Chapter 39: Chapter Seven: Beautiful as a Flower, Fierce as a Wolf

After all members of the Bronze Tree withdrew, the battle ceased.

Su Xiao sheathed [Dragon-Slicing Flash], picked up his shirt from the ground, and draped it over his shoulder.

During his fight with Kōzuki Izumi, he lost 12% of his HP; because his lower abdomen still bled, his HP continued to slowly decline.

Su Xiao also watched Kōzuki Izumi’s health bar—his two prior slashes had likely cost her over 10% of her HP.

Undeniably, ghoul vitality was astonishing; in her Hé form, Kōzuki Izumi’s stamina stat was at least 15.

If comparing all stats, Kōzuki Izumi was undoubtedly stronger than Su Xiao; but in terms of combat ability, the two were hard to compare.

In Su Xiao’s view, Kōzuki Izumi had decent combat experience but abysmal technique, relying almost entirely on brute force.

That’s why he could easily overpower S-class ghouls—ghouls in battle simply charged forward recklessly and tried to crush enemies with raw strength.

Otherwise, CCG’s investigators would stand no chance against ghouls.

CCG investigators were merely ordinary humans with superior physical conditioning, relying on skill and intellect to fight ghouls—though exceptions existed.

Amon Kōtarō’s appearance meant CCG forces had surrounded this area—an undeniable opportunity to join CCG.

After sheathing [Dragon-Slicing Flash], Su Xiao walked slowly toward Amon Kōtarō.

“Stop.”

Amon Kōtarō shouted loudly and pressed a button on the handle of his briefcase, causing a massive transformation inside—the contents rapidly expanded.

The briefcase hit the ground, and Amon Kōtarō now held a peculiar weapon.

A metal rod, with a ring of Hé flesh wrapped around its upper half—this was Amon Kōtarō’s Quinque.

The bizarre Quinque made Su Xiao murmur in wonder—could such a weapon truly be used in combat?

“Who are you? Ghoul or human?”

Amon Kōtarō gripped his Quinque tightly, watching Su Xiao warily; Su Xiao’s earlier pursuit of the One-Eyed King, Kōzuki Izumi, had deeply unsettled this First-Class Investigator.

“Have you ever seen a ghoul fight with a blade?”

Su Xiao placed one hand on the hilt of his sword and continued walking toward Amon Kōtarō.

Amon Kōtarō opened his mouth to speak, but Su Xiao spoke first.

“Don’t be nervous—if I wanted you dead, you’d already be dead.”

A flash of white light—[Dragon-Slicing Flash] unsheathed and rested against Amon Kōtarō’s neck.

“Gulp.” Amon Kōtarō swallowed hard, disbelieving—Su Xiao’s draw speed was impossibly fast.

“So, no need to be nervous.”

Su Xiao sheathed [Dragon-Slicing Flash] and patted Amon Kōtarō on the shoulder.

Amon Kōtarō felt overwhelming defeat—if Su Xiao were a ghoul, his head would already be off his shoulders.

“Hey.”

“What?” Amon Kōtarō looked at Su Xiao, puzzled.

“Does CCG need more people? That ghoul lying over there can be your introduction gift.”

Only then did Amon Kōtarō notice the headless corpse of the Wall.

“This is… S-class ghoul Jason?”

Amon Kōtarō gripped his Quinque and sprinted forward several steps—the Wall’s file name in CCG records was Jason.

“You haven’t answered my question.”

Su Xiao pulled out medical bandages from his storage space, wiped the blood from his abdominal wound, and hastily wrapped it.

Amon Kōtarō hesitated, but knew this was an opportunity—Su Xiao had hunted down the One-Eyed King, Xiao, proving his strength beyond doubt.

No more than two people in CCG could accomplish this.

“Joining CCG requires strict evaluation, but your situation is unusual—if you prove you’re not a ghoul, joining should be no problem.”

Upon receiving a clear answer, Su Xiao smiled.

His greatest fear was that joining CCG would be too complicated—he didn’t have much time left for his main quest.

“Tap, tap, tap…”

Rapid footsteps approached as an elderly man with shoulder-length white hair and a briefcase ran into the room.

The old man not only had white hair but also mismatched eyes—one large, one small—and moved with a nervous, twitching gait, giving off a sickly aura.

“Where is he? He must be here. Xiao.”

The newcomer was Amon Kōtarō’s superior, Senior Investigator Shinji Wu Xu.

Shinji Wu Xu had once been a righteous ghoul investigator—gentle and kind—but his wife was killed by a ghoul, and he witnessed firsthand as the ghoul devoured her face.

After that, Shinji Wu Xu’s personality changed drastically—he developed extreme hatred toward ghouls and became obsessed with crafting Quinque.

Even so, he treated fellow investigators fairly, as shown by his earnest mentoring of Amon Kōtarō.

“Mr. Shinji, you’re here.”

Amon Kōtarō stepped forward and whispered something to Shinji Wu Xu.

Moments later, Shinji Wu Xu’s mismatched eyes suddenly widened in disbelief as he stared at Su Xiao.

Shinji Wu Xu leapt forward several steps with surprising agility, then circled Su Xiao like a canine, sniffing him intently.

“Human. No mistake. That stench of beasts—I’ll never forget it, even in death.”

After confirming Su Xiao was human, Shinji Wu Xu became extremely enthusiastic.

“Hello, I’m Shinji Wu Xu. You really fought the One-Eyed King, Xiao?”

Fire burned in Shinji Wu Xu’s eyes, brimming with anticipation.

Seeing Shinji Wu Xu’s gaze, Su Xiao sighed—it was such a familiar look. He had once worn it himself.

Hatred. Hatred that erased everything.

“Yes, we fought. The terrain was unfavorable—he escaped. A pity.”

“Hahahaha.” A distorted, manic laugh echoed.

“You want to join CCG? Come with me—I’ll vouch for you.”

At this moment, Shinji Wu Xu no longer cared about Su Xiao’s origins or identity—so long as he could kill the One-Eyed King, Xiao, he would sacrifice anything, even his life.

“Mr. Shinji, calm down.”

Amon Kōtarō placed his hand on Shinji Wu Xu’s shoulder; Shinji Wu Xu took a few deep breaths and nodded.

“May I ask your name?” Amon Kōtarō said, then smiled at Su Xiao.

“Bai Ye.”

“Your background?”

“...”

Su Xiao’s silence left Amon Kōtarō helplessly exasperated.

“How about this, Mr. Bai Ye—you were injured in combat against a ghoul. There’s a medical vehicle downstairs. As for joining CCG, let’s discuss details at our 20th District branch.”

Su Xiao paused, then nodded and followed Amon Kōtarō downstairs.

Shinji Wu Xu had already spotted the Wall’s corpse, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and descended with the two.

Below the building, over a dozen vehicles were parked, sirens wailing, red and blue lights flashing.

CCG likely received a civilian report of ghoul activity here, so they dispatched two ghoul investigators; the police present were only there to evacuate nearby civilians—they had no combat capability against ghouls.

Behind a medical vehicle, Su Xiao sat bare-chested on a makeshift gurney, while a beautiful young nurse focused intently on treating his wound.

“Um…” the nurse’s timid voice came. Su Xiao glanced over.

“The wound is too deep—use a small amount of anesthetic, otherwise…”

“No. Anesthetic slows my neural reflexes. Just stitch it directly.”

The nurse hesitated, then nodded.

Though the nurse was as beautiful as a flower, her voice timid, looking utterly vulnerable, her hands were merciless—Su Xiao’s twitching face proved it.