CHAPTER 195: DARK HAND

Leonard held a silent expression. With Claudia essentially showing all her cards against him, he was stuck in a dilemma.

He was debating whether to follow suit or fold his hands.

It was pretty obvious by now that she was gambling on a do-or-die moment.

’She wants me to hold the persecution against her for a week. This means she’s confident that once the time passes, I won’t be able to catch her anymore. Who could she have that would safeguard her?’ Leonard was starting to doubt himself.

He might have captured Claudia, but her survival rate was near impeccable.

The fact that her surprise identity could manipulate Mirelle to defend her at all costs made him wonder if she was planted by someone far more dangerous than he could imagine.

Now that he comes to think about it, he feels like this couldn’t be a mere coincidence.

At first, Leonard thought Claudia was acting on behalf of someone. But that possibility was quickly voided. After all, her behavior and expression were too true to be fake. She truly held the belief that she was correct and was acting on her own.

And it was precisely because of this that Leonard felt a cold chill running down his spine.

If there was truly a mastermind behind it, then they were very frightening. Even Leonard felt like he was trapped in their palm, unable to break free, no matter how hard he tried.

’Just who could it be?’ Leonard frowned deeply. To orchestrate all these events, the opposing party must know about his every move.

Sometime later, Leonard took a deep breath and decided to not think about the matter temporarily.

The priority now was to capture this Redflow and ensure they suffered his intense wrath.

"I can promise you that as long as you successfully assist us in capturing Redflow, you won’t be persecuted for a week. As for the slave contract, I will personally abolish it." Leonard emphasized his Crown Prince status as a guarantee.

To the public, a noble, especially one from royalty, daring to use their status to promise meant they would keep to their words. Credibility and integrity were still highly valued in the Aetherion World.

Claudia heaved a sigh of relief. Her gamble had paid off. ’As long as I divert his hatred towards Redflow, he won’t focus much on me.’

She cleared her throat and began divulging her plan. "Redflow is definitely under disguise, and because of the city’s lockdown, he is still stuck in Velastra. I have a substance that will affect only those from the Assassin Syndicate."

"You do?" Leonard raised an eyebrow. Could there really be such a powerful substance?

"Let me see it." He demanded.

Claudia hesitated for a brief moment before handing over a vial to him. It was a crimson red liquid content.

As Leonard received the vial, the color in the contents changed from crimson red to a dimmer version.

"..."

Speechless, Leonard stared at Claudia.

"This is your so-called method?" He questioned.

"Yes, what about it?" Claudia answered with a straight face. Without any doubt, she was certain that he already figured out why the vial changed color.

"The substance is sensitive to those with blood. The higher the density, the greater the changes in the color." She explained.

At this moment, Leonard didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.

There was such a simple method, but none of them managed to think of it.

Was this what they called being too smart for your own good?

Sometimes, the simplest answer was right in front of your eyes, but you were too blinded to see it.

"I suppose this substance can detect any type of blood residual upon contact with an individual. But how come when it was in your hand, the color remained crimson red?" He raised his concern.

If someone like Claudia could conceal the blood on her hand, then Redflow could also do the same. After all, Redflow’s ranking and status in the Assassin Syndicate were superior to hers.

"You can set up a magic formation that restricts the usage of mana and items," Claudia replied. She mentioned how Caroline was more than adequate to construct such a formation.

"Wow, it really is a mistake to keep you around." Leonard clicked his tongue.

She was openly taunting him about how she managed to lurk around and obtain a lot of information during her time as a slave.

More importantly, she dared to reveal the matter because Leonard had given his verbal promise.

Although it was not binding in any way, it would definitely affect him in the future if he went against his words.

Only a low being would renege on their promise!

"You heard her, right? Get moving with it and bring me progress!" Leonard shifted his attention to Mirelle and spoke in an extremely cold tone.

When Mirelle heard the tone, she knew the favorability she painfully earned in the past few days had dropped to an extreme negative value.

Leonard could never tolerate betrayal.

This was a hardcore fact!

And she alone had repeatedly broken his trust.

"I’ll get to it," Mirelle replied and excused herself. Claudia also followed behind to ensure the capture process went smoothly.

As the two of them left the suite, Leonard threw his wine cup to the ground.

CLANK!

Debris from the glass was scattered across the floor.

"Not a single person could be trusted." Leonard’s eyes narrowed. Despite having the authority to command the Crimson Guards, it was clear that there was still someone above him.

This particular dark hand behind the curtain was like a huge hand that strangled his neck.

’It seems like I can only create another private force.’ He stood up and glanced outside the windows. He wasn’t looking at the bustling streets that had been restored to a somewhat normal operation, but the more obsolete and remote place: the slum.

Many usually echoed that there are diamonds in the rough.

Today, he also wanted to see whether he could find diamonds among the people residing in the slum.