Chapter 277: Chapter 277: Full Quinx Squad Assembled

Hearing Investigator Ihei speak so intimately to Investigator Amaha right in front of them, Yonebayashi and Shirazu were now certain of their earlier suspicions.

Investigator Amaha and Investigator Ihei really did have an unusual relationship...

Additionally, they seemed to have heard something significant—Investigator Amaha was going to be the Quinx Squad’s superior?

"Wait, Investigator Ihei, what you just said about Investigator Amaha being the Quinx Squad’s superior... is that true?"

Yonebayashi immediately asked.

Urie, Shirazu, and Mutsuki all became interested in this.

They naturally knew they’d be assigned to the Quinx Squad after undergoing the surgery—they just hadn’t expected their superior to be Investigator Amaha.

"That’s right. The Quinx Squad is under Byakuya-senpai’s command, so coming to him was exactly the right choice."

Hairu nodded.

"So that’s really how it is..."

The four were quite surprised.

Byakuya didn’t say much, simply smiling at them.

...

Ward 1, CCG Laboratory Building.

Byakuya had brought the four trainees here, with Hairu accompanying him.

They soon located Chigyou Kouitsu.

"You’re all here to register, right? Just fill out these forms directly with me—saves going through all the procedures."

Chigyou produced four forms and handed them to the four trainees. "But before that, let me confirm your intentions. Have you all thought this through carefully?"

"You can change your minds anytime before lying on the operating table, but if you’re going to back out, there’s no need to sit here filling out forms."

"You all know about the post-surgery side effects, right? I won’t elaborate on those here."

"And the enemies you’ll face afterward are the powerful ’Aogiri Tree.’ Those ghouls are extremely dangerous—especially the ’One-Eyed Owl’ among them."

Chigyou was confirming the four’s intentions face-to-face.

Though the Quinx Surgery’s side effects weren’t severe, not everyone could accept having a kakugan in one eye.

The procedure would barely affect daily life—the difference was being able to unleash ghoul-like power during combat.

"I understand. I’ve thought this through completely. There’s no possibility of backing out."

Urie said decisively.

His goal was crystal clear: to become stronger.

He not only harbored hatred for the One-Eyed Owl who’d killed his father years ago, but also for Kuroiwa Iwao, who had been his father’s subordinate at the time. He believed Kuroiwa’s failure to save his father had led to his horrible death.

His father, Mikito Urie, had been a Special Class Investigator in Squad S3, which made Urie obsessed with joining S3 himself.

However, S3 had high entry requirements—newcomers couldn’t easily get in. Squads like S1, S2, and S3 were all led by Special Class-level investigators, essentially elite squads second only to Squad Zero.

So Urie wanted the fastest path to becoming stronger—accepting this Qs Surgery—so he could join S3 as soon as possible and exact his revenge sooner.

"Same here. I really want this opportunity."

Shirazu spoke up as well.

For that substantial compensation, there was no way he’d back out halfway.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have enough money for his sister’s treatment...

"I’ve thought it through too. I have my mother’s consent, so there shouldn’t be any problems."

Yonebayashi raised her hand.

Her reason for accepting the experiment was the same as Shirazu’s—money.

Her family was relatively poor, with only her mother supporting her and her brother. Though they’d opened a bar with relatives’ help, business had always been bad.

They couldn’t even afford normal schooling, so her mother had sent her and her brother to the Ghoul Countermeasures Institute where tuition was cheap.

Actually, Yonebayashi had never particularly wanted to become an investigator—she’d just ended up at the Academy, so this was her only career path.

When she discovered the Qs Surgery came with substantial compensation, she discussed it with her mother and decided to try.

Finally, there was Mutsuki...

"I... I don’t want to be so timid anymore. I want to become stronger too. That’s why I’m here..."

Though Mutsuki spoke softly, her tone was quite resolute.

"Good, then there are no issues."

Chigyou nodded: "After you finish the forms, come over for the ’Qs Surgery Compatibility Test.’ If you don’t pass, you can’t undergo the surgery—otherwise there would be risks."

"Understood."

The four nodded and began filling out their forms.

...

The Qs Surgery compatibility tests had concluded.

"This is quite incredible. All four of you passed the tests simultaneously. Every applicant before you failed..."

Chigyou held four examination results, speaking with evident surprise.

"Great, I passed!"

Shirazu exclaimed happily.

Even Urie’s face showed a rare hint of a smile—he’d worried about failing the test.

Yonebayashi and Mutsuki were both smiling too.

"These four were all brought by Investigator Amaha, weren’t they? Your eye for talent is that good?"

Chigyou couldn’t help but ask Byakuya.

"I didn’t bring them. They came to me on their own."

Byakuya corrected: "They’d just completed their training exercise—I was the one who led them to Ward 24 for the ’Whack-a-Mole’ operation. When training ended, they approached me about this."

"I see."

Chigyou nodded.

This made him even more amazed. What a coincidence.

"If you’re willing, I can begin the surgeries right now. The procedure won’t take long."

Chigyou addressed the four.

The four had no objections—they all wanted to complete the surgery as soon as possible.

Urie and Mutsuki wanted to become stronger quickly; Shirazu and Yonebayashi wanted to get paid quickly.

...

Following the order of registration, the four underwent the Qs Surgery one after another.

As Chigyou had said, the surgeries were quite fast and went smoothly without incident.

This was largely because Kanou’s underground laboratory had contained extensive experimental data, most of which hadn’t been destroyed. CCG had naturally retrieved all that data during their investigation, providing Chigyou with rich reference material.

Combined with Chigyou’s own abilities—he’d been personally praised as a "genius" by Kanou himself—he’d been able to refine the procedure this well.

Honestly, Byakuya half-suspected that Kanou had deliberately left that data in the underground lab. With Kanou’s capabilities, destroying it would have been easy—it was simply a matter of whether he wanted to or not.

"The results are in. The girl named Saiko Yonebayashi has the strongest compatibility with the Qs Surgery."

Chigyou had emerged from the operating room and was sharing the results with Byakuya.

"Then Kuki Urie and Ginshi Shirazu are also doing very well."

He paused: "...Finally, there’s Tooru Mutsuki. Her RC cell count is somewhat low—the lowest among the four. So low that she can’t properly use a kagune. Even at full power release, her RC cell count only reaches five or six hundred—barely different from an ordinary human..."

Ordinary humans had RC cell counts in the hundreds. Ghouls were powerful because their RC cell counts far exceeded humans’.

Mutsuki’s situation meant... not only was her RC cell count too low to manifest a kagune, but her physical capabilities were no different from a normal person’s.

One could say Mutsuki’s Qs Surgery made essentially no difference whether she’d had it or not...

No, wait—there was one difference. Mutsuki’s kakugan now couldn’t be turned off.

The four had now emerged from the operating room.

Urie clenched his fist, sensing that his strength had noticeably increased—and this was just his normal state, not even activated.

"Whoa! I really do feel much stronger!"

Shirazu exclaimed happily.

"Dr. Chigyou just said my compatibility was the strongest. Turns out I have the best aptitude."

Yonebayashi said with some pride.

Only Mutsuki looked troubled, having felt no change in herself at all.

"Hm? Mutsuki, aren’t you going to deactivate your kakugan?"

Yonebayashi noticed Mutsuki’s right eye was still in kakugan form and immediately pointed it out.

"Deactivate? I don’t know how..."

Mutsuki was confused.

She had no idea what was going on.

"Oh wait, it’s not really ’deactivating.’ Normally the kakugan just doesn’t appear—it only manifests uncontrollably when using power. And Dr. Chigyou just gave us RC suppressants, so normally the kakugan shouldn’t still be showing."

Yonebayashi said.

"Could something have gone wrong during the surgery?"

Shirazu wondered curiously.

"It wasn’t an accident. It’s because her RC cell count is too low. Not only can’t she control her kakugan at will, activating her kagune is also problematic."

Chigyou walked over and explained.

"Th-then what should I do?"

Mutsuki asked worriedly.

She felt quite troubled. Everyone else had become stronger after the Qs Surgery, while she was the only one unchanged. Wasn’t this surgery basically pointless?

And she couldn’t control her kakugan—she wouldn’t be able to live normally in human society anymore...

"There’s no good solution. I can only have you come in periodically for checkups and adjustments."

Chigyou said helplessly: "As for your kakugan, just cover it with an eyepatch normally. As long as you don’t expose it in front of others, it should be fine."

Even he didn’t fully understand Mutsuki’s situation. Logically, RC cell counts shouldn’t be this low after completing the Qs Surgery.

"Alright..."

Mutsuki nodded somewhat dejectedly. This was the only option for now.

Only Byakuya knew the truth.

In reality, Mutsuki’s RC cell count wasn’t as low as five or six hundred—it was actually absurdly high. The off-the-charts reading had probably caused an error in the results. Exactly how high remained unknown even in the original story.

Of course, it could also be similar to Sasaki Haise’s situation—where Kaneki Ken’s half-kakuja "Centipede" power had been forgotten due to multiple personalities.

Mutsuki’s mental state was also abnormal. She likely had a split personality—childhood abuse by her parents had caused psychological fragmentation, with the painful memories sealed away in another personality.

When the violence and abuse had become unbearable, Mutsuki had killed her family with her own hands. But having immediately dissociated, by the time police arrived, she no longer knew she’d been the killer—she believed a ghoul had broken in and murdered her family.

The police believed it too, since the scene didn’t look like anything a little girl could have done. Mutsuki was then taken in by CCG institutions.

In other words, the current Mutsuki was the timid, weak personality, with correspondingly weak abilities.

But once she snapped and switched to her other personality, her strength could rival that of Special Class Investigator Juuzou Suzuya from the original story.

"Alright, you’ll all be assigned to the ’Quinx Squad (Qs Squad)’ going forward."

Chigyou said: "Rest well at home tonight. You can report to headquarters tomorrow."

[Ding! Host facilitated the complete assembly of the Qs Squad. Reward: 50 Fusion Points!]

"What excellent results. Everyone completed their surgeries successfully."

Hairu remarked beside Byakuya.

"Yes, the Qs Squad will suddenly have four new members. Kurona and Nashiro won’t be so alone anymore."

Byakuya nodded.

"Kurona... Nashiro...? I think I’ve heard those names. Twin sisters, right?"

Hairu said: "Byakuya-senpai actually calls them by their first names. You must be quite close to them?"

"I suppose..."

Byakuya didn’t deny it—in fact, he directly confirmed it.

"Oh~?"

Hairu smiled: "Now I really want to meet them. I’m curious what kind of girls Byakuya-senpai likes."

"If you want to meet them, just come to the Qs Squad. They’re members now too."

In response to Hairu’s probing question, Byakuya still didn’t deny anything.

...

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