Su Xiao and his companion entered the underground passage, beginning their search for the ghouls.
Strangely enough, when Su Xiao didn’t want to encounter ghouls, they frequently appeared before him. But now, not a single one was in sight.
After five minutes of fruitless searching, Su Xiao caught a faint scent of blood. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⚫𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦⚫𝘯𝘦𝘵
Arima Kishou nodded in acknowledgement as the two of them cautiously approached the corner ahead. They soon heard chewing sounds.
A ghoul weighing at least three hundred pounds was crouched over a corpse, gobbling it up voraciously. It was an ordinary ghoul.
The strength of this three-hundred-pounder wasn’t particularly strong, roughly between Level B and Level A.
"Arima, this one’s good, lots of meat."
"But we need to find a sturdy rope."
The three-hundred-pounder was startled by their conversation, looking at them cluelessly, still holding a severed leg, which was gnawed to a bloody pulp, exposing white bones.
The three-hundred-pounder, upon seeing Su Xiao and his companion clearly, collapsed to the ground in fright, trembling like a sieve.
If the three-hundred-pounder threw away the severed leg and wiped the blood off his face, he might have appeared pitiful. Unfortunately, his current appearance made him look like a deranged serial killer who devoured his victims after killing them.
Arima Kishou and Su Xiao rushed forward. Neither of them used weapons, as they wanted it alive.
The three-hundred-pounder let out a high-pitched scream.
Su Xiao kicked him in the large belly, and he rolled several times. Arima Kishou stepped forward and struck the back of his neck fiercely.
The three-hundred-pounder’s body slumped down. Under the combined efforts of Su Xiao and Arima Kishou, even without weapons, the three-hundred-pounder had no chance to resist.
They had their bait. The two of them carried the three-hundred-pounder toward Central City.
As for why they carried him, it was because this guy weighed not just three hundred pounds, and he could wake up at any moment. Carrying him alone was risky.
In the center of the underground city, there was a vertical shaft with a diameter of over ten meters, so deep that its bottom couldn’t be seen, its insides pitch black, seeming to lead directly to the earth’s core.
The walls of the shaft were of a steel structure, covered with lush green moss, slippery and damp.
One could clearly see dense handprints and footprints on the mossy wall. Those primitive species must have climbed up from there.
On both sides of the shaft opening were two semicircular hatch covers. The covers were thick; if they closed, the opening could be fully sealed.
At this moment, the hatch covers were wide open, with a gap on the ten-centimeter-thick covers, the break uneven, with bloodstains still visible.
The primitive species broke open a hole in the hatch cover, then dashed out of the shaft, leaving the covers fully open.
Logically, primitive species shouldn’t have such intelligence, but when Su Xiao last went deep into the 24th District, he saw a primitive species that resembled a leader, and that guy was intelligent and capable of commanding others.
At this moment, Su Xiao was hiding near the shaft opening, with some primitive species wandering around nearby.
"That Arima guy is too slow."
Just as he finished speaking, an explosion was heard from afar.
A burst of fire shot up into the sky, accompanied by billowing thick smoke.
The primitive species within Central City simultaneously looked toward the explosion point, roaring as they ran towards it.
A few seconds later, Su Xiao emerged from his hiding spot and quickly ran towards the edge of the shaft.
He attempted to lift one of the hatch covers, trying to close it.
The sharp creaking of metal sounded, Su Xiao’s face turning red from exertion.
"Arima Kishou, damn you, this thing weighs at least eight to nine hundred pounds."
Using his 15-point Power Attribute, Su Xiao roared as he lifted the hatch cover, pushing with all his might.
One semicircular hatch cover closed, and Su Xiao was already drenched in sweat.
Glancing at the other hatch cover, Su Xiao cursed under his breath; he should have volunteered to ’lure’ the primitive species.
The other hatch cover was lifted by Su Xiao. Fortunately, the covers were linked to the shaft’s edge by thick bearings; otherwise, with his power, he wouldn’t have been able to lift these metal hatch covers.
Both hatch covers fully closed, with a conspicuous one-meter-wide hole on the cover’s surface.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Su Xiao ran back to his previous hiding place, dragged out three hundred pounds, and still had a rope in his hand.
After tying the three hundred pounds tightly, Su Xiao kicked it into the manhole cover’s broken hole like fishing and tied the other end of the rope to the manhole cover.
That wasn’t all; Su Xiao took off the backpack from his back. It was heavy, having just been handed to him by Arima Kishou.
He took out several silver metallic tubes from the backpack. They were a dozen centimeters long and fist-thick, with an attachment device on one end.
He attached the silver metallic tubes to the manhole cover, completing his task, and quickly left the manhole cover, heading to a nearby high vantage point.
Upon reaching the vantage point, Su Xiao found that Arima Kishou was already waiting for him; this was a gathering point agreed upon by the two beforehand.
"You said that manhole cover is made of special alloy, each weighing only three hundred pounds, but that thing weighs at least eight hundred pounds, maybe even more."
Su Xiao stared at Arima Kishou with piercing eyes, which somewhat surprised Arima Kishou.
"Not three hundred plus pounds? The info given by headquarters was...."
At this point, Arima Kishou stopped speaking.
Su Xiao also remained silent, vaguely guessing something. Perhaps, CCG had started to abandon Arima Kishou? Would CCG really let such a powerful force perish in this mission?
"It seems you’re not doing well among the CCG’s upper echelons. In your current state, you can’t lift those two manhole covers. That thing is conservatively estimated to be eight hundred pounds. They might have sent me as a safeguard. If you fail, I step in..."
Arima Kishou chuckled lightly. For some reason, Su Xiao felt that Arima Kishou was becoming more emotionally expressive, unlike his previous stoic demeanor.
"My time is running out."
Arima Kishou said an inexplicable sentence, almost admitting that CCG might be planning to abandon him.
"Bai Ye, you’ve killed a Ghoul named Kaneki Ken before, right? The one with a single exposed eye, white-haired Ghoul."
"Yes, during the battle between the 11th District and Bronze Tree."
"Well, after this mission, I can tell you a secret. Help me with something and I’ll explain the details later."
Arima Kishou’s current demeanor and words make one suspect if he’s planning to defect from CCG.
"Don’t rush to refuse. I’ve noticed you’re different from the other investigators. You don’t seem loyal to CCG. Though I’m unclear about your objective, we can collaborate. I’ll pay you."
Su Xiao’s eyes brightened. Some astonishing secrets might soon be revealed to him. The more secretive the matter, the more World Source awaits. He’s interested in Arima Kishou’s secret.
"Let’s talk about it when we return to the surface. It’s too early to discuss this now."
Su Xiao wasn’t blinded by the benefits; Arima Kishou’s trustworthiness was still to be tested.
After the explosion, the Primitive Species of Central City were drawn to the explosion point but dispersed after finding nothing significant.
Central City had become their territory, and they were patrolling it.
"Did you hit too hard? Why hasn’t three hundred pounds woken up yet?"
Su Xiao looked at the closed manhole cover somewhat helplessly.
"Should be soon. The other party’s fat made it hard to control the force."
The two lay at the high point near the shaft, waiting for the three hundred pounds inside to wake up.
Half an hour later, faint cries for help emanated from within the shaft.
"Is anyone out there, help!"
"Which bastard investigator hung me here? So dark, save me~~."
The cries grew louder. The Primitive Species inside Central City perked their ears at the shout, as if it struck a nerve, surging in like a tide.
"Are you sure those Primitive Species won’t enter that shaft? I feel these ’Beasts’ are completely enraged and will tear apart three hundred pounds."
"Positive, Primitive Species won’t enter the shaft. I tested it before."
Since Arima Kishou said so, Su Xiao didn’t inquire further.
"Someone come!! Save me!!"
"White Death, I ************."
After the initial fear, three hundred pounds began to swear profusely, which was undoubtedly a good thing, drawing hundreds of Primitive Species towards them.
"Boss, I call you boss, just kill me already. This is too painful."
Three hundred pounds began to beg for mercy.
A Primitive Species lay on the manhole cover, cautiously approaching its head to the broken hole, not daring to cross the line. Upon spotting three hundred pounds, it let out a roar.
Continuous roars echoed. Large groups of Primitive Species anxiously hovered over the manhole, wanting to kill three hundred pounds but not daring to enter the shaft, seemingly fearing something.
The time was ripe; Su Xiao took out a detonator.
The metallic tubes he attached to the manhole earlier were bombs, and he carried them, so the detonator had to stay in his hand.
PS: (Seeking recommendations, wasted mosquito is about to be published. The recent lack of recommendation pieces has made wasted mosquito nervous, give some confidence.)