Vanishing Isles, like the Kinney Isle, were known for experiencing isolated supernatural phenomena. However, Kinney stood out due to its disputed location, leading to ownership conflicts between American and Canadian SCDs. Eventually, both organizations designated the isle as a Supernatural exclusive zone, resulting in a lack of central administration, a rise in crime, and the emergence of gangs. The Tinder Gang, led by Brawn Tindermann, was one of the three ruling gangs on Kinney Isle.
Despite rumors suggesting Brawn had a non-Supernatural relative hidden somewhere, no concrete evidence had surfaced to support these claims.
Harry, unfazed by Marline's unenthusiastic response, leaned forward. "That's what I thought too, until Blu analyzed the exact Spirit Technique Paul Lachlan used."
"You mean the energy blade?"
"Exactly. The analysis identified it as 87.9% identical to the Azure cloud blade used by Wang Haoyun, the leader of the Azure Gang."
Spirit Techniques with a similarity above 80% were considered essentially the same, accounting for differences in talent and physical attributes.
Marline frowned, contemplating the implications. The Azure Cloud Blade was strictly controlled by its leader, and finding it in the hands of someone attacking a supposed relative of a rival gang leader hinted at a deeper conspiracy.
Amidst her thoughts, the door burst open, a shadow flashed past, and files scattered. Almost instantly, Marline found herself enveloped in a soft, fleshy cushion.
She sighed. "Patricia."
The newcomer hugged her, refusing to let go. "Sis Marline, I promise I have a reasonable explanation for coming late this time!"
"Before anything, remove these fleshbags from my face."
"O-oh."
As Patricia stepped back, she revealed herself—a considerably tall young lady with a youthful aura, fair-skinned with baby fat on her cheeks and a pronounced chest. Long blonde hair in pigtails framed her face.
Leaning back, Marline rubbed her forehead. "Let's hear the excuse you prepared today."
Patricia seemed to shrink further. "I, um, overslept."
"Let me guess, absorbed in reading unhealthy fanfictions and forgot your shift was this morning?"
"Hehe... It's as if you were there with me."
"I wasn't complimenting you."
"O-oh."
"This is the sixth time this month, and you," she turned to Harry, "Don't think I forgot the times you slept off on your shifts. Wipe that smug look off your face."
Sighing again, she picked up the case file and gestured for Patricia to read it. The file remained in her hand for a few seconds before she turned to Patricia, who seemed dazed, gaze glued to the floor.
Harry called out. "Pat?" She flinched, and when it seemed her soul had returned to her body, she picked up a piece of paper and passed it to Harry, who swiveled the chair to receive it.
He was stunned when he saw it, then turned to Marline with a helpless chuckle. "This isn't the first time, Marline, but the expressiveness in your drawing never ceases to amaze me."
"Yeah, it gave me chills..." Patricia echoed.
Marline shrugged. "It's nothing."
The paper had a pair of pencil-drawn eyes, intense green, dragon-like slits, framed by sharp, well-defined eyebrows, and a vague, intentionally blurry outline of a face.
Patricia remained clueless. "What's that though?"
"It's a who. And it's our suspect." Marline extended her arm again, and this time Patricia took the file, albeit reluctantly.
"Can't you just tell me what happened?"
"No. Read it."
"Uuuuu..."
"You're too casual for a law student, Pat. How did you even get in?"
Opal city, though less populated than average, was known for Opal University. Patricia was a Final-year student of the Faculty of Law.
Harry leisurely tossed the empty lollipop stick into the trashcan, then took out a new one, unwrapping it. He explained, "Yeah, and even if it seemed all three gangs are in balance, it's more of the Tinder Gang against the Azure Cloud Gang and Gehrer Gang. I think they both finally reached a consensus."
"You think? Those snobbish werewolves are known to be very isolative. It'll be very difficult to make the Gehrer Gang cooperate."
"Not unless they have help from outside."
Marline stopped, and she nudged Patricia. "C'mon Pat, we're leaving for the lobby." Then turned back to Harry, who had opened the door in an exaggerated gentlemanly pose.
"Outside help?"
He nodded, "Yup, a team of Mutants from Hive Corp secretly entered Kinney Isle two weeks ago."
Marline placed a hand on her chin. "The SCD doesn't have that information, Harry."
Harry's face seemed awkward at her words, then Patricia exclaimed. "Ah! Could it be one of those special friends?"
Marline sneered. "Special friends? It's one of his lovers."
"Putting it like that makes it sound like I'm promiscuous, Marline. I prefer the term intimacy companion." When he saw Marline and even Patricia cringe in disgust, he realized how his words only made him less credible. In an attempt to steer the conversation back on track, he coughed and continued. "She witnessed them making contact with both the Gehrer and Azure Cloud Gangs but unfortunately, couldn't get any more information because it would be too dangerous for her."
"Even with all this, Harry, the Kinney Isle is out of our Jurisdiction. I think this information would be more useful to the Coast Guards. Besides, I already have my hands full trying to find Lachlan's Killer."
Their footsteps echoed in the dark hallway, and the few and irregularly arranged bulbs here and there caused their shadows to be shallow, interspersed and cast haphazardly around the hallway.
As the youngest and newest Inspector, Patricia had always found it unnecessarily eerie and in no way an employee-friendly environment.
But it was a necessity, because in the floor directly below, among the cursed Artifacts sealed and dangerous entities imprisoned there, there was a Shadow Imp that was very tricky to deal with.
She sighed and skipped forward to Inspectors IV and VI who had inadvertently stopped before the door labelled V and were in a somewhat heated discussion.
"But a Hive Corp Mutant team also arrived in the city last week."
"And?"
"Look Marline, it could be the same one."
"So you're suggesting they all came for one unconfirmed gang leader relative? Besides, they have a permit directly from the Office."
"But they could have sneaked in a member of the Azure Cloud Gang."
"Paul Lachlan wasn't a member of any gang."
"But he was a man with a daughter in a coma and numbered days! The perfect scapegoat!"
"Don't raise your voice at me, Harriman."
Harry crushed the lollipop in his mouth and even began chewing the stick, as though to vent frustration.
"Sorry, I was strangely agitated for a moment there. Haha."
But Marline's owl-like gaze swept over him with suspicion, not to be fooled.
"Harriman... you seem, no. You are hostile to the Hive Corp."