Shadow's Hand-Chapter 17: Reasonable Doubt

Faced with the cold piercing eyes and demeanor of Damien, the breathing from Jasmine became heavy.

"How was this an impostor?" She muttered in disbelief.

"What kind of intel did Kyle send and even deceived the higher-ups to give out this suicidal mission?" Lucas also twitched his mouth, feeling extremely frustrated.

Seven Minutes Ago...

Prior to their return to the crime scene, Jasmine met up with Lucas outside the perimeter.

"Lucas, the Seventh has ordered for your presence." Jasmine coolly said.

Startled, Lucas nearly stumbled as he rushed out of the carriage.

"The Seventh ordered for my presence?" He raised an eyebrow. "But Kyle has yet to return."

"Doesn't matter. The Seventh said if he still didn't appear when I came to pick you up, then he's considered eliminated." She casually explained.

Nodding, Lucas didn't find it suspicious. Incompetence might not be an actual crime, but it definitely was if they were a TI.

"Alright, let's not delay the Seventh any longer," Lucas said and fixed his clothes.

"Wait!"

However, Lucas didn't even get the chance to take another step forward when a voice echoed from afar.

Annoyed, Lucas naturally recognized the voice as he turned around and snorted. "You're eliminated, Kyle. Your incompetence has dissatisfied the Seventh."

Indeed, the person was none other than Kyle, who had taken his sweet time to return.

Kyle panted heavily as he rushed toward the front and blocked off Jasmine and Lucas.

"Listen to me first." He extended his hands in an attempt to stop them.

"I've returned to the headquarters for the tablet replacement, but the higher-ups said they've been communicating smoothly with the Seventh. And just now, I've been informed that they had received a message from the Seventh that the culprit was caught by him and that we should get ready for a transfer."

"What?!" Alarmed, both Lucas and Jasmine's eyes widened in shock.

"That's impossible." Refuted Jasmine.

"The Seventh never used a tablet to communicate and was investigating the crime scene with me and a detective." She argued, providing evidence to her claim.

Lucas, however, remained silent because he was not present on the scene to make any comments.

Meanwhile, Kyle didn't bothered to use verbal words only and outright revealed the evidence through his tablet. Along with the evidence was the command to capture the impostor at the crime scene.

"Crap, isn't this a big scandal for our TI?" Lucas' eyes widened in disbelief when he saw the evidence.

"The two of you should quickly capture the impostor. I'm going to scout around the perimeter for the possibility of another accomplice." Kyle shouted. His tone was fast and laced with a hint of panic.

Naturally, Jasmine and Lucas didn't find the tone to be abnormal. A TI impostor was definitely going to be a huge scandal. Not to mention, they actually fell for it and behaved so timidly.

Whenever Lucas recalled how he was played by an impostor, the rage within him surged forward and exploded.

"Damn it, I was respectful because it's the Seventh Order, but all this time. It was a fake. I'm going to bash that impostor and torture him good." His eyes flared up and Lucas hurriedly rushed toward the crime scene.

"Ugh, can't you wait?" Frustrated, Jasmine had no time to compile the information together and was forced to chase ahead.

Thus, the two rushed ahead without paying heed to Kyle which brought them to the current present tense.

With Jasmine and Lucas suppressed and detained in the corner, Damien was exhausted at the sight of these two.

"So based on a few messages and words from Kyle, the two of you foolishly rush over here to try to detain me?" Damien was truly baffled by their intelligence.

What kind of Ninth Order TI was this?

"The permission and command were in the tablet." Lucas bit his lips and said. By now, he had already begun to realize that the person in front of him couldn't possibly be an impostor.

They were trained Transcendent after all.

It would be impossible to take down both of them with such ease if it weren't an authentic Seventh Order. Not to mention, they would have been killed and silenced by now if it was a real impostor.

Meanwhile, Jasmine realized why she felt something was amiss.

"Right... the smell from Kyle." Her eyes widened. "Kyle smells different than when he left."

"What? Are you saying that Kyle was a fake?" Alarmed, Lucas was unable to comprehend the situation.

As for Damien, he was already emitted a somewhat cold aura when there were traces of Diamond 3 card from these two. It was very faint, but with his increased perception, he was able to see the Diamond 3 before it faded away.

However, that wasn't the most alarming matter. It was the fact that his body moved very naturally and he was able to somehow manipulated the shadow power to suppress two authentic Ninth Order TI.

If it weren't for that, then he would have been captured and most likely tortured to death under the false accusation.

Regardless of whether the Kyle they met was a fake or not, Damien was already determined to have their life.

'How dare you try to get me killed?' He was enraged but dared not show it on the surface.

The most uptodate nove𝙡s are published on frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓.

Just like how in a poker game, the players must retain their poker face to prevent their opponents from reading them. Damien also needed to maintain his poker face and kept calm. Rashness would only result in failures—similar to how Lucas and Jasmine ended up in such a miserable sight.

"I'll undo your suppression because this matter is getting more complicated," Damien said, but the truth was that he had a feeling his power was running out.

Rather than allowing them to know his power ran out, he might as well deceive them that he willingly let them free.

Sure enough, his action worked wonders and the two didn't suspect much. They were currently holding a guilty and ashamed expression.

Not only were they deceived by a supposed fake, but they even went against their superior. With this kind of record marked down, they essentially sabotaged their career with their own hands.

"I don't know how you managed to graduate. But to not even understand the term reasonable doubt and behave in such a manner is truly astonishing." Damien scolded harshly.