Chapter 365: Coincidence?

West immediately pulled out his phone and was about to call when he noticed several missed calls.

West frowned because the calls weren’t from Liz, they were from her fiancé.

He immediately called back.

The phone barely rang twice before it was answered.

"West!" The man’s voice was strained.

West’s expression changed. "What happened?"

"I’m sorry..." the man answered with a shaky breath.

"What happened?"

"I didn’t know who else to call."

West stood. "Tell me."

"I..." the man’s voice broke. "West, Liz..."

West’s eyes narrowed. "What about Liz?"

There was another pause before the words finally came. "Liz has been taken."

Everything went silent for a moment...

West didn’t fingers tightened around the phone causing low creaking sounds to ring out. "What?"

"I came home and she wasn’t there. At first I thought maybe she was still at work, but then I tried calling her..."

His breathing became rough. "Her phone isn’t answering."

West’s expression became frighteningly still.

"How long?"

"I don’t know. I—"

The man began panicking.

"West, I’m sorry. I should have called you sooner. I just didn’t know what to do."

West closed his eyes as the realization hit him like a hammer.

The statement replayed in his head... "If someone went after your girl, they probably aren’t planning to stop with her."

It turned out the Multiplier had been multitasking at the moment of to capture Aunt Mirabel.

West opened his eyes. "Don’t apologize."

His voice was unnervingly calm. "Tell me everything."

"I don’t know much."

"Then tell me what you do know."

"I came home earlier and she wasn’t there. I thought she’d gone to work, but her things..."

He swallowed. "Some of them are still here... saw them lying across the floor scattered like there was a struggle here."

West immediately came to the conclusion that while he was busy protecting one target... they had taken another... Liz.

West’s fists tightened in anguish. He had already promised her that everything would be fine. He had told her she wouldn’t have to face everything alone anymore... and now someone had taken her.

West looked toward the massive windows of Shadow Reapers headquarters and for a moment, he said nothing.

Then his voice came through the phone. "Listen to me."

Liz’s fiancé immediately went quiet.

"I’m going to find her."

"But—"

"I don’t care where she is."

West’s eyes became cold. "I’ll find her."

For several seconds, he simply stood there after ending the call.

CRACK~

The phone in his hand nearly broke from the pressure of his grip.

As West stepped down, someone passed him a note saying it was just delivered here by someone claiming its a package for Shadow Reapers boss.

West stared at the folded piece of paper as he headed to the command room.

He picked it up and unfolded it to find only a few lines.

> You were careless.

Did you really think I’d stop at just one of your loved ones?

Even if you figured it out, you were still too late.

Now 2 - 0.

You might want to dial that number now.

West’s fingers tightened around the paper as he focused on the last sentence.

~"You might want to dial that number now"~

His breathing became heavier as he tightened his fist before swinging it forward.

BOOM!

His punch smashed directly through the wall causing concrete fragments to explode outward.

Several Shadow Reapers members in the command room jumped as West slowly pulled his hand back with dust drifting from his knuckles.

"Damn it," he stared at the hole realizing he had underestimated his opponent.

They weren’t trying to defeat him in a straightforward fight... they were dismantling his life piece by piece.

And every time West reacted, they were learning more about him.

His relationships.

His habits.

The people he cared about.

His movements.

His weaknesses.

West picked up his phone and stared at the phone number for a few seconds.

The reason he still hadn’t dialed it was due to the fact that he didn’t want to place his fate and their fate in the hands of the person behind this. He felt that once he dialed that number, he would fully hand over power to that person. Right now he believed the person wouldn’t kill either of them because if they did, what would they use as leverage.

"Get our investigators on this number..." West commanded.

---

For the next three days, Shadow Reapers practically became a war room.

Every available resource was deployed.

West didn’t sleep much and barely ate. He spent every waking hour searching before eventually, finding something.

A researcher stood before West with a tablet in hand.

"We’ve narrowed it down."

West immediately looked up. "Talk."

"Multiplier-type awakenings are extremely rare."

The researcher brought up several files.

"Unlike common physical enhancement bloodline type branches, Multiplier bloodlines aren’t something you see often. In this region, there are only a handful of documented cases."

West folded his arms. "And?"

"We cross-referenced every known Multiplier awakened with the description of the attackers, their age, estimated combat capability, and geographical movements."

A profile appeared on the screen and West stared at it.

Name: Silas Veyne.

Age: 39.

Awakened Classification: Tier 1.

Bloodline: Multiplicative Entity.

Branch: Replica Division.

Origin: Blackridge City.

Known Affiliations: Independent.

Occupation: Contract Operative.

Known Crimes: Kidnapping, assassination, illegal awakened experimentation, organized trafficking.

Threat Level: Severe.

West’s eyebrows rose slightly. "Blackridge?"

"Yes."

"That’s three cities away."

"Correct."

West stared at the image, recognising the face that was laid before him. Silas Veyne had a rather ordinary appearance with short dark hair, blue eyes and a narrow face.

There was nothing particularly intimidating about him.

Yet the information underneath his photograph told a completely different story.

The man’s ability allowed him to create physical replicas of himself.

According to the report, these replicas weren’t simple illusions.

They possessed physical bodies that could fight, operate independently and most importantly, could be sacrificed.

West’s eyes narrowed. "So the copies melting..."

"Likely a failsafe."

"Meaning?"

"When the replica is critically damaged or chooses to terminate itself, its body begins breaking down. The original isn’t harmed."

West nodded slowly understanding everything. "But why would he target me?"

West walked away from the screen and paced around the command room.

Blackridge City was three cities away. He had never been there so he couldn’t remember having any dealings with Silas Veyne.

He couldn’t remember killing anyone associated with him, destroying any gang from Blackridge or embarrassing a gang leader there.

"So why the hell is someone from Blackridge targeting me?"

West turned around. "Check his history again."

"We already did."

"Then check it harder."

The investigators immediately returned to work while West continued pacing.

He believed there had to be a connection.

---

Later that afternoon, West returned to his apartment to take care of several things.

The moment he stepped inside, the silence felt strange.

Normally, he would have found some distraction.

A call from someone or a message... or something on social media... but now everything felt different.

His mind couldn’t help but wander to the two ladies missing, Aria and Liz.

West grabbed several things he needed before leaving again.

After climbing into the vehicle waiting outside, the driver pulled onto the road.

West leaned against the window, staring outside.

His mind remained occupied with one question. ’Blackridge... Why?’

As the vehicle moved through the city, they eventually passed beneath a massive electronic billboard.

An advertisement suddenly disappeared and a live news interview appeared.

West glanced upward and paused when he noticed a familiar-looking young man in between a crowd of reporters.

He was clad in white jacket and inner wear. He had handsome but intimidating features with a confident expression.

The reporter’s voice echoed from the speakers. "Angel Trigger, one of the most prominent awakened stars from Blackridge City, has arrived in Misty High City for a brief family visit—"

West’s eyes narrowed. "Angel Trigger?"

He vaguely recognized the name because he had probably heard it once or twice.

The crowd around the awakened celebrity was enormous. Reporters shoved microphones toward him, cameras flashed and people screamed his name. It was obvious that he was quite popular across cities.

The driver smiled. "He’s pretty famous."

West continued watching as the interview continued.

"Angel Trigger, when exactly did you arrive in Misty High City?"

The young man smiled. "I arrived earlier last week."

West’s eyes narrowed... ’Earlier last week.’

The reporter continued. "You arrived on Monday, correct?"

"Yes."

West suddenly looked toward the driver. ’When did I leave for Orizon?"

"Monday morning, last week."

West’s eyes narrowed upon realizing that Angel Trigger had arrived on the same day.

He turned back toward the window, believing it was probably a coincidence.

"Hey."

"Yes, sir?"

"That Angel Trigger guy."

"Yes?"

"What city does he come from?"

The driver immediately answered. "Blackridge City."

West’s expression changed. ’Blackridge... same city as Silas Veyne.’

The same city he had never had any reason to be involved with.

He looked back at the screen, watching Angel Trigger smiled at the reporters.

West’s eyes remained fixed on him as he pondered. ’Coincidence?’

He didn’t know if it was coincidence anymore but suddenly, he didn’t like the word.

"Interesting."