Chapter 35: Making a Name 14
At the edge of District 14.
This location had an excellent geographical position with beautiful scenery, making it a good place to live.
However, the rampant spread of ghouls had caused many humans in this area to move away, gradually making it desolate.
Inside a half-finished building. Several hundred ghouls had gathered here, sharing information, selling "food," or looking for mates.
"Did you hear? The auction house and the cannibal zone were both wiped out by the CCG. Those guys were asking for it."
"How could I not have heard? Every ghoul in District 14 knows that the CCG branch here has a madman assigned to it. I think his name is Bai something."
"Bai Ye. A friend of mine mentioned him. He was active in the cannibal zone before and saw that guy with his own eyes..."
A ghoul who looked like a student stopped mid-sentence.
Several ghouls around him crowded in.
"Go on, don't stop halfway. What does that madman Bai Ye really look like? We need to know so we can steer clear of him from now on."
The student-like ghoul kept his hands in his pockets, smirking at the others.
"Sigh~, I'm starving. The CCG's crackdown has been getting tougher lately. I haven't eaten in half a month."
The few ghouls exchanged glances, understanding what the student ghoul meant.
"Tanikawa, don't you still have some 'dry rations'? Share some with him."
"Why me? I need my 'dry rations' for emergencies. As for what that madman Bai Ye looks like, I'm not interested."
The gossip-hungry ghouls glared at the student ghoul with ill intent.
"You bastard~, are you going to talk or not?"
"I've got a habit of cannibalism too, you know."
The student ghoul was young and somewhat timid, showing fear.
But giving in like that would be a bit embarrassing.
"Fine, I'm not telling you because I'm scared. We're all ghouls here, life's hard enough."
The surrounding ghouls exchanged knowing smiles. They didn't really have the guts to fight either; they were just trying to scare the student ghoul.
"Honma, we get it. Just hurry up and tell us."
The student ghoul cleared his throat and began recounting the information he knew, while the others listened intently.
...
In the waist-high grass around the half-finished building, large figures were slowly approaching.
"Team One, left flank. Team Two, right flank. Team Three, frontal assault. Team Four, block the large exit at the rear."
Su Xiao crouched in the grass, beginning to move toward the half-finished building.
This time, the number of ghouls to deal with was large. According to thermal detection scans, there were at least 240 ghouls inside the building, possibly more.
If he charged in alone, he would definitely be outmatched. But with the cooperation of other investigators, things were different.
He would take the lead, and the other investigators would provide cover. After a bloody battle, they could surely annihilate all the ghouls here.
"Team One, ready."
"Team Two, ready."
"Team Three, ready."
"Team Four, in position."
Dragon-Slaying Flash appeared in Su Xiao's hand. He pressed his fingertip lightly against his Bluetooth earpiece.
"Move out."
With Su Xiao's command, investigators from Teams One, Two, and Three simultaneously raised their grenade launchers.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
Dozens of iron canisters resembling tear gas grenades were fired into the half-finished building.
Initially, Su Xiao had wanted to use grenades to directly bomb the ghouls. But strangely, the CCG's armory didn't supply grenades in large quantities.
The armory's explanation was that grenades couldn't effectively kill ghouls and might harm civilians.
This puzzled Su Xiao and made him somewhat suspicious of the CCG. They were carrying out an eviction in the suburbs, far from any civilians.
Maybe CCG headquarters was worried about some extreme investigators using large-scale weapons in crowded areas?
It wasn't impossible, but the reason seemed a bit flimsy.
Su Xiao didn't want to investigate whatever was going on behind the scenes. His priority was completing the main mission.
Digging too deep into the CCG now might anger its higher-ups, making the situation hard to handle and potentially causing his main mission to fail.
"Thud, thud, thud..."
Muffled sounds came from inside the half-finished building, and a white mist spread out.
This white mist wasn't tear gas but CRc gas.
When the CRc gas reached a certain concentration, it greatly affected ghouls, reducing the activity of Rc cells in their bodies, shrinking their kakuhou, and preventing them from releasing their kagune.
The time was ripe. Su Xiao charged toward the half-finished building, followed by dozens of investigators.
Intense gunfire, the clash of weapons, and screams echoed from within the building.
The battle went into full swing from the start.
"C-CCG is here! Run!"
The ghouls fell into chaos. The sudden appearance of CRc gas made it impossible for them to even release their kagune.
But the half-finished building wasn't sealed, so the CRc gas was quickly dissipating.
Su Xiao rushed to the front, blade in hand. With a series of slashes, several ghouls fell, clearing a bloody path. The investigators covered his rear.
With their support, Su Xiao moved much more calmly in the group battle, ghouls falling one after another under his blade.
...
Two hours later, Su Xiao sat on the ground, covered in blood.
He tore a strip of cloth from a nearby ghoul corpse and began wiping down Dragon-Slaying Flash.
This battle had lasted a full two hours and was exceptionally brutal. At one point, the ghouls tried to flee but were intercepted by the people Su Xiao had stationed outside.
By then, the CRc gas had been blown away by the wind, and the ghouls had gone completely mad, fighting desperately.
Tossing aside the blood-and-flesh-soaked cloth, Su Xiao sheathed Dragon-Slaying Flash.
Looking around, he saw a large number of ghoul corpses lying before him, but not a single treasure chest.
Maybe that earlier flash of light had used up all his luck.
After killing all these ghouls, Su Xiao gained a total of 367 CCG contribution points.
His mission progress became: [First-Class Investigator, Contribution 1264/2000].
Although he had eliminated over 200 ghouls this time, not all of them were killed by him. A large portion had been taken down by other investigators, so he only received a small share of the contribution points.
As he got closer to completing his main mission, a thought crossed Su Xiao's mind. If that idea worked out, he could gain a lot of free time.
"Xiao, report the casualties."
The death of Mado Kureo had a significant impact on Mado Akira.
But because of today's mission, Mado Akira hadn't chosen to take leave. This woman was strong-willed and stubborn.
"128 personnel deployed. 78 lightly wounded, 15 seriously wounded, 23 dead. The remaining 12 only have minor scratches."
After reporting, Mado Akira stood still. She herself had sustained light injuries.
Hearing these casualty figures, Su Xiao wasn't surprised.
Exterminating ghouls was no easy task; it required sacrificing lives. Losing only 23 people was already a complete victory.
If Su Xiao hadn't taken the lead, the death toll might have exceeded half.
It sounded exaggerated, but that was the reality.
"Regroup the troops. Send the dead to headquarters, and the seriously and lightly wounded to the hospital.
About how many are still fit to fight?"
Su Xiao was preparing to clear out the next ghoul gathering point. Time was running short.
"About fifty or so can continue fighting."
"Give me a specific number."
Amidst the killing and fighting, Su Xiao had developed a unique aura.
"Fifty-three."
Mado Akira instinctively straightened her posture.
"Fifty-three~, not enough. Contact Special Class Shinohara and tell him we're short on manpower."
Shinohara Yukinori had discussed this with Su Xiao before. To clear District 14, the maximum casualties Shinohara could accept was under a hundred. If that number was exceeded, he would forcibly halt the plan to purge District 14.
To eliminate a large number of ghouls, there would inevitably be deaths on their side. Battles without casualties only existed in heroic tales. Su Xiao wasn't that naive, and neither was Shinohara Yukinori. Both of them knew this well.
Those who kill must be prepared to be killed.