Ito

Su Xiao woke up in the afternoon from a deep sleep.

A full night's sleep left him feeling refreshed. He sat up on the living room sofa, and the aroma of food drifted over.

On the coffee table beside him were several delicately prepared dishes.

A bowl of rice, a grilled fish, and a fragrant soup.

Next to the food lay a note.

'Second-Class Byakuya, I've gone to the branch to handle the aftermath of the ghoul extermination—Mado Akira.'

Su Xiao stretched. Mado Akira wasn't strong, but she was a capable assistant.

After finishing the food, he took out the five white treasure chests and opened them one by one.

These five white chests were all dropped by ordinary ghouls. Su Xiao didn't have high expectations. He obtained the following items:

1100 Paradise Coins (total from the five chests)

Kakuhou (A-Rank) ×2

Kakuhou (B-Rank) ×1

Among the five chests, two only yielded Paradise Coins, while the remaining three dropped Kakuhou.

These Kakuhou had no immediate use. Su Xiao still needed contribution points to raise his rank, so he couldn't craft a Quinque yet.

Fortunately, raising his rank only required reaching a certain amount of contribution points, not spending them.

Once he advanced to Senior Investigator, he could use his accumulated contribution points to craft a Quinque.

Even if he didn't craft one, he could sell these Kakuhou in Reincarnation Paradise for a decent sum.

A gain of 1100 Paradise Coins was pretty good overall.

Su Xiao leaned back on the sofa and began planning his next moves.

First, he had to complete Main Mission (2). The penalty for failing it was severe—a deduction of 3 points from all attributes.

Strength, agility, and intelligence were manageable. Even a 3-point loss would have a big impact, but it wasn't unbearable.

But if vitality dropped by 3 points, his current 6 would fall to 3. The consequences were obvious.

As for charm and luck, they were downright nerve-wracking. Charm would hit zero.

Regarding charm, Su Xiao had a theory: it didn't represent physical attractiveness but personal aura.

For example, someone naturally approachable would have high charm—like celebrities in the real world, who probably had decent charm stats.

Given Su Xiao's murderous demeanor, it'd be a miracle if his charm were high.

Still, this aura had its perks. If he joined a villain faction, he'd be highly valued.

If luck dropped by 3, it would go straight into the negatives.

At that point, his situation would mirror Final Destination—danger at every turn.

So Main Mission (2) was a must. Besides, completing it would grant 1 attribute point and 1500 Paradise Coins—a solid reward.

Next was the hunt mission.

The hunt mission didn't list a reward in Reincarnation Paradise, but Su Xiao sensed it would be generous. After all, he was eliminating threats for the system.

"Alright, time to find another ghoul gathering spot."

The massive ghoul hunt last night had paid off, and Su Xiao wasn't about to waste time hunting them one by one. The yield was too small.

Finding a large ghoul gathering was the smarter move.

But that wasn't easy. The obvious gathering spots were terrifying—like the ones in Districts 1 through 4, which housed hundreds or even thousands of ghouls.

Even Su Xiao wouldn't dare attack those super-large gatherings. A thousand people charging at once, even if all were B-Rank, would wear him down to death.

The ideal ghoul gathering size was under 100. Any more, and Su Xiao couldn't handle it.

The reason he'd killed dozens of ghouls unscathed last night was that they hadn't swarmed him.

Fighting one person versus a hundred was a completely different story. Even with two fists, you couldn't beat four hands. Su Xiao was flesh and blood—he could get hurt, and if hurt badly enough, he'd die.

With that in mind, he needed to visit the 'Helter Skelter' bar again. Ito should have that kind of intel.

And this time, he wouldn't threaten her for information. That wasn't a long-term solution.

Even a cornered rabbit would bite, let alone an SS-Rank Ghoul like Ito.

He picked up the phone from the coffee table and dialed Mado Akira's number.

"Second-Class Byakuya, you're awake."

Mado Akira's voice was crisp and cheerful.

"How's the cleanup going?"

"All done. Headquarters took the ghoul corpses. If nothing goes wrong, I'll get a new Quinque."

Her laughter came through the phone.

"Second-Class Byakuya, how should we handle the ghouls' kakuhou? You were the one who drove them off, so you have the right to dispose of them."

Su Xiao pondered for a moment. His current contribution value as a second-class investigator was 390/400. He was only 10 points away from promotion to first-class.

"Hand two-thirds over to headquarters. As for the remaining third, help me exchange it for something at HQ."

Su Xiao used two-thirds of the kakuhou to earn contribution points.

When Mado Akira heard what Su Xiao wanted, she was taken aback.

"That thing? Alright~, I'll report it to the higher-ups. But HQ doesn't have much stock of it—it's only used when crafting Quinque."

By now, Mado Akira was diligent in handling matters for Su Xiao. Partnering with him not only boosted her achievements but also rapidly sharpened her combat skills.

The call ended. An hour later, Mado Akira returned home.

"I got the item. The branch office just happened to have one left. But Second-Class Byakuya, I'm a bit curious—what are you planning to do with this? It's extremely dangerous for humans, a potent poison."

Mado Akira held a small metal case, handling it with great care, as if it contained something fragile.

"Some things, it's best you don't know."

Taking the metal case, Su Xiao opened it.

"Careful~."

As the case opened, Mado Akira instinctively stepped back two paces.

After confirming the contents were intact, Su Xiao closed the case and stored it in his inventory.

He didn't hide this from Mado Akira, and she showed no surprise at the item's sudden disappearance, as if it were only natural.

This was Reincarnation Paradise's camouflage mechanism, integrating various abilities into the world of ghouls.

"Let's go. We're heading back to that bar."

Mado Akira was full of questions but didn't voice them.

Just as Su Xiao said, some things were best left unknown.

Su Xiao could negotiate with ghouls, but Mado Akira never could—it was a matter of principle.

Twenty minutes later, the two arrived at the "Helter Skelter" bar by car.

Once again leaving Mado Akira waiting in the vehicle, Su Xiao walked inside.

"Welcome—"

Ito began out of habit, but stopped short upon seeing Su Xiao.

In Ito's eyes, Su Xiao was practically a plague god. His purge of a large number of ghouls in the West Block overnight had made her even more wary of him.

"No need to be tense. I'm only here to make a deal with you."

Taking out the metal case, Su Xiao retrieved a test tube from inside.

The tube was finely crafted, about ten centimeters long and thumb-thick, filled with a translucent pale red liquid with bubbles churning within.

Seeing that test tube, Ito swallowed hard, unable to tear her gaze away.

Ghouls rarely got their hands on what Su Xiao held, yet almost all of them craved it.

Meow~~~?