Chapter 69: The Human Forbidden Zone

Seeing the achievement task: (Sanitation Worker), Su Xiao was taken aback.

This was truly a pleasant surprise—whether it was 1 attribute point or 7% of the World Source, both were excellent rewards.

Completing this achievement task even offered a greater reward than his main quest.

He lit a cigarette; blue smoke curled upward.

The conditions for Main Quest (2) have now been met—he no longer needs to expel ghouls.

Though killing ghouls was a brutal act, Su Xiao had his own goals, and he would stop at nothing to achieve them.

There were still twelve days left until the deadline for Main Quest (2)—plenty of time.

“White Night, First Class, what do we do next?”

Shinohara Yukiki had been accompanying Su Xiao in expelling ghouls these past few days and was also exhausted.

“Return to the branch.”

…

The CCG convoy quickly returned to the branch; as soon as Su Xiao stepped inside, he saw Shinohara Yukiki and Suzuya Shuzo walking toward him.

“White Night, First Class, was today’s expulsion completed?”

Su Xiao was well-known in the 14th District branch—or rather, by now, the entire CCG had heard his name.

In eight days, he nearly eradicated the entire 14th District; such a feat might only be possible for “that one.”

Not just within CCG, but even among ghouls, his name had spread to some degree.

Some ghouls called him White Night; others called him the Black Death God, due to his black hair, black eyes, and his habit of leaving no survivors.

Among ghouls, nearly all S-class and above had heard of Su Xiao; even if they hadn’t heard his name, they definitely knew “the Black Death God of the 14th District.”

“Completed. I’ve cleared out nearly all the ghouls in the 14th District.”

Shinohara Yukiki smiled; this Special Class Investigator did not seek glory—he was simply glad humanity now had another safe place to live.

“On behalf of all the humans in the 14th District, thank you, White Night, First Class!”

Su Xiao froze—Shinohara Yukiki knew about his promotion to First Class Investigator.

“Don’t be surprised; headquarters’ announcement will arrive soon. I’m heading to the 20th District today to regroup with others—the situation in the 11th District is worse. Bronze Tree has captured the 11th District branch; it’s now ghoul territory.”

Hearing Shinohara Yukiki’s words, Su Xiao frowned.

The CCG branch in the 11th District had been overrun? That was too fast. If there wasn’t a Contracted One’s influence, Su Xiao wouldn’t believe it.

“It seems open war with Bronze Tree is imminent. Can you reveal the exact timing?”

Su Xiao wanted to find out when CCG and Bronze Tree would go to war—it would greatly benefit his actions.

“We don’t know yet. We’re only told to head to the 20th District and form a ‘Special Task Force.’”

“But White Night, you’ll be coming with me.”

Su Xiao looked at Shinohara Yukiki in confusion—was he also a member of the “Special Task Force”?

“You’ll go to the 20th District too, but you won’t join the ‘Special Task Force.’ Higher-ups have assigned you a more important task—though, of course, it’s extremely dangerous.”

Su Xiao became interested.

“What task?”

“Whack-a-mole!”

Su Xiao froze.

“Whack-a-mole?”

Shinohara Yukiki smiled at Su Xiao, as if it were strange that Su Xiao didn’t know what “whack-a-mole” meant.

“Have you heard of the 24th District?”

Shinohara Yukiki’s expression turned serious.

Su Xiao had, of course, heard of the 24th District; while Districts 1 through 4 were dangerous zones teeming with ghouls, the 24th District was a human forbidden zone.

In the CCG, there was a saying: even a Special Class Investigator candidate lacked the qualification to enter the 24th District alone.

The 24th District wasn’t a single defined area—it was a network of tunnels dug by ghouls beneath Tokyo, spreading throughout the entire city.

These tunnels were labyrinthine; even now, the 24th District had never been fully explored. Most ghoul investigators dared only to scout its outer edges.

The only CCG team bold enough to penetrate deep into the 24th District was Team Zero—and their captain was Ama Kiyoshi, CCG’s strongest investigator ever, known as the Invincible Investigator.

Now, CCG headquarters’ order was for Su Xiao to go to the 24th District and “whack-a-mole.”

The danger level of the 24th District could be summed up in one sentence.

That is: A-class ghouls walk everywhere, S-class ghouls are as common as dogs, only SS-class ghouls can muster a slight tremor.

But even that “tremor” carries immense risk—they could be killed at any moment.

Yes, this was the 24th District: the Human Forbidden Zone.

There, cannibalism was normal; the ghouls there couldn’t even get human flesh, because there were no humans left.

According to intelligence gathered by Team Zero, the ghouls deep within the 24th District—beneath Tokyo’s underground—might number in the tens of thousands, or more.

“Interesting. Are we whacking moles on the outskirts, or going deep inside?”

Su Xiao’s question surprised Shinohara Yukiki—most people, when assigned to the 24th District, would naturally fear it.

“You’ll go with Special Class Ama. And given your strength, you’ll be whacking moles deep inside.”

After learning the general details, Su Xiao bid farewell to Shinohara Yukiki, who was rushing to the 20th District.

His official transfer order hadn’t arrived yet, but he too would head to the 20th District soon to meet someone.

That afternoon, Su Xiao received CCG headquarters’ transfer order and obtained new credentials.

【Promoted to First Class Investigator. CCG Contribution: 2053/10000.】

First Class Investigator wasn’t the end—above it were Provisional Special Class Investigator and Special Class Investigator.

But Main Quest (2) only required becoming a First Class Investigator.

Su Xiao opened his quest menu.

【Main Quest (2): First Class Investigator. (Completed)】

Difficulty: Lv.3.

Brief: Rapidly rise in CCG rank to prepare for subsequent quests.

Details: Use any means to increase status—eliminate ghouls, bribe, etc.

Reward: 1 attribute point, 1500 Paradise Coins.

Time remaining: 12 days 16 hours.

…

Su Xiao could complete the quest at any moment—but just as he prepared to do so, he remembered something.

If he completed the quest now, what would happen to the remaining 12 days and 13 hours?

The longer he stayed in the derivative world, the more opportunities he had to gain benefits.

The resources Su Xiao needed to grow stronger were all obtained within the derivative world—he had no way to acquire them after returning to the Lunhuileyuan .

After asking the Lunhuileyuan , Su Xiao learned that if he completed the main quest now, the remaining time would be erased.

Su Xiao pondered for a moment, then decided to delay completing Main Quest (2).

Currently, only he belonged to the CCG faction. If he didn’t complete Main Quest (2), even if the ghoul faction’s Contracted Ones completed it, it would be useless.

Judging from the current structure of the main quests, Main Quest (3) would likely be a confrontation-type quest. If he didn’t complete Main Quest (2), the ghoul faction’s Contracted Ones could only wait.

He could complete the quest anytime, anywhere—that was a major advantage.

As long as the deadline hadn’t passed, Main Quest (2) wouldn’t fail—meaning he gained twelve extra days of free action.

Now that CCG headquarters had sent him to the 24th District to “whack-a-mole” with Ama Kiyoshi, this was clearly a chance to gain benefits.

The more ghouls there were, the higher the chance of loot chests dropping.

Su Xiao was indeed unlucky—but he didn’t believe ghouls would never drop loot chests.