Chapter 112

Tap, tap, tap~.

Slow, steady footsteps echoed as Ama Kiyoshi stepped out from a corridor.

Wiping blood from his lips, Su Xiao looked at Ama Kiyoshi.

“Ama, do you know what you’re doing?”

Just seconds ago, Ama Kiyoshi had ambushed him with a Quinque—clearly to protect Takatsuki Izumi.

“If you hadn’t come, I’d be dead already.”

Takatsuki Izumi walked toward Ama Kiyoshi; a ghoul stood shoulder to shoulder with a CCG investigator.

“White Night, I planned to discuss this with you once we reached the surface, but it seems we must act sooner.”

Ama Kiyoshi stood beside Takatsuki Izumi, showing no caution—as if they were old acquaintances.

“So, you’re planning to team up with Takatsuki Izumi against me?”

Su Xiao gripped Zhan Long Shan, ready to flee at any moment.

With Takatsuki Izumi’s current state, he had a ninety percent chance of winning—but with Ama Kiyoshi added, he could only retreat strategically.

“No need to be so wary. I have no intention of fighting you—it serves no purpose.”

Ama Kiyoshi sheathed his Quinque and signaled Takatsuki Izumi not to move.

“Tch. This bastard has tried to cut off my head multiple times—and you just let it go?”

Takatsuki Izumi glared at Su Xiao, clearly resentful.

“We began cooperating thirteen years ago, but that doesn’t mean we still are. Jin Muyan is dead.”

Ama Kiyoshi’s words shocked Takatsuki Izumi.

“Understood.”

Takatsuki Izumi clenched his teeth, turning his head away from Su Xiao and Ama Kiyoshi.

“You’re planning to cooperate with this guy? He killed many of my subordinates.”

“I’ve killed many Bronze Tree members too.”

Ama Kiyoshi regarded Takatsuki Izumi calmly; Takatsuki Izumi rolled his eyes.

Su Xiao stared at the two—these two’s personalities differed from the original story. Were they pretending?

“Huh~.”

Ama Kiyoshi exhaled slowly, lightly adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

“No need to be so cautious. Come closer.”

“Just say it. This distance is fine.”

Su Xiao wouldn’t get near Ama Kiyoshi or Takatsuki Izumi—they were clearly allied.

From their conversation, it was clear they had been cooperating since thirteen years ago.

The CCG’s strongest investigator teaming up with the One-Eyed Owl—there had to be a massive secret, and an irresistible reward behind it.

Exploring the deeper secrets of this derivative world promised high returns; otherwise, Su Xiao would’ve left long ago.

“White Night, what do you think the CCG is?”

Ama Kiyoshi’s expression turned grave, a hint of hatred flickering in his eyes.

“To expel ghouls? To protect humans?”

Su Xiao didn’t know the CCG’s true purpose, so he answered casually.

“Pfft. Protect humans? The CCG protects humans? That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard. Investigators may protect humans—but the CCG never will.”

Takatsuki Izumi tidied his disheveled hair, clearly disdainful of the CCG.

“No. The CCG isn’t protecting humans at all. They’re breeding them. Controlling them…”

After organizing his thoughts, Ama Kiyoshi began revealing the CCG’s secret to Su Xiao.

Commission of Counter Ghoul (CCG)

Chairman: Washinori Tsunenori.

Director: Washinori Kishin.

The CCG handles all ghoul-related incidents worldwide; every matter involving ghouls falls under its authority, granting it immense power.

On the surface, the CCG protects ordinary citizens and expels ghouls—but is that truly the case?

Su Xiao had long wondered: why doesn’t the CCG use high-powered firearms against ghouls? To protect civilians? In Su Xiao’s view, that was nonsense.

Heavy machine guns can easily pierce ghoul membranes. For example, at the entrance of District 24, just a few heavy machine guns firing nonstop in that narrow terrain could slaughter thousands of ghouls within half an hour.

Even if machine guns aren’t enough, heavy sniper rifles certainly are.

A dozen well-trained snipers, using heavy rifles and maintaining proper distance, could reduce Takatsuki Izumi to a pile of meat in five minutes.

In the original plot, Shinko Risato was nearly killed by a falling steel beam—proving ghoul membranes aren’t nearly as tough as assumed.

Even if those weapons fail, humanity still has the land’s ultimate predator: the tank.

Under the charge of that steel beast, ghouls have no chance to fight back.

Can humanity truly not eradicate ghouls? Don’t make me laugh. Humanity is Earth’s strongest species—this has been proven over millions of years.

So why, today, do humans still live under the threat of ghouls? Take some dangerous districts in Tokyo—people there live in constant fear, constantly attacked by ghouls.

The root cause of this situation? The CCG.

“White Night, not a single human sits at the CCG’s top. They’re all ghouls—the Washinori family’s ghouls.”

“Or rather, a ghoul organization called ‘V’ controls the CCG. Ghouls won’t eradicate their own kind.”

The information Ama Kiyoshi revealed made Su Xiao’s mind clear.

So that’s why the CCG never uses high-powered firearms to eliminate ghouls. He’d struggled for days just to get approval for a few high-explosive grenades from CCG headquarters—and they gave him only one, with pathetic power that couldn’t even kill an S-class ghoul.

If Su Xiao hadn’t seen the real power of high-explosive grenades, he might’ve believed the lie that firearms were ineffective against ghouls.

The CCG’s leadership is entirely composed of ghouls—and ghouls won’t eradicate their own kind.

If that’s true, then not only the CCG’s leadership, but possibly even national agencies and military high command include ghouls. The implications were chilling.

Ghouls look nearly identical to humans. The Washinori family controls the CCG, a powerful institution—so infiltrating other agencies under their cover is easy.

The CCG has long brainwashed investigators with the idea that firearms are unsuitable against ghouls. This indoctrination begins at the Investigator Training Academy and follows them throughout their careers. Over time, the lie becomes truth—hence the invention of the Quinque, forcing humans to fight ghouls with these weapons.

This raises a new question: if the CCG’s leadership is entirely ghoul, why do they let human investigators hunt and kill their own kind?

The answer is simple. With human authority under ghoul control, ghouls are humanity’s natural predators.

So the CCG—the V organization’s ghouls—devised a plan: use humans to gradually reduce ghoul numbers, preventing human extinction.

It also gives humans a sliver of hope, preventing despair from sparking rebellions or revolutionary groups.

Humans are the primary food source for ghouls. If humans go extinct, ghouls won’t survive long either.

Though ghouls can survive by cannibalizing each other, human extinction would collapse society. Earth would become a wasteland of ghouls killing each other, leading to the end of civilization—and possibly a return to primitive barbarism.

The CCG doesn’t want this outcome. Nor do they want ghouls to go extinct—they are ghouls themselves. Hence, the Investigator Corps wielding Quinques was born.

Investigators are diligent ‘cleaners,’ controlling ghoul populations.

Su Xiao previously purged District 14—a move that greatly helped humans. If the CCG truly fought for humanity, why didn’t they send him to clear other regions? Why instead assign him to District 24, a place with no human residents, to kill ghouls? Even if he wiped out all ghouls in District 24, could humans live underground? Obviously not.

Some ghouls in District 24 might have known the CCG’s secret. The CCG is eliminating dissenters.

The conflict between Bronze Tree and the CCG isn’t a war between ghouls and humans—it’s a ghoul civil war.

Bronze Tree gathers large numbers of ghouls and occupies territories. To the CCG’s leadership, this is a direct challenge to their authority.

Had the CCG not already spread the lie that firearms are ineffective against ghouls—and had that lie not become deeply ingrained—the ghoul leaders would’ve already bombed Bronze Tree with planes and artillery.