[TL/N: New Book -
Anime Group Chat in a Doomsday World!]
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Half an hour later.
Kaneki and his group pulled their hoods over their heads, shrouding their faces in shadows. They slipped silently through the alleyway, disappearing into the quiet night.
They came without a sound and left just as quietly, like travelers who merely passed through by chance.
However...
The nearby residents knew better.
Not long ago, a fierce and terrifying battle had erupted in the alley—one that filled the air with pitiful wails and the suffocating despair of a fight to the death.
For a time, the residents on both sides of the alley cowered in their homes, trembling in silence.
It wasn't until the sun had set completely and the strange noises in the alley had ceased for some time that someone finally dared to peek outside.
Under the pale moonlight, a cautious resident cracked open their window and aimed a flashlight into the dim alley.
What they saw was horrifying.
The ground was stained with pools of congealed, blackened blood.
At the center of it all lay a lifeless corpse, its body unnaturally withered as if drained dry by a vampire.
Nearby, scattered strands of pale hair littered the blood-soaked ground.
The sight sent waves of fear rippling through the residents. Unable to suppress their terror, they quickly called the authorities.
Shortly after, several official vehicles pulled up to the scene.
Two familiar figures stepped out of one of the cars—it was none other than Mado and Amon, the ghoul investigators who had been in the area earlier that morning.
As they approached the corpse, both displayed expressions of shock and intrigue.
Mado pulled out a pristine white handkerchief, covering his hand before using it to retrieve a blood-stained pair of metal pliers from the ground.
"This... could it be?"
Amon's gaze fell on the pliers, sparking a sudden realization. He turned to Mado, his expression questioning.
Mado nodded and reached into his coat, producing another pair of metal pliers, this one sealed in a plastic bag.
A comparison revealed the two pairs were nearly identical in size and design—one old and bloodstained, the other new and clean.
"It seems the corpse here belongs to [Gecko], the S-class ghoul we've been hunting," Mado stated, his tone laced with certainty.
"But... Gecko is an S-class ghoul! How could he..."
Amon stared at the withered remains of the ghoul, his brows furrowing deeply.
While he felt no sympathy for the creature, his instincts as a seasoned investigator told him this was only the surface of a much deeper mystery.
An S-class ghoul had been slain without anyone noticing—a fact that hinted at instability lurking beneath the apparent calm of the 20th Ward.
Suddenly, a flash of memory crossed Amon's mind—Kaneki and his companions, whom they had encountered that morning.
This alley wasn't far from the abandoned warehouse where Dr. Fueguchi and his family resided.
Could it be...
Amon murmured softly, suspicion beginning to take root.
Meanwhile, Mado stood abruptly and let out a peculiar, unsettling laugh.
"Dihehehe... This is getting interesting," he said, his smile widening.
---
Elsewhere, Kaneki glanced at his information panel, a smile spreading across his face.
"Three kakuhou, and they've earned me a total of 10,000 points!"
Not only had the S-class ghoul's defeat boosted his Blacephalon from level 30 to level 38, but it had also brought him a substantial reward.
A glint of determination flashed in Kaneki's eyes as he turned to face Enel.
"Sir Enel, exchange all 10,000 points for portable life essence capable of transforming ghouls!"
His tone was resolute.
In preparation for the expansion of their interdimensional organization, Enji and Irimi were already gathering their former subordinates in the safe zone.
To fulfill Kaneki's vision of a harmonious coexistence between humans and ghouls, these powerful ghouls needed to evolve into beings capable of living alongside humans.
"As you wish," Enel replied, chuckling softly.
With a wave of his hand, rows of life essence reagents materialized, floating in midair before Kaneki.
Kaneki nodded toward Dr. Fueguchi, who immediately stepped forward with a large box. Carefully, the doctor collected the reagents, securing them for later use.
From now on, the Fueguchi family, who preferred not to engage in combat, would take on vital support roles within the organization, ensuring its continued growth and stability.
Kaneki entrusted all the reagents to Dr. Fueguchi for safekeeping, reserving them for future injections for new members.
Meanwhile, over at the new base, preparations were nearing completion.
The location was an abandoned air-raid shelter on the outskirts of Tokyo, long forgotten and left unused. Under orders from Shuu, a renovation team from the Tsukiyama family had been dispatched to refurbish the shelter.
In less than half a month, the shelter would be fully operational.
Next on the agenda was to clean up the surrounding area, consolidating forces and recruiting any potential allies.
Kaneki understood that while the 20th Ward's 20th District provided food for ghouls through bodies of those who had died by suicide or accidents, its reach was limited. The safe zone was a small-scale organization primarily focused on maintaining its own internal order.
However, many ghouls in the 20th Ward operated outside the jurisdiction of 20th District.
There were ghouls like the white-haired man Kaneki had encountered in the alley and Nishio, who Kaneki had slain in a rampage.
Such ghouls were numerous in the 20th Ward.
Kaneki planned a systematic purge of the area.
Those beyond redemption would be eliminated mercilessly, their kakuhou harvested and exchanged for more life essence.
For ghouls who committed crimes out of necessity rather than malice, Kaneki intended to implement a registry system. Life essence would be distributed based on their contributions, the time they registered, and other factors.
Responsibility for these matters would be handed over to Enji Koma and Kaya Irimi upon their return. With their strength as SS-class ghouls, they were more than capable of maintaining order in the 20th Ward.
Kaneki himself had other plans.
He intended to lead the primary combat members of his interdimensional organization to conquer other territories.
His mission was not to save but to kill.
He would hunt down those who had fully succumbed to depravity, believing ghouls to be at the top of the food chain. Their kakuhou would be repurposed to create stronger, more advanced ghouls.
After completing his transactions with Enel, Kaneki bid him farewell and immediately began mobilizing his forces. Their next target: the 13th Ward.
The 13th Ward was under the control of the ghoul organization, Aogiri Tree, a place so chaotic that even the CCG struggled to maintain order.
Capitalizing on Naki's defection and the fact that news of Gecko's death had not yet reached the Aogiri Tree, Kaneki saw an opportunity to strike.
Soon, Kaneki's combat team was assembled.
The group included Touka, Shuu, Renji, Roma, Naki, and Uta.
Though small in number, they were elite fighters.
The weakest among them, Touka and Shuu, were still formidable S-class ghouls. After undergoing genetic modification, their strength had improved significantly. Though not yet SS-class, they were far beyond the capabilities of ordinary S-class ghouls.
On the same night Gecko died, Kaneki and his team, under the cover of moonlight, infiltrated the 13th Ward.
With Naki's intelligence, they soon located Aogiri Tree's hidden base.
A new and bloody conflict was about to unfold!
---
Meanwhile...
In Tokyo's 1st Ward, also known as Chiyoda District, on a deserted street...
A flash of golden electricity illuminated the dark sky like a fleeting meteor.
Moments later, a ghoul with crimson eyes clutched his throat, his expression a mix of defiance and confusion. His gaze fixed on the young man before him—a figure wearing a paper bag as a mask and a black death suit.
As confusion filled his mind, the ghoul drew his final breath.
The young man in the black suit approached the corpse, his long blade gleaming under the dim light.
With a single stroke of the blade...
Blood splattered across the ground, exposing the fresh kakuhou stirring within the ghoul's lifeless body.
"The fifth one…"
Hideyoshi murmured to himself as he retrieved a prepared device, freezing the kakuhou before carefully placing it into the backpack slung over his shoulder.
After checking both sides of the street to confirm no one was around, he quickly donned his mask and leaped onto the rooftop, scanning for his next target.
Following his dimensional transaction and transformation into Shinigami, Hideyoshi did not immediately appear before Kaneki.
Instead, he returned to university, borrowed some equipment from friends in the medical department, and took a taxi to Chiyoda District.
Chiyoda District, home to the CCG headquarters, is also one of the most densely populated areas for ghouls.
In this district, battles, massacres, and acts of devouring unfold constantly.
It could be said...
If the CCG hadn't stationed its headquarters here to suppress the ghouls, Chiyoda District would have become a terrifying no-man's land for humans.
Initially, Hideyoshi's plan was to join the CCG and work his way up to becoming a senior investigator.
He understood that no matter how much Kaneki's plans leaned toward human-ghoul coexistence...
Ghouls would always remain ghouls.
Years of bloodshed, hatred, and enmity had ensured that humans and ghouls could never truly live peacefully under the same sky.
Realizing this, Hideyoshi decided to infiltrate the CCG. By gaining influence, he hoped to eventually convince the CCG and other official organizations to accept Kaneki and the ghoul organization he had founded.
However...
Just as Hideyoshi prepared to visit the CCG headquarters and apply for a position as a university graduate, fate took an unexpected turn.
The taxi driver he had hired turned out to be a ghoul.
Whether it was sheer luck or misfortune, Hideyoshi was moments away from unleashing his Shinigami powers to slay the ghoul when another attack interrupted them.
The skirmish with the ghoul was cut short when two unexpected 'saviors' appeared: none other than Kureo Mado and his apprentice Amon, the same investigators driven from Dr. Fueguchi's house by Kaneki and his allies.
In that battle, Mado crushed the ghoul, killing it completely.
After a brief exchange, Hideyoshi learned the identities of the two investigators.
At that moment, he realized...
In the eyes of ghouls, humans are not merely helpless prey.
Among humanity, there are those as brilliant as stars, tirelessly protecting their kind.
But at the same time, Hideyoshi recognized his own shortcomings.
Even after becoming Shinigami, his strength was no match for the senior investigator standing before him.
He understood that with his current abilities, joining the CCG might hinder his dimensional trading opportunities and delay his progression to a leadership position within the organization.
With this in mind, Hideyoshi revised his plan.
He rented an apartment in District 1 and decided to remain there for some time.
Meanwhile, he began targeting the ghouls in Chiyoda District as his training grounds—honing his combat instincts, collecting kakuhou, and trading them.
Through repeated battles, Hideyoshi could feel his understanding of the Zanpakutō deepening.
He believed it wouldn't be long before he achieved the first transformation of his Shinigami powers, unlocking the Shikai of his Zanpakutō.
At that point, he would truly become a being who had mastered interdimensional power and transcended the ghoul world.
This was why he ventured into such a dangerous area.
---
Hours passed.
'Shing!'
A sharp flash of steel cut through the night.
Another ghoul clutched its throat, a confused expression on its face, before collapsing lifelessly to the ground.
"The 10th one."
Hideyoshi muttered with satisfaction as he stepped over the corpse.
He opened his bag, a gleeful expression lighting up his face.
To his surprise, his first day of hunting in Chiyoda District had yielded an impressive harvest.
The four ghouls he'd slain in the 20th Ward had already earned him 2,000 points.
But the ghouls in Chiyoda District were far stronger than those in the 20th Ward.
Hideyoshi couldn't help but imagine what kind of rewards these kakuhou-filled bags would bring.
"Should I initiate another dimensional transaction?"
Looking at the packed bags in his backpack, Hideyoshi contemplated his options.
Initially, he had wanted to avoid troubling the dimensional merchant, Sir Enel, so soon after their last transaction.
But the thought of gaining more power was too tempting.
More power meant faster hunts, which meant his plans could progress at an accelerated pace.
After a moment of hesitation, Hideyoshi pulled out his Rotom phone and pressed the '[Apply for Transaction]' button.
---
Ten minutes later...
A sudden bolt of lightning illuminated the dark streets.
The electricity condensed and quickly formed a humanoid figure.
"Good evening, Young Hideyoshi," Enel greeted.
"Good evening, Sir Enel," Hideyoshi replied politely. "Apologies for disturbing you so late."
Hearing this, Enel burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha... What are you saying?"
"A trading request is always a joy for me. There's no need to apologize, young man."
As he finished speaking, a faint blue glow flickered in Enel's eyes.
His gaze shifted toward Hideyoshi's backpack, now brimming with kakuhou, and a look of eager anticipation spread across his face.