Chapter 288: The Meeting Begins!

In Tokyo’s Ward 14, inside a bar called Helter Skelter, Itori, a member of the Clowns, was mixing cocktails.

Just then, her phone rang.

Standing behind the counter, Itori glanced at it lazily. When she saw that the caller was Uta, the corner of her mouth lifted without her noticing.

"Hey. It’s been a long time since you called me first. What’s up?"

Uta was also a member of the Clowns. He currently ran a mask shop in Ward 4, specializing in masks for ghouls. Like Yoshimura, he had once managed one of Tokyo’s wards.

Later, after getting sick of the same management work day after day, he disappeared into Ward 4 and opened the shop.

"Turn on the news for Ward 20. They’re broadcasting a fight between the One-Eyed Owl and another monster live. I called to ask if you’ve ever seen that monster before. Your bar is basically an intelligence hub for ghoul society, so you probably know more ghouls than I do."

"Give me a second."

After realizing Uta had only called to ask for information, Itori looked a little disappointed.

"What a blockhead."

She turned on the television and switched to the Ward 20 news channel.

...

At that moment, Ivan stared at the One-Eyed Owl in front of him and swung both arms without saying another word.

The blades tore through the air with tremendous force.

Boom!

The impossibly hard blades missed the One-Eyed Owl and smashed into the outer wall of the high-rise instead.

Stone and dust exploded everywhere.

When the debris finally cleared, a massive hole had been carved into the wall.

Twisted steel reinforcement bars jutted out from the ruined concrete structure.

The slash mark stretched for dozens of meters and had nearly cut the entire building in half.

"One move left."

Ivan crossed both arms, then swung them violently toward the One-Eyed Owl.

The two black blades broke apart in midair, splitting into countless thin steel wires.

They spread out in every direction and completely surrounded her.

With nowhere left to dodge, the One-Eyed Owl could only try tearing through the net with her claws.

She snapped more than a dozen wires.

But every gap she created was immediately filled by more.

There was no chance to escape.

As the space around her grew smaller and smaller, the wires eventually wrapped her into a gigantic black cocoon.

The cocoon slowly began glowing red.

The heat from its surface alone was enough to melt the outer wall of the building.

Boom!

Ivan dropped from high above with the black cocoon and landed directly on an unlucky car, crushing it completely flat.

He looked toward the police cordon surrounding the building, and a vicious smile appeared on his face.

Bang!

The black cocoon, still connected to his right arm, was hurled forward with brutal force.

After smashing open a clear path, Ivan leapt high into the air.

A few more jumps later, he had completely disappeared from everyone’s sight.

By the time Yoshimura arrived, all that remained was a devastated field of rubble and the heavily damaged Inoue Tower, barely still standing.

...

"S-so strong..."

Itori stared wide-eyed at Ivan casually leaving the battlefield.

She was visibly stunned.

"You don’t know who he is either?"

"A ghoul stronger than the One-Eyed Owl? Where the hell did this guy come from? I’ve never heard of him before."

Itori suddenly felt her throat go dry.

But a moment later, excitement spread across her face.

"Oh, this is going to be fun. There’s no way the CCG will tolerate a ghoul that strong existing. I bet it won’t be long before we get another fight."

She grinned.

"Shame I couldn’t see it in person."

"Heh. Getting involved in a fight between monsters like that would be suicide."

With that, Uta hung up.

"Tch. The whole point of the Clowns is that the more exciting it gets, the better. The more chaotic the world becomes, the more fun it is."

...

"It’s over."

Ivan withdrew his tentacles and looked toward Sen Takatsuki, who had returned to her human form.

"You win."

Sen Takatsuki forced her battered body upright. By this point, she was already close to complete exhaustion.

Hah!

Ivan exhaled a stream of white vapor as his massive body visibly shrank back down.

The armor that had covered him dissolved into black liquid and flowed back into his body.

"Two days from now, gather the members of Aogiri Tree. I’m going to attack Cochlea in Ward 23."

Ivan slipped both hands into the pockets of his coat, turned around, and walked away.

"Fine."

Sen Takatsuki watched his back gradually disappear from view.

Only then did she finally relax and begin checking her injuries.

More than eighty percent of her skin had been burned away.

She had no idea how many bones inside her body were broken.

Some parts had even been burned into charcoal, the cells there completely dead.

Fortunately, her physical constitution and regeneration were powerful enough to keep her alive.

Otherwise, injuries this severe would have killed almost anyone.

"What a terrifying bastard..."

Sen Takatsuki knew very well that this was still the result of Ivan holding back.

If he had truly wanted to kill her, she would already be a corpse.

She cautiously looked around the area and only after confirming that no one was nearby did she find a secluded corner and sit down.

...

Elsewhere, CCG headquarters had called an emergency meeting.

Because some investigators were too busy with active operations to immediately return to the Ward 1 headquarters, the meeting was also being conducted through a live video conference.

Inside the bright, spacious meeting room, CCG Director Yoshitoki Washuu sat at the head of the long central table.

To his left sat Kishou Arima.

Arima had short white hair, a straight posture, and a pair of black rimless glasses. Combined with his slightly gaunt face and calm, scholarly air, he looked almost like a mild-mannered intellectual.

Not a single investigator in the room dared underestimate him.

After all, Kishou Arima was widely acknowledged as the strongest combatant in the CCG.

He was known as the Undefeated Ghoul Investigator.

Among ghouls, he had another name.

The White Reaper.

Sitting to Yoshitoki Washuu’s right was Kiyoko Aura, the first female Special Class Investigator and an expert in dual-wielding.

Beside her sat Marude Itsuki, commander of Ward 1 and another Special Class Investigator.

That naturally brought up the CCG’s investigator ranking system.

Ghoul Investigators were divided into six ranks:

Special Class Investigator, Associate Special Class Investigator, First Class Investigator, Rank 1 Investigator, Rank 2 Investigator, and Rank 3 Investigator.

From highest to lowest, the first three were considered senior investigators, while the last three were classified as junior investigators.

"The reason I called all of you here so suddenly is simple," Yoshitoki Washuu said in a deep voice. "I want you to watch a video, then I want to hear each of your opinions."

On the enormous screen behind him, the faces of several other Special Class Investigators appeared through the video connection.

Four people in total.

Yukinori Shinohara, chief investigator of the Ward 20 branch.

Iwao Kuroiwa, chief investigator of the Ward 13 branch.

Mougan Tanakamaru, head of the Ward 2 branch.

And Shinme Haisaki, who was responsible for operations in Ward 23.

____

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