Imperial Hotel, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.
Led by a waiter, Luo Shu, in casual clothes and carrying a laptop, entered the pre-booked private room.
"Good afternoon~ Luo Shu~"
Inside, a strikingly beautiful pink-haired girl with a voluptuous figure rested her chin on one hand and waved at him.
In contrast to the smiling Meer, Tachibana Kirika - seated opposite with her golden hair up in a professional bun - huffed:
"You're late."
"Thirty whole minutes from your message to this meeting."
"Plenty of time for those Metropolitan Police Department lapdogs to track my location."
Before Luo Shu could respond, Meer laughed:
"You're so stingy, Kirika. It's no big deal if the Metropolitan Police Department and the Onmyou Agency are chasing us. The Ghoul situation will have to be announced to everyone sooner or later anyway~"
Kirika Tachibana gave Meer a speechless look as she played dumb:
"Is that what I'm concerned about?"
Was she talking about the Ghoul investigation report? She was talking about those old bastards monitoring her movements!
"Relax, I didn't notice any surveillance before I came in."
As Luo Shu spoke, he closed the door of the private room, walked between the two women, pulled out a chair to sit, and placed his laptop on the table.
Once the three were seated around the table, Meer enthusiastically greeted Luo Shu:
"Luo Shu, want some dessert? The Snoopy chocolates here are adorable~"
As she said this, Meer playfully blinked at Luo Shu with a coquettish expression.
But before she could finish, Kirika cut in:
"Order for yourself if you want it. Don't drag others into it."
Meer's expression immediately fell as she pouted:
"Eh~~ Kirika, you've been really mean lately. You attack me every time we meet."
Kirika took a sip of her coffee:
"Cutting off your excessive chatter is the best way to save time and improve efficiency."
"It's not good for us to stay here too long, Intelligence Director. We'll attract the cops' attention."
Hearing this, Meer looked torn between laughter and tears:
"You don't have to be so wary of the Metropolitan Police Department every time. They're our allies."
"Correction." Kirika raised a finger sternly. "Suspicious allies."
"Believing in the Metropolitan Police Department's morals is more laughable than believing Kabukicho's hosts are virgins."
'Why that analogy?' Luo Shu gave Kirika a strange look.
'Does she frequent host clubs often?'
"That look in your eyes... are you wondering if I often visit host clubs?"
Kirika shot him a cold glance.
"Did you bring a mind-reading tool?" Luo Shu couldn't help but retort.
Kirika calmly sipped her coffee: "Those are too rare, especially the low-side-effect ones."
'You actually considered getting one?!' Luo Shu mentally facepalmed before asking curiously:
"Speaking of which, why compare them to hosts?"
Kirika scoffed:
"Because apart from hosts, the most skilled liars in all of Japan are the senior administrators working at the Sakuradamon headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Department."
"Satisfied with that answer?"
"...I don't even know how to respond to that."
Luo Shu shrugged, scanning the QR code on the table with his phone to browse desserts while saying:
"I've mostly finished investigating the Ghoul intel. I assume you've seen the report from the test subject I had the Black Dragon Society deliver to Verde?"
"That Ghoul called Yakumo Oomori, right? He's quite interesting."
Meer rested her cheeks in her hands, smiling:
"He endured three of Verde's 'minor experiments' before finally breaking down in tears. Surprisingly, he's quite the crybaby."
"I wouldn't call Verde's experiments 'minor.'"
Luo Shu's face twitched. Since he'd urgently requested the report, he'd specifically told Verde to use the most extreme and rapid methods before delivering Yakumo Oomori to the lab.
And the most intense and swift methods of a mad scientist—Luo Shu didn't believe it would be some minor experiment.
'This woman... cut her open, and she'd definitely be black inside.'
Luo Shu couldn't help but glance at Meer's pink hair, only to be caught and rewarded with a blown kiss.
His lips twitched. He then ordered a Snoopy chocolate and pulled out his laptop, opening a report file before turning the screen towards Meer:
"The Ghoul investigation report you asked for. Yeah, the one I mentioned on the phone."
"Eh~ You got the intel the very next day? Should I expect nothing less from the youngest department head?"
Meer grinned as she opened the report file, but after skimming through it, her expression subtly stiffened.
Noticing Meer's micro-expression, Kirika Tachibana immediately perked up with interest:
"Oh? Something in the report that unsettles even a sparrow like you?"
"Well~ I wouldn't say it's wrong, exactly."
Meer propped her chin on her hands, puffing her cheeks slightly as she stared earnestly at Luo Shu with an exaggerated pout:
"But if this turns out to be fake intel, no rewards for you—just punishment~"
"Is there really an issue with the intel?" Tachibana blinked in surprise, turning to Luo Shu.
Unfazed, Luo Shu chuckled. "Because it's too thorough, right?"
"Too thorough?" Tachibana looked lost.
Meanwhile, Meer scrolled through the file automatically as she remarked:
"Total Ghoul population in Tokyo, details on all major internal factions—including leaders' identities, key members' info, oh, even their home addresses."
"Not just that. Their usual abilities, combat tendencies—all meticulously documented."
After listing these off, Meer shoved the laptop back towards Luo Shu:
"Fake! Completely fake! This is fabricated intel!"
The moment she finished her accusation, she yanked the laptop away just as Luo Shu reached for it, grinning mischievously:
"But since Luo Shu-kun is my future husband, I'll believe even the fakest intel unconditionally~"
The bluntness of her words made Luo Shu's expression stiffen slightly.
"Now's not the time for games like this."
Tachibana clicked her tongue in annoyance, snatching the laptop from Meer and flipping through it herself:
"Total population: 20,000. Mostly lurking in Tokyo. Confirmed as genetically modified entities. Cannibalistic tendencies cannot be eradicated, only suppressed. Exhibits organisational behaviour—tch, troublesome."
Her gaze turned icy as she scanned the intel:
"Excluding juveniles, each Ghoul requires the equivalent of one human's worth of flesh per month. Some special individuals consume multiples of that."
"Initial assessment suggests they appeared in Tokyo a month ago. High suspicion that they obtained legal status due to a UN Abyss Artefact."
"Tch, that thing does have that side effect. After all, to maintain order in human society, the first step is bringing Abyss Descent's hazardous species under control."
"But... this 'one adult's worth of flesh per month'—is that accurate?"
Tachibana's piercing stare locked onto Luo Shu...
"It's been verified repeatedly. I can vouch for 90% of its authenticity."
In fact, Luo Shu had already verified this intelligence through the Mysticism Encyclopaedia and confirmed its accuracy before inputting it into the computer.
"My, my, if we calculate it this way, Ghouls being a species that needs to hunt for food, considering the freshness and preservation difficulties of their ingredients, storing food for a month is probably their limit."
Meer still wore a smile on her face, but her eyes had clearly turned serious:
"In other words, most Ghouls' food reserves are nearly depleted?"
Kirika Tachibana narrowed her eyes, reached into the bag beside her, and pulled out a stack of documents, distributing them to Luo Shu and Meer:
"This is the report submitted by the cleaning company to the Metropolitan Police Department."
Luo Shu took the report, glanced at it, then narrowed his eyes as he said:
"No suicide victims' bodies found during recent searches in Aokigahara Forest?"
Aokigahara Forest was Japan's famous suicide hotspot. According to relevant reports, roughly fifty people commit suicide there daily.
The cleaning company hired by the Metropolitan Police Department typically conducted clean-up operations once a month.
Luo Shu murmured to himself: "So, just in Aokigahara Forest alone, at least 1,500 suicide victims' bodies have gone missing?"
With Tokyo's total Ghoul population estimated at 20,000, 1,500 bodies were still just a drop in the bucket.
However, considering Japan has quite a few suicide hotspots with accumulated histories, it should still allow the Ghouls to persist for a few more days.
Kirika Tachibana lifted her coffee cup and remarked impassively:
"NHK will likely broadcast news the day after tomorrow, framing the reduced suicide rate as an official government achievement. Of course, they won't mention the number dropping to zero, but rather present a favourable figure – say, 15 suicides per day."
"Truly typical bureaucratic behaviour."
Luo Shu shrugged, leaning back on the sofa with his hand propping his temple:
"Based on my projections, Ghouls will most likely stage attacks within a week. After all, their food supply is probably critically low by now."
In fact, according to the Mysticism Encyclopaedia's analysis, Ghouls were already conducting attacks, just not on a large scale yet.
As a species that struggles to obtain food, Ghouls generally maintain food storage habits. But as Meer predicted, such reserves last at most about a month.
And now precisely marks the end of the first month since Ghouls crossed into this world.
"Eliminate the Ghouls before they can commit mass murder?"
Meer rested her chin on her hand, her gaze thoughtful:
"We could expedite the UN procedures for approving action against Ghouls, but regarding the Japanese government..."
Here, Meer turned to look at Kirika Tachibana.
At that moment, Tachibana was squinting at detailed address records on her laptop:
"Time's running out."
"We can't expect man-eating beasts to obediently endure starvation."
Her unspoken conclusion about what would happen if a non-human species committed mass murder under their watch clearly wasn't pleasant.
"So we need to delay most Ghouls' hunting schedules..."
Luo Shu stroked his chin before suggesting with peculiar expression:
"Perhaps we should consider alternative approaches."
"Like providing the Ghouls with their last meal."