Handgun

Chapter 84 - Handgun

Mike stood in the warehouse district beneath the weak yellow glow of a streetlamp, with the stale night air hanging heavily around him. Rows of old brick buildings stretched along both sides of the narrow street, their dark windows and metal doors giving the entire area a deserted, lifeless appearance.

There was hardly any movement anywhere. Even the usual sounds of the city seemed distant here.

His attention settled on the warehouse directly in front of him.

Mike knew that building.

He stared at the old metal door for several seconds, and a sharp memory suddenly pushed its way to the surface. He had stood here before some hours ago. He had watched the same building from the same position, looking through the same window while everything inside had been unfolding. That night had nearly cost someone their life. The memory came back with such force that Mike's jaw tightened and his hands slowly curled into fists.

He forced himself to let it go.

There was no point standing there and remembering what had already happened. Whatever was waiting for him inside was happening now.

Mike moved toward the side of the building and began climbing.

He used the same route he had taken before, placing his boots carefully against the old footholds in the brickwork. The climb was quiet, and he barely made a sound as he worked his way upward. When he reached the high window, he pulled himself close and looked through the dusty glass.

Nothing.

The room on the other side was dark and empty. There were no lights burning and no obvious movement anywhere inside. Shadows stretched across the floor, broken only by the shapes of stacked crates and old equipment. Mike narrowed his eyes and searched the room again, but nothing changed.

His frown deepened.

Something was wrong.

He pulled away from the window and activated the system ability he had used before. The moment it took effect, his perspective changed.

He slipped into Claire's point of view.

Black, curly hair filled much of what he could see. It was messy and uneven, sticking out in different directions and moving slightly whenever Claire moved her head. Mike tried to make sense of what he was seeing, but the ability gave him nothing beyond her vision. He could not hear anything. He could not smell anything, taste anything, or feel what she was feeling. He was simply looking through her eyes.

Her view suddenly shifted downward.

A dirty concrete floor appeared beneath her.

Then Mike saw a pair of legs.

Someone was lying on the ground.

For a moment, he could not understand what he was looking at. The angle was wrong, and the limited view made everything difficult to piece together. Mike quickly switched the ability over to Mia.

The change hit him immediately. Shock and anger surged through him so suddenly that his entire body tensed.

Mia was on the floor, naked her legs were spread apart and the curly hairs he saw from Claire's POV was Mia's pussy hairs.

Her hands were pinned behind her back by someone standing over her, while her legs were being held down. She looked weak as her legs were not moving at all from the Claire's licking, She far weaker than Mike had ever seen her. Her eyes were only half open, and every few moments her body gave a small twitch, but even those movements were weak and unsteady.

This was not normal.

He knew Mia. He knew how strong she was and how hard she could fight when she needed to. Seeing her lying there almost unable to move made one thing obvious to him. Something had been done to her. Some kind of foreign substance had to be affecting her body. There was no other explanation that made sense.

Mike immediately dropped out of the ability.

He moved.

He found a side entrance that had been left partly open and slipped through it without hesitation. The corridor beyond was almost completely dark, forcing him to move carefully while keeping his steps as quiet as possible. He followed the passage until he reached the room he had seen through the system.

Then he entered.

Claire reacted first.

She immediately stood when she saw him.

Behind her, the other man was still holding Mia's arms. Mike recognized him at once. It was the same man who had helped kidnap Mia earlier. The moment the man saw Mike, his expression changed. His eyes widened, and he released Mia before charging straight toward him.

Mike barely had time to think.

His body reacted on its own, moving with the speed and precision the system had trained into him. He shifted to the side just as the man's fist came toward him. The punch passed through empty air, and Mike answered immediately with a short, powerful strike to the man's ribs.

The man staggered.

Mike did not give him time to recover. He stepped in and drove his knee into the same area, forcing the man backward. Before the man could regain his balance, Mike turned with the momentum and delivered a spinning back kick that struck the side of his head.

The entire exchange lasted only a few seconds and the man collapsed onto the floor and remained there.

Mike turned toward Mia immediately.

His suspicion had been correct. She was under the influence of something. Her eyes remained half closed, and when she tried to speak, the words came out slowly and heavily, as though even forming a sentence required more strength than she had left. The moment the man had released her hands, her arms had simply fallen beside her and struck the concrete.

Mia tried to move but she could not. She could not even push herself up from the floor.

Mike's expression hardened as he looked at her.

Then Claire stepped forward.

There was a small smile on her face, almost as though Mike's arrival had amused her rather than frightened her. She looked at him for a moment before speaking in a strangely casual voice.

“Oh, you actually came.”

She tilted her head slightly, her eyes remaining on him.

“But you're not taking her,” she said. “Not yet. I want to have my fun first, and then I'll sell her.”

Mike's expression changed instantly. The words seemed to leave something unpleasant in the air between them. He looked at Claire with open disgust, as though he could barely believe what he had just heard.

He took a step forward.

Mike said nothing.

Mike moved toward Claire, his eyes fixed on her as he raised his fist and threw a straight punch at her face. His knuckles stopped several inches before they could reach her. Something invisible stood between them, stopping his attack as firmly as a solid wall. The impact sent a strange resistance through his hand, as though he had struck something that simply could not be seen.

Mike pulled his hand back and tried again, changing the angle and putting more force behind the next punch. Once again, his fist stopped in midair. The same invisible force blocked him before he could touch her.

He stepped back slowly, his eyes never leaving Claire.

But she had not even flinched.

That small smile was still on her face, as if she had known from the beginning that he would not be able to hurt her.

Mike was silent. Almost like a robot he was just quiet from the beginning.

Outside.

Mike looked back through the dusty glass at the dark warehouse before speaking under his breath, frustration clear in his voice.

“What the hell is going on, System? Why can't I hit Claire?”

The answer came immediately inside his head, calm and emotionless as always.

[There is a shield between you and her. You cannot hit her directly.]

Mike stared at the dark window for a moment, his expression tightening.

“Then how am I supposed to get to her?”

A small blue window appeared in front of his eyes.

The system shop opened.

Mike's attention immediately went to one item that stood out from the rest. A simple handgun was displayed in the center of the interface, with a short description beneath it. He looked at the price first, then at the limited amount of ammunition that came with it.

He let out a slow breath.

It was not ideal, but he did not have another option.

Before he could make another move, Claire's voice drifted out from inside the warehouse through the open side entrance.

“She won't be useful for much longer, Mike. If you want her alive, you should hurry and hit me, come on.” She was mocking the doppelganger clone inside.

Mike's expression hardened.

He closed the shop window and looked down at the handgun that now rested in his hand. He checked the magazine, making sure he understood exactly how much ammunition he had. The metal felt cold and solid against his palm. He chambered a round and turned back toward the entrance.

He had a way forward now, and he was not going to leave Mia alone in that room for another minute.

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