Mike didn't have the taxi stop directly at the supermarket entrance; instead, he had it pull over at the street corner of the block. He wanted to give Skye a surprise. Of course, it was hard to say whether it would end up being a pleasant surprise or a fright.
For instance, a husband returning home early from a business trip only to find Old Wang from next door helping with the plumbing. Or a girl planning a birthday surprise for her boyfriend, only to find her best friend working out at his place.
No, no!
Skye was very well-behaved.
Men, they're allowed to set fires while the common people aren't even allowed to light lamps. I can be a scumbag, but you can't be promiscuous—a double standard that exists everywhere in the World.
While he was lost in thought, Mike suddenly felt an inexplicable warning, his sixth sense blaring wildly, and the hairs on his body stood on end.
Ever since his physical constitution grew stronger and the experiences he gained from possessing others became richer, Mike's sixth sense for danger also grew sharper, showing a tendency to evolve into 'Spider-Sense'.
However, such an intense premonition of crisis was a first.
Mike didn't hesitate for a microsecond; he lunged forward, simultaneously reactivating the possession card he had just deactivated. While Mike was still in mid-air, black Armament Haki had already covered all his vital points.
Before he even landed, a huge force struck his chest, and only then did Mike hear a booming sound.
"A heavy sniper rifle."
For some reason, Mike felt as if time had slowed down and stretched, and he even had the leisure to conjure thoughts in his mind.
Bang!
Mike, who had been moving in a parabolic arc in the air, abruptly plummeted, hitting the ground, bouncing up like a broken sandbag. At that moment, a sharp pain felt like a long thorn piercing his heart.
The pain temporarily robbed Mike of his ability to think.
His nerves seemed paralyzed.
He couldn't move a single finger.
Then the intense pain suddenly exploded from a single point, spreading to his limbs and bones. It was then that Mike's mind recovered somewhat.
"I'm injured."
"Not only did he predict my movements, but he could also accurately hit me while I was moving. What a formidable marksman."
While Mike was lost in thought, the distant gunman was also stunned.
The moment the bullet left the barrel, he knew this shot was a hit, as always. However, there was no expected splattering of blood and flesh.
"Bulletproof vest?"
The gunman guessed, then sneered, "A bulletproof vest can't stop my bullets."
Usually, when hit, the body would directly explode, flesh and blood splattering.
Even military-grade bulletproof vests were useless; the internal organs would be a mess.
He wondered if it was an illusion, but in the scope's view, the target seemed to twitch.
He looked again.
He wasn't mistaken!
The target actually wobbled and half-sat up, like a zombie.
Wow!
Mike spat out a large mouthful of clotted blood.
"A few ribs are broken."
"There's a rattling sound when my lungs contract."
"Irregular heartbeat."
"My kidneys are fine; they must be fine..."
Mike exhaled, clenching his fist. "It doesn't affect combat."
He stood up, his gaze like a tiger's.
"Use card: nichirin blade."
Armament Haki covered the blade. Mike held the nichirin blade in a reverse grip, its tip touching the ground.
He pushed his Observation Haki to its limit.
"I found you."
Originally, he only knew the general direction, but now, Mike locked onto a window on the tallest building five hundred meters away.
"He's not dead? A super-powered individual?" The gunman was shocked, but his movements remained perfectly calm, methodically reloading his bullet. "This time, I'll aim for the head. Let's see if you die, you damned monster!"
Mike didn't take the opportunity to hide.
Their gazes met in the night sky.
At this moment, Mike entered a very profound state.
The advantage of the possession card was that the user could use all the abilities of the possessed character without prior practice. The disadvantage was that if the possessed character didn't know an ability, the user couldn't use it. Even for a ninja like Momochi Zabuza, who was skilled in Water Release, if he hadn't learned even the simplest C-rank Water Release, the user couldn't use or learn it.
As a result, combat could sometimes feel stiff.
The system hadn't explicitly explained the above; these were experiences Mike summarized during his usage.
Injured, Mike became focused.
Focused...
His surroundings were quiet, yet he himself was making a huge sound.
Everything... buildings, streets, green trees, vehicles, even the air—Mike felt a biological aura from them.
This... wasn't this the state of mind Zoro experienced when he comprehended the art of cutting steel?
Why would it surface in Mike's mind at this moment?
He was possessing Zoro from two years after the Summit War, wasn't cutting steel supposed to be simple for him?
Perhaps...
"Stone has the breath of stone,"
"Trees have the breath of trees,"
"The land has the breath of the land..."
"So that's it. This is the uniqueness of Zoro's Observation Haki."
Unlike Fujitora's Observation Haki, which had a range wide enough to precisely detect meteors from space, or Katakuri, who used Observation Haki to predict the future... Zoro's Observation Haki glimpsed a unique World. Perhaps one day, he might even see the lines of death of objects, truly achieving "nothing I cannot cut."
Now—
Mike felt a deeper understanding of the Zoro possession card.
What felt like a long time was actually short; the gunman had already reloaded and pulled the trigger again.
The bullet left the barrel at more than twice the speed of sound!
Mike swung his nichirin blade in a reverse grip, unleashing a crescent-shaped slash. It wasn't any of Zoro's specific techniques, just an ordinary flying slash.
The slash didn't directly collide with the bullet but touched its side for a fleeting moment.
However, this brief contact gave the super-high-speed bullet a deflection force.
Whoosh!
The bullet, which should have hit Mike directly between the eyebrows, deviated from its trajectory, passing close to his temple and ruffling his hair.
Mike waved at the distant gunman, signaling him to come again.
But the gunman's eyes widened; he couldn't believe his eyes.
"Monster, he's truly a monster!"
The gunman was incredibly decisive. He turned on the gas stove, threw a few bullets into the microwave, then turned the heat to maximum. Then, he quickly rappelled down to the ground using a pre-arranged rope, where a motorcycle was waiting.
His retreat was swift and orderly.
Mike ran towards the gunman's direction until he heard an explosion and saw the blast of fire from the room where the gunman had been.
He stopped.
He couldn't catch up now.
He probably wouldn't find any useful clues in the room either, or if he did, they might be deliberately left by the gunman.
"Such a formidable gunman must not be an unknown. Either he's a famous independent assassin, or he belongs to a powerful organization."
Mike wasn't familiar with the assassin World, but someone else was. He thought of Fat Jerry, who hadn't appeared in a long time.
"Fat Jerry, give me a list of well-known gunmen in New York, especially those skilled in sniping, including outsiders."
"Alright. Business request?"
"No, personal grudge. Just a dozen seconds ago, an expert shot at me twice, cough, cough..."
"You're injured? Is it serious?" Fat Jerry's anxious voice came through the phone. "I mean, do you have any bank account numbers or passwords to hand over?"
"Get lost!!!"
"Full of vigor. Doesn't sound like someone about to die. Alright, give me a few minutes." Fat Jerry hung up the phone, his eyes hidden by his fat face, showing unusual anger. "Damn it, they dared to mess with my brother! I'll dig three feet deep to find you!"