Chapter 42

The bustling streets were packed with traffic, the honking of cars mingling with the pedestrians coming and going.

Su Xiao walked down the street with a map in his hand.

He had already arrived in Ward 14. Although he had previously wanted to visit the café called Anteiku, after considering the Manager's strength, he had temporarily given up.

There was no need to fight the Manager yet. Unlike Takatsuki Sen, although the Manager was also an SSS-Rank Ghoul, his combat skills were far superior to Takatsuki Sen's. However, because he was old, the Manager's combat strength had declined somewhat.

Rather than looking for the Manager, it was more convenient to exterminate Ghouls in Ward 14.

Soon, Su Xiao found the CCG branch in Ward 14. He was currently a Third-Class Investigator, so he walked straight into the branch.

It was around nine in the morning. There were many Investigators in the branch. Su Xiao's unfamiliar face attracted the attention of many Investigators. Those people were extremely sensitive—a professional hazard of being an Investigator.

"Excuse me, where is Mr. Shinohara Yukinori?"

Su Xiao went to the reception desk, where a young female receptionist sat.

"Are you looking for Mr. Shinohara? May I ask who you are?"

The receptionist wore a professional smile and spoke gently.

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

Su Xiao took out his identification and handed it to the receptionist.

After confirming his identification, the receptionist made a call first.

"Hello, Mr. Byakuya. Mr. Shinohara is in his office on the twelfth floor. You'd better hurry, because he's about to leave."

Su Xiao took back his identification and got into the elevator, heading straight for the twelfth floor.

The person in charge of the Ward 14 CCG branch was Special Class Investigator Shinohara Yukinori. Su Xiao had seen him in the original story. He was a middle-aged man with a crew cut, amiable 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, apparently preparing to leave.

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

Shinohara Yukinori put down the Quinque in his hand, sat behind the desk, and gestured for Su Xiao to sit as well. Shinohara began searching for a file.

"Let me see... Ah~, found it. Shirakawa's Family, twenty years old. Began training in combat skills during childhood. Combat strength: SSS+?"

Shinohara Yukinori looked at Su Xiao in surprise, then carefully examined the file in his hand. He suspected that he had misread it. He had merely heard that a very strong Third-Class Investigator was being transferred here, but he had not expected that person's combat strength to be SSS+.

It seemed that the status of Third-Class Investigator had misled Shinohara Yukinori's judgment.

"Hello, Mr. Shinohara Yukinori."

Shinohara Yukinori's gaze continued to move between Su Xiao and the file in his hand. It was difficult for him to imagine that Su Xiao's not particularly muscular body possessed SSS+ combat strength.

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

"No problem. When do we start?"

The Main Quest (2) gave him a full twenty days, which allowed Su Xiao's constantly tense nerves to relax somewhat.

Judging from the difficulty of the Ghoul world, although Su Xiao's current strength was not the strongest, he was by no means weak.

Being sent to a world that was not particularly difficult might be one of Reincarnation Paradise's intentions.

Reincarnation Paradise had used the One Piece World to test whether he was qualified to become a Hunter. The current Ghoul world was Reincarnation Paradise's disguised reward for him.

After Su Xiao asked, Shinohara Yukinori considered it for a moment.

"Right now. We can conduct the assessment here."

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

Su Xiao understood what Shinohara Yukinori meant. He simply wanted to fight him. Hearing was believing, but seeing was believing.

"I'm coming."

"Come on."

Su Xiao's gaze suddenly sharpened. Since this was a sparring assessment, Shinohara Yukinori did not use his Quinque, and Su Xiao did not use Dragon Slayer Flash either.

The office was not very large. Su Xiao rushed in front of Shinohara Yukinori in just a few steps. His Agility attribute of thirteen made his figure difficult to lock onto.

Shinohara Yukinori hurriedly raised both fists in front of his face. Su Xiao's current aura had already left him secretly startled.

Without saying another word, Su Xiao punched the forearm Shinohara Yukinori had raised in front of him.

"Bang."

Shinohara Yukinori involuntarily retreated two steps, a swelling pain spreading through his forearm.

"What a heavy punch."

As Shinohara Yukinori retreated, Su Xiao attacked with both fists, left and right. Shinohara Yukinori soon took several punches to his shoulders, forearms, and other areas.

However, as a Special Class Investigator, Shinohara Yukinori was no pushover.

After taking several blows from Su Xiao, Shinohara Yukinori shouted. His thick arm swept out in a curl, intending to force Su Xiao back.

The two immediately became locked in combat. Su Xiao's style was graceful and agile, but every strike was heavy. Shinohara Yukinori fought steadily and solidly, preferring to take a few more blows rather than expose his vital points.

"Bang, bang, bang~."

Dull impacts rang out. Both men possessed Fighting Spirit, so as the fight continued, they unconsciously became serious.

Su Xiao swept a kick across Shinohara Yukinori's chest. Shinohara Yukinori shifted his step and narrowly avoided the whip kick.

Shinohara Yukinori avoided it, but Su Xiao's kick shattered the corner of the desk beside them.

"Crack!" The corner was sent flying. Shinohara Yukinori's mouth twitched, but his fighting spirit rose even higher.

Anyone who could become a CCG Special Class Investigator was no coward. Fighting powerful Ghouls with nothing but one's flesh and blood required immense courage.

After Su Xiao kicked the desk corner away, a cry of pain suddenly came from the distance.

The cry interrupted Su Xiao and Shinohara Yukinori's sparring. The two looked toward the source of the sound at the same time.

The person who appeared in Su Xiao's view was a white-haired boy.

Judging from his appearance, he looked more like a girl, with a fair face, petite body, and somewhat androgynous clothes.

"Shisho, are you all right?"

Shinohara Yukinori walked up to the boy and looked at him with concern. There was a bruise on the boy's forehead, clearly caused by the desk corner Su Xiao had kicked away.

"I'm fine~, Mr. Shinohara. Why did you stop? I haven't seen enough yet."

The newcomer was called Suzuya Juuzou, and he was Shinohara Yukinori's subordinate.

Or rather, Shinohara Yukinori was not only Suzuya Juuzou's superior but also his guardian. He even took care of Suzuya Juuzou's daily life.

Although Suzuya Juuzou looked feminine, he had originally been male, while his current gender was "none."

Suzuya Juuzou had been raised by Ghouls from childhood. The Ghoul who raised him was called BigMadam, an SS-Rank Ghoul.

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

BigMadam could not tolerate this change, so the Ghoul cruelly crushed Suzuya Juuzou's ***, halting his masculinization and making him even more feminine.

During a later CCG raid, Suzuya Juuzou was accidentally rescued, which was why he became a Ghoul Investigator.

The misfortune of his childhood had made Suzuya Juuzou's personality somewhat strange: lazy, lacking basic knowledge, and a combination of masochism and Sadism.

After examining Suzuya Juuzou's injury, Shinohara Yukinori found that he was indeed fine.

"Good. This is our new colleague, Byakuya. Say hello."

Shinohara Yukinori moved aside and gestured for Suzuya Juuzou to greet Su Xiao.

"Hello~, my name is Suzuya Juuzou. Can I chop you up?"

Suzuya Juuzou's unusual greeting left Shinohara Yukinori somewhat helpless. The child meant no harm; he simply lacked basic common sense.

"Heh~, you little brat."

It's raining. So refreshing~. It's over twenty degrees here, and it's so hot.