CH-12. Returning

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Michael woke up slowly and looked at Li Xiaolu, who lay naked beside him, dazed. He remembered… he had absorbed the power of the soundwave from a man, then wanted to take Li Xiaolu's power as well. But then… her figure had stirred something within him, a desire he couldn't control, and he had acted on it.

Li Xiaolu was lying beside him while his thick cum was leaking from her pussy.

"I may have been too harsh..."

Michael glanced at the disheveled Li Xiaolu, feeling a twinge of guilt. At that moment, he had been completely out of control, but now he felt calmer, as if he had released whatever dark emotions had been clouding his mind. Of course, the way he had done so was… unusual.

"Could it be because of the evil heart?"

Michael couldn't quite grasp why he had lost control like that. The only explanation that came to mind was the influence of his evil heart.

"Damn, I've slept too long."

Glancing out the window at the dark night and checking the time on the clock, Michael felt frustrated. By his calculations, less than an hour remained, and he had yet to find the hero or heroine. The identity of the boss behind the organization was still unknown.

Mind control and mental manipulation—these were the abilities he craved most. Missing this opportunity would be such a loss.

"No, I need to find the hero as soon as possible. Or at least one of the villain's henchmen. They also have mind control abilities."

Michael didn't want to let this chance slip by. Time was running out, so he attempted to use his foresight ability to locate them. However, to his surprise, his ability wasn't working. He tried again, but the result was the same.

The soundwave powers, foresight, and tracking abilities he had recently absorbed all seemed to have vanished. Only his fire manipulation remained, which gave him some relief. Something had gone wrong, causing the newly absorbed powers to become ineffective.

"Damn it, was it all for nothing?"

Michael cursed under his breath. Looking at Li Xiaolu again, he thought, well… maybe not entirely for nothing. At least he had some fun in the process.

Although he hadn't absorbed Li Xiaolu's power, seeing her unconscious and the small bloodstain beside her, he felt even more guilty.

"Forget it. I can come back in 30 days. Worst case, I'll revisit this world and try again."

With a resigned sigh, Michael shook his head. He found some money, left a note, dressed her, and waited for the timer to run out.

[The Copy World time is over. You will be returning soon.]

The system's voice rang out, and Michael disappeared from the room.

The next moment, Michael reappeared inside Skye's car. However, Skye was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm back." Michael muttered before asking the system, "What happened earlier? Why did I lose control? Is it because of the evil heart? I could feel the darkness in me grow stronger. It felt so… liberating, like I could do whatever I wanted."

[Side missions complete. Main mission reward delivered.]

The system responded.

"And what reward is that?"

[The energy required to upgrade the system. Exact values are unknown.]

"Alright, but answer my question first."

[You lost control not due to your evil heart, but because you absorbed too much power too quickly. Your body can adjust the powers you devour, remove drawbacks, and stabilize them, but it requires time. You consumed too many abilities in a short period, overwhelming the process and causing you to lose control.]

"That makes sense."

Michael reflected on this. No matter how strong his body was, it couldn't handle too much all at once. The mission had required him to absorb at least three abilities, so that was likely his body's limit within a short period.

"What about my devouring ability? Is it gone?"

[It's not ineffective. Your body simply needs time to adapt. Once it's finished adjusting, the abilities will be usable again.]

"So, it's only temporarily unusable? Good. At least it's not permanent." Michael exhaled in relief, "System, is the energy sufficient for an upgrade now? After absorbing all those abilities, I expected it to be enough."

[Not enough energy to upgrade.]

"Still not enough? Looks like upgrading you will be tough."

Just then, the car door opened, and Skye stepped in, looking worried.

"You're back? Where did you go? I couldn't find you when I woke up, and you didn't answer your phone!" Skye's concern was evident.

Michael smiled apologetically, "You were still asleep when I left, so I didn't want to wake you. I found a restaurant that had good reviews online, so I went to check it out. It was far away, and I thought I'd take you if it was good. Unfortunately, it wasn't, so it was a waste of time. As for the phone, I must've missed your calls. Maybe the signal was bad where I was."

"Don't do that again." Skye scolded gently, "I don't care about the restaurant. I only care about being with you. I was so worried when I couldn't reach you. I thought something had happened."

Michael nodded, feeling a little guilty, "I promise it won't happen again. Now, how about we grab dinner? I'm starving."

"Of course, handsome." Skye replied with a smile and kissed Michael on the cheeks.

---

One week after returning from the Copy World, Michael's devouring ability had slowly recovered. His body had adapted, and his powers were becoming usable again. However, he hadn't had a chance to use most of them yet, except his foresight.

One afternoon, Michael suddenly had a vision of the future. He saw himself sitting in the car with Skye when the door opened. A man in a suit smiled at him—Phil Coulson. He appeared to say something and extended his hand, but the vision cut off before Michael could hear or see more.

It didn't take much to guess that Coulson was here to recruit him for SHIELD, though it seemed to be happening earlier than expected—at least two or three months ahead of the normal timeline.

"What's on your mind?" Skye asked softly, noticing his distant expression.

Michael shook his head, "Nothing much. I just have a feeling that someone might come to visit us soon."

"A premonition?" Skye raised an eyebrow, "Do you have that ability?"

"Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't." Michael replied with a shrug. Since his powers weren't from this world, he didn't worry about keeping them secret. No one knew what abilities he had.

"Did you have a premonition about us being together?" Skye asked with a curious smile.

Michael shook his head, "No, but I believe it was fate. No need for a premonition. And while I didn't foresee us being together, I do have a strong feeling that we'll always be together in the future."

"I don't know if I believe you." Skye said with a smile, "but I'm happy to hear it."

Knock! Knock! Knock!