"Ugh!"
In the hotel bathroom, Miwako Sato retched violently.
Only when her stomach had nothing left to expel did she feel slightly better. After rinsing away the mess, she left the washroom and entered the lounge.
By the window, a pale-faced Juzo Megure—clearly having vomited himself—was reporting to his superior via phone:
"Yes, Manager Kuroda. I witnessed Director Luo extract the suspect's memories with my own eyes."
"Hai! The items have already been approved by Director Luo and will be brought to the Metropolitan Police Department later as evidence."
At this point, Juzo Megure kindly reminded:
"Since these are memories extracted from man-eating monsters, there's a lot of disgusting content. I'd suggest informing the examiners in advance to mentally prepare themselves."
"Understood, I'll do that."
After hanging up, Juzo Megure turned to Miwako Sato and asked:
"Sato, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Inspector Megure. I feel much better after vomiting."
As she spoke, Miwako Sato turned her gaze towards Luo Shu, who was sitting on the sofa sipping the tea Kisara had just brewed, looking completely unfazed. Her tone carried a hint of awe:
"Director Luo."
Luo Shu glanced at Miwako Sato and inquired:
"After viewing those memories, what are your thoughts?"
Miwako Sato immediately became serious:
"Ghouls are an extremely dangerous, man-eating species."
Recalling the scenes from the memories where Yakumo Oomori brutally murdered and devoured humans, her stomach churned again. Yet she clenched her teeth and continued:
"Their physical abilities far surpass ordinary humans. They possess biological weapons called Kagune on their backs - tentacle-like appendages used to hunt humans - along with an intense craving for human flesh."
"Moreover, they're intelligent, capable of organisation, and can disguise themselves as ordinary people living among humans."
At this point, Miwako Sato's eyes filled with wariness:
"This crematorium attack incident involves two Ghoul organisations."
"According to Yakumo Oomori's memories, the group that attacked the crematorium is called the V Organisation."
"The V Organisation targeted the crematorium because Tokyo's private crematoriums are monopolised by Mihana Funeral Parlour's parent company, leaving them unable to intervene and short on funds."
"Thus, they decided to frequently commit corpse thefts to pressure bereaved families, attempting to bankrupt Mihana Funeral Parlour so they could take over and monopolise corpse sources."
"As for Yakumo Oomori's Aogiri Tree organisation, just as you predicted, Director, they aimed to test official forces while targeting their rivals in the V Organisation. They deliberately sent operatives to escalate the corpse theft incidents for their own purposes."
Miwako Sato's expression turned grim.
According to Yakumo Oomori's memories, the first wave of Ghouls attacking the crematorium wasn't a single group, but two.
The V Organisation operatives only stole three corpses without killing anyone.
The second wave was led by Aogiri Tree members, led by Yakumo Oomori, who stole 172 corpses and deliberately murdered crematorium staff to escalate the situation.
Later came Yakumo Oomori's second attack while infiltrating the V Organisation.
This time, he intentionally leaked information about the attack to crematorium staff, forcing manager Guo Yi to contact their underworld connections in the Black Dragon Society, who deployed heavy weaponry.
Yakumo Oomori, unprepared for such firepower, was defeated and captured, leading to the current situation.
It could be said that if Yakumo Oomori hadn't been accidentally captured, the situation would have easily escalated into the Metropolitan Police Department discovering the V Organisation and launching a full-scale purge against it.
And if Aogiri Tree hadn't intervened and escalated matters, given that the V Organisation only stole three bodies from one crematorium at a time, the case would still have been reported to the Metropolitan Police Department, but unlikely to reach the level where even the Special Crimes Division and SDS would intervene in the investigation.
Hearing Miwako Sato say this, Luo Shu immediately asked:
"What's your opinion on Ghouls?"
"Organised, premeditated, armed with lethal weapons, exhibiting cannibalistic tendencies and antisocial personalities – to humans, they're an even more dangerous threat than terrorist organisations and must be eradicated immediately."
Miwako Sato did not attempt to hide her hostility towards Ghouls.
Any normal person would naturally harbour no goodwill towards a cannibalistic species like Ghouls.
Moreover, from Yakumo Oomori's memories, his modus operandi remained that of a cannibalistic deviant.
Towards such groups composed of such individuals, Miwako Sato naturally held an attitude of complete extermination.
And since complete extermination was the goal, certain matters naturally required attention.
"Director Luo, from the suspect's memories, I've discovered that Ghouls seem to have suddenly appeared within Tokyo's borders. After their appearance, they immediately had plausible identity information in their minds, even possessing physical documentation, with many seemingly owning property."
"This is highly irregular."
"Therefore, I suspect there may be a terrifying organisation behind the Ghouls – perhaps even one possessing supernatural abilities."
"It must be this organisation that arranged the Ghouls' identities, residences and necessary funds."
Hearing this, Luo Shu fell silent for a moment before saying:
"...Your suspicions are reasonable, Sato. Include them in the report. You'll be responsible for compiling the subsequent report."
"Yes, Director!" Miwako Sato saluted before turning to retrieve recording equipment from her briefcase.
Unbeknownst to her, Luo Shu's expression grew markedly graver after she turned away.
"Automatically providing legal identities, residences and necessary funds... Is this one of the functions – or rather side effects – of the Level 5 Abyss Artefacts controlled by the UN Security Council's permanent members?"
"While maintaining human social order, they also provide certain conveniences to non-human species, provided they submit to human authority?"
Luo Shu's mind swirled with conjectures, though he naturally wouldn't explain these thoughts to Miwako Sato – doing so would only endanger the young assistant inspector.
"Include it in the report. As it moves up the chain, someone will inevitably redact that content. There's no need for me to intervene, and this can also help notify Japan's true higher-ups about the current situation. So there's no reason to stop Miwako Sato."
Luo Shu shook his head before turning to Juzo Megure, who was still on the phone:
"Inspector Megure, what's the status of the investigation I assigned you?"
Juzo Megure looked extremely serious, even somewhat frantic – clearly tense from learning about the Ghoul situation:
"Officer Takagi is already at the Legal Affairs Bureau, but retrieving information on all coffee shops in Tokyo will take some time."
Hearing this, Luo Shu calmly replied:
"Then investigate recently opened establishments. Having seen Yakumo Oomori's memories, you should recall they appeared less than a month ago. So focus only on cafes opened within the past month."
"How quickly can you get me the intel?"
Upon hearing this, Juzo Megure immediately saluted:
"One hour at the earliest—no, half an hour, sir!"
"Excellent!"
Luo Shu smiled approvingly and took a deliberate sip of black tea:
"I'll await your good news then."
Seventeen minutes later, as Wataru Takagi delivered his breathless report, Juzo Megure adjusted his hat, his face ashen:
"Investigation complete, sir."
"What's the verdict?" Luo Shu inquired.
"The suspect you asked about, Yoshimura, has opened a cafe called Anteiku in Beika Town."
"The exact address is 5-chome, 39-banchi, Beika Town..."
Here, Megure's expression turned particularly grim as he revealed the final detail:
"—Right beneath the Mouri Detective Agency."
Hearing the address, Luo Shu understood why Megure looked so uncomfortable.
"Beneath the Mouri Detective Agency, eh..."
Luo Shu lifted his teacup and sighed: "What an... interesting coincidence."