The Washuu were now facing threats on two fronts: the One-Eyed King and One-Eyed Owl of Aogiri Tree on one side, and the mysterious "Madara" who had appeared from nowhere on the other...
The Washuu had already discovered that the One-Eyed Owl and the One-Eyed King were not the same person. That alone had been enough to give them headaches.
Before they could deal with the major threat of Aogiri Tree, an even greater threat had suddenly emerged...
"We understand..."
Yoshitoki responded with his head lowered.
As for Marude beside him, he didn't dare speak at this moment.
Though he usually liked to badmouth the General Chairman in private, when actually facing the one known as "Demon Tsuneyoshi," he didn't dare act out of line—especially after the Owl Suppression Operation they had commanded had yielded essentially no results...
"Additionally, regarding First Class Investigator Amaha Byakuya's performance this time, it seems to have exceeded even Arima's. He held off the kakuja 'Binge Eater,' 'Shachi,' and several other dangerous ghouls. In the end, he also held off that 'Madara' who appears to have some kind of cloning ability. Otherwise, our failure would have been even more severe..."
Yoshitoki said.
"Kakuja 'Binge Eater'..."
Tsuneyoshi fell into thought.
However, he still hadn't connected "Binge Eater" with Rize. He was simply curious about this suddenly-appearing kakuja.
It seemed all these individuals were allied with that "Madara"...
"First Class Amaha has also proposed a concept: drawing from Akihiro Kanou's 'half-ghoulification surgery' to form a special squad of 'half-ghoulified' members."
Yoshitoki continued. "Chief Researcher Chigyou apparently already has a plan. It will be much safer than Kanou's surgery and has been tentatively named the 'Quinx Surgery.' If the surgery proves viable..."
He was doing this at Byakuya's request—presenting the proposal to General Chairman Tsuneyoshi for approval. This kind of matter naturally required the General Chairman's final decision.
Tsuneyoshi's thoughts were pulled back.
"As long as Chigyou Kouitsu's 'Quinx Surgery' succeeds, name that squad the 'Quinx Squad.'"
Tsuneyoshi approved the concept Byakuya had proposed.
"Understood. The Quinx Squad can be used to counter any 'half-ghoulified weapons' that Aogiri Tree might develop in the future."
Yoshitoki said.
Going forward, the Quinx Squad would be established with Byakuya as the lead and person in charge, Kiyoko Aura as advisor, and Kurona and Nashiro as the first members.
The Washuu's intention was to have Byakuya's Quinx Squad and Arima's Squad Zero specifically counter Aogiri Tree and "Madara."
...
[Ding! Host has completed Choice 2 "Propose establishing the 'Quinx Squad' to CCG." Reward: 50 Fusion Points!]
This was a choice mission that had been activated back when he investigated Kanou's underground laboratory. Only now had he received the reward.
Looking at it this way, the General Chairman must have approved it.
Byakuya wasn't surprised at all. After all, the Quinx Squad had existed in the original story.
The only difference was that the Quinx Squad's members had changed from Haise Sasaki to Kurona and Nashiro.
Byakuya's objective had been achieved. Kurona and Nashiro could continue working normally at the CCG in their capacity as half-ghouls.
However, Chigyou's Quinx Surgery was still in the experimental stage and hadn't been formally applied to investigators yet.
It would probably take some more time before the Quinx Squad reached its official scale.
The current Quinx Squad was just being established to accommodate the special cases of Kurona and Nashiro. By now, the twins' half-ghoul status was no longer a secret within the CCG.
But with Kiyoko Aura and especially Byakuya overseeing the Quinx Squad, even investigators with strong prejudice against ghouls wouldn't dare say anything. Their excessive bias against ghouls naturally extended to viewing half-ghouls with suspicion as well.
After all, half-ghouls were still closer to ghouls than humans. Natural-born half-ghouls like Eto were more balanced, but artificial half-ghouls like Kurona and Nashiro lacked something crucial that Eto had—they couldn't eat normal human food.
Just like in the original story, even with Chigyou's help, Haise Sasaki couldn't consume human food. Perhaps no amount of RC suppressants could reduce an artificial half-ghoul's levels enough to eat normally.
To enable Kurona and Nashiro to eat normal food, there was only one way—Infinite Tsukuyomi.
"The Owl Suppression just ended, and everyone's currently in recovery mode. Since we have this rare opportunity, why don't you all come over to my place again? You can try my cooking."
While Byakuya and the others were preparing for the upcoming Quinx Squad, Kiyoko Aura suddenly extended an invitation.
The so-called recovery mode meant that the key participants were currently resting and didn't need to go out on investigation or extermination missions—just the occasional patrol.
It wasn't as if the entire CCG was on vacation. If that happened, Tokyo would descend into chaos, and ghouls could hunt humans with impunity.
"Sure, Kiyoko-nee."
Byakuya agreed casually.
Hearing Byakuya address Special Class Aura so intimately as "Kiyoko-nee," both Kurona and Nashiro simultaneously took note.
"Byakuya, since when did you become so close with Special Class Aura? You're even calling her 'Kiyoko-nee'..."
Kurona immediately asked.
"That's right. Did something happen between you and Special Class Aura while Kurona and I weren't around, Byakuya-niichan?"
Nashiro followed up.
"I asked Byakuya to call me that. It makes me feel like I have a little brother."
Before Byakuya could respond, Kiyoko had already explained for him.
Then Kiyoko moved closer to Kurona and Nashiro, speaking to them in a tone laden with meaning. "Don't worry, I won't steal your Byakuya. After all, I'm your superior right now."
But the thing was... Kiyoko hadn't said she wouldn't take him once she was no longer their superior—
...
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