After resting for a few hours in the secret chamber, Su Xiao opened his eyes.
The secret chamber was not a place to linger for long; it’s only suitable for temporary rest. The environment was too poor, potentially causing wound infections.
Yuna was sitting beside him, her head unknowingly leaning on Su Xiao’s shoulder, emitting a light snore.
Su Xiao nudged Yuna’s shoulder, and with a start, she flipped over and jumped up.
"What’s wrong, is there a ghoul?"
Yuna’s reaction was quite normal; in the 24th District, if you don’t stay alert, there’s only a dead end.
"Those ghouls are already gone."
Su Xiao stood up and approached the gap in the meat wall, turning sideways to pass through.
Claustrophobic Yuna hesitated for a while but eventually gritted her teeth and entered the gap.
Returning to the underground passage of the 24th District, it was already quiet here.
Su Xiao had faced numerous dangers on his first entry into the 24th District.
This should be the most dangerous experience since he entered the ghoul world. Before, cleaning up ghouls in District 14 was child’s play compared to delving into the 24th District.
Su Xiao used a hand-drawn map to discern directions, continuing towards the surface.
He noted down every tunnel he passed and left marks within them.
After walking through the intricate network of tunnels for two hours, Su Xiao stopped.
"We’ve been here before."
Looking at the twelve carved by a knife underfoot, Su Xiao marked an arrow on his hand-drawn map.
His current direction was incorrect; he wasn’t heading towards the surface but deeper into the 24th District.
In unclear circumstances, getting lost was commonplace.
Su Xiao wasn’t frustrated; as long as he continued trying, combined with his hand-drawn map and the markers within the tunnels, he’d soon make his way out of the 24th District.
A muffled sound echoed, coming from the side, beyond a meat wall, indicating someone was fighting.
"It’s Arima; that’s the sound of the large discharge from ’Sounding God’."
Yuna cheered because fighting meant Arima Kishou was still alive.
Su Xiao remained silent, discerning the source of the sound. If they could rendezvous, it would certainly be good. Arima Kishou was now an ally, and if it weren’t for him covering the rear, he would have died in the 24th District.
Su Xiao quickened his pace from a brisk walk to a run.
Running through the maze-like tunnels, Su Xiao’s pace grew ever faster as he gained a better understanding of the nearby routes.
The sounds of battle grew nearer, and after rounding a corner, Arima Kishou appeared in the distance.
At this moment, Arima Kishou was far from his usual elegance. He was shirtless, with bloodstains on his white hair, and his glasses were nowhere to be seen.
"Why, why don’t you talk to us? Do you consider communicating with us beneath you?"
An elderly ghoul with a full head of white hair looked at Arima Kishou with immense grief.
"Save your breath. He’s no longer one of our..."
Just as another elderly ghoul tried to speak, Arima Kishou had already lifted his ’Sounding God’.
Two electric spheres shot out; the two elder ghouls weren’t weak and deftly dodged.
The ’IXA’ in Arima Kishou’s left hand surged.
Part of ’IXA’ had long since deformed and burrowed underground. Now it burst through the earth, directly skewering the two ghouls like meat on a skewer.
"Why~ why do you have to...?"
One of the elder ghouls looked at Arima Kishou with unwillingness, still wanting to say something, but the life aura of the elder ghoul swiftly dissipated; he could no longer speak.
Arima Kishou’s lips moved silently, saying something.
From Su Xiao’s angle, he could just see Arima Kishou’s profile. He surprisingly looked a bit sad? Was he sad about killing those two ghouls?
Su Xiao’s brows knitted. Those two deceased elder ghouls seemed to have some respect for Arima Kishou?
That’s right, respect, as if Arima Kishou had once been their leader.
Could the strongest investigator of CCG really be the leader of the ghouls? It sounded utterly ridiculous.
Yuna tentatively called out, noticing something amiss with the situation as well.
Arima Kishou turned around, looking at Su Xiao and Yuna; at this moment, Arima Kishou’s right eye was tightly shut.
"You’re here. This exploration ends now."
The atmosphere was odd, but Su Xiao said nothing; the CCG was riddled with mysteries. How could Arima Kishou not have secrets?
His priority was to earn a significant amount of CCG Contribution Value and then exchange it at the temporary branch of the 24th District for the "Human Gene Enhancement Liquid" and "Fairy Crusher".
Together, they required 28,000 points of CCG Contribution Value, and Su Xiao had only obtained a remainder.
Besides, now wasn’t the time for mutual suspicion. Every moment in the 24th District posed a threat. Judging by Arima Kishou’s actions, he showed no intention of betraying them.
At least after entering the 24th District, Arima Kishou had been killing ghouls continuously without a hint of ’betraying his teammates’.
Unless Arima Kishou wanted to defect from CCG, he wouldn’t stand against Su Xiao.
"Arima, what’s the story with these two ghouls?"
Yuna, the nervous girl who clearly lacked shrewdness, directly asked her pressing question.
"They were once my friends. They used to disguise themselves as humans. I was young back then and didn’t notice. That was many years ago; I didn’t expect to meet them today, and in the capacity of ghouls and investigator."
Arima Kishou’s lips curled into a bitter smile, fresh blood dripping from his chin.
"I see. I also had friends like that, my classmates. I killed them myself."
Occasionally, incidents occur where ghouls mix with humans, resulting in investigators and ghouls unintentionally becoming friends.
Being an investigator is merely a profession. Normally, they dress like ordinary people, while ghouls hide their nature, finding ways to integrate into human society.
Moreover, situations where investigators and ghouls mistakenly become friends are not uncommon, even frequently occurring in the original work, so it’s quite a common thing.
Yuna believed Arima Kishou’s explanation; after all, the two had cooperated for half a year, going through life-and-death situations together. Such a friendship would not be affected by this.
But could things really be so simple? At least Su Xiao wouldn’t believe it completely, nor would he be suspicious of anything. Everyone has their secrets, and people who are always trying to dig up someone else’s secrets usually end up being shunned.
Holding his hand-drawn map, Su Xiao led the way, followed by Arima Kishou and Yuna.
In the absence of a compass, the hand-drawn map in his hand became extremely valuable.
Every tunnel Su Xiao passed, he recorded. The hand-drawn map became increasingly detailed, and a red arrow grew longer, pointing the way to the surface.
"There are footsteps."
Su Xiao stopped, looking towards the dim passage ahead.
"Run, it’s the White Death." Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝙣𝙚𝙩
A dozen ghouls had just emerged, and upon seeing Arima Kishou, they turned and fled immediately.
The three of them merely stood in place, exhausted and needing to avoid fights as much as possible.
Arima Kishou’s reputation was not just for show. In the 24th District, most ghouls would flee at the sight of him, not wanting to fight at all.
This situation undoubtedly expedited their progress, and an hour later, Su Xiao saw the metal door they passed through earlier.
Arima Kishou opened the metal door, and after the three of them exited, he slammed it shut and locked it.
This was to prevent the ghouls from the 24th District from escaping to the surface, though whether it was effective remained unknown.
Walking through the straight passage, glaring light appeared ahead.
That was sunlight. Su Xiao, having stayed underground for too long, was unused to the sun’s brilliance.
Squinting his eyes, Su Xiao walked out of the tunnel, returning to the surface, back to the human world.
Although his time in the 24th District wasn’t long, he felt as if ages had passed.
Taking a deep breath, the air on the surface felt especially fresh, free from the faint stench of the 24th District.