Chapter 67: The Calm Before the Storm
In the temporary branch of District 24.
Su Xiao, drenched in sweat, walked into the bathroom and took a cold shower.
He had preliminarily tested the changes in his body. The training intensity that would have left him utterly exhausted in the past only made him slightly out of breath today.
His stamina had increased from the original 6 points to 10 points, and his endurance had improved several times over.
Su Xiao walked out of the bathroom while drying his hair when a frantic knock came at the door.
Opening it, a staff member with an anxious expression stood outside.
"Special Investigator Bai Ye, it's bad! Special Investigator Yuna just sent a distress signal, saying there's an abnormal change underground in District 24."
"Abnormal change? What's going on?"
Su Xiao's expression turned serious. He was somewhat wary of District 24, as his last deep incursion there had left a deep impression.
"A large number of ghouls have appeared in the underground passage and are now attacking the security door. Special Investigator Bai Ye, you'd better go see for yourself."
Su Xiao grabbed his shirt from the bed and hurried to the underground entrance of District 24.
Ten minutes later, Su Xiao arrived at the entrance. The scene before him made him frown.
The entrance was in complete disarray. Makeshift tents were scattered everywhere, and large bloodstains could be seen on the ground.
He touched some of the blood with his finger. It was still warm, indicating the attack had happened not long ago.
"Bai Ye, over here."
Yuna's weak voice came from within a collapsed tent. Su Xiao quickly walked over.
"Was that door breached?"
The situation was clear now. Ghouls had forcibly broken out from the underground of District 24, and Yuna had fought desperately.
Judging by the wound piercing through Yuna's chest, she had failed.
"I think I'm done for."
Yuna's face was pale. Massive blood loss meant she could go into shock at any moment.
"You won't die just yet. I brought medical personnel."
Su Xiao carried Yuna out of the half-collapsed tent, and medical staff immediately took over to treat her wounds.
"Bai Ye, those new recruits might be..."
"Yeah, I know."
Those new recruits were likely all dead.
After the medical staff who came with Su Xiao had treated Yuna's wounds, they immediately took her back to the temporary branch. Yuna's lung had been pierced and required surgery.
Su Xiao approached the underground entrance. Near the entrance, he could see some bloody footprints. This was the center of the battle.
Yuna could have escaped earlier, but she chose not to. This young girl understood that being an Investigator wasn't a cushy job—it was a responsibility.
Su Xiao stepped into the underground entrance. The metal door lay diagonally on the ground, twisted and deformed, with large footprints on it. It had clearly withstood a considerable amount of attacks.
Light footsteps came from the direction of the ground. Su Xiao became alert, and Dragon-Slaying Flash appeared in his hand.
A sneaky figure entered the underground entrance. Su Xiao rushed forward in a few steps.
The person was startled by Su Xiao and screamed, raising a pistol and firing wildly.
"Bang, bang..."
The gunshots echoed far through the underground passage. Dragon-Slaying Flash was pressed against the newcomer's neck.
"Human?"
Su Xiao glanced at the gun in the other's hand. It was a firearm unique to the CCG.
"Are... are you Special Investigator Bai Ye?"
The person holding the gun was a slightly chubby young man with a round face. His clothes were covered in dust and bloodstains. Upon closer inspection, one could recognize it as a CCG uniform.
"Tell me what happened here."
Su Xiao didn't need to guess the other's identity—he was a surviving new Investigator.
On the way here, the staff at the temporary branch had already explained the general situation to Su Xiao.
Yuna had taken the new recruits to the outskirts of District 24 to "whack-a-mole," after which they were attacked by a large number of ghouls. Yuna had escaped from the underground of District 24 and called for help from the temporary branch.
"Wah..."
The chubby young man slumped to the ground, dropping his pistol and covering his face with his hands as he sobbed loudly.
"We... we were attacked. Special Investigator Yuna told us to... to go first, wah..."
The chubby young man's emotions were very unstable, clearly severely traumatized.
Through the chubby young man's intermittent account, Su Xiao learned the full story.
After Yuna retreated to the surface, she gathered the new Investigators.
Yuna knew that although the metal door at the entrance was sturdy, it couldn't withstand the ghouls' relentless attacks. So she told the new Investigators to retreat first while she stayed alone at the entrance to face the enemy. By then, Yuna had already accepted the possibility of death.
If a large number of ghouls broke through to the surface, the humans in the districts near District 24 would suffer.
From an Investigator's perspective, Yuna's actions were correct. However, one of the new Investigators suddenly got a surge of hot-blooded courage and insisted on living or dying with Yuna. That Investigator was the handsome young man who had earlier tried to help Yuna with her wounds.
This move by the handsome young man stirred up the emotions of the other new Investigators. They stubbornly believed that as long as they worked together, they could fend off the ghouls.
These new recruits were all "top students" at the Ghoul Investigator Academy, brimming with confidence about driving out ghouls.
Their actions infuriated Yuna.
It would have been a blessing if they didn't cause trouble. Yuna was certain that as soon as close combat began, these new Investigators would immediately scatter.
Just as Yuna was about to teach these new Investigators a lesson and drive them away with some rough methods, the metal door at the entrance was breached by the ghouls.
What followed was simple. With the "help" of a large number of useless teammates, Yuna nearly died in battle. Before close combat even began, the new Investigators saw the ghouls' terrifying, man-eating appearance and immediately fled.
As for that handsome, hot-blooded young man, he was the first to run when he saw the ghouls charging. It was his escape that triggered fear in the others, giving them a cowardly excuse.
"Look, I wasn't the first to run." With this mindset, the new Investigators fled—before the battle even started.
That handsome young man ran a bit slowly and was devoured by the ghouls, leaving only bones. His skull was taken by a mentally twisted ghoul, likely to be made into a "craft."
Yuna was defeated while covering the useless teammates' escape + fending off ghouls + facing a numerical disadvantage.
"That bastard Ito insisted everyone stay. We dragged down Special Investigator Yuna."
After saying this, the chubby young man cried even louder.
"So, there are still survivors among this batch of new Investigators? About how many are left?"
Su Xiao's question went unanswered. The chubby young man cried even more sorrowfully.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
Su Xiao gripped the hilt of Dragon-Slashing Flash tightly, feeling the urge to cut down this chubby young man.
Everyone was once weak, but those who cry endlessly after encountering misfortune are the most useless.
"Special Investigator Bai Ye, what should I do now?"
The chubby young man looked up at Su Xiao, only to find him on the phone.
The call connected quickly. The voice on the other end was very noisy.
"Kishou, do you know about District 24?"
"Buzz... know, buzz..."
The signal on Kishou Arima's end was very poor. After a moment, it improved a bit but was still intermittent.
"I can't... go now. Just hold the entrance... I'll handle it soon..."
Su Xiao understood Kishou Arima's general meaning: he was to guard the entrance to District 24 and prevent ghouls from breaking through to the surface.
"You're not... underground, are you?"
Tokyo was a small place, and there weren't many spots with poor signal. As the Special Investigator guarding District 24, Kishou Arima couldn't have left Tokyo.
Thinking this way, Kishou Arima could only be in one place.
"Yeah, I'm undergrou... You handle the surface... The root... I'll... resolve it."
The call was still intermittent, which left Su Xiao speechless.
If he wasn't mistaken, Kishou Arima might be deep within District 24.
"Understood. One thing to pass on to you: Yuna was also underground earlier. She's badly injured now, but she was found in time and has been sent for emergency treatment."
Kishou Arima fell silent.
"That's it."
With that, Su Xiao hung up.
The chubby young man looked at Su Xiao with tear-streaked face, full of admiration.
"I..."
Just as the chubby young man was about to speak, Su Xiao raised his hand to signal him to be quiet. He pressed his fingers to the ground.
A faint vibration came through his fingertips. A large group of unknown enemies was running through the underground passage, rapidly approaching.
"I have a task for you. Return to the surface and contact CCG headquarters. Tell them to send more personnel to District 24."