Shadow's Hand-Chapter 18: Fake

Having been scolded and reprimanded harshly, both Jasmine and Lucas didn't even dare to make a sound. Their heads were lowered, clearly ashamed of themselves.

Reasonable doubt. The term itself was to doubt and verify whether the evidence was sufficient enough to convict a person.

Aside from Kyle's one-sided words and some messages. These two didn't even bother to fact-check the information itself and instead got blinded by rage.

"If you're that dissatisfied with my method, then fret not. I'll allow you to be transferred to another TI instead, Lucas." Damien declared.

"No, I was wrong. Please don't transfer me." Lucas panicked and quickly bowed down, his forehead kissing the ground. His previous aggression had long been dispelled and was replaced with fear and submission.

Damien kept quiet despite Lucas' posture and turned his attention to Jasmine.

Instantly, Jasmine followed suit and bowed down as well.

"I'm more disappointed in you especially, Jasmine," Damien said.

"Lucas was in the dark somewhat because I barred him from being in the crime scene, but you were with me. If I was an impostor, then tell me why I would bother assisting with the investigation. Even better, why didn't I try to mislead or misdirect the investigation direction elsewhere?"

"I have no excuse." Rather than pleading for mercy or apologizing for her actions. Jasmine admitted that there was no excuse as she had screwed up terribly. Had she reacted better, then the outcome would have been different.

Although she still subtly blamed Lucas for his hotheaded action, she still believed the majority of it was due to her hesitance.

Unfortunately, Damien was not a soft-hearted individual.

"Once this case is over, you two will no longer need to follow me. Insubordination, followed by foolishness does not belong in my team." Damien declared.

Despite having showcased some of his skills, Jasmine still proceeded to make such a judgment and action. That alone was enough proof he needed to realize she was a time bomb.

A time bomb that could not be tamed.

Sure enough, Jasmine had anticipated such a response and could only bite her lips. Her eyes naturally held a glare at Lucas, which prompted the latter to feign blindness.

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"Anyway, you've said Kyle would scout around the perimeter, but I highly doubt he's still in the vicinity. Nevertheless, you two shall scout and check if he's around." Damien ordered.

He began to realize that traces of the Diamond 3 card would continue to appear as long as it was related to the culprit or the case itself. It was essentially a cheat code used in video games that enabled detective mode and granted players constant hints to solve the mystery.

Naturally, Damien wasn't dissatisfied by such hints and gladly welcomed the assistance. There was only so much his brain could function properly before it overloaded.

Meanwhile, Lucas and Jasmine received the order.

"I'll get right to it," Lucas said and swiftly exited the scene.

Not one to fall behind, Jasmine utilized her mana and propelled herself to get further.

"What the—" Startled, Lucas gnashed his teeth and used his mana to quickly catch up to her. Both of them knew that the task wouldn't be able to nullify their offense but at the very least. If they succeeded, it could lessen and possibly reduce their offense.

However, Damien had long made up his mind. Regardless of whether these two were capable of capturing Kyle or not, they were done. Nothing displeased him more than to have untrustworthy people around him.

It was also why he preferred to always work alone. After all, anyone could betray him but himself.

And speaking of himself, Damien turned his attention to the shadow.

"So you won't respond to me, but only when I'm in danger huh." He uttered. During the moment when Lucas and Jasmine attacked him, he was truly startled and alarmed. Without any power, he couldn't have possibly defended himself against their sudden attack.

Yet it was at that precise moment that he felt a strong connection with the shadow. What happened next was his body seemed to have been controlled by the shadow.

He was able to move extremely fast and restrained the two in the blink of an eye. By the time he regained control of his body, they were already rendered useless and could not harm him whatsoever.

The feeling of power and control over fate itself was indeed remarkable. However, he wouldn't let that kind of development cloud his judgment and emotion.

A few seconds later, Damien confirmed the Shadow was active but dormant at the same time. Active when his life was in danger, and dormant when his life was safe.

Although it was somewhat frustrating to be in the dark about this kind of unknown power, Damien could only reluctantly accept the circumstances. At the very least, he could now act with a bit more reassurance.

'Lucas and Jasmine are still too green, but Kyle is now the problem. Could it be that he was ambushed after I sent him to do a task by the culprit or was he the culprit or an accomplice the entire time?' He wondered.

The chance of Kyle being a culprit or an accomplice was actually quite low if his ability to trace the hints was true.

Since the time he entered the crime scenes, he had been receiving hints and clues from both the supposed Law of the World and the soul of Olivia.

Let's say the possibility was that he met the requirement to receive the hint once he became involved in the crime, then what did it mean for the traces to be locked onto the two TIs.

Either way, he was certain that they weren't the culprit, but they were now definitely related to the answer he sought.

"Ugh, how did playing a game of Shadow's Hand ended up with me being stuck here?" Damien clicked his tongue and felt annoyed by the situation. He even began to question the intelligence of people here, given that two Ninth Orders could be swindled this badly.