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.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"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.

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.

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.

"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.