Chapter 170
Meanwhile, in the District 23 of Tokyo Metropolis.
Common radio channel for joint operations forces.
"Notify all joint forces currently engaged in combat that the leader of the [Aogiri Tree], the SSS-rated Kagune User 'One-Eyed King,' has been brought to justice. Initiate the sweep operation now. Repeat, commence the sweep operation."
In the ruins of the dark alley, a group of CCG investigators, who were hunting down Ghoul in their respective assigned areas, were taken aback.
They looked at each other in bewilderment.
"We've won?"
"We've won!"
"The King of Ghoul, that damned One-Eyed Owl, is dead!"
"We have won this battle to protect Tokyo from ghouls!"
In an instant, cheers and shouts of joy rose and fell, seemingly about to resound through the sky.
They would cheer for victory because sweeping operations, apart from being conducted as independent campaigns, only take place when one side has largely secured its victory.
Moreover, the One-Eyed Owl is dead!
That damned SSS-rated Kagune User monster is finally dead!
The North American Ghoul Countermeasures Agents and soldiers around them exchanged glances, maintaining the same excited mood.
Although they didn't quite understand the mixed feelings of hatred and fear that their fellow members of the Tokyo CCG had towards the One-Eyed Owl, it didn't stop them from cheering for victory.
After more than a day of intense martial law operations, they had a profound understanding of the ferocity and sheer number of Ghoul in Tokyo.
Given the situation in Tokyo, with its large number of Ghoul and numerous ghoul-sharing operations, the Ghoul bred under this breeding system are indeed of a higher average quality than Ghoul in the uninhabited areas of North America, making them more difficult to fight, especially those of S-rank and above. Only large-caliber weapons can inflict a fatal wound.
District 23, Quilalea.
Mado Akira, who had been transferred here and was working to restore the Ghoul Containment Facility, looked at her father, who had suddenly become motionless, and asked, "Dad?"
Her sickly, uneven eyes had somehow returned to normal. Kureo Mado tried to speak, but found her voice extremely dry and hoarse, her lips trembling uncontrollably, "Vii (Mado Micro), you can finally rest in peace..."
Three days after the sweep.
Vera officially announced the lifting of martial law in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
CCG Headquarters Building.
Office of the top-ranking Special Class Investigator.
"The Fueguchi Mother and Daughter will be used in their show of using food to control food."
Behind her desk, Vera, dressed in dark casual clothes, put down the draft amendment to the "Legal Ghoul" and the latest research results of the "Ghoul' Edible High -Rc cells Artificial Food" project. Taking advantage of the lazy afternoon, she opened the news and browsed the opinions on mainstream online platforms with great interest.
Well, how should I put it?
The CCG's harsh ghoul-killing policy and the killings and destruction caused during martial law have sparked a huge online debate. Those who haven't experienced Ghoul Disaster are raising questions, and a wave of sympathy for Ghoul is even brewing due to the horrific scenes of Ghoul executions.
"In 2015, the extreme pluralism of the left wing began to rise."
This was exactly what Vera had expected.
Based on the theory of "weak propagation".
The spread of public opinion is never 'rational'; it 'only cares about emotions.' Regardless of whether one is a man or a woman, highly educated or not, after a news event breaks out, the vast majority of expressions will ultimately remain superficial and only on an emotional level.
Where will the emotions of the general public flow?
It flows to the weak.
Why is the highest virtue like water? Because water flows downhill. In the process of spreading public opinion, many civilized people who have received a normal education will naturally associate themselves with the weak.
Now, under Vera's leadership, the CCG, the North American Ghoul Countermeasures Committee, the Prosecution Department Special Investigation Unit, the Metropolitan Police Department, the US Forces Japan, the CIA Operations Department, and the United Nations Forces are conducting a genocidal sweep of Ghoul in Tokyo Metropolis under the spotlight of the world.
Visually, Ghoul have become the weaker party in the face of the state's international violent machinery.
As time went on, these questions, protests, and opposition grew stronger.
Especially after some upper-class Ghoul control resources and connections begin to retaliate, leveraging their existing relationships and backup plans.
In response to public concerns about the excessively harsh sentencing in Ghoul incidents—such as the upper-class gentry who are severely punished for "Ghoul Association Crime," with the least severe punishment being the confiscation of their illegal gains and all assets— Vera decided to appropriately delegate the power of sentencing to democracy, allowing the public, especially those who have been harmed by the Ghoul Disaster and lost loved ones, to have their sentences adjusted.
I'll take this opportunity to show off my 'achievements' along the way.
For example, there are aged wines stored in the basement of the Moon Clan Ancestral Home. There are also the aging and smoking rooms at the Ingredient Caravan Yoshiho.
Ghoul wine is naturally made from human blood, and the ingredients used for aging and smoking are also human flesh and blood...
She didn't mind showing her open-minded side, nor was she worried about those fat pigs waiting to be slaughtered escaping. Public opinion, after all, is just public opinion. What she wanted was simply to appear less extreme and more benevolent.
After all, online judges start with methods like being cut in half or subjected to slow slicing.
They just killed some people and raped them.
Who would have known that some progressive figures, who had previously advocated for freeing Japan from North American control, had quietly infiltrated this group?
The CCG has avenged itself, the people have vented their anger, the positions vacated by the execution of the "traitors" are naturally coveted, the congressmen in Washington have also finished their crackdown on the disobedient "lackeys," reaped the economic benefits and strengthened their control, Vera has gained merit and advancement. Victory! Victory! Victory! Victory for all!
You're good, I'm good, and he's good too.
Phew, the occasions where she had to step in are over.
All that's left is the harvest season.
Vera watched the shimmering outlines of light and shadow on the screen.
Concentrate.
Glug...
The computer screen seemed to have turned into a deep rectangular well, rippling in circles.
Between the ripples, it was as if pairs of luminous indigo eyes were simultaneously fixed on her.
"After several nights of interaction, I've finally delivered most of the raw materials for the prototype. You must study it carefully for me, this other me."
[Resident Evil]
The San Francisco Bay Area.
"Yes, yes, yes... It's true. Although compared to 'me' who was scheming and plotting to start a world war in New Baghdad, my external environment is indeed very comfortable. I also have more money than 'me' who was living a carefree and decadent life in the underworld arms dealing, providing emotional value, but there's no need to deposit it all with me."
Slapping her forehead, whether from the fatigue of interacting with [Heaven's Gift] or something else, Vera, the CEO of Military Science, clicked her tongue and looked at the huge culture tank behind her.
Inside, there was a gigantic, headless, pale white corpse of Kakuja.
"Well, another secret research project has been added."
166
Chapter 166: Keep Moving Forward.
[Resident Evil]
Basement of the headquarters building, Military Science Park 1, San Francisco Bay Area.
Biometric identification passed.
Cyber key verification passed.
Tap, tap.
"You're asking me what I think of this unexpected gain?"
"It's just a choice made by rational people to survive in the face of death. The One-Eyed Owl, as a human -Ghoul hybrid born with one eye, did everything that Ghoul king should do, so he was quite competent."
The path was constructed of bright fluorescent tubes and a reinforced transparent impact-contracting composite material. As Vera walked, she muttered something to herself, as if communicating with some distant being.
[Cyberpunk] The meaning conveyed by the 'Elder Sister' over there is very clear.
Do not disturb!
He is currently enjoying a loving relationship with Saburo Arasaka, Norinobu, Wako, Michiko, while engaging in passionate battles with Militech, New America, the Lazarus Mercenary Group, and a host of allied nations.
There are many things to do and I'm very busy.
Some things went smoothly, and some didn't.
Including but not limited to—
To help the newly independent West Coast Free State Alliance rebuild its defense capabilities, to do its utmost to upgrade and address the technological shortcomings of the Arasaka Manufacturing Sector, to continue the construction of the new Arasaka Research Center in Night City, to strengthen the city's counterintelligence and counter-espionage efforts, to support Kurt Hansen and his Barghest Mercenary Group who have proven their loyalty and capabilities, to cause trouble for the New America, to revise the fleet organization of the Whale-class supercarrier Adelheid carrier battle group, to maintain a policy of distant alliances and close attacks against the Soshikah industry, to hinder Militech, to secretly strengthen the personnel and weaponry of Night City's Security Department, and to address the Frankfurt Incident exposed by the Counter-Intelligence Department, thus hindering Rosalind Miles's presidential campaign...
Just when things were at their peak, a crucial moment arrived: adding the name "Arasaka" to the signature of "Vera Adelheid Russell".
[Ghoul] You're in charge of that side.
"So, what are we delivering today?"
After passing through several access control systems controlled by weak artificial intelligence, Vera stopped in front of the sealed laboratory gate with the sign "Ghoul" on the door.
Click.
Upon entering, dozens of cylindrical containers made of reinforced glass stand neatly in the dim ultraviolet disinfection light, filled with a pale red liquid.
The creatures being cultivated are not clones; they are humanoid or semi-humanoid, varying in size, and all are headless, consisting only of the torso below the neck. Coupled with this cold, silent, and lifeless environment, a sense of absurdity is overwhelming.
Inside, there was a large workbench covered with various common Quinque fabrication tools. The cell culture room was fully equipped with flow cytometers, PCR machines, DNA analyzers and synthesizers, centrifuges, separators, and more.
Vera stopped in front of the largest culture tank in the middle.
Its identifier: [One-Eyed Owl]
Inside, at the location of the shoulder blades and spine, there are Kagune spikes that bloom like flower stamens, and the body of a gigantic Kakuja with two pairs of pale white three-fingered claws.
With its upper and lower jaws almost agape into the shattered, gaping maw, the headless body of a young woman stood erect, her lower body embedded in the core of the monster's Giant Mouth.
On the cross-section of the fracture site in the neck, a precision surgical implant resembling a long nail is clearly nailed to the spinal cord wound.
Vera stared at the implant, arms crossed, her eyes filled with a strange contemplation.
That day, in Quilalea, District 23 "Ghoul," after finishing her conversation with Takatsuki Sen Kishou Arima Takatsuki Sen, Vera decisively defeated and ended the lives of the two who were seeking death.
Kishou Arima, there's not much to say. Considering his honesty, willingness to offer merits, and the return of his intact Quinque, Vera didn't settle scores with him after the war. He retained the reputation of the Half-human investigators from the Shirogane, including those from the CCG's 0th Division.
Just blend in with the world.
Takatsuki Sen, or rather, Eto, Yoshimura Eto.
As the only known orthodox One-Eyed Ghoul, born from intercourse between a human and Ghoul, rather than being a product of Donato Porpora's Ghoul surgery or a defective Half-human from the Washuu Clan, her potential is obvious. As a donor for cultivating such a high-quality Kakuhou, Vera naturally tries to find ways to sustainably utilize her.
An even more unexpected discovery was that the One-Eyed Owl brought out another owl that had been hiding for many years.
Kuzen Yoshimura.
Takatsuki Sen's biological father.
The origin of her Ghoul bloodline.
After Vera beheaded Takatsuki Sen's true form, Kuzen Yoshimura, with a deep sigh, walked out from a corner of the Ghoul junkyard. He had no desire to fight; he simply picked up his daughter's head.
Despite her formidable vitality Ghoul, and despite her strong tendency to self-destruct and die, having had all her limbs amputated below the neck, Takatsuki Sen still managed to achieve a kind of reconciliation with her biological father on her deathbed.
Then came Kuzen Yoshimura.
He said something like this:
"All acts of deprivation are sinful. From the moment we are born, we are constantly depriving others. Survival is a process of committing sins. Life itself is sinful, and I know that I am sinful. Although you are too. But this cycle of hatred should not continue..."
"Just as Eto said, humanity, you've won. And my purpose in coming here is to prove that Ghoul aren't all bloodthirsty criminals; there are also repentant sinners, and innocent people who had no other choice. What can we do if we're born Ghoul? We also want to be human..."
"And I am a sinner. Special Class Investigator, come and kill me."
Then, slit the throat, and pierce the heart.
Vera accepted the SSS- Kakuja donor named Kuzen Yoshimura.
She looked at the culture tank of the "Non-Killing Owl One-Eyed Owl" culture tank.
An elderly man with white hair, who is brain dead, floats in the water with his eyes closed.
A certain implant replaces the brain's commands, maintaining the basic activity of the body's flesh and blood and the regeneration and development of the Kakuhou when Rc cells are adequately replenished.
The combination of cyber implant technology and standing humanoid Quinque -Music Box related technology.