Chapter 42

The noisy street was bustling with traffic, the honking of cars mingling with the flow of pedestrians.

Su Xiao walked along the street, a map in hand.

He had already arrived at Ward 14. Though he'd considered visiting the café called Anteiku, given the strength of its manager, he decided to hold off for now.

There was no need to clash with the manager yet. Unlike Takatsuki Sen, who was also an SSS-rank ghoul, the manager's combat skills were far superior—though age had dulled his fighting ability somewhat.

Rather than seeking out the manager, it was more convenient to hunt ghouls in Ward 14.

Soon, Su Xiao found the CCG branch in Ward 14. As a Third-Class Investigator, he walked straight in.

It was around nine in the morning. The branch was filled with investigators, and Su Xiao's unfamiliar face drew their attention. These guys were sharp—it came with the job.

"Excuse me, where can I find Shinohara Yukinori?"

Su Xiao approached the front desk, where a young female receptionist sat.

"You're looking for Mr. Shinohara? May I ask who you are?"

The receptionist flashed a professional smile, her tone warm.

"I'm the new Third-Class Investigator, Byakuya. I'm here to report in."

Su Xiao pulled out his ID and handed it to her.

After verifying the credentials, the receptionist made a quick phone call.

"Mr. Byakuya, hello. Mr. Shinohara is in his office on the twelfth floor. You'd better hurry—he's about to head out."

Su Xiao took back his ID and took the elevator straight to the twelfth floor.

The head of the Ward 14 CCG branch was Special-Class Investigator Shinohara Yukinori. Su Xiao recognized him from the original story—a middle-aged man with a crew cut, humble and easy to get along with.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in."

Su Xiao pushed open the office door. Inside, Shinohara Yukinori was organizing his Quinque, clearly preparing to leave.

"You're early, Byakuya, Third-Class."

Shinohara Yukinori set down his Quinque, sat behind his desk, and gestured for Su Xiao to take a seat. He began searching through some files.

"Let me see... Ah, found it. Shirakawa's Family, age 20, combat training since childhood, combat power... SSS+?"

Shinohara Yukinori shot Su Xiao a surprised glance, then carefully re-examined the file. He thought he'd misread it. He'd only heard that a strong Third-Class Investigator was being transferred in, but he hadn't expected the guy's combat power to be SSS+.

Clearly, the rank of Third-Class Investigator had misled Shinohara Yukinori's judgment.

"Hello, Mr. Shinohara Yukinori."

Shinohara Yukinori's gaze flickered between Su Xiao and the file. It was hard for him to imagine that Su Xiao's unremarkable build could house SSS+ combat power.

"Hello, Byakuya, Third-Class. But before you officially take up your post, we need to conduct a combat evaluation."

"No problem. When does it start?"

Main Mission (2) gave him a full twenty days, which let Su Xiao's ever-tense nerves relax a bit.

Given the difficulty of this ghoul world, his current strength wasn't top-tier, but it was far from weak.

Being sent to a world of this difficulty might be Reincarnation Paradise's way of doing things.

Reincarnation Paradise had used the One Piece World to test whether he was worthy of becoming a Hunter. Now, this ghoul world was its way of rewarding him.

After Su Xiao's question, Shinohara Yukinori thought for a moment.

"How about now? We can do the evaluation right here."

With that, Shinohara Yukinori took off his suit jacket and rolled his arms.

Su Xiao understood what Shinohara Yukinori meant—he wanted to spar. Hearing was nothing compared to seeing.

"I'm coming."

"Bring it on."

Su Xiao's gaze sharpened instantly. Since this was a sparring evaluation, Shinohara Yukinori didn't use his Quinque, and Su Xiao didn't draw Dragon Slayer Flash.

The office wasn't large. In a few steps, Su Xiao was in front of Shinohara Yukinori. With Agility at 13 points, his figure was hard to lock onto.

Shinohara Yukinori quickly raised both fists in front of his face. Su Xiao's momentum alone made him inwardly uneasy.

Without a word, Su Xiao threw a punch at Shinohara Yukinori's forearm, which was blocking his face.

Thud.

Shinohara Yukinori couldn't help but step back two paces, his forearm throbbing with pain.

"Heavy punch."

As Shinohara Yukinori retreated, Su Xiao struck with both fists in rapid succession. Shinohara Yukinori's shoulders and forearms took several hits.

But as a Special-Class Investigator, Shinohara Yukinori wasn't a pushover.

After taking a few blows, he let out a sharp shout, swung his thick arm in a wide arc, and tried to force Su Xiao back.

The two immediately clashed. Su Xiao's style was fluid and agile, but every strike carried weight. Shinohara Yukinori held his ground, willing to take a few hits rather than expose a vital point.

"Thump, thump, thump~."

A dull impact echoed as the two clashed, both being the type who grew fiercer with each exchange, so they couldn't help but get serious as the fight dragged on.

Su Xiao's leg swept past Shinohara Yukinori's chest. Shinohara Yukinori sidestepped, barely dodging the whip kick.

Shinohara Yukinori dodged it, but Su Xiao's kick shattered the corner of a nearby desk.

"Crack." The desk corner flew off. Shinohara Yukinori's mouth twitched, but his fighting spirit only flared higher.

To become a Special Class Investigator at the CCG, there were no cowards. Fighting powerful ghouls with nothing but flesh and blood took immense courage.

Just as Su Xiao kicked off the desk corner, a pained cry rang out from a distance.

That cry broke off Su Xiao and Shinohara Yukinori's spar. Both turned toward the source.

What met Su Xiao's eyes was a boy with a full head of white hair.

From appearance alone, he looked more like a girl—pale face, small frame, and androgynous clothing.

"Juuzou, are you alright?"

Shinohara Yukinori walked over to the boy, looking at him with concern. A bruise was forming on the boy's forehead, hit by the desk corner Su Xiao had kicked off.

"I'm fine~, Mr. Shinohara, why'd you stop? I wasn't done watching."

The newcomer was named Suzuya Juuzou, a subordinate of Shinohara Yukinori.

Or rather, Shinohara Yukinori wasn't just Suzuya Juuzou's superior—he was also his guardian, even looking after Suzuya Juuzou's daily life.

Though Suzuya Juuzou had a feminine appearance, he was originally male, and his current gender was 'none.'

Suzuya Juuzou was raised by a ghoul from childhood. That ghoul was named BigMadam, an SS-class ghoul.

BigMadam was a pedophile and a sadist. Suzuya Juuzou looked very much like a girl when he was young, but as he grew older, his originally feminine features began to change.

This change in Suzuya Juuzou was intolerable to BigMadam, so she cruelly crushed Suzuya Juuzou's ***, halting his masculinization and making him more feminine.

Later, during a CCG raid, Suzuya Juuzou was rescued by chance, which led to him becoming a ghoul investigator.

His unfortunate childhood left Suzuya Juuzou with a peculiar personality—lazy, lacking basic awareness, a mix of masochism and sadism.

After checking Suzuya Juuzou's wound, Shinohara Yukinori confirmed he was fine.

"Good, you're fine. This is our new colleague, Byakuya. Say hello."

Shinohara Yukinori stepped aside, signaling Suzuya Juuzou to greet Su Xiao.

"Hey there~, I'm Suzuya Juuzou. Can I cut you?"

Suzuya Juuzou's odd greeting left Shinohara Yukinori a bit helpless. The kid meant no harm—he just lacked basic common sense.

"Heh~, little brat."

It's raining, nice and cool~. It's over twenty degrees here, so hot.