Ambush

Sticky flesh membranes lined the surroundings, still squirming unceasingly like parasites.

"Come on in. The main battlefield of the 24th Ward is underground, and we'll have to face it sooner or later."

Hearing Kishou Arima's explanation, Kaede Kawashima's expression shifted several times before he carefully stepped inside. Huiqi said nothing more and simply followed silently behind Kaede Kawashima.

After the three of them passed through the first underground level, the surroundings were covered with eerie flesh clumps, and the walls were no longer visible. Only the solid ground beneath their feet provided Huiqi with a rare sense of security.

"From now on, try to make as little noise as possible. Ghouls could appear anywhere."

Kishou Arima turned his head to look solemnly at the two men, opening his Quinque Case to scan the surroundings with vigilance.

Seeing Kishou Arima act this way, Kaede Kawashima and Huiqi followed suit without hesitation. Kaede Kawashima's Quinque was a Koukaku with excellent defensive capabilities.

Huiqi's Quinque was a long blade crafted early on from a slain Koukaku Ghoul.

With these preparations complete, the three of them continued their descent toward the deeper levels.

Gurgle... Gurgle...

Waves of strange noises echoed through the empty underground space. There were numerous living facilities scattered here, which had likely been hauled down by Ghouls.

Pairs of crimson eyes emerged within the dim vision, instantly surrounding Kishou Arima and Huiqi's group of three.

"How are there so many... I..."

Kaede Kawashima looked at all this with a pale face, his mouth stuttering.

Huiqi and Kishou Arima paid no mind to the terrified Kaede Kawashima, for the Ghouls were already charging at them!

"Fresh humans... This meal of dumplings is mine!"

"Finders keepers..."

"I've got my eye on that tender-looking fellow, nobody touch him!"

"The blue-haired one looks easy to kill..."

Amidst the surrounding murmurs, Kishou Arima and his companions had already been carved up down to the bones in the Ghouls' minds.

"Quite a spectacle... If we make it out, I might actually get a promotion."

Huiqi smiled helplessly. The credit for this operation would certainly be substantial, but promotion wasn't Huiqi's goal anyway; otherwise, given his methods, he would at least be a First Class.

"They're coming..."

Kishou Arima swung the long blade in his hand. Despite his slender build, he erupted with unbelievable strength, slicing open the chests of two Ghouls with a single stroke.

Squelch... Splat...

Human organs spilled onto the ground through shattered bones, and the smell of blood spread through the air.

"Eat, eat, eat!"

"Dinner is served!!"

Kishou Arima's instant execution of two Ghouls did not cause panic; instead, the scent of blood drove the Ghouls into an even greater frenzy.

"What... is... happening?"

Kaede Kawashima's hands trembled. The scene unfolding before him was shattering his worldview-the Ghouls were actually engaging in cannibalism!

"Some of these Ghouls escaped from Cochlea and refuse to be arrested again. Others fled underground to hide from the White Doves' pursuit, and some wandered in from other wards. In short, it's a mixed crowd of Ghouls down here."

"And the underground is a place of scarce resources; nothing that happens here is surprising."

Kishou Arima uncharacteristically explained Kaede Kawashima's doubts while simultaneously increasing the intensity of his attacks.

Cannibalism, a wonder of nature...

Huiqi swung the long blade in his hand, aiming with precision to slash right at a Ghoul's neck.

Snap... Roll...

The head fell to the ground, rolling and making a crisp sound.

Good thing the Ghouls here aren't strong; they're generally only around A-rank.

The long blade in his hand continuously reaped one Ghoul after another. His movements were smooth and flowing, and the power and precision of every single strike were simply astonishing.

"You shouldn't be a Rank 3 Investigator. Why haven't you taken a promotion?"

Kishou Arima beside him suddenly spoke up.

"Uh... I like to slack off? Does that reason work?"

Huiqi was stunned for a moment before answering. Kishou Arima's sudden question caught him completely off guard.

Seeing this, Kishou Arima said nothing more and focused entirely on dealing with the Ghouls in front of him.

"Uh..."

"Ah!"

"Spare me..."

"I..."

Fear gradually crept into the Kakugan of the Ghouls. The blue-haired youth in front of him kept killing Ghouls, and even though over a dozen had already died, his pace never slowed.

At this moment Kishou Arima still wore an expression of effortless ease on his face, evidently not regarding the Ghouls before him as opponents, but rather like toys to be killed at will.

Having dealt with his tenth Ghoul, Huiqi already felt his stamina failing, and his blade-holding arm ached somewhat.

Is he really human? How can the gap be so huge?

Watching Arima still slaughtering wildly ahead, Huiqi's mouth twitched continuously at the moment; the gap between the two of them was simply far too obvious, and you had to know that human physical conditioning was far inferior to a Ghoul's.

Let alone the fact that this group of Ghouls before them were crazy Ghouls from the 24th Ward, far from being comparable to Ghouls in other wards.

Recalling the sheer viciousness of his opponents during their earlier clashes, Huiqi found it even more shocking-they completely ignored your weapon attacks, using their Kagune to block whenever they could, and attacking with their bodies if the Kagune wouldn't do.

Even though his Quinque had severely wounded the adversary, the Ghoul still showed no intention of fleeing, becoming all the more frantic instead.

Its Kakugan were filled with greed and a ravenous hunger, saliva dripping constantly from its corners of mouth, looking like it would bite a chunk of flesh off Huiqi no matter what.

In fact, it had indeed done just that; Huiqi used his long blade to cut the opponent in half at the waist, yet the adversary's arms still tightly grabbed his lower body, swearing to bite off a piece of flesh and blood.

Under such fierce onslaughts, even with physical conditioning enhanced by the system, he struggled to cope; thinking of this, Huiqi once again looked at Kishou Arima with the gaze of someone looking at a ghost.

In just a few short minutes, the original group of Ghouls had scattered in all directions, leaving behind only a floor of corpses and blood, the air filled with a heavy stench of blood.

"How are things? Neither of you are injured, right?"

Having finished clearing the battlefield, Kishou Arima asked the two of them, a faint look of concern on his face.

"I'm alright."

Huiqi wiped the sweat from his head, finally understanding completely why this was a survival mission.

"I'm holding up okay too."

Kawashima spoke in a hoarse voice, though the expression on his face wasn't very good and there were crimson bloodstains on his leg, looking as though a chunk of flesh had been bitten off by a Ghoul.

"Tend to your wounds first, take a short rest before we make any moves."

Observing his surroundings, Kishou Arima did not have Kawashima continue acting, instead having him rest for a bit.

"But the mission progress..."

Kawashima looked at the two of them with a worried tone.

Huiqi spread his hands with an indifferent look; anyway, he didn't care about Yoshitoki Washuu's mission, nor did he have any ambition to climb the ranks, whereas Kishou Arima's eyes flashed for a second, looking at Kawashima strangely.

"It's fine, you get your wounds treated first, as for the mission I have a way."

"It's me holding you back... First Class Arima and Rank 3 Huiqi."

Hearing the two men's replies, a faint trace of self-reproach appeared on Kawashima's face.

"No problem, no problem, I can use a rest myself right now."

Huiqi answered indifferently, figuring he was indeed somewhat fatigued after the battle just now, but this fatigue made him ponder even more deeply.

The other five squads probably wouldn't last long in battles of this intensity; their side possessed the freakishly powerful combat strength of Kishou Arima, but as for the others, they had no such thing.

"Look out, there's still one more Ghoul!"

The next moment, Huiqi's eyes suddenly caught sight of a red glow in the corner.