The principle behind 'Arata' is simple—it's like an engine, and the user's blood and flesh serve as its fuel. The more flesh it consumes, the more powerful 'Arata' becomes.
CCG must have been out of their minds to create something like this. Regular use of 'Arata' doesn't just result in injuries—it could potentially shorten one's lifespan. It's not just Yuna using 'Arata' either; other investigators like Shinohara Yukinori and Kuroiwa Iwao also use it.
This made Su Xiao suspect that CCG's higher-ups didn't really care about the lives of their investigators. From their actions, it's clear they only care about exterminating ghouls—whether investigators live or die seems irrelevant. Some higher-ranking investigators probably noticed this, but they didn't give up because they were fighting for their beliefs.
After catching the 'Arata' Su Xiao had thrown, Yuna let it latch onto her body.
"I'll need some rest after this."
Without hesitation, Yuna pressed the switch on the back of her neck, activating 'Arata' again.
Within three seconds, her strength multiplied several times as she wielded her scythe.
"Time to chop you all to bits, hahaha~."
Yuna let out a maniacal laugh as her scythe spun, quickly slaughtering the remaining dozen eyeless ghouls.
In less than 30 seconds, all the ghouls were wiped out.
But Yuna collapsed just as quickly. 'Arata' had begun devouring her flesh.
"Help, help~."
Just moments ago, she was viciously slaughtering ghouls, but now Yuna lay on the ground, reaching out for Su Xiao to save her.
Su Xiao, supporting himself against the wall, walked over and started to forcibly peel 'Arata' off Yuna, which also resulted in her clothes being torn.
"Riiip, riiip~."
He succeeded in pulling 'Arata' off, leaving Yuna curled up on the floor.
"Stop pretending to be helpless and get moving. There are probably a thousand more ghouls out there."
"But... this is..."
Yuna was still curled up.
"Choose: your dignity or becoming a corpse."
With that, Su Xiao walked forward slowly, determined to leave the 24th Ward, which was proving to be more dangerous than expected.
"Wait, wait for me!"
Yuna, disregarding her embarrassment, forced herself to her feet and followed behind Su Xiao, holding her two quinque cases in front of her body.
"Please don't look back, I beg you."
Yuna's movements were awkward as she trailed behind Su Xiao, using the quinque cases to cover herself.
"Put this on."
Su Xiao took out a set of clothes from his storage space and tossed them to Yuna, who dressed herself in five seconds flat.
"Uh-oh."
Yuna suddenly stopped, her expression turning sour.
"What is it?"
Su Xiao looked back at her.
"I lost the compass during the battle."
Without the compass deep inside the 24th Ward, they risked getting lost. And if that happened, survival chances would be slim.
"No problem. I've been leaving markers along the way. Based on the map I sketched, we'll find our way out soon."
Su Xiao carved a mark into the ground with his sword, indicating their position, and added it to his hand-drawn map.
"I wonder how Arima is doing. Compared to you two, I'm utterly useless."
Yuna hung her head as she followed behind Su Xiao.
"Arima won't die."
Yuna looked at Su Xiao in confusion.
"If he could die so easily, I wouldn't have stayed behind to cover him."
In the original work, Su Xiao hadn't known much about Arima Kishou. But after interacting with him in person, he realized Arima was a clever man with many secrets.
"This way."
As Su Xiao rounded a corner, something odd caught his attention about the fleshy wall next to him.
Every other wall was solid and continuous, but this one had a 40-centimeter-wide gap in it.
The gap was pitch black, so Su Xiao took out a flashlight and shone it inside.
The gap in the fleshy wall was narrow on the outside but wider inside. He could faintly see dust-covered objects inside.
Yuna peeked over.
"Is this... a secret room?"
"Looks like it."
Su Xiao put away his sword and squeezed through the gap in the fleshy wall.
"What's in there? I have claustrophobia. Can I stay outside?"
The Yuna who had been mercilessly slaying ghouls now looked genuinely scared.
"Those eyeless ghouls could show up any minute. If you want to keep fighting them, you can stay outside. But in your current state, you'll be their snack."
By the time Su Xiao finished speaking, he had already made his way deep into the gap, where the space opened up.
Shining his flashlight around, Su Xiao examined the inside of the secret room.
A musty smell filled the air, and several indistinct objects lay scattered around, covered in thick layers of dust.
Some items resembled tables, while others looked like boxes, but they were too obscured by dust to make out clearly.
The place seemed like an old laboratory—ancient enough that there were no electronic devices in sight. In one corner, Su Xiao spotted a dust-covered balance scale, highlighting the antiquity of the lab.
"I hate tight spaces."
Yuna squeezed into the room, shaking the dust from her hair.
Su Xiao had entered the secret room out of necessity. He was in bad shape and needed to rest. This place didn't give off any sense of danger; otherwise, he wouldn't have come inside.
He instructed Yuna to wedge her quinque case in the gap in the fleshy wall to prevent it from closing unexpectedly. Even if the case couldn't stop the wall from closing, it would buy them enough time to escape. That thing was tough, especially 'Shin's' case, made from a special alloy.
"What is this place... a lab?"
"Looks like it. And it's been here for a long time."
Su Xiao walked over to a dusty table and wiped it clean.
"Cough, cough, cough~."
The dust rose into the air, making Su Xiao cough.
"Clink~."
A glass vessel fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.
Su Xiao instinctively stepped back, examining the broken glass.
The shards revealed it was a beaker, with yellow stains and suspicious black specks clinging to the inside.
"The 24th Ward had a place like this? I've never seen it before."
Yuna curiously looked around.
After ensuring there was no danger, Su Xiao leaned against the wall and began to bandage his wounds.
Yuna wasn't seriously hurt, only suffering from the aftereffects of using 'Shin' which had left her temporarily drained. After some rest, she'd recover.
But Su Xiao was gravely injured. The continuous battles had left him exhausted. He had also lost chunks of flesh to the primitive ghouls and been torn up by 'Shin'.
"Let's rest for a few hours before we move on."
Su Xiao took out some food and water, eating just enough to regain some strength, and gestured for Yuna to do the same.
He grabbed a salted rice ball, eating it in two bites. This item would restore 10% of his health and speed up the healing of his wounds.
As for the higher-tier golden fried rice, he didn't use it.
He only had one portion left, making it a rare and valuable recovery item.
Yuna sat across from Su Xiao, eating the food and drinking the water he gave her. She had lost all her supplies.
After eating the salted rice ball, Su Xiao felt his injuries begin to heal a bit.
Activating his imprint, he checked his current CCG contribution points. Killing the primitive ghouls earlier had earned him a substantial amount of points.
He had also slain hundreds of eyeless ghouls earlier. He wondered if that had added to his total.
[Rank: Senior Investigator, Current Contribution Points: 7723/10000]
Su Xiao narrowed his eyes. He had earned over 5,000 CCG contribution points in the 24th Ward in a short time.
This place clearly held enormous secrets closely tied to CCG.
If he could uncover those secrets...
Su Xiao considered his options. Exploring the 24th Ward's secrets might lead to a conflict with CCG, but it could also bring him tremendous rewards.
However, now wasn't the right time. If he were to turn against them, it would be after he obtained that blue-quality potion.
(End of Chapter)
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Translator's Note :- I am Not that familiar with a lot of the fictional worlds mentioned in the story. So if I make a mistake naming something please correct me by writing a paragraph comment on the mistake. Thank you.