Lancer already knew that Aogiri Tree's next target would be Cochlea in the 23rd Ward—Cochlea, the Ghoul Detention Center. The real problem was that he couldn't be sure. In the original timeline, because of the 11th Ward operation, the CCG had suffered crippling manpower losses. The 9th and 10th Wards even fell under Aogiri's control. But now?
The 11th Ward operation had failed, yes—but the CCG's casualties weren't even ten percent of what they had been originally. Their mobile forces remained plentiful, and the 9th and 10th Wards were held firmly under CCG control. Under these circumstances, how much more manpower would Aogiri need to attack Cochlea? Several times more than before, most likely.
Still, out of caution, Lancer shared his "thoughts" with Mado Kureo during conversation. Mado merely smiled.
"Cochlea holds the most violent Ghouls in all of Japan. Even without the past assault on the 11th Ward, its defenses are second only to headquarters. One First-Class, at least three Associate Special Classes, and more than two hundred fifty Investigators are stationed there. And we can use the prison facilities themselves. In theory, they would need at least two or three times the number of Ghouls to even have a chance of breaking through. And once Cochlea comes under attack, nearby Investigators will rush in immediately—within twenty minutes, the number of Investigators will double. Unless they can field more than five SS-rated Ghouls, it's simply impossible. And even that's unlikely—Tokyo's recorded SS-rated Ghouls can be counted on one hand."
Lancer had long known of Cochlea's existence, but this was the first time they'd actually discussed it. After all, Cochlea wasn't a secret, but it wasn't a place worth chatting about either… however—
"Then why not just kill them all?"
Truthfully, Lancer had always been curious about this. The number of S-rated and SS-rated Ghouls imprisoned there was no small force. In the original timeline, these Ghouls became Aogiri Tree's fresh fighting strength after the breakout, pushing their power to an absurd level.
"At first, I didn't understand either," Mado said, "but the Director explained it once. If you want to defeat Ghouls, you must first understand them. So those Ghouls are… test subjects. The difference is simply that the stronger ones are kept alive. Even for experiments, they generally won't kill the valuable ones."
As for the weaker ones? That needed no explanation.
And yet, for some reason, Lancer felt something was off. He knew the true nature of the Anteiku members only because he understood the "story," but he didn't believe Ghouls would willingly reveal information just because the CCG tortured them. Compared to "forced interrogation," wouldn't information given by a conscious mind be more reliable?
If this were just fiction, Lancer might have treated it as "background setting" and moved on. But this world clearly wasn't devoid of logic.
Still, although he felt something strange, he couldn't pinpoint it, so he let the matter go.
...
Lancer's daily life returned to how it was before: patrolling the 20th Ward, then heading to Anteiku for coffee before dinner. Though recently, even that routine had changed. For instance, he could hardly encounter any Ghouls while patrolling the 20th Ward. He suspected the big names inside Anteiku had begun acting behind the scenes. Previously, they'd held a "hermit-like" policy, leaving the Ward to its own devices. But now that they saw a sliver of "hope," they had decided to clean it up properly.
As a result, because the Ward's safety improved too quickly, Lancer and Mado Akira were reassigned to other districts.
Patrol by day, hunt Ghouls, get coffee afterward…
Time passed quietly like this, and Lancer's nearly depleted points had slowly climbed back to 310. But today—while drinking his usual coffee at Anteiku—something unexpected happened.
"Lancer? Where are you?"
Mado Kureo's voice came through the phone—frantic. It was the first time Lancer had ever heard him sound this panicked.
"I'm having coffee before heading home. Did something happen?"
"Cochlea has been attacked!"
So it happened after all!!
"Mado-san, can you tell me the details? About the Cochlea assault."
While grabbing his suit jacket from the chair, Lancer spoke "casually," but loudly. On the other side of the shop, Kirishima Touka, who had been cleaning dishes, froze completely.
"That's exactly what I'm calling to tell you. Aogiri Tree has attacked Cochlea. Fortunately, they haven't broken through yet. The battle is still ongoing. We're closest here in the 20th Ward. Come to the branch immediately—I'll take Amon, you, and Akira to support them myself."
"Yes, sir!!"
He downed the rest of his coffee in one gulp and placed the cup directly onto the tray Touka was holding.
"Sorry, Touka-san—work calls. And by the way, your coffee's gotten a lot better."
After saying this, he didn't stay another second. He turned and left. The information he'd left behind should be enough. The people at Anteiku would surely go to help, wouldn't they?
As for Touka, tray in hand, she remained frozen in place. Only one thought echoed in her mind:
How did he know I brewed that coffee?
But the thought vanished almost instantly. She spun around and headed to the counter, where Yoshimura already gave her a slight nod.
"I heard everything that Investigator said. It seems Aogiri's true target from the start was Cochlea. We can't let them free the Ghouls locked inside. Those ones are vicious to begin with, and after being imprisoned by the CCG, they're likely even more brutal. If we ever want to work with the CCG properly in the future, letting them escape will cause endless trouble…"
Yoshimura spoke as if muttering to himself, yet it also sounded like an explanation meant for Touka. Touka stiffened for a moment, then another thought struck her.
Did he really just slip that information unintentionally? Or… does he already know what I am?
"Touka," Yoshimura said, "go find Yomo. Have him meet us. This time… all of us move."
Because of Lancer's involvement, this timeline had gone completely off the rails. The one who should have been the "protagonist," Kaneki Ken, had only just recovered his strength and begun searching for the person who operated on him. And Anteiku—who should have had nothing to do with the Cochlea assault—was now being dragged into it.
The entire world had begun to turn, heading toward an unknown future…
---
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