CCG Headquarters, Ward 1.
Inside a spacious conference room, the Special-Class meeting was being held here.
Aside from Arima, the six Special-Class investigators had all arrived. Two Associate Special-Class investigators were also participating in this meeting.
One of them was Associate Special-Class Ui Koori, who had once been hailed as Arima Kishou's successor.
The other was the recently prominent Associate Special-Class Uesugi Ryu.
"Yare yare, Uesugi boy still hasn't come? There's only one minute left before the meeting starts."
Mougan Tanakamaru glanced at the clock hanging at the back of the conference room, then subconsciously tightened the dark red bow tie around his neck.
"Let's wait a little longer. Uesugi has a habit of arriving right on the dot. Didn't expect he'd do the same thing even for a Special-Class meeting."
Shinohara Yukinori sighed and spoke somewhat helplessly.
"Seriously. He said he had intelligence regarding Ward 20 to summarize, but he still hasn't shown up after all this time."
Marude Itsuki rubbed his forehead and complained.
"Instinct, perhaps? Associate Special-Class Uesugi's instincts are quite sharp. Didn't he break the ghoul auction in Ward 7 not long ago?"
Ui Koori thought for a moment and said calmly.
Hazuki Shime, who had taken over Misaka's position, sat at the side with a gloomy expression.
Cochlea had been breached again and again. As the successor, what he inherited was practically an empty shell.
Right now Cochlea only had a few stragglers left inside. Among the SS-class ghouls only Kirishima Arata remained. The rest had all escaped.
There were also very few S-class ghouls left. Recently many of the personnel under his command had been transferred away, and his authority had been greatly weakened.
In truth, this meeting did not have much to do with him. He had simply been called here to make up the numbers.
The door was gently pushed open and Uesugi Ryu walked in. Everyone's gaze was immediately drawn toward him.
"Perfect timing. Good morning, everyone."
Uesugi Ryu glanced at the mechanical watch on his left wrist and casually greeted everyone.
Footsteps approached. Washuu Yoshitoki had also just arrived at the conference room entrance.
Everyone present immediately stood up.
Their left hands were placed on their chests, upper arms and forearms forming a ninety degree angle as they greeted him.
"Director!"
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Uesugi Ryu's mouth. He turned his head toward Washuu Yoshitoki, who had been blocked behind him, and said apologetically.
"Sorry about that, Director."
Washuu Yoshitoki did not care about such a small matter. He nodded.
"Take your seat, Associate Special-Class Uesugi."
Uesugi Ryu walked to the only empty seat at the end of the long table and dropped into it.
Washuu Yoshitoki sat down in the main seat at the head of the table.
His expression immediately became serious. After sweeping his gaze across everyone present, he spoke in a deep voice.
"The location of The Non-Killing Owl has been confirmed. This key information was discovered by First-Class Investigator Mado from the Ward 20 branch."
After pausing slightly, Washuu Yoshitoki turned his gaze toward Uesugi Ryu sitting nearby and continued.
"Next, Associate Special-Class Uesugi, who serves as the Deputy Branch Chief of the Ward 20 branch, will provide a detailed explanation of the relevant intelligence."
Uesugi Ryu was slightly stunned. He had only mentioned this matter to Marude Itsuki. Washuu Yoshitoki should not have known about it.
This was retaliation. Washuu Yoshitoki was retaliating because Uesugi Ryu had blocked his path.
However, Uesugi Ryu had already prepared. He raised his right hand and lightly pointed at the large screen hanging from the ceiling.
"Please take a look."
Several images appeared on the screen. They were news reports about the falling steel beam incident.
"Everyone should have some impression of this news. After this incident, the S-class ghoul Binge Eater from Ward 20 suddenly disappeared."
"You may look at the related reports above. There is a high probability that Binge Eater was the female student who died in this incident."
"The information regarding the location of The Non-Killing Owl was also traced from this lead."
"Kaneki Ken was very likely transformed into a ghoul. The evidence is that both Kanou Akihiro and Kaneki Ken disappeared."
"The corpse of the female student suspected to be Binge Eater also vanished."
"Investigations show that Kaneki Ken once worked part time at a coffee shop called Anteiku, after which he completely disappeared."
Aura Kiyoko was slightly stunned and asked somewhat puzzled.
"A human turning into a ghoul? That's astonishing."
Washuu Yoshitoki's brows furrowed slightly.
Experiments related to half ghouls had also been conducted by the Washuu. However due to technical limitations, they had basically stopped in recent years.
He gave Uesugi Ryu a meaningful glance.
Originally he had only intended to make Uesugi Ryu embarrass himself while maintaining his authority as Director. He did not expect that Uesugi Ryu actually had real information.
Uesugi Ryu glanced at Aura Kiyoko and continued speaking.
"Whether humans can become ghouls is still only speculation. Returning to Anteiku."
"There are many missing persons in Ward 20. We once conducted an in-depth investigation and encountered the SS-class ghoul Crow who had disappeared several years ago."
Ui Koori frowned slightly when he heard the name. It sounded familiar.
"Crow? The one Mister Arima encountered in Ward 4 several years ago?"
Uesugi Ryu nodded.
"That's right. I've already fought him. At that time he was probably collecting corpses."
Mougan Tanakamaru snorted with laughter and spoke with a look of emotion.
"An SS ghoul living off corpses? The name Crow really suits him."
Marude Itsuki placed his hands together on the table and spoke curiously.
"That's not the main point. The fact that he escaped from Uesugi shows his strength. A ghoul of that level couldn't maintain combat capability by relying on that alone."
"There should be an organization behind him. That behavior is likely meant to help lower level ghouls. Doesn't that match perfectly with The Non-Killing Owl?"
Shinohara Yukinori stroked his chin and spoke with some emotion.
"A ghoul organization leaning toward peace. That's truly rare. It seems that's the reason why the predation rate in Ward 20 is so low."
Kuroiwa Iwao's eyes flickered as he spoke with a heavy expression.
"The two original organizations in Ward 20, the SS-level Apes and Black Dog, have also disappeared. I think it's very likely they're hiding in that coffee shop as well."
"If that's true, then we're facing three SS-level ghouls and one SSS-level ghoul."
None of the Special-Class investigators present were fools. A clear line of reasoning had now connected everything together.
Uesugi Ryu had not come here simply because he liked attending meetings.
The main purpose was to improve the impression the Special-Class investigators had of him. Strength alone would not earn respect.
However, the more the meeting progressed, the quieter it became. In the blink of an eye no one spoke anymore. Everyone frowned with solemn expressions.
Only a single Special-Class investigator or several Associate Special-Class investigators together could barely match an SS-class ghoul.
Now there were at least three SS-class ghouls alone. This was definitely not good news.
After all, CCG only had seven Special-Class investigators on the surface. Among them Marude Itsuki and Hazuki Shime were logistics personnel. In reality only five were combat personnel.
There were dozens of Associate Special-Class investigators, but it was impossible to mobilize all of them to participate in this battle.
And this was only Anteiku alone. If the ghoul side had not been a scattered mess, humanity might have already been wiped out.
Seeing the silence, Uesugi Ryu did not care whether they were shocked or not and continued speaking.
"Special-Class Kuroiwa is right. That's exactly what I meant."
"Apes and Black Dog are both leaders of SS-class ghoul organizations. It's hard to say how much influence they still have over their subordinates, but that's still a troublesome factor."
"The two Owls are very likely related by blood. Appearing at the same time would not be strange."
Washuu Yoshitoki lightly coughed and glanced at Uesugi Ryu, signaling him to stop speaking.
"Associate Special-Class Uesugi's report is very detailed. As expected of CCG's rising star."
"According to special intelligence, the possibility of the two Owls appearing together is not high. There is no need for excessive concern. Even if it happens, Kishou will handle it."
"There is no need to include the One-Eyed Owl in the battle plan. Instead, the movements of Aogiri Tree should be monitored."
Marude Itsuki looked at Uesugi Ryu sitting across from Ui Koori.
"Uesugi, can you handle The Non-Killing Owl alone?"
"There's been a breakthrough in new research. After the equipment upgrade you should be able to deal with it, right?"
Many high level ghouls escaped from Cochlea. It was impossible to know how many of them had joined Aogiri Tree.
If that was the case, CCG would not have spare combat power to deal with the Owl.
Right now the highest combat power within CCG was Uesugi Ryu and Arima Kishou. The two Owls matched perfectly with the two strongest investigators.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Uesugi Ryu's mouth as he spoke calmly.
"No problem."