Chapter 37: Human Forbidden Zone
Seeing the achievement mission: (Scavenger), Su Xiao was quite surprised.
This was truly an unexpected delight. Whether it was the 1 attribute point or the 7% World Source, both were excellent rewards.
In fact, completing this achievement mission offered even richer rewards than his main mission.
Lighting a cigarette, wisps of blue smoke rose faintly.
Now, the conditions required for Main Mission (2) had been met; he no longer needed to eliminate ghouls.
Although killing ghouls was a brutal affair, Su Xiao had his own goals. To achieve them, he would stop at nothing.
There were still 12 days left until the time limit given by Main Mission (2), plenty of time.
"Bai Ye, First Class, what do we do next?"
Amon Koutarou, who had been following Su Xiao to eliminate ghouls these past few days, was also very fatigued.
"Return to the branch."
...
The CCG convoy soon returned to the branch. As soon as he walked in, Su Xiao saw Shinohara Yukinori approaching, along with Sasaki Haise.
"Bai Ye, First Class, is today's elimination complete?"
Su Xiao was quite famous in the 14th Ward branch, or rather, his name was now known throughout the entire CCG.
In eight days, he had nearly purged the entire 14th Ward. This achievement might only be matched by "that one."
Not only within the CCG, but even among ghouls, his name was more or less known.
Some ghouls called him Bai Ye, while others called him the Black Reaper, because of his black hair and black eyes, and his nature of leaving no survivors. Hence, the title "Black Reaper" emerged.
Among ghouls, almost all S-Rank and above had heard of Su Xiao. Even if they hadn't heard of Su Xiao, they definitely knew of the "Black Reaper of the 14th Ward."
"It's done. I've basically cleaned out the ghouls in the 14th Ward."
Shinohara Yukinori smiled. This Special Class Investigator wasn't greedy for merit; he was simply happy that humanity had another safe space to live.
"On behalf of all humans in the 14th Ward, I thank you, Bai Ye, Associate Special Class!"
Su Xiao was taken aback. Shinohara Yukinori actually knew he was about to be promoted to Associate Special Class Investigator.
"No need to be surprised. The news from headquarters will arrive soon. I'm heading to the 20th Ward today to rendezvous with the others. The situation in the 11th Ward is even more serious. Aogiri Tree has overrun the branch there; it's become ghoul territory."
Hearing Shinohara Yukinori's words, Su Xiao frowned.
The CCG branch in the 11th Ward was overrun? That was too fast. If there wasn't a contractor's influence behind this, Su Xiao absolutely wouldn't believe it.
"It seems a direct confrontation with Aogiri Tree isn't far off. Can you disclose the specific timing?"
Su Xiao wanted to probe the timing of the CCG's battle with Aogiri Tree; it would be very beneficial for his actions.
"It's not clear yet. They just said to go to the 20th Ward to form a 'Special Countermeasures Squad.'
But Bai Ye, you'll be coming with me this time too."
Su Xiao looked at Shinohara Yukinori with confusion. Was he also a member of the "Special Countermeasures Squad"?
"Although you're also going to the 20th Ward, you won't be joining the 'Special Countermeasures Squad.' The higher-ups have assigned you a more important mission. Of course, it's also very dangerous."
Su Xiao became interested.
"What mission?"
"Whack-a-mole!"
Su Xiao was stunned.
"Whack-a-mole?"
Shinohara Yukinori looked at Su Xiao with amusement, as if it were strange that Su Xiao didn't know about "whack-a-mole."
"Have you heard of the 24th Ward?"
Shinohara Yukinori's expression turned serious.
Su Xiao had certainly heard of the 24th Ward. If the 1st to 4th Wards were dangerous areas with large ghoul gatherings, then the 24th Ward was a human forbidden zone.
There was a saying circulating in the CCG: an Associate Special Class Investigator doesn't even have the qualifications to enter the 24th Ward alone.
The 24th Ward wasn't a specific area, but a network of tunnels dug by ghouls beneath Tokyo, spreading throughout the entire city.
These tunnels were intricate and complex. To this day, the 24th Ward couldn't be fully explored. Most ghoul investigators only dared to explore its periphery.
Throughout the entire CCG, only one team dared to venture deep into the 24th Ward: the Zero Squad. And the captain of that squad was Arima Kishou, the strongest investigator in CCG history, known as the Invincible Investigator.
Now, the CCG headquarters' order was for Su Xiao to go "whack-a-mole" in the 24th Ward.
The danger level of the 24th Ward could be summed up in one phrase:
A-Rank ghouls are everywhere, S-Rank ghouls are as common as dogs, and only SS-Rank ghouls can barely "shake a leg."
However, this "shaking a leg" came with extreme risk; they could be killed at any moment.
That's right, this was the 24th Ward, the human forbidden zone.
There, cannibalism was a matter of course. The ghouls there couldn't eat human flesh at all, because there were no humans there.
According to intelligence from the Zero Squad, deep within the 24th Ward, deep beneath Tokyo, there might be tens of thousands of ghouls, or even more.
"Interesting. Is it 'whack-a-mole' on the periphery, or going deep inside?"
Su Xiao's question surprised Shinohara Yukinori. Most people would inevitably feel fear when assigned to the 24th Ward.
"It's with Special Class Arima's team, and given your strength, of course you're going deep to 'whack-a-mole.'"
After understanding the gist of the matter, Su Xiao bid farewell to Shinohara Yukinori, who had to rush to the 20th Ward.
His transfer order hadn't arrived yet. He would also head to the 20th Ward later to rendezvous with someone.
That afternoon, Su Xiao received the transfer order from CCG headquarters and obtained new credentials.
[Promoted to Associate Special Class Investigator, CCG Contribution Points: 2053/10000.]
Associate Special Class Investigator was, of course, not the end. Above it were Associate Special Class Investigator and Special Class Investigator.
However, Main Mission (2) only required becoming an Associate Special Class Investigator.
Su Xiao opened the mission options.
[Main Mission (2): Associate Special Class Investigator. (Completed)]
Mission Difficulty: LV.3.
Mission Brief: Quickly rise in rank within the CCG to prepare for subsequent missions.
Mission Info: Use any method to increase status, including eliminating ghouls, bribery, and all other means.
Mission Reward: 1 Attribute Point, 1500 Paradise Coins.
Mission Remaining Time: 12 Days, 16 Hours.
...
Su Xiao could complete the mission at any time. Just as he was about to finish Main Mission (2), a thought struck him.
What would happen to the remaining 12 days and 13 hours of the mission if he completed it now?
After all, the longer one stayed in a derivative world, the more opportunities there were to gain benefits.
The resources Su Xiao needed to grow stronger were all obtained within derivative worlds. After returning to Reincarnation Paradise, he had no way to acquire resources.
By inquiring with Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao learned that if he completed the main mission now, the remaining stay time would be cleared.
Su Xiao pondered for a moment and decided not to complete Main Mission (2) for now.
Currently, he was the only one in the CCG faction. If he didn't complete Main Mission (2), even if a contractor from the ghoul faction completed theirs, it wouldn't matter.
Judging by the current form of the main missions, Main Mission (3) was highly likely to be a confrontation-type mission. If he didn't complete Main Mission (2), the contractors in the ghoul faction would have to wait as well.
He could complete the mission anytime, anywhere. This was a huge advantage.
As long as the time limit wasn't up, Su Xiao's Main Mission (2) wouldn't fail. In other words, he had gained 12 days of free action time.
Now, CCG headquarters was sending him to the 24th Ward to "whack-a-mole" with Arima Kishou. This was undoubtedly an opportunity to reap benefits.
The more ghouls there were, the higher the chance of dropping treasure chests.
Su Xiao's bad luck was true, but he didn't believe that ghouls would never drop a treasure chest.