Chapter 84: Ghoul × Investigator

After resting in the secret chamber for a few hours, Su Xiao opened his eyes.

"Let's go out."

The secret chamber was not a place to stay for long; it was only suitable for temporary rest. The environment here was truly too poor and could cause wound infection.

Yuna sat to the side, her head having leaned against Su Xiao's shoulder at some point, emitting a slight snoring sound.

Su Xiao pushed Yuna's shoulder, and Yuna jumped up in a start.

"What's wrong, are there ghouls?"

Yuna's appearance was truly normal; in the 24th Ward, if one didn't remain vigilant, the only outcome was death.

"Those ghouls have already left."

Su Xiao stood up, came to the gap in the flesh wall, and passed through sideways.

Yuna, who suffered from claustrophobia, hesitated for a while before finally gritting her teeth and entering the gap.

Returning to the underground passage of the 24th Ward, it was already quiet.

Su Xiao had experienced layer upon layer of danger upon his first entry into the 24th Ward.

Since he entered the Ghoul World, this should be the most dangerous experience. The previous clearing of ghouls in the 14th Ward was completely child's play compared to going deep into the 24th Ward.

Su Xiao used the hand-drawn map to identify the direction and continued to advance toward the surface.

He would note down every passage he passed through and leave marks in them.

After advancing for two hours in the intricate passages, Su Xiao's pace stopped.

"Why did you stop?"

"We've been here before."

Looking at the '12' carved with his blade on the ground, Su Xiao marked an arrow on the hand-drawn map.

The direction he was currently heading was wrong; it was not leading to the surface but deeper into the 24th Ward.

Without a clear direction, getting lost was a common occurrence.

Su Xiao was not discouraged. As long as he kept trying, combined with his hand-drawn map and the marks in the passages, he would soon be able to walk out of the 24th Ward.

"Bang."

A muffled sound came from the side, from behind a flesh wall; someone was fighting.

"It's Arima; this is the sound of 'Narukami' discharging electricity on a large scale."

Yuna cheered; being able to fight meant Arima Kisho was not dead.

Su Xiao didn't make a sound; he was identifying the source of the sound. Being able to reunite was naturally a good thing. Arima Kisho was currently a comrade-in-arms; if the other party hadn't covered the rear, he would have already died in the 24th Ward.

"This way."

Su Xiao's pace quickened, changing from a brisk walk to a run.

Traveling through the maze-like passages, Su Xiao's pace became faster and faster; he had roughly understood the nearby routes.

The sound of battle became closer and closer. After passing a corner, Arima Kisho appeared in the distance.

At this moment, Arima Kisho no longer had the demeanor of a god; he was shirtless, his white hair stained with blood, and those glasses were nowhere to be seen.

"Why, why won't you talk to us? Is communicating with us a disgrace in your eyes now?"

An elderly ghoul with a full head of white hair looked at Arima Kisho with heartbreak.

"Don't waste your breath; he is no longer our..."

Just as another elderly ghoul was about to speak, Arima Kisho had already raised the 'Narukami' in his hand.

"Bang, bang."

Two electric orbs shot out. The two elderly ghouls were not weak and dodged flexibly.

The 'Ixa' in Arima Kisho's left hand surged.

"Puchi, puchi."

A part of 'Ixa' had long since deformed and burrowed into the ground; at this moment, it broke through the soil, directly skewering the two ghouls like meat on a skewer.

"Why~, why do you..."

An elderly ghoul looked at Arima Kisho with unwillingness, wanting to say something more, but the life force of the elderly ghoul was rapidly fading; he could no longer speak.

Arima Kisho's lips parted, saying something silently.

From Su Xiao's angle, he could just see Arima Kisho's profile. His expression was actually somewhat sorrowful? Sorrowful for killing those two ghouls?

Su Xiao's brows locked tight. Those two dead elderly ghouls seemed to still respect Arima Kisho somewhat?

That's right, it was respect, as if Arima Kisho had once been their leader.

The CCG's strongest investigator was the leader of ghouls? This kind of thing sounded as absurd as it could get.

"Arima."

Yuna called out tentatively; she also saw that the situation was somewhat eerie.

Arima Kisho turned around and looked at Su Xiao and Yuna. At this moment, Arima Kisho's right eye was tightly shut.

"You've come. This exploration ends here."

The atmosphere was somewhat strange. Su Xiao didn't say anything; the CCG was full of suspicious points, so how could Arima Kisho not have secrets?

His priority was to earn a large amount of CCG contribution points and then go to the 24th Ward temporary branch to exchange for 【Human Gene Enhancement Fluid】 and 【Crushing Spirit】.

Adding the two together required 28,000 CCG contribution points; Su Xiao had only earned a fraction.

Moreover, now was not the time for mutual suspicion. Being in the 24th Ward meant danger at every moment. Judging from Arima Kisho's actions, there was no sign of betrayal.

At least after Arima Kisho entered the 24th Ward, he had been killing ghouls the whole time and hadn't shown any signs of "selling out his teammates."

Unless Arima Kisho wanted to betray the CCG, he wouldn't be hostile toward Su Xiao.

"Arima, what's going on with these two ghouls?"

Yuna, this neurotic girl, clearly had no schemes and asked the doubt in her heart directly.

"These were my former friends. They used to disguise themselves as humans. I was very young then and didn't discover this point. That was many years ago. I didn't expect to meet them today, and in the identities of ghoul and investigator."

A bitter smile appeared on the corner of Arima Kisho's mouth, and blood dripped from his chin.

"So that's how it is. I've also had friends like that; they were my classmates, and I killed them with my own hands."

Ghouls mixed among humans, and it occasionally happened that investigators and ghouls accidentally became friends.

Investigators were just a profession; they usually dressed as ordinary people, while ghouls would hide themselves and try every possible way to integrate into human society.

Moreover, situations where investigators and ghouls mistakenly became friends were not uncommon even in the original work; it was a very common occurrence.

Yuna believed Arima Kisho's explanation. After all, the two had been cooperating for half a year, living and dying together; that kind of friendship wouldn't be affected by this incident.

But could things really be that simple? At least Su Xiao wouldn't believe it completely, but he wouldn't go around guessing things either. Everyone had their own secrets, and guys who spent every day thinking about digging into others' secrets were generally kept at a distance.

Su Xiao held the hand-drawn map and led the way in front, with Arima Kisho and Yuna following behind.

In the absence of a compass, the hand-drawn map in his hand appeared precious.

Su Xiao would record every passage he passed through, and the hand-drawn map became more and more complete. A red arrow became longer and longer; that was the road leading to the surface.

"There are footsteps."

Su Xiao stopped and looked at the dim passage ahead.

"Run, it's the White Reaper."

A dozen or so ghouls had just poked their heads out, and upon seeing Arima Kisho, they immediately turned around and ran.

Su Xiao and his companions just stood in place; the three were all at the end of their rope and needed to minimize fighting as much as possible.

Arima Kisho's reputation was not blown out of proportion. In the 24th Ward, most ghouls would run directly upon seeing him and wouldn't fight at all.

This situation undoubtedly accelerated the pace of the three. An hour later, Su Xiao saw the metal door they had passed through when they arrived.

Arima Kisho opened the metal door, and after the three walked out, he slammed the metal door shut and locked it.

This was to prevent the ghouls of the 24th Ward from leaving and wandering to the surface; as for whether it was effective, it was unknown.

Passing through the straight passage, a dazzling light source appeared ahead.

That was sunlight. Su Xiao had stayed underground for too long and was somewhat unaccustomed to the sun's rays.

Squinting his eyes as he walked out of the passage, Su Xiao returned to the surface, returned to the human world.

Although the time spent deep in the 24th Ward wasn't long, he had a feeling of having been away for a lifetime.

Taking a deep breath of air, the air on the surface was exceptionally fresh, without the faint fishy stench of the 24th Ward. ===== CHAPTER 85 =====