The three little girls' Kakugan widened in shock.
Yet the spurting blood lasted only an instant.
The wound began to writhe with proliferating flesh; bones visibly grew and reformed; nerves and blood vessels intertwined and extended as if alive...
In just a few breaths, a fully restored arm, indistinguishable from the original, had regrown.
Amano Hiro remained expressionless, as if he had merely brushed off some dust.
He casually tossed the still-warm severed arm in front of the three girls, speaking plainly, as though handing over a loaf of bread:
"Eat. Once you're done, lead the way."
The girls stared blankly at the arm. The scent alone made their Kakugan burn brighter with hunger.
Hunger ultimately overcame fear and hesitation. They immediately lunged forward; each tore off a piece and devoured it ravenously.
By now, Amano Hiro had mastered full control over Carnage. Every part of his body could be manipulated with precision.
He deliberately adjusted the severed arm, making its RC cell activity and composition closer to that of an ordinary human.
For him, this level of injury was no more significant than a minor scrape.
Eto hurried forward, worriedly inspecting his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Amano Hiro said, flexing his newly regrown arm to reassure her.
His gaze then returned to the three little figures gorging themselves.
The arm was small to begin with; it was quickly consumed entirely by the ravenous children.
They licked every trace off their fingers, savoring it as though it were the most exquisite delicacy on earth.
"Done eating. Now, lead the way," Amano Hiro said calmly.
The leader blinked innocently, feigning confusion. "Ah... I-I suddenly forgot the way!" She glanced at Amano Hiro's expression, then brashly added, "Unless... you give us more to eat, maybe then I'll remember!"
A vein immediately throbbed on Amano Hiro's forehead.
Seriously? They ate his meat, and now they dared to try this scam in front of him?
"Ah, !" With the startled cries of the other two girls, Amano Hiro moved like lightning. He grabbed the scheming girl and delivered a fierce thrashing.
"Waaah! It hurts! So painful! I won't do it again! I swear!"
The little girl screamed, tears streaming instantly.
Amano Hiro stopped, his cold gaze shifting to the other two, who were already terrified. They tried to flee, but could they outrun him?
In a blur, he intercepted them both, and they, too, received a thorough beating amid shouts and pleas.
Eto, standing aside, couldn't suppress a few soft laughs beneath her bandages.
The scene oddly resembled a strict father disciplining mischievous children, a strange contrast against the oppressive ruins of the underground.
After this merciless "bamboo shoot stir-fry," the three girls finally behaved.
Pouting, their eyes still wet with un-wiped tears, they reluctantly led the way.
They limped along awkwardly, occasionally reaching out to rub their sore spots.
As they walked, they huddled together, muttering in their incomprehensible dialect, their tones full of frustration and silent anger, clearly whispering complaints about the "terrifying" giant behind them.
Following the little trio through the ruins for some distance, Amano Hiro and Eto finally reached a relatively intact settlement.
Unlike the surrounding lifeless ruins, this area bore clear signs of human activity.
The houses were still simple, but mostly repaired, and the air seemed to carry a faint sense of vitality.
Places where people live and pure ruins are always different.
As they approached the edge of the settlement, the inhabitants noticed the three little ones being escorted by strangers.
Several figures rushed out from the damaged buildings, quickly shielding the children. Then, a middle-aged man with a calm, commanding aura, clearly the leader, stepped forward.
His sharp, wary gaze swept over Amano Hiro and Eto. Their clean, meticulously made clothing contrasted sharply with the settlement's tattered attire.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The leader's voice was filled with unmasked caution.
The other residents tensed as well. In this sunless underground world, food was extremely scarce.
Sharing or scavenging was almost the only way to sustain the tribe.
Yet despite the harsh conditions, life here was steadily dwindling, the population thinning, teetering on the edge of extinction.
Meeting their wary eyes, Amano Hiro spoke calmly:
"We mean no harm. We happened to discover that there are still survivors down here.
We've come hoping to take you out of this sunless place, to the surface world where we live."
He gestured subtly. "I'm Amano Hiro. This is Eto. We are leaders of the Aogiri Tree organization."
"Aogiri Tree?" The leader frowned. Unfamiliar with the name, he focused instead on another word: "What... 'ghouls'? We are humans!"
As expected. Amano Hiro understood. These isolated natives had no idea what had happened to their own bodies and knew nothing of the outside world.
He no longer wasted words, and with a thought, Carnage shifted. Four dark-red scales writhed like living creatures.
"They're going to attack!"
The natives instinctively drew their own kagune, scaled or tails, preparing to fight for their lives. They thought Amano Hiro intended to make them food.
Amano Hiro merely displayed his kagune briefly, then retracted Carnage.
He looked at the uncertain crowd and explained:
"This is called a 'kagune.'
Normal humans don't have this. Only those called 'ghouls' possess it."
His words were like a boulder dropped into still water, sending ripples of shock through them.
They exchanged glances, disbelief written all over their faces, but long-term isolation made them slow to trust outsiders.