Chapter 22: A Wolf Among Sheep
Amidst the cacophony of music, eleven o'clock arrived.
"Pop~."
The auction hall's main lights flicked on, and the music stopped.
The ghouls dancing at the center of the venue ceased their movements. Some grumbled discontentedly, but none dared to cause trouble.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the auction is about to begin. Please take your seats."
A voice with an odd accent rang out. It belonged to a ghoul host wearing a clown mask.
"Mr. Clown, any surprises tonight? Last time's auction left me quite dissatisfied."
A ghoul dressed like a noblewoman spoke up.
Every ghoul present wore a mask. Ghouls couldn't let humans see their faces, and the same rule applied among themselves.
If two ghouls became enemies and one learned the other's identity, a report to the CCG would spell doom for the exposed one.
Most ghouls lived like rats in the sewers, hiding in the shadows.
But there were exceptions. For instance, a girl named Takatsuki Sen, a master of reckless self-exposure, was both the leader of the Aogiri Tree and a novelist, openly known to the public.
"Enough chatter. Tonight's items will surely satisfy everyone. So..."
The host on stage was about to announce the start of the auction when Su Xiao pressed his Bluetooth earpiece.
"Move out."
The moment Su Xiao spoke, the few ghouls near him tensed, eyeing him warily as they stepped back.
"What did you just say?"
"He said 'move out.' Something's off about this guy. Kill him."
"Could he be a Ghoul Investigator? I'm out of here."
Just because of Su Xiao's single command, a small section of the auction hall erupted into chaos.
It was no wonder the ghouls reacted this way. Years of being hunted by the CCG had left them all on edge, their nerves frayed.
Tension spread through the auction hall. The ghoul host on stage also sensed something was wrong.
"Snap!"
All the lights in the auction hall suddenly went out, plunging the place into pitch darkness.
Screams, roars, and the clatter of tables and chairs followed one after another.
Su Xiao's vision went dark as well, but he showed no panic. His expression remained calm.
A device resembling a "monocular telescope" appeared in his hand. He calmly put it on, and his vision returned.
Though it was only his right eye, and everything appeared in shades of green, it was enough to see.
Su Xiao had prepared a night vision scope and given orders in advance: once the operation began, cut the power to the auction hall.
Dragon-Slaying Flash appeared in his hand. Su Xiao walked slowly to a ghoul and pressed the blade against its neck.
The ghoul was completely unaware, its hands stretched out in front, body slightly hunched, blindly groping through the air.
Su Xiao was testing whether ghouls' red eyes had night vision.
Clearly, they didn't.
He pulled Dragon-Slaying Flash. The blade sliced through flesh with a soft sound, and blood gushed out.
The ghoul's eyes suddenly bulged. A gurgling sound came from its throat, and seconds later, it collapsed.
In the pitch-black auction hall, Su Xiao, wearing his night vision scope, was like a hungry wolf that had slipped into a sheep pen.
Moving among the ghouls, Dragon-Slaying Flash traced arcs of blade light.
"Thump, thump..."
The sound of sharp metal cutting through flesh came in rapid succession. One by one, ghouls fell, blood staining the path Su Xiao walked.
The noise in the auction hall masked Su Xiao's actions.
In just over ten seconds, more than twenty ghouls had died under his blade.
The auction hall was a semi-enclosed space. The thick smell of blood spread, alerting the other ghouls.
"What's going on? The smell of blood."
"This is a CCG trap. Run!"
"I don't want to die! I won't die!!"
The auction hall had descended into chaos. Over a hundred ghouls were running wildly.
Some hot-tempered ghouls unleashed their kagune, swinging wildly. Any ghoul that got too close was killed by mistake.
This only accelerated the death toll. Su Xiao knew time was running out; the ghouls wouldn't let him slaughter them forever.
Expressionless, Su Xiao moved through the crowd. Ghoul after ghoul fell.
Blood splattered across his face, but he paid it no mind.
Would killing ghouls cause psychological pressure? Maybe for others.
But in Reincarnation Paradise, it was kill or be killed. Between taking a life and losing his own, Su Xiao chose to raise his blade.
Blood and severed limbs flew. Su Xiao's eyes began to gleam red as he killed.
"Bang!" A glass bottle shattered, and flames roared up high.
The ghoul host on stage had somehow found a bottle of strong liquor. After turning it into a makeshift Molotov cocktail, he smashed it on the ground.
This was probably leftover alcohol from the daytime auction; ghouls wouldn't auction off drinks.
The fire illuminated the entire auction hall, driving away the darkness.
"Drip, drip."
Blood dripped from the tip of Dragon-Slaying Flash. All the ghouls' gazes converged on Su Xiao.
Around him lay at least thirty ghouls, sprawled in all directions, all with their throats slit, dead. The blood had soaked the ground near him, forming a shallow pool.
"Gulp."
A B-rank ghoul swallowed hard, terror filling his eyes.
Once all the ghouls noticed Su Xiao, their first instinct wasn't to surround him, but to flee.
But they quickly realized that all the exits from the auction hall were sealed.
This was Su Xiao's order. The people outside were just a precaution. Even as the leader of the purge squad, the CCG members' kills would only give him a small share of contribution points.
So, to quickly rise to the rank of Special Class Investigator, Su Xiao had to do the killing himself.
With all exits blocked, the ghouls saw through the gaps a large group of investigators outside. This drove the ghouls present into a frenzy.
"What do we do? It's over. We're dead today."
"Run! That guy with the knife is coming up!"
The chaos intensified. Su Xiao stabbed a ghoul through the throat. Points earned, the ghoul dropped dead.
Not all ghouls were fleeing. Two S-rank ghouls were present: one was the host on stage wearing the clown mask, and the other stood right in front of Su Xiao.
A pig mask, a fat build. The S-rank ghoul before Su Xiao was a massive figure weighing at least three hundred pounds, round as a ball.
"You... you're human."
The fat ghoul's kagune was an ukaku, with the kakuhou located in his shoulder. Once his kagune emerged, he looked like he was wearing half a suit of armor.
This guy was clearly the tanky type—slow, but tough and thick-skinned.
Su Xiao charged forward with his blade. The fat ghoul roared and rushed at him.
They closed in quickly. Su Xiao's steps were agile, while the fat ghoul moved like a heavy tank, the ground trembling slightly with each stride.
"Die!"
The fat ghoul lowered his head and rammed toward Su Xiao. Su Xiao suddenly stopped, his focus razor-sharp.
With a quick sidestep, he easily dodged the fat ghoul's charge, then swung his long blade at the ghoul's lower body.
"Thump."
A fat leg hit the ground. Su Xiao had barely used any force, relying entirely on the fat ghoul's forward momentum.
A pig-like squeal of pain rang out. The fat ghoul crashed to the ground with a thud.
Su Xiao dashed forward in a few quick strides, stomped one foot on the fat ghoul's back, and pressed the tip of Dragon-Slaying Flash against the back of his head.
"No, no~, don't, please..."
The cold, sharp sensation at the back of his head made the fat ghoul stammer.
"Thump." The long blade pierced straight through his skull. Su Xiao didn't hesitate for a moment.
He could feel the ghoul's body convulsing beneath his foot.
A light green chest floated up from the fat ghoul's corpse. Seeing it, Su Xiao raised an eyebrow.
Lucky. Killing an S-rank ghoul had actually yielded a green chest.
He stowed the chest away, then turned his gaze to the second S-rank ghoul on the scene—the host wearing the clown mask.
Noticing Su Xiao's look, the clown-masked ghoul quickly spoke up.
"Wait. I'm from the Yue Shan family. You can't kill me."