Aarav had finally reached the warehouse—the exact location where he had seen Kirti in his vision.
He stepped out of the vehicle and approached the entrance with slow, silent footsteps.
When he reached the door, he carefully leaned forward and glanced inside.
His eyes widened.
"What the hell happened here...?"
The warehouse was filled with bodies.
The scene was horrifying.
Several bodies lay scattered across the floor, their condition indicating that something extremely violent had happened here. The floor was covered with debris and remains, while the entire warehouse looked like the aftermath of a massacre.
Aarav slowly stepped inside.
He examined the bodies one by one, carefully observing their wounds and the condition of the surroundings.
After a few moments, he closed his eyes.
A strange energy began flowing through his body.
Then—
Whoosh!
A faint blue light spread from Aarav and gradually covered the entire warehouse.
The moment the energy enveloped the room, the surroundings began to change.
A three-dimensional reconstruction started appearing before his eyes.
Events from roughly half an hour earlier began replaying themselves inside the warehouse.
Every movement.
Every person.
Every event.
Aarav watched the reconstructed scene carefully, trying to understand exactly what had happened here.
But suddenly—
WEE-OO! WEE-OO!
Police sirens echoed from outside.
Aarav immediately opened his eyes.
The blue energy vanished.
He quickly withdrew his power.
At that very moment, a nervous voice could be heard approaching from outside.
"This way, sir! This way!"
Aarav turned toward the entrance.
He began walking out of the warehouse.
But the moment he stepped outside, several people appeared in front of him.
The man who had been guiding them suddenly stopped.
His eyes widened when he saw Aarav.
Aarav looked at the newcomers.
Several men were wearing sunglasses. Most were dressed in suits, while a few wore plain shirts.
But there was one thing they all had in common.
Every man had a firearm secured at his waist.
One of them immediately stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
Aarav stared at them for a moment.
CID?
His eyes widened slightly.
So they're in this world too?
Ever since childhood, Aarav had watched the famous CID show.
He knew every major officer of the team, their personalities, their backgrounds—even their histories.
He had never expected that after transmigrating into this world, he would actually see them standing right in front of him.
"Hello?"
Another officer snapped his fingers in front of Aarav's face.
"You there. We're asking you something. Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Aarav pulled himself out of his thoughts.
He looked at the officers.
"My name is Aarav."
He pointed toward the warehouse.
"Those people kidnapped my sister. I came here looking for her."
His expression became slightly serious.
"But when I arrived..."
He pointed toward the warehouse.
"I found this."
The officers exchanged glances.
One of them immediately moved toward the entrance.
"Open it."
The warehouse door was pushed completely open.
The moment the officers saw what was inside, several of them froze.
The horrifying scene left even the experienced officers stunned.
A couple of them immediately turned away and vomited.
The officer who had been questioning Aarav stared into the warehouse for several seconds.
Even he couldn't hide the shock on his face.
Then he immediately regained his composure.
"Seal this entire area!"
The other officers straightened.
"Call the forensic department immediately. And start questioning everyone in the surrounding area. Find out if anyone saw or heard anything unusual."
"Yes, sir!"
He then turned toward Aarav.
"You. Come with me. I need to ask you a few questions."
Aarav nodded.
The officer then glanced at the man who had brought them there.
"And you too."
He gestured toward a quieter area.
"Let's talk over there."
Both Aarav and the man followed him.
The officer decided to question the other man first.
"Tell me what happened."
The man nervously swallowed.
"Sir, I own a dhaba nearby. About half an hour ago, I received a food order from here. I brought the food to this warehouse, and when I arrived..."
His voice trembled.
"I saw that."
He pointed toward the warehouse.
"I got scared and immediately ran outside. Then I called the police."
The officer nodded.
"Did you touch anything inside?"
"No, sir."
The man quickly shook his head.
"I was too scared to even go inside properly."
The officer nodded.
Then he looked toward Aarav.
"And you?"
Aarav shook his head.
"No, sir. I didn't touch anything either."
"Alright."
The officer folded his arms.
"Now tell me everything from the beginning. What were you doing here?"
Aarav answered calmly.
"Sir, like I said, my name is Aarav. This morning, I left the gym and went to a nearby restaurant for breakfast."
He paused.
"That's when I received information that my elder sister, Kirti, had been kidnapped by some people."
"I followed their trail to this location because I was trying to find my sister."
His eyes moved toward the warehouse.
"But when I arrived, I found this scene."
"And then you arrived."
The officer carefully studied Aarav's face.
But there was something strange.
Aarav wasn't shaking.
He wasn't nervous.
There was no visible fear in his eyes.
No panic.
Nothing.
The officer's suspicion increased.
Aarav was only eighteen years old.
Anyone his age would normally have difficulty maintaining their composure after seeing such a horrifying scene.
Yet Aarav stood there as if he had merely walked into an ordinary crime scene.
The officer narrowed his eyes.
"How did you know your sister had been kidnapped?"
Aarav remained silent.
"And how did you know she had been brought to this particular warehouse?"
The officer's voice became sharper.
"Did the kidnappers tell you?"
Aarav understood what he was getting at.
He calmly replied,
"Sir, I have my ways."
Then he added,
"My father is an officer."
The officer raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
He glanced at Aarav.
"Which department?"
Aarav looked toward the man standing nearby.
The officer immediately understood.
He turned toward the man.
"We need to discuss something privately. Could you wait over there for a moment?"
The man nodded quickly.
"Yes, sir."
He walked away.
Once they were alone, Aarav lowered his voice.
"Sir, my father works for RAW."
The officer's expression changed instantly.
"RAW?"
He stared at Aarav.
Then his suspicion returned.
"Are you telling me the truth?"
He studied Aarav's face.
"How am I supposed to believe that?"
Aarav simply shrugged.
"Sir, you can investigate my identity."
His voice remained calm.
"But this is an emergency."
He looked toward the warehouse.
"I came here to find my sister."
His expression finally became serious.
"But now she's missing."
"The kidnappers have been brutally massacred..."
He paused.
"And I have no idea where she is."
A brief silence followed.
"Dead or alive..."
Aarav looked directly at the officer.
"I don't know."
The officer's expression softened slightly.
"Don't worry. We'll find her."
He then asked,
"Do you have a picture of your sister?"
Aarav nodded.
He pulled out his phone, opened his gallery, and brought up Kirti's photograph.
Then he turned the screen toward the officer.
"She's my sister."
The officer took the phone and carefully examined the photograph.
His expression suddenly became more serious.
He looked at Kirti's picture again.
Then at Aarav.
The investigation had just taken an unexpected turn.
Meanwhile, in a room somewhere in Delhi's Jafrabad area, a terrorist stood wearing an explosive vest.
Venkatesh stood directly in front of him.
The man smiled.
"How did you like the gift, Venky?"
Venkatesh's expression changed.
The terrorist suddenly shouted—
"Allahu Akbar!"
The moment Venkatesh realized what was about to happen, he immediately leapt toward the exit.
But before he could get clear—
BOOM!!!
A massive explosion tore through the room.
The blast wave threw Venkatesh across the corridor, sending him crashing into the wall of the building opposite.
He collapsed, badly injured.
Several people in the surrounding area were also caught in the blast and injured.
SK and the other officers had been positioned near the staircase. The explosion reached them as well, leaving them injured and disoriented.
---
Meanwhile, Aarav was repeatedly trying to call Venkatesh.
But the call wouldn't connect.
He tried again.
Nothing.
The entire CID team had now gathered outside the warehouse.
Forensic officers were collecting blood samples, photographs, and other evidence while documenting the crime scene.
Aarav stood nearby, still trying to reach Venkatesh.
Then, amid the crowd, he suddenly heard someone talking.
"Hey, did you hear? There has been another blast in Delhi."
Another man looked at him in shock.
"What? Are you serious?"
"Yeah. It's on the news."
A third man, overhearing their conversation, shook his head.
"I don't know what the intelligence agencies are doing. Blasts keep happening in our country, and we can't seem to stop them."
Aarav immediately pulled out his phone.
He opened the news.
A breaking-news report appeared on the screen.
BREAKING NEWS: BLAST REPORTED IN JAFRABAD, DELHI.
Aarav's expression changed.
His mind immediately went to Venkatesh.
He quickly called SK.
The call wouldn't connect either.
Aarav stared at his phone for a few seconds.
Then, after thinking for a moment, he called SP Staymurti.
The call connected.
"Yes, Aarav?"
Aarav immediately asked,
"Sir... my father?"
Staymurti understood the panic in his voice.
"Calm down. He's alright. He's currently receiving treatment. He's out of danger."
Aarav closed his eyes for a moment in relief.
Then his expression turned serious.
"Sir, Kirti has been kidnapped."
There was a brief silence.
"What?"
"Someone has taken her."
Aarav's voice became colder.
"I think someone is targeting us."
He paused.
"And I suspect Wasim."
Staymurti immediately understood the seriousness of the situation.
"I'll put together a team to search for Kirti. And if Wasim really is targeting your family, I'll send another team to protect you."
Aarav shook his head.
"I don't need protection."
He looked toward the warehouse.
"Just give me a free hand."
Staymurti remained silent for a few seconds.
Then he said,
"I'm sending an officer to you. He'll assist you."
Before Aarav could respond, the call ended.
Aarav stared at his phone.
Why did he agree so easily?
---
Elsewhere, SP Staymurti leaned back in his chair, deep in thought.
Aarav could become a very talented spy.
But he knew Venkatesh had never wanted his son to enter this field.
This might be the right opportunity to test him.
With that thought, Staymurti immediately assigned a team to search for Kirti.
---
Back at the warehouse, the forensic team continued examining every victim and documenting the injuries.
After some time, the head of the CID team, ACP Pritam Tiwari, approached the forensic experts.
He looked toward Dr. Shrinath, the forensic department's head.
"Anything yet? Can you determine what kind of weapon was used?"
Dr. Shrinath looked at him and sighed.
"Pritam, after all these years of experience, I'm surprised you still can't distinguish weapon injuries from injuries caused by something else."
ACP Pritam frowned.
"I know these don't look like ordinary weapon marks. But what else could have caused something like this?"
Dr. Shrinath shrugged.
"That, I don't know."
He paused.
"But whatever caused these injuries was extremely dangerous."
Pritam raised an eyebrow.
"An animal?"
"Possibly."
Shrinath examined the evidence carefully.
"It had extremely sharp teeth, powerful claws, and incredible speed."
Pritam stared at him.
"How can you say it was intelligent?"
Shrinath's expression became serious.
"Look at this."
He pointed toward a chair nearby.
"Someone was tied to this chair."
Pritam examined it.
Shrinath continued.
"Whatever attacked these people didn't simply cause chaos and leave. It came here, dealt with everyone quickly, then reached this chair."
He pointed toward the damaged restraints.
"These marks suggest the restraints were cut by claws."
Pritam's expression hardened.
"And then?"
"It took whoever was tied here and left."
Pritam stared at him in disbelief.
"Shrinath... how is that even possible?"
Shrinath pointed toward the evidence.
"Look at the marks on the rope and the chair. These aren't cuts from an ordinary blade. They're consistent with something clawed."
Pritam became thoughtful.
"So the girl..."
His eyes moved around the warehouse.
"Kirti was probably being held here."
Shrinath nodded.
"And then something came here, attacked everyone, freed her, and took her away."
An officer standing nearby asked,
"But sir... was it a human being or an animal?"
Pritam remained silent for a moment.
Then he said,
"The attacker was human."
The officer looked confused.
"Then what about the creature?"
Pritam slowly looked toward the evidence.
"Maybe the human wasn't alone."
He paused.
"Perhaps he had some kind of creature under his control."
The entire team fell silent.
The mystery surrounding Kirti had just become far stranger than any of them had expected.