"But what kind of thing could get you all bloody?" Of course, Mitsuri wouldn't stop asking when she received such a vague answer; on the contrary, it only piqued her curiosity.
"Actually, it's a lot of things. Demons bleed more than they sweat," Lucian replied casually as the last traces of blood returned to his body.
But it's really sad that a brief moment of reverie had caused such a mess, if he couldn't handle blood it would have been very difficult to clean up.
"Huh... what you said is still the same as nothing..." A touch of helplessness crept into Mitsuri's voice when she had the feeling that she wasn't going to get the answer she wanted.
"Secret," Lucian said with a playful smile.
"Oh, come on..."
......
It's funny how depending on what you're doing can affect your perception of the passage of time, just as these few days have passed in the blink of an eye.
Lucian was developing his new technique. Mitsuri, Nakime, Daki and their subordinates concentrated on mastering the use of the kagunes they had won while Shinobu focused mainly on developing powerful poisons, of course, without forgetting to learn a little about his kagune. Ryoko, Hinami, Kie and their children practiced to learn combat skills or at least the basics so that they could protect themselves.
As everyone was busy with something, the days passed as quickly as they could and soon the place where Kaneki was being held was discovered.
Knowing that devouring other living beings is the best way to strengthen themselves, almost all of them were more than excited to go there, after all, this is a rare opportunity when a large number of "tasty meals" are gathered in one place.
Ghouls and investigators, all in a state of weakness thanks to the high-intensity combat, and when two tigers fight it's the hunter who benefits. In short, this chaotic situation is perfect for them, because unlike the others, demons don't fear fatigue and injury.
Well, Anteiku's people will also be there, but they don't mean much when compared to the number of people on the other side and considering the objective they have, they will cause a relatively small amount of confusion, even if they can be considered an elite group.
"Should I take Hinami along? It would be good training for her, and Irimi could guide her a bit..." Lucian stopped to think briefly, in the original work, Kaneki's rescue was the first opportunity to use his powers in a real situation.
"But would it be safe?" Hearing Lucian's question, Ryoko's first reaction as a mother was naturally to worry.
"Safety is guaranteed, under the joint protection of the demons and Anteiku it's practically impossible for her to get hurt," Lucian replied with confidence brimming in his voice.
"All right then, I'm relieved by your assurance," Ryoko sighed with relief.
"Are you going too?" he asked, even though he sensed that she would probably refuse.
"No, although I trained with Kokushibo for a while, I'm not interested or skilled enough to go and fight Aogiri." She shook her head, refusing the offer just as Lucian had predicted.
'So it'll be... Kokushibo, Akaza, Gyutaro, Daki, Mitsuri, Shinobu, Hinami and a hundred soldiers, twenty soldiers each, apart from Hinami who'll be accompanying Anteiku's team... sounds pretty reasonable to me.'
Of course, these demon soldiers are so low-level that even if they all accompanied any of these people (except Hinami) they wouldn't make much difference, so they're not needed and will only be there to help collect the "spoils".
In other words, they'll be carrying corpses or those who are captured, if anyone survives and the dead aren't absorbed on the spot.
Having decided this, Lucian joined Anteiku's team on their way to the Aogiri Tree base while sending the location to his group of wives and subordinates.
After all, he only knew that the base was in the eleventh district, but he didn't know the precise location.
"All set?" Lucian asked Anteiku's group.
"Yes." Yoshimura nodded, knowing that the CCG had already surrounded the building complex and would be able to invade at any moment.
"I'll be leaving her in your hands, so make sure nothing bad happens to her... ah, her sensory capabilities are high, she can probably help you," Lucian said as he prepared to leave with Yomo's squad.
Needless to say, he was referring to Hinami, who would be in Yoshimura's squad on this operation.
"There's no need to ask that, the purpose of all this is to make sure that none of us get hurt." Yoshimura smiled, intensifying the wrinkles on his face.
The aim is to save a companion without losing another companion, otherwise there would be no need to form teams for this.
They soon entered the building complex. And Lucian couldn't help but let out a sigh at how dilapidated the ghouls' homes usually were, 'I guess it's a consequence of living in hiding. But don't worry, when I take over this world the situation will change...'
There are eight main buildings and some smaller ones next to them. From what Lucian remembered, Kaneki is (or was) being tortured by Yakumo Oomori in a small cylindrical building with a round roof.
As for why Lucian didn't tell anyone... obviously so that Kaneki would have time to complete his near-murder, his first cannibalistic meal.
The fact that he didn't kill Yakumo ends up being worth more than killing him, because this cruel ghoul wasn't "spared" out of mercy, but thanks to an equal level of cruelty.
Because Kaneki wanted Yakumo to suffer as he slowly died, with no one to save him.
Well... one person shows up, but it's to finish the job and steal the organs of the dreaded Jason from the eleventh district, just the basics for a CCG agent.
'Hmm... I think I'll meet him quickly when it happens.'
It's undeniable that of all those present, Lucian is the one with the greatest capacity for perception, so this is an easy thing to do.
If it weren't for not knowing how ghouls' perception works and being bad at teaching, he could teach Hinami himself.
'Come to think of it, no demon has specific skills for perception, and none of them have undergone any training.
Although his mind was in constant reverie, his hands didn't lose speed as he tore apart any enemy who dared to approach.
Which, in truth, wasn't much, the group was already moving along the paths where there were fewer enemies and most of those who appeared in the way were defeated before they reached Lucian.
Partly because he was in a rearguard position, the other reason is that ghouls aren't so silly, they still have a certain intuition about who is a threat to them.
Too bad that intuition fails most of the time.
"Don't be so nervous, I'm sure Kaneki's fine." Lucian comforted Touka slightly as he realized that she was lost in thought and memories, but still added mentally, 'At least physically, the mental part isn't guaranteed.
The body heals quickly, the mind not so much. Try asking our friend with the eye patch what a thousand minus seven is.
If you want to use a euphemism, you could say that he has at least improved a little in math.