When Mado Kureo heard that Lancer had encountered the Gourmet and then decided to retreat, he made no comment—after all, he wasn't there and had no way of judging the exact situation. However, when he heard that Lancer had requested high-yield explosives, he froze in shock.
What on earth is he thinking?
Lancer's intention was simple: he aimed to complete his last remaining mission—destroying the Ghoul Restaurant.
The Gourmet had already fled. Out of the ten Ghouls required, he'd killed six already, and with three days left, finishing the rest was trivial. So now it was natural to begin considering the final task.
Relying solely on his own strength was obviously impossible. Even at his strongest, able to split stone, he alone couldn't collapse that massive underground space. Thus, human ingenuity was necessary—specifically, explosives.
"Even if it's on the city outskirts, explosives? Has he lost his mind?"
It was easy enough for an Investigator to request small arms, and even heavy weaponry required only some paperwork. But explosives, and high-yield ones at that? What was he planning? A terrorist attack?
The Logistics Department at headquarters initially reacted with immediate rejection when Lancer's request arrived. Yet, considering the potential Lancer had displayed, the logistics chief decided to at least give him a chance to explain himself.
"Although headquarters never explicitly stated why heavy ordnance isn't included in our standard weaponry, I assume it's to avoid collateral damage. Tokyo has over 40 million people. Even though Ghouls might number in the tens of thousands, they're still relatively few compared to the total population. If we deploy heavy weapons, Ghouls might scatter into densely populated areas. Even if we exterminate them afterward, the casualties would be unacceptable. But this time is different. The Ghoul Restaurant is underground. We don't need large quantities of explosives—we just need to destroy the support columns. That way, the entire Ghoul Restaurant will be buried underground. Instead of fighting the Ghouls face-to-face in unfamiliar terrain, we can significantly reduce casualties among our people!"
In truth, Lancer wanted explosives purely for his own mission, but his reasoning was impeccable.
The CCG indeed had the authority to use heavy weapons, but they had always been extremely cautious about deploying them. To use an inappropriate analogy, in this city, the number of unnatural deaths per day wasn't fewer than the number killed by Ghouls. Yet, people never thought anything unusual about it until Ghouls were involved. There had always been a subtle balance maintained between humans and Ghouls. If that balance shattered, the resulting casualties could far exceed current levels.
Lower-ranking Investigators wouldn't be told this explicitly, but those with enough experience knew this grim truth all too well.
Still, Lancer's argument made the logistics chief seriously consider the request.
"We'll need to discuss this first. But given the seriousness of the Ghoul Restaurant situation, we'll reply within ten minutes. If approved, we'll deliver explosives via helicopter—"
BEEP—BEEP—BEEP—!!
As the logistics chief was still talking, an ear-piercing alarm suddenly blared.
"What?! What's going on? The 11th Ward branch was attacked by Ghouls?! Damn it! How did this happen? Did they somehow know about our operation in the 20th Ward?"
An attack in the 11th Ward…? Could it be Aogiri Tree?
"Hello? Rank-2 Investigator Lancer? I approve your request! Explosives will be delivered to your location within ten minutes. I need you to completely destroy that place within half an hour. Afterward, all Investigators of Rank-2 and above report immediately to HQ!"
He immediately hung up.
On his end, Mado Kureo naturally received the notice from HQ as well. His face darkened even more than before. As someone who had served in the CCG for nearly twenty years, he had acquaintances at practically every branch, and the 11th Ward was no exception. The message he received was even more detailed than what Lancer had heard.
More than ten minutes ago, HQ completely lost contact with the 11th Ward branch. The final communication ended abruptly after agonizing screams.
If earlier, some had hesitated to approve Lancer's "radical" suggestion, then the attack on the 11th Ward completely ignited everyone's fury.
Due to the lack of structural blueprints, it was impossible to precisely identify the supporting columns, making it difficult to minimize explosive yield. However, this was compensated for by sheer quantity.
Explosives were planted in every suspicious spot. According to the engineers overseeing installation, even if every explosive was placed incorrectly, there would still be enough firepower to bury the entire area.
Of course, the public could never be informed of this openly. For example—
"Tonight, a magnitude 4 earthquake occurred near XX district. Except for areas near the epicenter, other regions reported minimal tremors…"
As the explosions went off, pre-prepared "earthquake notices" immediately circulated across media platforms.
Unsurprisingly, ordinary citizens could never differentiate between tremors from an explosion and those from an earthquake. After completing the demolition, Lancer and Mado Kureo quickly headed toward headquarters. However, all Rank-3 Investigators and a few Rank-2 Investigators stayed behind to "monitor" the situation.
Theoretically, no one should survive being buried alive after such a demolition. But considering Ghouls' incredible physical abilities, who knew if they could actually survive? After all, no one had ever tried burying Ghouls alive before.
Meanwhile, Mado Kureo sat grim-faced in the car.
It wasn't merely because of the 11th Ward's attack; Lancer's current condition also troubled him greatly.
Despite rinsing off with water before getting into the vehicle, Lancer's black combat suit still showed plenty of bloodstains. The blood seeping through the white bandages wrapping his injuries was particularly alarming.
Previously, Lancer had temporarily enhanced his physical abilities with his Quinque, significantly improving his resilience, vitality recovery, and wound healing. But as that boost wore off, the injuries he'd suppressed suddenly flared up, leaving his face noticeably pale.
"Lancer, are you alright? Maybe we should take you directly to the Medical Division once we arrive at HQ."
Amon Koutarou, sitting beside Lancer, couldn't help but voice his concern. After all, he'd personally helped bandage Lancer's wounds. He'd counted over twenty separate injuries; the worst one was a deep gash on Lancer's side abdomen, the sight of the torn muscle alone enough to make Amon's eyes twitch.
"I'm fine. I can manage for now. Besides, it's just a meeting. If I can't hold out, I'll leave early."
Normally, even with his better-than-average constitution, he should have been incapacitated by now. The only reason he was still conscious was thanks to the "Special Mission" he'd completed after the Ghoul Restaurant had collapsed:
[RING OF RECOVERY]
[TYPE]: ACCESSORY
[RARITY]: D
[EFFECT]:
RECOVERS VITALITY 1%/60s
...
[BLEEDING]
DURATION: 43:12
[EFFECT]:
LOSES VITALITY 1%/60s
Thanks to this ring, the debuff had been neutralized. The displayed duration was based on his natural recovery rate—originally, before Amon bandaged him, it had exceeded two hours. A bit more treatment at HQ might even reduce that time further.
As Lancer and Amon continued their conversation, the vehicle finally entered the 1st Ward, swiftly approaching headquarters.
This place represented the absolute core of Tokyo's ongoing battle against Ghouls—the lights never went out here, no matter the hour…
---
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