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Stepping out of The Violet, Kenji immediately spotted a black pickup truck parked curbside.
The truck’s bed was securely capped with a heavy black tarp.
Peeling back a corner, he found a formidable cache of weapons and ammunition packed tightly inside.
There lay the heavy-caliber anti-material sniper rifle he had been sizing up, alongside an RPG launcher with a crate of rocket-propelled grenades.
The shipment also included bundles of tactical explosives, rugged combat gear, night-vision optics, and a pair of reinforced alloy daggers.
Assessing the sheer volume of firepower at his disposal, Kenji felt a solid wave of tactical reassurance.
He climbed into the cab, cranked the engine, and threw the truck into gear, routing his way back to Mado Kureo’s residence.
Back at The Violet, Ozawa Izumi sank deep into the leather sofa, exhaling a long, slow breath.
His three lieutenants—Yamamoto, Matsushita, and Inabe—exchanged quiet glances before Yamamoto finally voiced the burning question on all their minds.
”Chairman, can we actually trust that guy?
What if…”
Ozawa Izumi wasn’t just a parliamentary secretary for the Yamaguchi-gumi as he had claimed.
In reality, he was the syndicate’s designated successor.
As for the previous chairman…
Because he had taken an aggressively hardline stance against ghouls, a strike team of multiple S-rank ghouls had breached his heavily fortified estate just days prior, tearing him to pieces.
The assassination had completely paralyzed both the syndicate and the civilian government.
Fearing further retaliation, they were forced into a tense standstill, leaving the CCG entirely responsible for handling the ghoul crisis.
Hearing his subordinate’s anxiety, Ozawa shook his head gently and nudged his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
”Does it even matter if he’s telling the truth?”
”On paper, the CCG is the national bureau tasked with neutralizing ghouls, but their jurisdiction is practically hyper-focused on Tokyo—and the metropolitan government doesn’t have the leverage to give them orders.”
”Do you men have any real concept of how deeply ghouls have infiltrated human society?”
”As for that foreigner…
whether his backstory holds water or not, the fact remains that he single-handedly liquidated four S-rank ghouls.
That alone is enough.
What choice do we have but to put our chips on him?
After all, humanity is running out of options…”
Ozawa’s grim assessment left Yamamoto and the others visibly shaken.
To them, life hadn’t felt entirely apocalyptic.
Beyond exercising extreme caution after dark, daily operations ran precisely as they always had—they still ran their extortion rackets, and they still shook down local students.
Kenji remained oblivious to the internal politics unfolding in his wake.
He was already back at Mado’s house, settling in for a brief stay while he waited for his custom armaments to be overhauled.
The night passed without incident.
Early the next morning, Kenji quietly checked on Mado’s workshop.
Seeing the veteran investigator working through a grueling all-nighter, his eyes bloodshot as he meticulously calibrated the machinery, Kenji chose not to interrupt.
He grabbed a quick bite in the living room and headed out.
Sitting in the cab of his pickup, Kenji pulled up his phone and began scrolling through the data package Ozawa had provided.
The intelligence files mapped out ghoul activity far beyond Japan’s borders, cataloging threats on a global scale.
It also detailed various international task forces analogous to the CCG, though operating under different designations.
In China, the anti-ghoul front was managed by the [Disaster Emergency Management Bureau], operational code ACN, while Germany’s equivalent ran under the moniker GFG.
[Ghoul Registry: Japan Sector]
The One-Eyed Owl (SSS-rank) – Tokyo
Seraphim (SSS-rank) – Osaka
The Fallen (SSS-rank) – Yokohama
Looking at the three apex SSS-rank anomalies topping the registry, Kenji’s mouth twitched into a sharp line.
Fortunately, these three were the only documented SSS-ranks currently logged across Japan’s active database.
Of course, Kenji knew the intelligence reports were far from exhaustive.
For instance, Yoshimura Kuzen—the 20th Ward coffee shop manager—was an undocumented SSS-rank asset.
Furthermore, the higher echelons of the Washuu Clan undoubtedly harbored hidden SSS-rank monsters within their ranks.
Rubbing his temples, Kenji queried his internal interface.
”System, am I required to systematically exterminate every single ghoul on the planet before I can exit this world tier?”
[Ding!
Once the host eliminates more than 80% of the ghoul race’s collective combat capacity, the species will be classified as critically neutralized.
Once human forces are capable of managing the remaining pockets on their own, the host may clear the world stage.]
Hearing the prompt, Kenji loosened up a bit.
This tracking metric meant he only needed to focus his efforts on S-rank targets and above.
He wouldn’t have to waste time hunting down every low-level scavenger on the streets.
Kenji continued scanning the interface, this time zooming in on the regional data for China.
To his surprise, a territory that massive logged zero active SSS-rank ghouls, though it boasted a significant concentration of high-tier SS-ranks.
One specific entry caught his eye:
[Ghoul Registry: China Sector]
…
Tatara (SS-rank) – Daifu City (Status: Fugitive/Exiled)
…
Kenji’s eyes narrowed at the familiar name.
The original lore had briefly touched upon an elite ghoul within Aogiri Tree who had crossed the sea from the mainland, but he hadn’t realized the guy was a fugitive on the run.
”The operational environment in China must be built differently if even an SS-rank is forced to flee the country.
It might be worth a look down the line.”
”But first, I need to scale my world-force accumulation by farming S-ranks here.
Once I clear out the primary high-value targets across Tokyo, I’ll book a trip across the sea.”
With his immediate roadmap locked in, Kenji scrolled through his local proximity alerts to locate the nearest high-yield target.
[S-Rank Registry Profile]
Identity: Yamori (Oomori Yakumo)
Rating: S+ Rank
Alias: ‘Jason’ / ‘Yamori’
Affiliation: Aogiri Tree Executive
Tactical Overview: A partial-Kakuja anomaly possessing three distinct Kakuhou structures, primarily manifesting as a Rinkaku type.
Exceptionally high kinetic output paired with severe sadistic behavioral patterns.
Noted for the systemic execution of multiple CCG tactical investigators.
Last tracked fifteen days ago within the parameters of the 11th Ward, Tokyo.
”Yamori…
Taking him off the board should yield a massive percentage of world force.”
The prospect of hunting Yamori had Kenji priming for a fight.
As a major catalyst for the structural shift in the local narrative—and the maniac responsible for the infamous 1000-7 psychological torture—liquidating him was bound to trigger exceptional system rewards.
Kenji slammed his foot down on the accelerator, pulled up the local GPS map, and steered the pickup straight toward the Eleventh Ward.
The 11th Ward.
The moment Kenji crossed the perimeter into the district, the atmosphere turned visibly hostile.
The civilian population had effectively vanished, and the streets were completely devoid of standard vehicle traffic.
As he drove deeper into the heart of the ward, the urban landscape decayed into a barren maze of abandoned high-rises and industrial concrete blocks.
Kenji kept his speed steady, his eyes tracking the structural facades outside his window.
His tactical senses were already screaming.
Perched atop the concrete ledges of the derelict buildings, numerous figures draped in dark crimson cloaks stood in absolute silence, their gaze locked entirely onto his lone truck tracking through the asphalt below.
”The Eleventh Ward…
has already completely fallen.”