Chapter 510
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Chapter 510: Armament Theft
Myriad World Civilization had extremely strict regulations on weapons and equipment.
It was completely forbidden for commoners to forge or sell weapons.
Once discovered, it was a severe crime.
And aside from the military, if some special departments or professions wanted to acquire weapons, they had to report it in advance and undergo strict review before approval.
Even Luo Ji’s personal guards and the Mirror Division, his close confidantes, were no exception.
In other words, the difference in the number of weapons returned from military rotations was undoubtedly a major incident!
A drop of cold sweat ran down Liu Shu’s forehead.
As thoughts raced through his mind, Liu Shu spoke with a relatively calm demeanor.
“You all stay here and don’t move. I’m going to the Military Department to confirm the situation!”
With that, Liu Shu rushed towards the Military Department.
As the head of the Armament Department, Liu Shu’s status in Myriad World Civilization was by no means low.
In their ancient Celestial Dynasty, he would be an official equivalent to a Minister of one of the Six Ministries.
Now that the head of the Armament Department had personally come, looking grim, how could they dare to be negligent?
Guo Jia, who happened to be in the Military Department at the time, conducting pre-war preparations, personally received him.
“Your humble servant greets Lord Guo!”
“Director Liu, no need for formalities. What brings Director Liu here today?”
Guo Jia said, while motioning to an aide to pour Liu Shu a cup of tea.
However, Liu Shu was now as anxious as if his eyebrows were on fire, and he was in no mood for tea.
He quickly handed the ledger in his hand to Guo Jia.
“Lord Guo, the situation is this…”
As he spoke, Liu Shu rapidly explained the entire matter.
After listening, Guo Jia’s expression immediately became serious.
He quickly took the ledger and began to examine it.
“123 bronze swords missing, and 319 bronze spears missing?!”
Guo Jia gasped inwardly at the numbers.
This was a major incident!
These numbers alone could arm an entire unit!
“Director Liu, when you first received these batches of weapons and equipment, did you meticulously count and verify the numbers?”
Guo Jia asked quickly, still flipping through the ledger.
Hearing this question, Liu Shu’s expression noticeably stiffened.
“At the time, the Armament Department had a heavy workload, and the blizzard followed soon after, so there was no extra time to count and verify.”
“This is troublesome…”
Guo Jia’s brow furrowed deeper upon hearing this.
If Liu Shu had counted and verified the weapon quantities at that time and confirmed the numbers were correct, then the missing weapons could only have been lost afterward.
The search area could have been significantly narrowed.
But the current situation was that they hadn’t been counted.
That made the scope far too wide.
They would have to start investigating from the time the weapons were collected from each military camp!
Liu Shu clearly understood this as well.
In an instant, his heart leaped to his throat.
Their Armament Department indeed had an incredibly heavy workload at the time.
However, failing to timely count and verify the weapons and equipment sent by the military was indeed their negligence!
123 bronze swords, 319 bronze spears!
If these weapons couldn’t be recovered, then his time as the head of the Armament Department was over.
His life being spared would already be an act of His Majesty’s extraordinary mercy!
Just as Liu Shu was feeling anxious about this matter, Guo Jia, seated at the main table, was flipping through the ledger and lost in thought…
“With so many weapons, if they were stolen, then this thief would be a bit too audacious.”
“Although, according to the information recorded in this ledger, these stolen weapons were divided into several batches, with 10 or 20 missing from each batch, presumably to be stolen in parts so that the transporters wouldn’t easily notice any differences in quantity.”
“But the culprit probably didn’t anticipate that, due to the Armament Department’s heavy daily workload and the sudden blizzard, so many batches of weapons needing polishing and remelting would all pile up, delaying the unified count and verification until now.”
“However, given the strict control Myriad World Civilization has over weapons and equipment, even if just 10 or 20 were missing, an investigation would definitely be launched. It wouldn’t be ignored.”
“In other words, this thief is either someone from the Armament Department, or has accomplices within the Armament Department who concealed the changes in weapon numbers…”
At this thought, Guo Jia decisively spoke.
“Director Liu, normally, are these rotated weapons and equipment personally supervised, counted, and verified by you?”
Liu Shu shook his head at this question.
“No, this task has always been handled by Little Wang from our department.”
After all, Liu Shu was a department head.
Counting and verifying rotated weapons, this task wasn’t particularly critical or insignificant, but it certainly didn’t require the department head to do it personally.
His presence this time was merely because he happened to remember the large quantity of rotated weapons piled up in the department warehouse.
The number was quite substantial, so he directly rallied the entire department to help with the counting and verification, hoping to finish quickly.
He himself was, of course, no exception.
As a result, his verification directly uncovered a problem.
“Who is Little Wang?”
“Little Wang’s full name is Wang Zhong. He joined our Armament Department about half a year ago.”
After speaking, Liu Shu’s expression changed, as if he realized something.
“Lord Guo, are you suspecting Wang Zhong of stealing those weapons and equipment?”
Facing this question, Guo Jia calmly replied.
“Weapon theft, I don’t believe this is the first time, and it just happened to be stumbled upon by you, Director Liu.”
“According to my hypothesis, it’s likely that a portion of the weapons has been stolen from every rotation in the past.”
“It’s just that Director Liu was unaware of it.”
“And each time weapons are rotated, both the military and the Armament Department are supposed to count and verify them according to procedure.”
“In other words, if a single thief tried to steal weapons, it would be impossible for it to remain undetected until now.”
At this point, a faint chill flashed in Guo Jia’s eyes.
“To steal weapons without anyone knowing, there must be at least two accomplices.”
“And these two accomplices must be employed by both the military and the Armament Department, respectively.”
“Given this premise, the person consistently responsible for counting and verifying the weapon and equipment numbers cannot escape suspicion.”
Liu Shu, hearing this, was both shocked and angry.
“I’ll immediately have someone arrest that Wang Zhong!”
“Director Liu, wait.”
Guo Jia called out, stopping the enraged Liu Shu who was about to make an arrest.
“If that Wang Zhong truly is an accomplice to the thief, then he would have realized the situation was exposed the moment you discovered the difference in numbers.”
“Lord Guo, then what do you intend?”
“Follow the clues and catch this entire group of thieves in one swoop!”
As he spoke, a cold, slight curve appeared at the corner of Guo Jia’s mouth.
“Before that, I ask that Director Liu pretend to have had a conflict with the Military Department, appearing angry, so that the thief believes we haven’t suspected him, thus lowering his guard and revealing his true colors!”
