"Liar!"
How can his ability manifest without his intent?!
Even if it did, why would it land on the chair just when Athol took a seat?!
"I’m not lying," Zed looked hurt by their reactions, "My hand has turned numb after I blocked the green arc of light.
"I was just waving the hand to lose the numbness but unconsciously a small amount of my power manifested."
Everyone did recall Zed waving his hand up and down as an exercise to ease the numbness.
Could he be speaking truth?!
But this still didn’t explain why the streak of fire landed on the chair!
"Besides how am I supposed to know a great police officer would be affected by my meager amount of power?"
Loren, Jessica, Suzane, Eloise, the four fools and others looked at each other to make sure they heard it right.
"He is now blaming Athol for this?!"
"It might be a meager amount of power but he caught Athol off guard!"
"Not to mention no one can handle an attack of fire on their ass!"
"Athol was lucky his main asset is still safe!"
The four fools especially shuddered when they spoke about the ’main asset’. They recalled how Zed has burned away ’main asset’ of a poor fellow named Finlay.
The four fools felt their stomach churning as the horrifying scene flashed in their mind. They now felt Athol was truly lucky to be spared.
"Zed, you think this is y---"
Athol was in the middle of making a statement but then he stopped as he saw Zed taking out his cell phone.
Zed turned his body around to make the camera in ’selfie’ portrait to ensure everyone was in the phone’s camera.
"What is he doing?"
"Is he truly taking a selfie in the middle of this?!"
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
~Click~
The sound of a photo being clicked in the room.
"Good pic," Zed muttered while he stood up from the couch and stepped towards the desk.
"What are you doing?" Athol was having a hard time controlling his anger.
This kid first insulted him by words and then set his ass on fire! Now he even took a selfie!!
This kid needs to be taught a lesson!
He didn’t really think Zed as anything special even though he blocked the earlier green arc of light.
Athol has only attacked lightly without any intent to kill, so while it was surprising for him when Zed blocked it, he didn’t think much of it.
"Calm yourself," Edgar’s father once again reminded him about the propaganda spread by the masked terrorist.
The impression of the investigators in the city was already ruined with people believing them to be in charge of some freak experiment.
Now the investigators couldn’t afford to be caught in some murder scandal. This was why the parents of the four fools wish to use the law and order to get Zed into jail.
In ordinary times they could easily kill or cripple the target but now the present scenario demanded utmost care even in a frame-up.
"I’m posting this pic on my social media," Zed’s voice waked Athol from his thoughts, "So I wanted to ask for some cool headlines."
Zed turned his cell phone around to show everyone the ’selfie’. The picture showed the faces of everyone especially Athol whose expression couldn’t be uglier. There were even remnants of burned pant lying around in the picture.
"WHAT?!"
"Posting on social media?"
"He couldn’t be serious, right?"
Zed looked at the blank expression of everyone.
"Haah," Zed let out a sigh, "How about #meetingwithfools, #corruptcop, #freakinvestigators?"
Athol and the four investigator parents looked at Zed with plain hate. Just what type of hashtags they were?!
"I have already posted the earlier video of Sir Athol attacking me," Zed showed them a short video, "It has got 10K+ likes!"
"WHAT?!"
No one dare believed Zed has recorded the video from earlier. They didn’t see switching on his cell phone but the video proved them wrong!
Looking at the camera angle in the video, they were sure the video was captured while the phone was still in his shirt pocket.
How did he do it?!
Athol’s eyes turned wide in disbelief.
He was recording the entire situation and even shared it?!
The investigators, on the other hand, were even in worse condition. They trembled in horror as Zed showed them the title of the video: "Powerful investigators forcing a corrupt cop to attack an innocent!"
What truly scared them out of wits was the description of the video: "In all my life, I have respected the investigators and the police. When the attack on police headquarters took place, I believed the terrorist was lying. But today I saw four of those investigators trying to frame me in a crime I didn’t commit. Not only that but they even asked the corrupt cop to kill me. When I took a seat on a sofa, the cop attacked me after the investigator’s order. #corruption #greedycop #freakinvesitgaotors #powerabuse #scandal #nosafeplace"
"This is false!" Ree’s father shouted.
"Just how did this kid posted so much in such a short time?!"
"And how can it get so much publicity?!"
"Bastard!" Athol’s veins were on brink of exploding. He could imagine how the situation would turn out in the current environment.
The people just wanted a single proof of power abuse and they would fully believe the narrative sold by the terrorist.
And now he exactly gave the public the proof they wanted!
He could perfectly guess the seniors in the police department would force him to take responsibility and make him a scapegoat.
All his past crimes would be investigated by the frenzied media.
"Bastard?" Zed’s voice turned cold, "You have no idea how lucky you are to be able to mutter this word twice and yet still live."
In his current form, his emotions were fully stable. But if it was Kiba form, then he would barely be able to tolerate this word which reminded him of his caretaker.
Just a little over a month ago, this single word got Hanks nearly killed by Kiba in White Angel Corporation. (Chapter 22)
Athol didn’t know why but he suddenly felt a chill down his spine and his entire body violently shook as Zed completed his words. His face turned pale with his heart palpitating in deep fear.
"W-what’s going on?" Athol felt a killing intent so strong that his entire body was precipitating heavily.
Just how can the words have so much killing intent in them?!
"And you think only these four fools and their dumb parents have influence around here?" Zed continued in a cold voice, "You think I’m some stray dog you can imprison as you wish?"
Athol gulped down a mouthful of saliva. He was still horrified from the earlier killing intent and in no state to think of Zed’s words.
"Haven’t you learned anything from your admission being revoked?" Zed turned towards the four fools, "Last time I showed mercy since you were Loren’s acquaintance but it seems fools would be fools."
"Y-you!" Edgar clenched his teeth.
"Shut up," Edgar’s father stopped him. As the words of Zed set in his mind, he felt dread.
Earlier in his anger and frustration at the state of his child, he has forgotten that Zed was able to revoke the admissions in the number one academy of the city!
But now when he heard Zed’s words he remembered just how severe the situation was.
Just what sort of background could influence the academy to not respect the children of investigators?!
"Zed," Jessica and Loren were shocked by Zed’s conduct. They have never seen him act like this.
He was always soft spoken and never used demeaning words like today.
"One more thing," Zed opened his cell phone, "I never posted the video and picture."
WHAT?!
Athol and others looked at Zed with complete horror.
He was bluffing earlier?!
No!
If he was then why would he reveal it now!
This didn’t make any sense!
"I was just playing around to relieve my boredom," Zed answered.
Relieve boredom?!
Suzane and Eloise looked at each other thinking just how strange their daughter’s friend was!
"This is a police station!" Suzane muttered.
"Yeah," Eloise nodded, "Not really a place to relieve boredom."
"He was trolling?" Loren asked in a low voice.
"Seems so," Jessica answered.
"Well played though," Loren and Jessica muttered together with their eyes sparkling at Zed’s style.
"....." Suzane and Eloise were speechless.
"Besides I don’t need to rely on these childish tricks to protect myself," Zed added without caring about others’ reaction.
He turned around towards the exit.
Childish trick?!
The investigators didn’t dare believe such a smart move was just a childish trick! The video could turn the situation around but yet he was throwing it away?!
"It is for good, right?" Percy asked.
"No," Percy’s investigator mother answered, "His refusal to use the video means he has a more powerful card in his hand."
"No way," Percy muttered.
"If you have got guts then frame me," Zed said as he walked away, "I want to see just how smart you dumb idiots are."