Hunting

The next instant, Grave Robber looked back with wide eyes. Raven was charging at an incredible speed, and in another blink, Raven had already overtaken him.

"Wh... what?! Are you insane?!"

Forgetting his pursuit of Huiqi, he instinctively shouted.

"I'm not insane! This prey is mine! Hahahahahaha!"

Raven laughed wildly, as though Huiqi's head were already in the bag.

"But I don't think that's how this is going to play out."

"What did you say?"

Huiqi's voice rang out beside Raven's ear. Distracted, Raven instinctively asked.

At that moment, Huiqi stopped fleeing and looked at Raven with excited eyes. He swept the long blade behind him in a vicious semicircular arc, aiming straight at Raven.

Before Raven could react, Huiqi drove off the ground, his muscles tensing. Under Yamori and Grave Robber's shocked gazes, he suddenly launched his attack.

Screeeeech...

An ear-piercing grinding sound erupted, like metal clashing violently against metal, sharp and savage enough to set hearts pounding. The long blade carved a vicious arc through the air and cleaved into the ukaku with thunderous force, leaving a deep gash. But it did not stop there. The blade continued its assault along a bizarre curve.

Every slash came with a resounding clash as blade met ukaku. Behind them, Yamori and Grave Robber could only watch Raven's gruesome plight. The ukaku was already in tatters, like a rag full of holes.

"Save me!! Help me!!!"

Raven's cries were filled with despair and terror. Raven's face was as pale as paper, drained of all color. The once greedy, smug eyes now writhed with pain, revealing a profound fear of death.

Raven's body trembled with agonizing pain, every shudder accompanied by another strike from Huiqi's long blade. Blood streamed from the wounds, forming horrifying red trails.

Crack! Splat!

Rumble...

Raven's head fell to the ground and rolled. Even in death, the eyes remained wide with shock, never having had a chance to react to Huiqi's sudden attack.

"You tricked us?! You damned Ghoul Investigator!"

Grave Robber instinctively backed up beside Yamori, watching Huiqi warily, all his earlier recklessness gone.

Huiqi's face was expressionless, with only a twitch at the corner of his mouth, as though in silent mockery. His gaze swept over the two ghouls for a few seconds before he chose Grave Robber as his target and attacked.

Clang! The three faced off in the narrow space. Huiqi's feet moved rapidly as a fierce battle unfolded. Every sway of his body, precise kick, and ferocious blow carried intense killing intent.

It's him?! Could it be him? No, absolutely not!

Watching Huiqi's furious assault, Yamori stopped moving. His body trembled, instinctively wanting to flee. He could not help remembering the time Lantern Ghoul had invited him along. That time, he had never even seen the Ghoul Investigator's face, yet he had still been gravely wounded.

"What are you thinking?! Hurry up and help! I can't hold out!"

Ahead of him, Grave Robber's face had already turned deathly pale, and his kagune was covered in blade marks.

"I-I... you... d-damn it!"

Yamori was just about to answer when his pupils abruptly contracted. Without hesitation, he abandoned what he had been doing and fled, plunging his kagune into the buildings to increase his speed. All that remained on the battlefield was Grave Robber, pinned to the ground by the long blade.

"Running away? Cutting off your tail to survive?"

Huiqi coldly watched Yamori flee. With Yamori running at full speed, he might not be able to catch him. Besides, there could be more ambushes waiting if he gave chase, which would put him at a serious disadvantage.

"Three S-rate ghouls. Not a bad haul today."

Huiqi put away his long blade and waited for the CCG personnel to arrive.

Half an hour later...

A member of the CCG support staff handed Huiqi a written report detailing the results of the Ward 7 operation and his merit record.

"Rank 1 Investigator... understood."

Huiqi saw that his rank had advanced from Rank 2 Investigator to Rank 1 Investigator. However, this was only a provisional designation. He still needed to return to the CCG to have his official rank updated.

"Is there anything else you need?"

The assistant before him asked cautiously, afraid of overlooking any detail. To the support staff, the Ghoul Investigators fighting on the front lines were all eccentric. Each had different motivations and backgrounds. Some had lost loved ones, while others fought for money. In short, they had to be treated carefully, or there could be unpleasant consequences.

"Nothing else. I'll head back to update my records."

Huiqi shook his head and joined them in the vehicle returning to headquarters. His main purpose was to see Dr. Jin Toka, who was responsible for Quinque research and development. Presumably, his haul from Ward 20 had already been turned into Quinques.

Inside the CCG...

Everyone around him wore the same white Ghoul Investigator uniform and carried identical briefcases as they came and went. Their faces bore all manner of emotions: relief, sorrow, frustration, anxiety.

"The mission failed. We let those bastards get away again."

"Things went all right on my end. The ghouls in Ward 11 didn't start a riot. They were pretty well behaved."

"I heard someone ruthless went to Ward 7 and killed three S-rate ghouls today."

"Huh? Three? Rank 1 Investigator Shinohara? Or Rank 1 Investigator Kishou Arima? Could it be Ghoul Investigator Iwao Kuroiwa? Kishou Arima's been rising through the ranks fast lately."

Several Ghoul Investigators resting in a corner discussed the latest news. Headquarters updated ghoul deaths and the investigators' progress in real time.

"None of those three. His name's Huiqi. I'd never heard of him before, but his latest records say he made it back alive from Ward 24. He's incredibly strong."

"Ward 24? How could a Ghoul Investigator make it out of that godforsaken place alive?"

One of the Ghoul Investigators instinctively shuddered. Clearly, he knew quite a bit about Ward 24.

"Who knows?"

Another Ghoul Investigator shrugged, indicating that he had no idea.

By then, Huiqi had reached the CCG's Research Department. There were many researchers there, along with an enormous tank containing a ghoul.

"Hey, noticed it? That's a kakuja-class ghoul. His kagune is a koukaku with extremely strong defenses. We've developed it into a suit of armor."

"A kakuja-class ghoul captured and brought to the lab? Who did that? Kishou Arima?"

Huiqi thoughtfully studied the ghoul in the tank. He had blue hair, and his appearance seemed very similar to someone Huiqi remembered.

"No, no, no. It was Ghoul Investigator Kureo Mado and Ghoul Investigator Shinohara."

"Oh? Interesting."

At the mention of Kureo Mado, Huiqi raised an eyebrow, a strange look entering his eyes. That deranged Ghoul Investigator was actually this strong.

"Your Quinques are ready. They're over there."

Jin Toka pointed to a research bench, where several oddly shaped Quinques lay.