"Kurona, Nashiro—were you assigned here by headquarters?"
Byakuya immediately asked.
"Yes."
Kurona and Nashiro nodded simultaneously.
"..."
Byakuya was silent for a moment.
He thought to himself that CCG assigning Kurona and Nashiro to this particular mission was quite unfortunate timing. After all, confronting Dr. Kanou directly could easily expose their secret as transformed "half-ghouls."
If he got the chance later, he'd need to remind Kurona and Nashiro to avoid exposing their identities.
[Ding! Host has activated a Choice Mission!]
[Choice 1: Remind Kurona and Nashiro Yasuhisa to avoid contact with Akihiro Kanou to prevent exposing their "half-ghoul" identities. Reward: 10 Fusion Points!]
[Choice 2: Instead, let Kurona and Nashiro expose their "half-ghoul" identities. After exposing Kanou's experiments, propose to CCG headquarters the formation of a "Quinx Squad." This way, Kurona and Nashiro can work openly at CCG without having to hide anymore. Reward: 50 Fusion Points!]
The second option before him suddenly enlightened Byakuya.
This actually seemed like a pretty good approach. In the original story, CCG's purpose for forming the "Quinx Squad" was to counter Aogiri Tree, who had allied with Dr. Kanou.
At the time, Chief Researcher Chigyou Kouitsu had improved upon Dr. Kanou's experiments, inventing the "Quinx Surgery" based on the "half-ghoul transformation surgery."
The so-called "Quinx Surgery" involved special surgical procedures to fuse a Quinque into a human's body. The subject would similarly become something like a "one-eyed ghoul," with one eye turning into a kakugan when activating their kagune.
CCG then established a squad called the "Quinx Squad" for these human warriors.
The biggest difference was that the Quinx Surgery had an extremely high success rate, unlike the half-ghoul transformation surgery which produced very few successful subjects.
Furthermore, humans who underwent Quinx Surgery maintained RC cell levels in the normal range of 500 to 1000, allowing them to eat normally like ordinary people.
Only when using their powers would their RC cell levels spike to ghoul levels, requiring periodic adjustments from Chigyou Kouitsu.
Of course, this didn't mean the Quinx Surgery was superior to the half-ghoul transformation surgery.
The fundamental reason was that Chigyou needed human warriors to fight Aogiri Tree, while Dr. Kanou needed a "One-Eyed King" capable of breaking the cage imprisoning this world—something only the half-ghoul transformation surgery could produce.
Both were geniuses in the medical field, but their objectives were fundamentally different.
For now, once Dr. Kanou's half-ghoul transformation surgery was fully exposed, Kurona and Nashiro's half-ghoul identities would have an explainable origin. That way, CCG shouldn't make things difficult for them.
Then he could propose the "Quinx Squad" concept, allowing Kurona and Nashiro to naturally continue working at CCG.
In just moments, a clear plan had already formed in Byakuya's mind.
"Special Class Aura is here too."
At this point, Byakuya's gaze turned to Kiyoko Aura.
"I'm Kuro and Shiro's superior, so naturally I came along to support you."
Kiyoko nodded.
"Kurona Yasuhisa... Nashiro Yasuhisa... They were in the same Academy class as First Class Amaha, weren't they?"
Akira seemed to have some recollection of Kurona and Nashiro.
Actually, she'd looked up information about Byakuya in CCG's database before becoming his partner. She knew that Kurona, Nashiro, and Juuzou Suzuya were all rookies who graduated in the same class as Byakuya.
What surprised her slightly was that Byakuya's relationship with these twin sisters was clearly quite good, evident from how the sisters addressed him.
"Yes. With them here to support us, our operation should go much more smoothly."
Byakuya said.
"I'm First Class Amaha's subordinate, Rank 2 investigator Akira Mado."
Akira introduced herself to Kurona and Nashiro—normal behavior between colleagues.
"Rank 2 investigator Kurona Yasuhisa."
"Rank 2 investigator Nashiro Yasuhisa."
Kurona and Nashiro said in unison: "Kurona (Nashiro) and I are both subordinates of Special Class Aura."
"I should be able to call you 'Kuro' and 'Shiro,' right? In return, just call me Akira."
Akira continued.
And so, Akira briefly got acquainted with Kurona and Nashiro.
...
Next, Akira shared all the intel she and Byakuya had compiled about Dr. Kanou with Kiyoko Aura, Kurona, and Nashiro.
"So there really are experiments that turn humans into ghouls..."
Kiyoko couldn't help but exclaim. "But the ghouls created are one-eyed?..."
"That's right. Both the experiments themselves and the 'one-eyed' aspect are extremely concerning."
Akira said.
"Mm..."
Kiyoko only murmured softly, unsure what else to say for the moment.
She knew exactly why Akira was so fixated on the "one-eyed" aspect. After all, she had graduated in the same class as Akira's mother, Kasuka Mado...
She knew everything that had happened to Kasuka.
If Kasuka hadn't died in the line of duty back then, perhaps she herself wouldn't have become CCG's first female Special Class investigator.
Meanwhile, Kurona and Nashiro forcibly kept their expressions neutral.
From the moment they heard "Akihiro Kanou," their emotions had grown increasingly complicated.
But they knew they couldn't expose their "one-eyed ghoul" identities now, so they controlled their emotions with all their might.
...
Once Kurona, Nashiro, and Kiyoko Aura fully understood the situation, the investigation of Dr. Kanou's basement location began.
Byakuya specifically brought Madam A along to guide them, greatly improving efficiency. It also saved him from having to pretend to search for the basement entrance.
With Madam A leading the way, Byakuya's group arrived at Ward 6. Koori Ui and Rikai Souzu accompanied them as well.
As for Shinohara and Suzuya, they were still investigating the "Binge Eater" case.
Here, Byakuya's group arrived at the mansion registered under Dr. Kanou's name—Kurona and Nashiro's former home.
From the outside, it was clearly an abandoned, dilapidated villa. Due to long-term vacancy and lack of maintenance, weeds grew wild around it, and the walls were covered in cracks.
Returning to this place, Kurona and Nashiro felt a complex mix of emotions.
However, Byakuya had spoken with them privately before coming here, so their hearts were no longer as uneasy, and their emotions had calmed...
...
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