encounter

Shou Maruzai was in charge of the operation's command, but right at the start, the action encountered a setback.

The Aogiri Tree's resistance was much tougher than he had anticipated.

These Ghouls had actually hired professional mercenaries in advance, causing a serious obstacle to the advancement of the combat units.

Shou Maruzai's angry roars echoed continuously over the radio. Chen Nuo couldn't take it anymore; he took off his headset, dug at his tormented ears, and muttered to himself.

"That old guy really has a loud voice."

"Indeed."

Mado Akira nodded in rare agreement. She stepped forward and helped Chen Nuo tighten the bulletproof tactical vest on his body.

Such an intimate posture allowed Chen Nuo to catch the faint scent wafting from the tips of her hair.

"Akira, what brand of shampoo do you use?"

"Is now the time to be discussing that?"

Mado Akira rolled her eyes at Chen Nuo, but her hands showed no sign of stopping.

In her view, this combat uniform was for saving one's life.

Firearms and bullets specifically designed for Ghouls would only be more lethal when they hit a human.

"It smells quite good. Let me use it next time too."

"...Talk about it after this operation."

Mado Akira was very smart and understood the hidden meaning in Chen Nuo's words.

To use a girl's shampoo, wouldn't he have to go to her house?

However, Mado Akira did not reject the hint because she herself wasn't sure if she could survive this operation.

"What are you two discussing? You don't mind if I join in, do you?"

Mado Kureo leaned over. Seeing the two of them face-to-face, almost as if they were embracing, he had already begun to squint unconsciously.

"Sorry, I do mind, Senior Investigator Mado."

Mado Akira didn't give her father any face at all, rebuffing him directly.

Just then, Shou Maruzai's voice came over the radio. They had finally led the team to break through the Aogiri Tree's first line of defense and ordered Mado Kureo and the others to charge in.

The primary objective of this mission was to destroy the Aogiri Tree's base and then kill all the important members of the organization. The latter was even more important than the former; otherwise, the Aogiri Tree would always rise from the ashes.

That was why a small team like Mado Kureo's was needed to go deep into the base for a more aggressive decapitation strike.

"It's up to your performance now, Chen Nuo, Investigator First Class."

Mado Kureo's expression became serious.

Shou Maruzai commanded several Special Class Investigators, including Shinohara Yukinori, to lead the main force in a frontal push. The remaining Aogiri Tree members on the defensive line couldn't organize any effective resistance.

Aside from the very beginning, the operation was proceeding smoothly.

What made Shou Maruzai feel a faint sense of unease was that even though the battle had progressed this far, he hadn't seen a single Aogiri Tree executive. The ones putting up the fiercest resistance were those hired mercenaries.

When Mado Kureo and the others entered the base, many Ghouls wearing red cloaks appeared.

"Excuse me, where is Jason?"

Chen Nuo grabbed one of them, pinned him against the wall, and asked in a gentle tone.

However, this Ghoul was terrified. Watching his companions being slaughtered by Mado Kureo and the others, his lips trembled, unable to utter a complete sentence.

"Don't be nervous. As long as you confess, I guarantee you'll survive. At most, you'll be locked in prison for the rest of your life. Think about it; that's treatment only an S-Rank Ghoul gets."

Chen Nuo straightened the Ghoul's limp body and coaxed him softly.

"Lord Jason... he should be over there..."

The Ghoul raised a trembling hand and pointed in a direction for Chen Nuo. His mental defenses had collapsed, and he was telling the truth—Chen Nuo could tell.

To put it bluntly, the Aogiri Tree was just a Ghoul organization. How could every ordinary member be unyielding unto death? There was no need for extreme measures; a little intimidation and they'd spill everything.

"Very good. I'm a man of my word."

Chen Nuo pressed the Ghoul's head and lightly slammed it against the wall behind him. The other party fell unconscious cleanly, waiting for the Investigators responsible for clearing the battlefield to pack him up and take him away.

"Investigator First Class Chen Nuo, there's no need to be so merciful toward Ghouls."

Mado Kureo lectured him in the tone of a senior.

"Senior Mado is right."

Chen Nuo gave a perfunctory reply, but the look in his eyes didn't seem like he had taken the words to heart at all.

It was only because the current situation was urgent; otherwise, Mado Kureo would have given him an ideological education lesson regardless of the circumstances.

"How did Investigators manage to find their way here?"

"Let's just deal with them while we're at it."

Unfamiliar voices came from the corridor ahead. From their attire, they could be identified as the S-Rank Ghouls, the Bin Brothers.

This was also one of Mado Kureo's targets for this trip.

"It seems we need to split up."

Mado Kureo stepped forward, facing the pair of Ghoul brothers alongside Koutarou Amon.

"Can you handle it?"

Chen Nuo tilted his head, his tone teasing.

"Watch your phrasing, Investigator First Class Chen Nuo."

Mado Kureo was a bit displeased and put on the airs of a Senior Investigator to lecture him.

"Alright, alright. I'll leave them to you then. Investigator Amon, remember to take good care of the elderly."

As Chen Nuo spoke, he took Mado Akira down another path.

"Thinking of running?"

The Bin Brothers clearly hadn't recognized the situation and charged toward Chen Nuo's duo, but they were intercepted by Mado Kureo in the blink of an eye.

The brief clash made the brothers realize that this sickly-looking old man wasn't going to be so easy to deal with.

"Impressive Kagune. It seems my collection room can have a new pair of quinque."

Mado Kureo stared with his uneven eyes, his tone enthusiastic.

On the other side, Chen Nuo comforted Mado Akira.

"Don't worry. Even if Senior Investigator Mado can't hold out, Investigator Amon is still there. His strength is also quite good."

She nodded silently and refocused her attention. Their own mission hadn't been resolved yet; it wasn't the time to be worrying about others.

Just as the two were on their way to find Yakumo Oomori, they unexpectedly encountered him at the next corner.

He was wearing a sharp white suit with a hockey mask on his face, followed by an alluring male.

"Jason?!"

Mado Akira stopped unconsciously and instinctively called out the other's alias.

The meeting came too suddenly, making her a bit nervous for a moment, but she quickly calmed her mind, gripped the quinque in her hand, and glared at him.

*Crack.*

Yakumo Oomori cracked his thick finger joints, making a crisp sound. His fierce and sinister gaze from beneath the mask fell on Mado Akira's face, his mouth curling into an exaggerated arc.

"I was just worried about not having any fun, and then someone comes along to relieve my boredom."

"Don't waste too much time."

Transvestite Nick reminded him. They weren't here to fight to the death with Investigators.

"Shut up!! I've been holding it in long enough!"

Yakumo Oomori's emotions flared as he shouted angrily, but he controlled himself in an instant and offered an apology to Transvestite Nick.

"Sorry, Nick."

"It's fine, I understand you."

An ambiguous and affectionate atmosphere quietly brewed between the two as they looked at each other with deep feeling.

A sadist and a masochist.

Truly a match made in heaven.

*Gag—*

However, a dry heave from Chen Nuo interrupted them.

"Sorry, I'm actually feeling a bit nauseous."

Chen Nuo expressed his apologies. He didn't have any discrimination in that regard, but if you come out to disgust him, then that's your fault.

"Jason, give this young man a proper education."

Transvestite Nick gently stroked Yakumo Oomori's back. Although he was a masochist, it didn't mean he was willing to be humiliated; what he enjoyed was physical abuse.

"Don't worry, I'll include your share as well."

Yakumo Oomori took out his beloved pliers and hammered them against his palm a few times.

"Wait, wait."

Chen Nuo raised his hand to stop him.

"It's too late to beg for mercy now."

"No, no, no. I just have a math question I wanted to ask you, Jason."

Chen Nuo had a serious expression on his face as he continued.

"What is one thousand minus seven?"

"..."

The expression on Yakumo Oomori's face froze briefly, but then it seemed to ignite, twisting into a mass of wrinkles. He took a large stride forward, raised the pliers, and smashed them toward Chen Nuo.

However, in the next second, a thick arm hit the ground with a thud.

"Aaaaaagh..."

Yakumo Oomori used his remaining left hand to tightly clutch his right shoulder. The arm that was originally connected to it was now lying quietly on the ground.

Chen Nuo's slash just now was simply too fast. In Yakumo Oomori's eyes, there was only a sharp, cold flash. By the time his eyes recovered, the intense pain had already rushed to his brain.

"You bastard?! How dare you!!"

Yakumo Oomori had suffered more painful torture than a severed arm in the past, and he pulled himself together in an instant. The Rinkaku at his waist lunged like a spear toward Chen Nuo.

However, Chen Nuo simply took a side step, finding a gap within the Rinkaku's attack, and then slashed his blade upward.

Several Rinkaku that didn't have time to retract were cleanly severed.

This amount of pain and injury wasn't enough to make Yakumo Oomori cry out.

But at this moment, he had also deeply realized the danger of the person in front of him. With his rich combat experience, he wouldn't let his internal emotions take over, so he jumped back to pull away.

The wound on his right shoulder had now stopped bleeding.

Rinkaku users have very strong regenerative powers, but growing back an entire arm is not an easy task.

And Yakumo Oomori's severed arm was currently lying right at Chen Nuo's feet.

Losing an arm still had a significant impact on Yakumo Oomori's combat strength, but it wasn't as if there was no way to deal with it.

Three kakuho at his waist extended new Rinkaku, which interlaced and wound together, forming a much larger and thicker Kagune arm that filled the vacancy of his right hand.

These Rinkaku even went a step further in their transformation, solidifying into armor that encased Yakumo Oomori's upper body.

"Oh~, a Half-Kakuja?"

Chen Nuo noticed the confusion in Mado Akira's eyes and pointed out Yakumo Oomori's current form.

"Brat, I'm going to crush you completely."

Yakumo Oomori roared as he charged at Chen Nuo again. The massive arm dragging on the ground contained astonishing power; the concrete slabs of the corridor floor were as fragile as tofu before it.

"Nuo!"

Facing such momentum, Mado Akira instinctively shouted.

Both were S-Ranks, but Yakumo Oomori's strength was clearly not something Tsukiyama Shuu could compare to. No matter how much confidence she had in Chen Nuo, she couldn't help but feel anxious at this moment.

She couldn't afford to be wary of Transvestite Nick on the other side and was ready to step in to support Chen Nuo at any time.

However, the development of events was like a replay of the previous scene; the arm formed by Yakumo Oomori's Kagune was still severed by Chen Nuo's blade.

The heavy sound of it hitting the ground was like his own sinking heart.

Entering the Half-Kakuja state did indeed grant Yakumo Oomori greater power, but this increase was one-dimensional. After all, it was only a Half-Kakuja state.

This time, however, Chen Nuo didn't give the opponent a chance to recover. With a backhand slash, he severed both of the man's legs.

Yakumo Oomori, who was originally nearly 1.9 meters tall, suddenly became much shorter. The pain from the successive amputations made him let out an unbearable wail.

Chen Nuo grabbed Yakumo Oomori's short hair, pulled him close, and asked the question solemnly once more.

"Now then, can you answer my math question? What is one thousand minus seven?"

"...Nine... nine hundred and ninety-three..."

Yakumo Oomori's mental defenses could no longer hold. Under Chen Nuo's gaze, he completely collapsed. His body seemed to have returned to the cage where he was once imprisoned and tortured, and he unconsciously murmured the mathematical answer.

"He's beyond help. Even if he's healed, he'll probably just be drooling."

Chen Nuo shrugged at Mado Akira and tossed the man in front of Transvestite Nick, saying calmly.

"So, do you want to have a tense and exciting math quiz as well?"

"..."

Transvestite Nick's expression darkened slightly.

The strength Chen Nuo displayed made him feel that the situation was very tricky. Even he had no confidence in being able to take him down.

He had originally only come to watch the fun, so how did it seem like he was going to get dragged into it too?

Transvestite Nick wasn't actually a member of the Aogiri Tree; he was a member of the Clown Organization. It was only because he had a good relationship with Yakumo Oomori that he had received Tatara's permission to stay by his side.

His main purpose was merely to observe the Aogiri Tree.

"What's going on? How did Jason end up like this? Did this guy do it?"

Another person's voice came from the window. Kirishima Ayato, who had rushed over after hearing the commotion, felt his heart tremble when he saw Yakumo Oomori, who had almost been carved into a human stump.

Arriving with him was Tatara, one of the three major executives of the Aogiri Tree.

"Time is almost up."

Tatara's gaze rested on Chen Nuo, but his words were directed at the others.

"What time?"

Chen Nuo asked calmly.

Tatara did not answer, merely staring at him indifferently.

"It seems this place is a trap."

Chen Nuo turned back to Mado Akira and asked.

"Can you contact command?"

"No, the signal is being jammed."

When she saw Tatara and the others appear, Mado Akira had already been trying to contact reinforcements.

"Then there's no other way. Leave things here to me for now. You go and notify the others to evacuate."

Chen Nuo shrugged and spoke calmly.

"I..."

"That's an order, Investigator Mado, Second Class."

Chen Nuo's tone grew heavier. Mado Akira's expression froze; finally, she lowered her head sharply, bit her lip, and turned to leave.

"Thinking of running?"

Kirishima Ayato was about to make a move.

However, in an instant, his advancing body was sent flying backward uncontrollably. The quinque Chen Nuo threw pinned him to the wall, leaving him to watch as Mado Akira disappeared from sight.

"Throwing away your weapon? You've certainly made a mistake."

Tatara said coldly.

"Is that so?"

Chen Nuo cracked his knuckles and then settled into a standard boxing stance, making those watching unable to help but wonder.

Is he serious?