A Chemist's Interstellar Saga
Chapter 247: Traitor Of The Alliance

Chapter 247: Traitor Of The Alliance

Sykes let a smirk play on his lips as he casually remarked, "They might not have Supergiant-Class Guides anymore, but they’ve found better substitutes."

The room fell into a stunned silence, broken only by the collective gasp from the students.

Every year, internal issues forced the Empire of Kraiton to reserve three out of their ten slots on the mecha competition team for Guides. These Guides were seen as a glaring weakness—a liability that practically handed an advantage to their opponents from other countries.

But now? The idea of Kraiton eliminating this weakness was downright terrifying. Without this flaw, would they still be that restrained, easy-to-defeat team everyone was used to?

"Sir, stop teasing us! What kind of miracle cure did the Empire of Kraiton stumble upon? We need to prepare!" Drexel’s voice wavered as he spoke, his face serious.

After all, their next opponent was just as strong as the Empire of Sacred Moonlight. He barely managed to keep himself from cursing out loud.

Sykes took his time, letting his gaze sweep across the anxious faces of the students.

Only when the tension in the room hit its peak, with their frustration almost tangible, did he finally spill the beans. "The thing that’s fixing Kraiton’s Sentinels? It’s none other than a psychic power healing potion."

The students were floored. "What?"

A stunned silence took over before the room erupted into chaos.

"Wait a minute, isn’t that potion something we from the Alliance created? How on earth did Kraiton end up with it?"

"Who the heck sold it to them? This is sabotage!"

"We’re done for! I can’t believe one of our own turned traitor!"

...

As the students continued to vent, Arix tried to shrink into the background, hoping to avoid attention. Sure, she invented the Psychic Healer, but she didn’t sell it to the enemy. ’Let them point fingers at the seller, not me!’

Seeing the students getting more and more riled up, Sykes rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed, before he loudly cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Alright, enough with the wild accusations. If you keep this up, you’ll start suspecting even the janitor’s dog," Sykes said, exasperation lacing his voice.

"Then just tell us, Grandpa, who was dumb enough to help the enemy?" Elio’s fists clenched, ready to confront whoever it was the moment his grandpa named them.

Sykes shot his grandson a look, wondering how he managed to be so clueless. A part of him was relieved that Elio wasn’t his direct descendant—otherwise, he might’ve lost his temper by now.

With a deep sigh and a sympathetic glance, Sykes finally revealed, "The person responsible isn’t just anyone. It’s the President of the Alliance himself who authorized the sale of the psychic power healing potion to the Empire of Kraiton."

Elio’s angry expression froze, shock washing over him as his eyes widened. Because that "traitor" wasn’t just anyone—it was his own father.

The other students, who had been venting just moments ago, suddenly fell silent, too afraid to say a word. Who could’ve guessed that the one they were cursing was their own leader?

The room stayed quiet for a long, long time.

In the awkward silence that followed, Elio scratched his head, trying to find the right words. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally managed to say, a bit sheepishly, "I’m sure the President had his reasons for this. We should trust him... right?"

The other students exchanged glances, not entirely convinced. They couldn’t help but shoot Elio a few disdainful looks.

After all, just moments ago, he was the loudest in his complaints, and now here he was, the first to backpedal.

Drexel, who had kept quiet earlier because the psychic power healing potion was Arix’s invention, felt a wave of relief wash over him when he realized the President was responsible for the decision. He quickly jumped in, his tone a bit too cheerful. "Yes, our President is wise and powerful. I’m sure he had a good reason for what he did."

Whether there was a reason or not didn’t really matter to Drexel at this point. Shifting the blame was a lot more convenient.

As he spoke, Drexel’s eyes darted around the room, feeling pretty clever for how smoothly he was navigating this sticky situation. If anyone was going to get flak for this, it wouldn’t be him.

Elio, catching Drexel’s supportive words, felt a surge of gratitude. Of all people, he never expected Drexel—the one with the sharpest tongue in the group—to stand up for his dad. ’Maybe our friendship is stronger than I thought.’

Elio gave Drexel an appreciative nod, his expression softening.

Drexel, noticing Elio’s reaction, was taken aback. He felt his tiny conscience suddenly stung just a bit.

Sykes glanced over at Elio, who had just been cursing up a storm, but now looked as meek as a kitten.

With a smirk, Sykes decided to step in for his nephew, "Listen up, folks. Our President isn’t an idiot; he wouldn’t cut a deal that leaves us in the red. Let me make it clear—offering the psychic power healing potion to the Empire of Kraiton isn’t just harmless; it’s actually a big win for our Alliance."

’Wait, what? Helping the enemy is somehow a good idea?’ Even though the students didn’t buy it, none of them dared to voice their doubts.

This involved the President, and right or wrong, it wasn’t their place to critique him.

Sykes could sense their skepticism, but he didn’t get mad. Instead, he felt a twinge of weariness.

After all, when he first heard about this deal, he’d reacted much like they were now. He almost clocked his nephew during that meeting. Good thing his nephew president had explained fast enough, or Sykes would’ve hit the wrong guy.

Thinking back on it, Sykes’ expression softened. Feeling unexpectedly cheerful, he addressed the students, "Just a month ago, the Empire of Kraiton and our Alliance struck a deal. We agreed that as long as we provide them with level-three psychic power healing potions during the competition, no matter where they place in the mecha tournament, the rights to this year’s international resource distribution go to us. That’s the trade-off."

"What? So, they’re basically working for us for free? Is the Empire of Kraiton out of their minds?" Elio blurted out, clearly baffled and struggling to process what he’d just heard.

"They’re not just trying to scam us out of our psychic power healing potions, are they?" Drexel chimed in, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. Clearly, he didn’t buy into this too-good-to-be-true deal.

"Yeah, even if that’s legit, what’s stopping them from backing out later?" another student added, echoing the growing doubts in the room.

Their skepticism was understandable—if something seems too good to be true, there’s probably a catch.

Arix couldn’t shake the feeling that it couldn’t be this simple. ’Why would an empire hand over such a big advantage for nothing? But the Alliance wasn’t dumb either. The most likely scenario was that they had something up their sleeve that could cripple the Empire of Kraiton.’

Realizing this, a sly grin spread across Arix’s face.