steven the Pipe man also said their pieces and which to be given a second chance.
"My loyalty to you never wavers. I made a wrong judgment today which would be the last. I will accept whatever decision you make." Grandpa Philip said seriously.
"Can you tell me a single person I've killed since we began the camp?" Justin asked.
Everyone raised their heads and looked at him. They thought about it for a moment and their eyes widened.
"Sending out of the camp may look cruel but it was the best judgment. They have a chance to survive."
"Have any of you seen the dead body of the previous person I sent out?"
"No." They answered.
"He was an ordinary person. Then what do you think of a First Circle existence that has unlocked his core power? Is that a death sentence?"
Hearing this, they all lower their heads in shame. It was exile, not persecution. He had a chance of surviving.
With his offense, this was a better punishment. Perhaps, a lenient punishment.
"Sorry, I realized my mistake." Tears dropped from Susan's eyes.
She was trembling; her eyes were red, sobbing quietly.
Justin didn't bat an eye toward her and said.
"This is my judgment"
*****
AN: What do you think about Justin's behavior?
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