Doom City

Shadow In The Apartment

Muzan still couldn't let himself believe what Gideon had told him about what had happened to him; he had assumed and finalized that Gideon must have probably faked his death.

Gideon walked out of the headquarters to a new place he had rented. Though after his demise, his money was still intact in his accounts.

He opened the door to the apartment and went in, but soon noticed some things that weren't right: the place where he had kept some papers and other things he used for his investigation was slightly shifted from where he had previously dropped them, as though someone had tampered with them.

And with thoughtful words he muttered under his breath, “There's no doubt, someone must have come here.”

Gideon was very sensitive to his environment, especially to things he valued like his belongings, and he knew the exact way he had kept the documents before leaving the house early today, when he rented it, which is clear evidence that someone must have come, but the question remains, what exactly was the person looking for?

Gideon ran a quick check on his things, especially those he had retrieved from his office that belonged to him, and after checking and making sure they were intact, he breathed a sigh of relief as he spoke, “At least, nothing was taken.”

Among all the things that had made Gideon to be more glad it wasn't taken by whoever had broken into his apartment was a specific tool owned by his father, and he valued that exact tool like it's part of him. That's the only thing he holds on to, that kept the memories of his father with him.

The item was an old pearl necklace, not too expensive, but a treasure so dear to Gideon, and he had kept hold of that thing ever since his father died mysteriously, having promised himself to get to the bottom of it. The item always reminded him of the promise he had made, making him stay strong whenever he was slacking.

With the files that Gideon was in possession of, he laid them on his desk and began doing some research. Since he had gotten track of the Black Bull cartel before, he could do it again and again as long as he had the intellect.

“Those bastards, I don't mind how many years I have been dead, but I know one thing for sure: I must get to the person who killed my father,” Gideon swore with gritted teeth.

He could remember the last words from the cartel boss's sons as they had stated, and the only thing on his mind currently was revenge—not only that, but also making them pay for their crimes and the havoc they had wreaked on the city.

Gideon opened up the papers, and using his tools, he tried to break through the enigma of the Black Bull again, trying to see if he could get the chance to get hold of their location again but to no avail, and soon it was already night and after some hours, Gideon's eyes began slowly collapsing closed till he fell asleep.

Not long after, a loud bang crashed on the door, and in that instant it broke open and pieces of particles flew into the air.

Gideon jolted awake, and before him were 12 men wearing masks and holding high-tech guns, ones that were infused with the mutant neutralizer.

“Who the hell are you guys?” Gideon's question cut through, but the men remained silent as though they had been waiting for orders before engaging.

Gideon's eyes caught sight of one of the men's slightly exposed wrists from the long-sleeved shirt he was wearing; the man had a tattoo similar to the Black Bull Cartel's, and it was then that Gideon realized that the Black Bull had come for him again.

With wide eyes of disbelief, Gideon mumbled silently, “The guns, they are advanced, and isn't that gun supposed to be used by the police force alone? How did thugs like them get hold of it?”

The question left Gideon stunned. The men before him were not only huge but also possessed high-tech guns, which meant he had no chance of survival, and Gideon wasn't armed with any weapon.

And just then, while Gideon was staring at the men cluelessly, a translucent screen suddenly appeared midair, and a mechanical voice sounded inside his head with written text on the screen.

Symbiote combat mode activated. Host can engage in full combat, with strength and stamina fully refilled to one hundred percent.

Gideon stared at the text, confused, though he was the only one who could see the translucent screen and hear the mechanical voice inside his head. And in those moments, Gideon felt a surge of strength coursing through his veins; his veins glowed blue, and his dark pupils changed to blue as if being taken over by an organism.

And just then, one of the men stepped forward, then slightly shifted his gaze to his colleague and gave the orders. “Let's engage with the assault, he's the person we are looking for.”

After these orders were passed, the men rained down bullets toward Gideon, but to Gideon's greatest surprise, he could see the bullets approaching him in slow motion—the same law applied to the men, as if time had been paused.

“What the hell is happening?” Gideon's jaw dropped as this thought crossed his mind, and just then, another message appeared on the translucent screen with the mechanical voice.

Time-pause symbiote ability activated. Host can strike precisely without missing his target.

After this mechanical voice came through, the screen vanished, leaving Gideon to face the men.

Gideon stood, and before punching the men, he tried reaching out to one of the bullets, and to his surprise, he could actually touch it, and in that instant a sharp idea fused with strategy came into his mind. If he could change the trajectory of the bullets rather than fighting the men one after the other, he could actually make things easy and at the same time take the men all at once.

Gideon slightly changed each of the trajectories of the bullets toward every one of the men who had shot at him, but the last man, who had given the orders, he chose not to kill him yet; maybe getting intel from him would be useful, so he changed that trajectory toward the wall.

The moment Gideon was done with this calculation, the time, which had been paused, suddenly got released, and the redirected bullets rained down on each of the men with precision, killing them in that instant except for that very man Gideon had wished not to kill.

The man who had given the orders was baffled he was the only one that survived. Everything happened so fast, almost less than two seconds. The last thing he could remember was giving the orders, and the next was his men falling dead on the ground.

Gideon faced the man who he had spared head-on before asking, “I didn't kill you because I want answers from you. Where can I find your boss? Because it's obvious you are working for him. Having a tattoo of that caliber on your wrist isn't a coincidence, so talk and get your life spared or die in the most gruesome way ever.”

The man who was supposed to be scared burst into laughter before ending it with a mocking chuckle, his lips raising to a sneer as he replied with a cold, mocking voice. “So Boss was right, you actually went through the mutation, but how was it possible?”

The man sounded so calculative as though wanting to figure out something, but just then his expression changed, his brow furrowed as though something had ignited a determination he could never let down, as he spoke, “I would rather die than say a word to you about where he is.”

After saying this, the man pressed a button on his wristwatch, a red liquefied substance surged into his veins, and his body began trembling and gradually he collapsed to the ground.

Gideon was baffled, but instead of standing and watching he decided to take a step forward and check, and when he did he noticed the man was dead. “Can't believe they could risk their lives for that bastard. He chose death over exposing his boss. Nice choice.” Gideon smirked, but then he noticed something about the men who had fallen previously compared to the one that had just self-destructed.

“If they are mutants, then they should have melted already, which means they are all humans.” This realization plunged into his mind as he tried to think things through and at the same time he was left utterly stunned. He couldn't believe that humans who weren't mutated were willing to join the Black Bull mutant cartel, but why? And not only that, he had also noticed the wristwatch the man had pressed within his wrist that took his life, and this turns out to be another question he fails to understand.

“Is this how bad this city has become?” The words left his mouth in shock.

Gideon knew someone was behind all this; he was being trailed, and someone must have leaked his location.

The mechanical voice suddenly sounded inside Gideon's head again, but this time there wasn't a screen displayed midair.

Host detective vision activated. Host can use this ability to look for clues and traces of his victim, aiding in a smoother investigation.

After the voice came through, Gideon's eyes turned completely red. He flinched, but then he got hold of himself. He could see his environment in dim red, and when his eyes set on the men on the ground, he could see footprints on their clothes. Not only that, but the vision allowed him to see things he could retrieve from the men that could serve as clues in getting to the boss himself.