Ghoul Human

Chapter 44: Ghoul × Human

Su Xiao stood behind a large tree. After observing for a while, he stepped out from behind the trunk.

His sudden appearance startled the female high school student. Her red eyes and Kagune vanished at the same time, and she looked somewhat flustered.

"Who are you? How did you get here?"

"CCG, Third-Class Investigator, Byakuya."

Dragon Slayer Flash appeared in Su Xiao's hand, its snow-bright blade flashing with a cold gleam under the moonlight.

"A CCG Investigator... So this day has finally come."

The female high school student lowered her head. The hand hidden behind her back dropped limply, bloodstains still not fully wiped from her palm.

Her Kagune and red eyes reappeared. This Ghoul had a Tail Kagune. It emerged from the end of her spine, with two strands no thicker than fingers.

"Did you see my face? My name is Chinatsu, the one who'll kill you."

Chinatsu's delicate face twisted. This Ghoul still retained some humanity, but she was a Ghoul all the same.

"This park is your hunting ground, isn't it?"

Su Xiao had basically figured out what had happened. The Ghoul he was looking for was Chinatsu, standing right before him.

"I'll give you ten seconds to leave your last words."

Chinatsu froze, then looked at Su Xiao in amusement.

"You're only a Third-Class Investigator, yet you want me to leave last words? Just because of that lousy blade in your hand? That thing can't hurt me."

"What a strange last wish."

With that, Su Xiao charged forward with his blade.

The sounds of fighting, screams, and sobs...

A minute later, the forest fell silent. Chinatsu lay on the ground covered in blood, her Kagune severed and both arms missing.

"It hurts so much~. So this is how painful injuries are. No wonder those prey screamed so loudly."

Tears glistened at the corners of Chinatsu's eyes. She was merely a Ghoul between A-Rank and S-Rank, yet Su Xiao had dealt with her in just a few slashes.

"Are you going to kill me?"

Su Xiao said nothing. Standing beside Chinatsu, he raised Dragon Slayer Flash.

"Is it really wrong to live as a Ghoul? Haha~. Eating people raw really does bring retribution."

"That has nothing to do with me. It's just a mission. Farewell."

The long blade fell, splashing blood into the air.

You killed the S-Rank Ghoul, Chinatsu.

Chinatsu was an ordinary Ghoul. You obtained 0.5% World Source. You have now obtained a total of 5.7% World Source.

Your talent, 'Spirit Eater,' activated. Permanently increased Mana by 7 points. Current Mana: 170 points.

Obtained 40 CCG Contribution Points.

Although Chinatsu was an S-Rank Ghoul, she did not drop a Treasure Chest.

This was not unexpected. The gap between Chinatsu and Su Xiao was simply too great. Her lack of influence on the plot could be seen from the amount of World Source obtained.

The reason Gecko had dropped a Green Treasure Chest was not because of his strength, but because he was closely connected to the original work.

Su Xiao took out the CCG's dedicated phone and made a call. After explaining the situation to the Ward 14 branch, he hung up.

The matters that followed did not require his attention. The CCG would send people to deal with Chinatsu's corpse. Once Chinatsu's Kagune Core was removed, he could obtain some Contribution Points.

Of course, he could also keep the Kagune Core and spend Contribution Points to have Chinatsu's Kagune Core made into a Quinque.

A Quinque made from an S-Rank Kagune Core should only be a White piece of equipment, so Su Xiao chose to turn it in and obtained 10 Contribution Points.

Thus, Su Xiao's Contribution Points became: Third-Class Investigator (Contribution Points 50/50). Promote position: Yes/No.

He chose to promote. His position did not change, and Reincarnation Paradise issued a notification.

Waiting for feedback from CCG Headquarters. Estimated time: 3 hours.

Promoting his position was not as simple as merely choosing to promote. It also required notification from CCG Headquarters.

With the influence of Reincarnation Paradise, becoming a Second-Class Investigator was certain.

Without Reincarnation Paradise's influence, it might have taken Su Xiao several years to rise to Senior Investigator.

This had nothing to do with how many Ghouls he had driven out. It was a matter of seniority.

Now, with Reincarnation Paradise's influence, the issue of seniority had been set aside. Su Xiao only needed to hunt a large number of Ghouls.

Even so, rising to Senior Investigator would not be easy.

The CCG had six levels of Investigators. From lowest to highest, they were: Third-Class Investigator, Second-Class Investigator, First-Class Investigator, Senior Investigator, Associate Special Class Investigator, and Special Class Investigator.

Third-Class was the weakest, while Special Class was the strongest.

When Su Xiao returned to the Ward 14 branch, Shinohara Yukinori took the initiative to find him.

"That's what happened. In any case, the Ghoul has been driven out. Are there any other Ghouls that need to be driven out?"

Su Xiao described what had happened to Shinohara Yukinori, who nodded.

"I've already reported your solo elimination of an S-Rank Ghoul to Headquarters. If nothing goes wrong, you should be promoted to Second-Class Investigator ahead of schedule. With your abilities, Third-Class is far too restrictive.

"No, even Second-Class is somewhat restrictive. But without sufficient achievements, Headquarters won't promote you."

Su Xiao said nothing. At present, he only wanted to continue searching for the next Ghoul.

The current situation was that, apart from him, all the Contractors had been assigned to the Ghoul faction. In other words, Contractor No. 12470, his target, was also in the Ghoul faction.

Judging from Main Quest (1.2) and its two objectives, Main Quest (3) would most likely be a confrontation-type quest. Otherwise, there would be no need to divide everyone into two factions or activate a balancing mechanism.

"Since that's the case, Special Class Investigator Shinohara, perhaps you could provide me with the locations of some more Ghouls."

Completing Main Quest (2) sooner would definitely bring great benefits.

"Mm, that's one way to do it. However, what you need right now is rest. It's already ten at night.

"Besides, I have something to ask of you tomorrow morning. Or rather, Mr. Mado has something to ask of you."

Su Xiao was somewhat puzzled, but he did not ask further. After bidding farewell to Shinohara Yukinori, he went to the dormitory assigned to him by the Ward 14 CCG branch. It was located on the sixteenth floor of the branch.

--

Ward 11, Ota Ward.

As the stronghold of Aogiri Tree, Ward 11 had practically become a forbidden zone for humans.

Aogiri Tree had attacked the Ward 11 CCG branch multiple times, weakening the human forces in Ward 11 to the extreme. Only near the Ward 11 CCG branch did a few scattered civilians still live, trembling with fear every day.

These civilians did not live here willingly. They had been trapped. The Ghouls of Ward 11 had imprisoned them here, treating them as emergency "rations." Apart from powerful Investigators, no one could freely enter or leave Ward 11.

The Ghouls living here obtained their supply of human flesh through "imports." It was clear just how dangerous Ward 11 was.

At this moment, more than twenty humans had gathered in an Unfinished Building in the outskirts of Ward 11.

These twenty-odd people were not part of a single faction. They were divided into three groups, each with a different number of members. They were the Contractors of the Ghoul faction.

"Han Yu, stop talking nonsense. The balancing mechanism only exists because the CCG's current strength is greater than Aogiri Tree's. What ridiculously powerful Contractor? Stop creating imaginary enemies here."

A young man with fiery red short hair and a bad temper looked at Han Yu disdainfully.

Han Yu sneered and shook his head. If the other man had not been a Fire Mage, he would never have taken the initiative to form an alliance.

"Fire Explosion, don't think that just because I took the initiative to seek an alliance with you, you can act arrogantly."

The staff in Han Yu's hand tapped the ground, and a thin layer of ice gradually spread beneath his feet. Han Yu was also a Mage, but an Ice Mage. His ability to injure enemies was not strong; his strength lay in control.

"If we weren't in the same faction, I'd have killed you already."

Fire Explosion tightened his grip on the Short Staff in his hand. A wave of heat spread out, and large sparks appeared around his body.

Fire Explosion's aura made Han Yu's expression change.

"This feeling~ Could it be that you've already found a staff suited to your attribute?"

Han Yu looked at the Short Staff in Fire Explosion's hand.

The Short Staff looked terrible, like a fire poker. Yet at the tip, a Red Crystal the size of a fingernail was set into it. Flames seemed to burn within the red crystal.

Fire Explosion looked somewhat smug as he cast a contemptuous glance at the staff in Han Yu's hand.

"This treasure cost me 14,000 Paradise Coins. That was my total income from two worlds, not even counting the cost of bringing people along."

Fire Explosion's face twisted with pain, but there was also excitement mixed into it.

"Lucky bastard."

Han Yu's eyes were filled with envy.

Han Yu shook his head, took a small video camera from his Storage Space, and tossed it to Fire Explosion.

Fire Explosion caught the small video camera. After fiddling with it for a while, his expression changed drastically.

The small video camera contained footage of Su Xiao instantly killing Gecko and crushing Rize.

Fire Explosion had a violent personality, but he was not brainless. Otherwise, he could not have gathered a temporary Adventurer Team of ten people.

"Let's form an alliance, Han Yu. We have to cooperate in this Derivative World. Otherwise, that monster will kill us all. He brutally killed an S-Rank Ghoul—damn, how did a monster like this enter the Ghoul World? This guy is at least Lv. 7 or higher.

"I'll show my sincerity first: an important piece of information. The third stage of the Main Quest is a confrontation quest. I bought this information for 400 Paradise Coins."

Han Yu breathed a sigh of relief. If he allied with Fire Explosion, they might still have a chance.