After all the members of the Bronze Tree retreated, the battle calmed down.
Su Xiao sheathed his sword, the Dragon Slayer Flash, and picked up his jacket from the ground, draping it over his shoulder.
During the fight with Takatsuki Izumi, he lost 12% of his health because he was still bleeding from his lower abdomen, and his health was still slowly dropping.
Su Xiao also kept an eye on Takatsuki Izumi’s health bar; his two previous strikes had caused Izumi to lose over 10% of his health.
One had to admit, ghouls had incredible vitality. In his ghoul form, Takatsuki Izumi’s stamina was at least above 15 points.
If they compared all their attributes, Takatsuki Izumi would definitely be stronger than Su Xiao. But when it came to combat ability, it was a bit hard to compare the two.
In Su Xiao’s view, Takatsuki Izumi had decent combat experience, but his fighting skills were quite poor, relying mostly on brute force.
This was also why he could easily defeat S-rank ghouls; ghouls charged forward recklessly in battle and then used their strength to overpower their enemies.
Otherwise, the CCG’s investigators wouldn’t stand a chance against ghouls at all.
The CCG investigators were just ordinary people with excellent physical fitness, fighting ghouls using skills and intelligence, although there were exceptions.
The appearance of Arima Kanata meant that the area was already surrounded by CCG personnel, which was undoubtedly a good opportunity to join the CCG.
After sheathing the Dragon Slayer Flash, Su Xiao walked slowly toward Arima Kanata.
“Stop!”
Arima Kanata shouted loudly while pressing a button on his briefcase. The briefcase underwent a huge transformation, with something inside rapidly expanding.
When the briefcase hit the ground, Arima Kanata had a peculiar weapon in his hand.
It was a long metal rod, with a ring of ghoul cells wrapped around the upper half. This was Arima Kanata’s Quinque.
Su Xiao was intrigued by the strange design of the Quinque. Could this weapon really be used in battle?
“Who are you? A ghoul? A human?”
Arima Kanata gripped his Quinque tightly, watching Su Xiao warily. The earlier scene of Su Xiao chasing down the One-Eyed Owl, Takatsuki Izumi, had startled this top investigator.
“Have you ever seen a ghoul fight with a sword?”
Su Xiao placed one hand on the hilt at his waist and continued walking toward Arima Kanata.
Just as Arima Kanata was about to speak, Su Xiao preemptively said, “No need to be nervous. If I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead.”
A flash of white light passed by, and the Dragon Slayer Flash was drawn, resting against Arima Kanata’s neck.
“Gulp…” Arima Kanata swallowed hard, unable to believe how fast Su Xiao had drawn his sword.
“So, no need to be nervous.”
Putting away the Dragon Slayer Flash, Su Xiao patted Arima Kanata on the shoulder.
Arima Kanata felt a huge sense of defeat. If Su Xiao was a ghoul, he would already be dead.
“Hey.”
“What?” Arima Kanata looked at Su Xiao in confusion.
“Does the CCG need more people? That ghoul lying over there can be considered a welcoming gift for joining the CCG.”
At this moment, Arima Kanata noticed the headless corpse of the Gecko.
“This is… S-rank ghoul Jason?”
Arima Kanata gripped his Quinque and rushed a few steps to the Gecko’s body, which was known as Jason in the CCG’s files.
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
Su Xiao took out some medical bandages from his storage space, wiped the blood from his abdominal wound, and wrapped it up haphazardly.
Arima Kanata hesitated for a moment but knew this was an opportunity. Su Xiao could hunt down the One-Eyed Owl, so his strength was undoubtedly formidable.
In the CCG, there were no more than two people who could do that.
“Joining the CCG requires strict assessments, but your situation is a bit special. As long as you prove you’re not a ghoul, joining the CCG shouldn’t be a problem.”
With a clear answer, a smile appeared on Su Xiao’s face.
The last thing he wanted was to deal with complicated procedures to join the CCG; he didn’t have much time for his main quest.
“Tap, tap, tap…”
Urgent footsteps approached, and an old man with long white hair, carrying a briefcase, rushed into the room.
Not only was the old man’s hair completely white, but he also had one large eye and one small eye, moving in a somewhat twitchy manner, giving off a sickly vibe.
“Where is it? It must be here, the Owl.”
The newcomer was Arima Kanata’s superior, the top investigator, Mado Wushu.
Mado Wushu was originally a very just ghoul investigator, humble in nature. However, after his wife was killed by a ghoul, and he witnessed her being eaten, his personality changed drastically.
Since then, Mado Wushu has harbored extreme hatred for ghouls and became obsessed with creating Quinques.
Even so, Mado Wushu treated his fellow investigators well, as seen in how he diligently taught Arima Kanata.
“Mr. Mado, you’re here.”
Arima Kanata stepped forward and quietly said something to Mado Wushu.
Before long, Mado Wushu’s large and small eyes suddenly widened, staring at Su Xiao in disbelief.
Mado Wushu quickly approached Su Xiao with agile movements and began sniffing around him like a dog.
“Human, it can’t be wrong. I will never forget the smell of those beasts until I die.”
After confirming that Su Xiao was human, Mado Wushu became very enthusiastic.
“Hello, I’m Mado Wushu. Did you really fight with the One-Eyed Owl?”
Mado Wushu’s eyes seemed to burn with flames, filled with anticipation.
Seeing Mado Wushu’s gaze, Su Xiao sighed. It was such a familiar look; he used to have that same look.
Hatred, a hatred that erases everything.
“Ah, I fought him. The terrain was a bit unfavorable, and he managed to escape. What a pity.”
“Hahaha.” A laugh both sickly and neurotic rang out.
“You want to join the CCG? Come with me; I’ll be your guarantor.”
At this point, Mado Wushu no longer cared about Su Xiao’s background or identity. As long as he could kill the One-Eyed Owl, he would give everything, even his life.
“Mr. Mado, calm down.”
Arima Kanata placed a hand on Mado Wushu’s shoulder, and Mado Wushu took a moment to catch his breath and nodded.
“May I ask your name?” Arima Kanata smiled at Su Xiao after speaking.
“Bai Ye.”
“Your background?”
“…”
Su Xiao’s silence left Arima Kanata feeling helpless.
“How about this, Mr. Bai Ye, you were injured in battle, and it was against a ghoul. We have a medical vehicle downstairs, and we can discuss your joining the CCG in detail at the 20th district branch.”
Su Xiao pondered for a moment and finally nodded, following Arima Kanata downstairs.
Mado Wushu had already noticed the Gecko’s corpse and picked it up, heading downstairs with the two of them.
At this time, below the building, more than a dozen vehicles were parked, sirens blaring, red and blue lights flashing.
The CCG likely received reports from the public about ghouls in the area, so they dispatched two ghoul investigators. The police present were only responsible for evacuating nearby civilians.
In the back of a medical vehicle, Su Xiao sat on a simple hospital bed with his shirt off, while a beautiful young nurse was focused on treating his wound.
“Um…” The nurse’s timid voice came through, and Su Xiao turned his head.
“The wound is too deep; we should use a little anesthetic, otherwise…”
“No need. Anesthetic will affect my nerve reflexes; just stitch it up directly.”
The nurse hesitated for a moment but ultimately nodded.
Although this nurse was as beautiful as a flower and had a timid demeanor that made her seem easy to overpower, she was surprisingly tough, as shown by Su Xiao’s occasionally twitching face.
Yesterday’s update was late, so here’s an earlier update today.
(End of Chapter)