Amano Hiro leisurely wandered through the ruined streets of Tokyo.
He quite enjoyed the sight. Compared to the once prosperous, crowded metropolis with its countless rules,
this shattered, silent wasteland, as though the city had been reset, looked far more pleasing and comfortable to him.
Roar!
Several hoarse, inhuman roars suddenly interrupted the peaceful atmosphere.
Amano Hiro frowned slightly and turned around. Four blood-red monsters
burst out from behind the broken walls and rubble, baring their claws as they lunged straight at him.
He made no move to attack. Instead, with both hands in his pockets, he stood where he was and carefully observed these "Dragon Orphans." It was his first time examining them up close.
Looking at them from nearby, they really were rather creepy. They looked quite similar to the Xenomorphs from the Alien movies.
Their bodies had no skin. Their muscles and bones were completely exposed, giving off a bloody stench.
The only thing missing was a tail, and their color was a pure dark red. If they had tails and a different color, they could have been dropped straight into an Alien film.
While he was observing them, the four Dragon Orphans had already reached him. Their sharp claws slashed down with a foul wind behind them!
Amano Hiro slid his foot and casually sidestepped the attack. Then he spun and delivered a swift side kick.
Bang!
With a dull thud, the foremost Dragon Orphan was sent flying backward, crashing into a pile of concrete blocks.
At the same time, several dark red, viscous tentacles shot out from behind his back,
like living pythons, instantly wrapping around the other three.
The tips of the tentacles rapidly extended and enveloped them like liquid, trapping them tightly within crimson restraints.
Then...
Squish! Crack!
A series of grinding, bone-crushing sounds rang out.
The tentacles suddenly contracted inward with tremendous force.
The three Dragon Orphans did not even have time to struggle before they were crushed into a thick pool of blood and shattered bones.
The next second, the mangled flesh was swiftly absorbed and devoured by the tentacles.
A torrent of RC cells, far greater and purer than those from an ordinary kakuhou, surged into Amano Hiro's body.
There was not the slightest discomfort.
On the contrary, a refreshing sensation spread through his entire body, as though every cell was singing with joy.
Even the "Slaughter" within him transmitted a faint tremor of something close to hunger and excitement.
Amano Hiro slowly turned his head and fixed his gaze on the last Dragon Orphan, which had just climbed out of the rubble.
The look in his eyes was less like he was looking at an enemy and more like he had just discovered an irresistible delicacy.
Even the Dragon Orphan, driven only by instinct, made its huge body tremble almost imperceptibly under that gaze.
What kind of monster was this?
These were clearly perfectly legal, freely roaming "walking bread rolls"!
Having gotten a taste of the benefits, Amano Hiro decided to eat his fill.
For quite some time afterward, he strolled leisurely through the city's ruins as though he were out shopping, specifically hunting Dragon Orphans.
Every one he found, he caught.
Every one he caught, he "ate."
It was practically like sweeping through an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Who knew how much time had passed. After not encountering a single one for half an hour straight, he finally stopped, still not fully satisfied.
"Tsk. Did I clean them all out?"
He scratched his head, preparing to head back and relax with Rize.
The instant he turned around...
Click.
A faint sound, like loose gravel being disturbed, came from behind a massive tilted concrete slab.
"Who's there?"
Amano Hiro's eyes sharpened. Before he had even fully turned around,
one of the tentacles behind him had already torn through the air like lightning, whipping violently toward the concrete slab with a terrifying shriek!
Boom!
The concrete slab exploded on impact, sending shattered stone and dust flying everywhere.
The tentacle instantly transformed into a broad membranous wing and gave a powerful flap.
The fierce gust immediately blew away the dust, revealing what had been hiding behind it.
It was a... smaller Dragon Orphan.
But it was completely different from the others.
It had... an eye on its face.
Although it only had a single eye positioned in the center of its face,
it was unmistakably an eye.
A crimson eye identical to a ghoul's Kakugan!
Its behavior was also obviously different.
It knew how to hide.
At that moment, it was crouched behind the rubble, trembling uncontrollably,
yet it still bared its teeth at Amano Hiro, letting out threatening growls.
"Oh?"
Amano Hiro became interested. Retracting his wings, he studied it with curiosity.
"So you've evolved? That was pretty quick."
He had only heard rumors that Dragon Orphans could evolve and had never really believed it himself.
When he had discussed cooperation with the TSC, he had only said it to scare them.
He had never expected it to be true.
After all, the anime had never shown anything like this.
He had not expected to actually run into a different one.
After thinking for a moment, he tested it.
"Hey. Can you understand what I'm saying?"
The one-eyed Dragon Orphan gave no response. It merely continued growling, its lone crimson eye fixed firmly on him.
"If you can understand me, I'll let you go," Amano Hiro added, sweetening the offer.
Still no response.
It continued behaving like a creature acting purely on instinct.
"Looks like you either can't understand me... or you haven't evolved that far yet."
Amano Hiro shrugged, and his interest quickly faded.
Since there was no way to communicate, there was no need to waste words.
He casually swung a tentacle.
Splurt.
It was dealt with cleanly and efficiently.
This evolved "breed" really did taste different.
The RC cells flooding into his body far exceeded those of ordinary Dragon Orphans in both concentration and quantity.
Absorbing them filled his entire body with a sense of comfort.
This thing was practically a "high-efficiency nutritional supplement" made specifically for him.
The best part was that he did not have the risk ordinary ghouls faced of losing their sanity from absorbing too many RC cells.
To him, it was nothing but a pure tonic.
"I wonder if anyone else has run into evolved ones like this..."
As Amano Hiro felt the abundant power filling his body, he thought to himself,
"I'll ask around at the TSC tomorrow."
If there were more of these "high-quality resources," the efficiency would be much higher.
For today, he'd just head back and spend some quality time relaxing with his little Mingyue.
When Amano Hiro returned home, he found the house empty. Rize was nowhere to be seen.
"Hm?"
He was a little surprised.
"She's actually not home?"
That was unusual.
Rize either went out with him or stayed obediently at home. It was rare for her to go out by herself.
He casually took out his phone and dialed Rize's number.
"Hello, Hiro. What's up?" Rize's cheerful voice came from the other end.
"Where did you go?" Amano Hiro asked.
"Hiro's already home? I'll be back in a little while."
With that, Rize hung up.
Amano Hiro put away his phone and sat down on the sofa.
In the background during the call, he thought he had vaguely heard Touka's voice.
When had those two become so close?
"Forget it."
He leaned back.
"I'll ask her when she gets back."