"Ahem..."

Amaha Byakuya cleared his throat lightly. "I'm not the kind of person who only looks at a woman's figure."

"Oh really?"

Eto Yoshimura looked thoroughly unconvinced. "But you know, even though I'm not tall, my figure is still pretty nice. Want to feel for yourself~?"

She made a grabbing motion in the air with her hand.

"You keep teasing me like this—aren't you worried I might actually take you up on it someday?"

Byakuya said with an exasperated expression.

"Then go ahead. All talk and no action, aren't you?"

Eto continued provoking him, apparently convinced he didn't have the nerve.

After all, she knew of quite a few girls who had feelings for Byakuya.

"..."

Byakuya's face darkened. "Looking down on me, are you?"

He immediately turned and pressed Eto against the wall.

Of course, he only braced his hands against the wall on either side of her—he wasn't actually being rough with her.

Being suddenly pinned like this, Eto's heart rate quickened.

Just moments ago she'd been mocking Byakuya for lacking courage, and now he seemed ready to prove her wrong.

But that wasn't enough for Byakuya. Being looked down upon definitely warranted teaching someone a lesson.

He pulled Eto into an embrace. Her petite frame felt completely trapped in his arms, unable to break free.

However, with bandages still wrapped around Eto's face, her expression remained hidden.

Byakuya could feel her body stiffen slightly. "Didn't expect me to actually do something, did you?"

"..."

After a brief pause, Eto's lips curved upward. "But do you dare to be even bolder?"

Though he'd startled her for a moment, she quickly realized that all Byakuya had done was hold her—nothing more. So her confidence returned in full force.

"..."

Now it was Byakuya's turn to fall silent.

No matter what, he couldn't bring himself to do anything too inappropriate to a woman.

At that moment, the bandages on Eto's face came loose. While being held by Byakuya, her chin rested perfectly on his shoulder—and she took the opportunity to lightly nip his ear with her teeth. "Just as I thought—all talk and no action. Hehe~"

Byakuya had no choice but to release her. "That kind of thing... I can't just do it with any woman. Go ahead and laugh at me all you want. We're almost at the underground world—let's hurry down."

Eto seemed genuinely surprised. "I didn't expect this, but you're actually quite pure-hearted."

"It's not being pure-hearted. It's just common decency."

Byakuya replied casually.

"Fine, fine. I'll stop joking around."

Eto finally adopted a more serious demeanor.

...

Before long, Byakuya and Eto reached the deepest part of Ward 24, arriving at what appeared to be a dead end.

"There's nowhere else to go from here. Did we take a wrong turn?"

Eto asked.

"No. Our destination is right beneath our feet."

Byakuya replied calmly.

As he finished speaking, he stomped down hard on the ground, breaking open a massive hole.

Looking down, they could see an entirely different world—a landscape of ruined cityscape.

"Let's go down."

Byakuya said.

"Mm."

Eto nodded.

The sight below made her eyes tremble slightly. Combined with what Byakuya had told her earlier, this really was the old Tokyo from a hundred years ago...

Byakuya then carried Eto down with him, landing smoothly.

The view from below was even more comprehensive—a post-apocalyptic scene of urban ruins, with strange appendages spreading endlessly across many of the buildings.

"That's..."

Eto had already noticed.

"That's the One-Eyed King who emerged from the Washuu Clan a hundred years ago. He became the Dragon, and those things are all parts of the Dragon's body."

Byakuya explained.

After transforming into the Dragon, the One-Eyed King's body had grown large enough to cover most of Tokyo.

In the original story's later arc, Kaneki Ken had also achieved this "Dragon transformation." After going years without consuming fresh human flesh and being reduced to a limbless torso by Suzuya Juuzou and Abara Hanbee, the sight of Squad Zero's Shio Ihei and Rikai Souzu's deaths had triggered Kaneki's transformation. Furuta had even dangled their severed heads in front of Kaneki to provoke him.

Kaneki had then transformed into a centipede-shaped Dragon—the Dragon's specific form was actually shaped by imagination, operating on the same principle as a ghoul's kagune.

"So when the Washuu Clan drove the One-Eyed King underground... this is what they meant."

Eto murmured.

"What I don't know is whether the Dragon Cells in these appendages are still viable. The One-Eyed King himself should have died of old age by now."

Byakuya said.

Roma Hoito had seen the One-Eyed King decades ago. In this timeline, the One-Eyed King had probably died of old age long since.

"I've seen the Dragon now. What about those natives you mentioned? Where are they?"

Eto asked.

They could now confirm with near certainty that this was indeed the old Tokyo that had sunk underground a century ago. Her next curiosity was whether there really were indigenous ghouls living here...

"Since the underground world's native population has dwindled significantly, we won't find them easily. We'll have to search slowly."

Byakuya said.

Because the underground world was almost completely isolated from Ward 24 and the surface, the descendants of those who had sunk into the earth with the old Tokyo could only survive or perish on their own down here. Without a food source, their numbers had naturally declined over time.

After more than a century, the underground world's natives had become few and far between. In the original story, only a handful of children had appeared.

They began wandering through the underground world.

Before long, they made a discovery—several young girls in ragged clothing. These were the natives of this place.

"Did we just find some natives?"

Eto spoke up.

"Yes. Don't hurt them."

Byakuya cautioned her.

"I won't, I won't."

Eto replied casually.

The next moment, the girls spotted Byakuya and Eto—two strangers—and immediately went on high alert.

Growing up in an environment even harsher than Ward 24, they naturally became extremely wary when encountering unfamiliar people.

Not only that, but they immediately released their kagune and attacked.

...

Get 20+ chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"