On the way to the CCG Laboratory Building, Byakuya chatted with Koori Ui about other matters.
"By the way, do you remember those twin sisters from your internship?"
Koori suddenly brought up Kurona and Nashiro Yasuhisa.
"I do. What about them?"
Byakuya's curiosity was piqued.
"They haven't reported to the CCG since the internship ended. A day or two late would be one thing, but it's been quite a while now, and we still haven't received any response from them."
"...I see."
Hearing this, Byakuya immediately understood what must have happened.
The Yasuhisa twins wouldn't have gone silent without reason. Based on the original timeline, this was around when they would have been transformed into artificial half-ghouls by Dr. Kanou.
But the question was—Rize was no longer his experimental subject, so had Kanou found another donor? Or perhaps Furuta had helped him find a replacement?
Byakuya considered this entirely possible. He hadn't seen Furuta make any moves against Rize lately—maybe he really had found a substitute.
After all, Furuta's ultimate goal was to create a "Dragon." Theoretically, any experimental subject with Washuu bloodline had the potential. Perhaps after weighing the pros and cons, he'd given up on Rize.
If that was the case, it meant Kurona and Nashiro still hadn't escaped their fate of being transformed into one-eyed ghouls.
He hadn't anticipated Furuta finding a replacement so quickly.
"It seems you don't know their situation either. Let's set that aside for now." Koori continued, "You eliminated a half-kakuja 'Jason' this time. With your strength, you could easily be promoted to Rank 1 or even higher. But promotions aren't based on strength alone—you need to follow the proper steps: written exams, interviews, accumulated achievements, all that bureaucratic stuff. Rules are rules."
Just as Koori said, eliminating "Jason" didn't mean Byakuya could immediately become a Rank 1 Investigator.
Take the original timeline, for example. Although Suzuya's kill of "Jason" was somewhat opportunistic, he'd still had to wait six months after that before being promoted from Rank 3 to Rank 2.
However, exceptional performance in large-scale operations—like the Anteiku Raid—could accelerate the promotion process.
"It's fine. I'm not in any hurry about that."
"Good. That puts my mind at ease. I was worried you might feel it was unfair."
Koori nodded.
...
Before long, the two arrived at the CCG Laboratory Building.
Last time, Byakuya had dealt with an ordinary researcher, but this time he was greeted by the Chief Researcher, Chigyou Kouitsu.
The man before him wore a white lab coat and sported a distinctive green mushroom-cut hairstyle, with a small patch of stubble that looked like he'd missed a spot shaving. This was Chigyou Kouitsu—not only the CCG Laboratory Building's chief researcher but also a researcher for Germany's "GFG."
His primary responsibility here was manufacturing Quinques, and "Jason"—the important one this time—was his creation.
"This is Dr. Chigyou, our most authoritative chief researcher," Koori introduced.
Byakuya nodded slightly and greeted the man. "Dr. Chigyou."
Chigyou showed no pretension whatsoever. One hand casually stuffed in his pocket, he addressed Byakuya cordially: "Investigator Amaha, you're here. The new Quinque is inside. Follow me."
Byakuya followed him in while Koori instinctively remained outside—this involved CCG's Quinque confidentiality protocols.
Following Chigyou into a laboratory, the doctor opened a sealed storage compartment directly. Inside lay a longsword-shaped Quinque, its body a deep crimson interspersed with traces of purple.
Byakuya was momentarily surprised. This differed from the "13's Jason" in his memory, which had been scythe-shaped—completely different in form from what lay before him.
"This is my most satisfying masterpiece recently. Try it out and see how it feels."
"Alright."
Byakuya picked it up directly. It felt heavy in his hands, though with his strength, wielding it was effortless.
Chigyou explained: "Since 'Jason' had three kakuhou, I experimented with incorporating all three into a single Quinque. As a result, this weapon possesses the capabilities of rinkaku, koukaku, and ukaku kagune. The current longsword form is the rinkaku configuration. Try switching forms."
"...I'll give it a shot."
Hearing the doctor's explanation, Byakuya suddenly understood why this "13's Jason" differed from his memory.
In the original timeline, by the time Suzuya killed Yamori, Kaneki had already eaten two of his kakuhou. That meant only one kakuhou and its corresponding kagune were available for Quinque manufacturing.
Unlike now, when Byakuya had killed Yamori with all three kakuhou perfectly preserved, resulting in a dramatically different finished product.
Under Dr. Chigyou's guidance, Byakuya quickly learned to switch between the three forms.
He'd already transformed the Quinque from longsword to shield form. In shield mode, the grip remained on the sword handle, as the shield's center was the original blade—the sword body had expanded into a shield, with axe-blade-shaped edges on both sides.
"Good. Now try the third form—ukaku mode."
Byakuya switched again. The shield in his hands transformed back into a longsword, but the blade tip split open, becoming something like a gun barrel.
"This is the ukaku form. It can fire blade-like kagune projectiles, just like ukaku."
Chigyou explained: "That's about it. You can research it further on your own. How does it feel? Satisfied?"
"Very satisfied. Thank you, Dr. Chigyou."
"Glad to hear it. We'll just need to record your fingerprints, and then you can take this Quinque with you."
After Byakuya completed the biometric binding with "13's Jason," he transformed the Quinque back into its briefcase form.
"Finally, what would you like to name it?"
"Let's call it '13's Jason.'"
Byakuya saw no reason to change the name. The meaning was simple: Jason from Ward 13.
This S+-rated Quinque with three forms instantly elevated his combat capabilities significantly.