Yasuhisa Nashiro, dragging her battered body, inched her way toward Kurona. As part of the batch of half-ghouls created using Kamishiro Rize's Kakuhou, her regenerative ability was extremely powerful.
Her wounds gradually began to close; though far from fully healed, she could now barely manage to stand upright.
Staggering to her feet, she made her way to Kurona's side and gently cradled her sister in her arms, gritting her teeth through the pain. Slick blood seeped from Kurona's lower back, slowly soaking into Nashiro's white clothes, dyeing them red.
Looking at her sister, whose life now hung by a thread, fear surged through Nashiro's heart. Her voice trembled uncontrollably.
"Kurona... hold on! I'll take you to see Father... I'm sure he'll find a way to save you!"
At the sound of her sister's plea, Kurona gave the faintest nod. But even as her life slipped away, her thoughts remained focused, why had Uesugi Ryu chosen to act this way?
If he had intended to kill them, it wouldn't have taken much effort. Yet he had clearly chosen not to finish them off.
Kurona didn't know much about Uesugi Ryu's personality, but one thing she was sure of, he was not the kind of person who hesitated in matters of life and death.
Strength was rapidly draining from her body. As a former top student of the Ghoul Investigator Academy, she knew better than anyone that the Kakuhou was the foundation of a ghoul's power and survival.
The academy had taught them in detail how to locate the Kakuhou, and how to efficiently dispatch a ghoul. And now her own Kakuhou was critically damaged.
Her survival chances were nearly zero.
As Uesugi Ryu's final words echoed in her ears, a quiet question arose from the depths of her heart:
"Will Father really save me?"
Elsewhere, in a silent corridor, Uesugi Ryu walked at a steady pace, his boots echoing softly in the emptiness.
The issue with the Yasuhisa sisters had been resolved. As for who lived or died, well, that just depended on his mood.
Yasuhisa Nashiro had shown decent behavior, so he decided it was time to flip the script. He was going to let her see for herself what kind of man Kanou Akihiro really was.
At that moment, a shadow quietly emerged from the dim hallway, Mephisto.
Uesugi Ryu halted, asking briskly, "What's the situation? How many from the list have shown up?"
Mephisto thought for a moment, then replied, "Handlebar moustache guy, Red Riding Hood, and one wearing a weird clown mask."
"Hmm... tall, male. Shouldn't be Roma from the list."
Uesugi Ryu nodded slightly, thinking to himself: Three, huh? That clown mask must be the priest, Donato. Most likely just a clone body.
A faint sound suddenly drew his attention. He turned his gaze toward a nearby pool of water, a smirk curling at the corners of his lips.
"I see. Keep scouting."
Mephisto gave a nod and melted back into the shadows.
In the pool nearby, Miss A was clinging desperately to the edge, hiding in the water.
She had slipped away during the chaos and somehow managed to escape that group. But to her misfortune, she had stumbled right into Uesugi Ryu, the worst possible fate.
With no place to hide in this wide, open space, she had no choice but to jump into the pool. Now, hearing Uesugi Ryu's voice again, she dared not make a single sound.
Suddenly, she felt something brush against her leg.
"It's just a fish, a fish... right???"
Unfortunately, wrong answer.
This lab didn't keep fish. It kept failed experimental specimens.
She slowly craned her neck downward, every muscle stiff with dread. Her eyes widened in horror.
Two grotesque, malformed creatures had latched onto her legs, one on each side.
A shrill scream tore through the air, an operatic high note powerful enough to bring down the world.
Then came the chilling sounds of flesh being torn and chewed.
The woman who once took pleasure in dissecting people was now finally experiencing that very horror firsthand.
Judging from her screams, she wasn't exactly enjoying the reversal.
The splash of water and screams certainly hadn't escaped Uesugi Ryu's perception. He'd noticed her from the start.
Gazing at the now bloodied pool, where half a severed leg floated on the surface, Uesugi Ryu departed, quite satisfied.
Elsewhere, inside the laboratory, Kanou Akihiro stared at the surveillance monitor, eyes full of awe.
The cameras couldn't capture Uesugi Ryu's movement trajectory at all, it looked just like teleportation. That level of speed simply could not belong to a human.
As for the Yasuhisa sisters getting wiped out? Kanou couldn't care less.
Compared to Kaneki Ken, those two were utter garbage. Useless tools had no value in his eyes.
"If I could capture and study him," Kanou murmured, eyes gleaming with greed, "he'd be of tremendous value to my research!"
His expression was like a lecher laying eyes on a perfect beauty, intense and obsessive. He stared at Uesugi Ryu's image on the screen as if it were prey.
At the side, Yoshimura Eto twitched slightly at the corner of her mouth.
What "alive" dad could possibly capture that guy?
There were only two people in this lab right now, her and Kanou. It was obvious who Kanou wanted to throw into the fire.
Eto paused for a moment, then her expression turned crafty. A sly smile danced on her lips.
She leaned forward slightly, excitedly swinging her legs.
Since Uesugi Ryu loved ambush tactics, this time, she'd give him a little surprise of her own.
This wasn't Cochlea. She had no restraints here. And if Uesugi Ryu wasn't wearing that armor of his this time, maybe, just maybe, she could kill him.
Her airy voice drifted across the lab.
"We'll talk about that later. Capturing him alive is probably impossible. But giving you his corpse to dissect? That I can manage."
Kanou stroked his chin, a look of regret on his face.
Living specimens were always better for experimentation.
He'd already done all he could with Rize. There was no further breakthrough expected any time soon.
He needed a new donor.
Shaking his head slightly, he responded slowly, "Hmm... in that case, never mind. Maybe you all could try capturing him alive."
"An individual this rare... it'd be a waste for him to die so easily."
Eto snorted coldly, cursing him in her heart.
If you've got the guts, why don't you go do it yourself?
At that moment, Kanou's gaze shifted to another screen.
On it, Kaneki Ken could be seen clearly.
He examined Kaneki's movements carefully, the corners of his lips curling into a pleased smile.
He murmured to himself:
"But... it seems Kaneki-kun is a much more successful subject than the black-and-white sisters. Time I met him in person."
With that, he turned and began walking out the lab.
Eto, who had been silently watching from the side, slowly pushed herself up from her chair.
The little ears on her hood bobbed slightly with her movement.
Then, like a graceful feline, she leisurely followed after Kanou Akihiro.