Cochlea.
Uesugi Ryu and Mado Akira stood quietly in the corridor.
From a nearby cell came piercing, blood-curdling screams, punctuated faintly by a voice counting aloud:
"Five hundred... and... seventeen..."
Hearing this, Uesugi Ryu's lips curled into a faintly amused smile. He shook his head slightly.
"Three strikes to shatter a ghoul's soul, Chief, I swear I'm not doing this out of spite!"
He firmly promised himself, this definitely wasn't personal revenge for being insulted by the prisoner. It was all for the sake of ensuring their next steps proceeded smoothly.
Besides, he had broken Instructor Huto Kage's toy last time. No matter how you looked at it, replacing it was just basic human decency.
Mado Akira looked at Uesugi Ryu wordlessly. She could feel that he was in an exceptionally good mood.
She didn't even have to ask, sending that ghoul specifically to Tokage Goumasa was clearly tinged with retribution.
Still, she said nothing. After all, if they could extract more useful intel from that ghoul, it would be a considerable asset for their upcoming operations.
...
Creak-
The iron door opened. Tokage Goumasa stepped out.
His rubber gloves were soaked in dark, glistening blood.
His assistant immediately handed a report over to Uesugi Ryu.
"Associate Special-Class Uesugi, full confession secured."
Uesugi Ryu took the report, nodding in exaggerated admiration.
"See? Now this is what I call professionalism!"
They'd only delivered the prisoner to Cochlea last night, and by morning, the report was already on his desk. This level of efficiency was unmatched, others might treat this as just a job, but Tokage Goumasa? He was driven by pure passion.
Tokage Goumasa let out a faint laugh. The more he looked at Uesugi Ryu, the more pleasing he found him.
He'd seen it back in the Academy, this kid was one in a million.
After working through the whole night, he'd found his groove again.
Still wearing his bloodstained gloves, Tokage forced a flattering smile.
"Strictly speaking, I'm just a combat instructor...But honestly, this kind of work offers zero challenge to me."
"If Associate Special-Class Uesugi runs into any tough nuts in the future, feel free to send them my way."
Uesugi Ryu nodded without hesitation and made a welcoming gesture, signaling him to continue.
Tokage's smile grew even wider. Without saying another word, he turned and walked back into the cell.
With the "official work" over, it was now time for his personal recreation.
The assistant nearby let out a long, relieved sigh. The ordeal was finally over.
Any longer, and even he might've started silently calculating 1000 minus 7 in his head. Mental arithmetic +1.
Although such things were common in Cochlea, few could "play" like Tokage Goumasa.
Every second spent inside that room felt like a test of his psychological endurance. He was already thinking about seeing a therapist.
...
Uesugi Ryu didn't even glance at the report. He simply tossed it over to Mado Akira with a flick of his wrist.
Even if everything in it was accurate, the intel was likely of little use. Most ghouls were cautious by nature.
Without Ken Kaneki acting as an inside informant this time, CCG wouldn't even have known where the auction was being held.
Besides, what could a low-level auctioneer possibly know?
Seeing Uesugi Ryu's dismissive attitude, Mado Akira couldn't help but roll her eyes hard.
"This guy… he's not even pretending to care anymore."
Still, she caught the file midair and began reading it seriously.
...
Meanwhile, Uesugi Ryu's mind had already drifted to the subject of the Washuu Clan.
He had a strong premonition, Cochlea was about to get breached by ghouls again.
This facility, supposedly one of the most important strongholds of the CCG, had paper-thin defenses.
Uesugi Ryu suspected that the Washuu family had done this on purpose, to maintain a balance of power between ghouls and humans.
Otherwise, keeping ghouls like Hoito Roma alive made no sense.
She wasn't like the Priest, who could offer valuable intel, nor like Kirishima Arata, who had technological value for weapon development.
Trash like her should've already been turned into a Quinque, or tossed into the Pulper Room under Cochlea to be pressed into Roma Jam—that was her rightful end.
Housing so many ghouls consumed a great deal of resources.
The only plausible reason was that Washuu wanted to preserve these powerful ghouls as reserve forces for the ghoul side, to support them at any time.
In short, it was all just controlled chaos.
They didn't want the human side gaining too much ground. If CCG investigators stopped dying, their food supply would run dry.
"What's the point of keeping cats if there are no rats?"
If the ghouls shrank in power, the CCG, being a purely anti-ghoul force, would lose relevance.
That was something the Washuu family would never allow.
Uesugi Ryu frowned slightly and used his mind to open his System Panel, checking his awakening progress.
[Soul Devour: Awakening in Progress - 12/100]
[Mana: 700 Points]
He had lost a huge chunk of mana overnight for no apparent reason, which left him puzzled.
Still, the bloated, painful sensation in his body had lessened greatly.
He had tried to use the ring during the auction battle to heal that discomfort, but it had been ineffective.
Judging from the progress, his awakening should be complete in about a week.
For now, all he could do was wait patiently.
...
"Akira, how's the progress on Dr. Chigyou's end?"
Letting out a quiet sigh, Uesugi Ryu asked.
"So-so," Mado Akira replied while flipping through the file.
"Also, the production of Quinques based on Knight and Exhibitionist has been added to the schedule. The lab's been short-staffed lately."
Almost all the recent ghouls being processed were ones killed by Uesugi Ryu.
At this point, Kouitsu Chigyou and his team were essentially working full-time to serve him.
"Oh, right. My father said he wants to invite you over for dinner on Sunday."
Uesugi Ryu froze.
"...That's way too sudden. I'm not ready to meet the old man yet!"
He remained silent too long. Mado Akira glanced up at him, scrutinizing his expression.
Her lips curved upward in a teasing smile.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me you're nervous?"
"We work together every day. It's not like my dad eats people. What's there to be afraid of?"
Uesugi Ryu straightened up sharply, snorting with mock disdain.
"Hmph, are you kidding me?"
"I, Uesugi Ryu, have never feared anyone! No one alive today can make me tremble!"
Mado Akira gave him a long, meaningful look. Then, with a soft chuckle, she went back to the file.
...
Just then, Mado Kureo and Amon Koutarou walked toward them.
The two had come specifically to visit the Priest, hoping to extract information about the One-Eyed Owl.
But judging by their slightly disappointed expressions, the visit hadn't yielded much of value.
Especially Amon, he looked particularly downcast.
Seeing his ghoul foster parent again had clearly stirred up no pleasant feelings.
"What are you two talking about?" Mado Kureo asked curiously, glancing at them.
He had picked up on a faint whiff of something unusual.
Uesugi Ryu waved his hand dismissively and asked in turn,
"Nothing important. Mado-san, did you learn anything?"
Mado Kureo shook his head lightly.
Beside him, Amon let out a long sigh and muttered:
"He kept talking about White Rabbits and Alice... That guy's probably just rambling nonsense."