Scorching, tingling, itching…
This was Vela's most direct sensation after donning the [Arata-Ayato-α] Living Quinque Armor, while partially releasing and activating her Kagune.
Just by holding her breath, she could feel the faint sting of blood surging through her veins.
Inside the armor, across her skin, it felt as if something was crawling, biting, devouring…
Ambiguous, yet undeniable, Vela even sensed a faint, almost imperceptible malice.
But—
"Nothing more than that."
The hatred and resentment of consumption was insignificant!
Clack—channeling strength, Vela clenched her fist.
In her palm, encased by matte black gauntlets, was a long blade with a heavily chipped edge.
A B-rank Koukaku Quinque longsword, once bloodstained on the frontlines, damaged and recalled. One of the CCG's most basic standard-issue Quinque weapons.
In the spacious, silent room, as Vela's fingers closed like iron tongs, the grating sound of metal twisting rang out clearly—screech-crack!
The blade snapped, shards falling to the ground. Jagged fragments slipped from between her loosening fingers, scattering like fragile glass, flashing cold light.
Easier than ever…
Weighing the force she had just applied, the augmentation from the Living Armor and the faint, brimming heat and tingling satisfaction made Vela narrow her eyes in contentment.
Flexing the precise gauntlet that fit snugly around her fingers, she then turned her head toward the man in a white lab coat, slippers on his feet, holding a data tablet, standing beside Akira Mado. She nodded at him, signaling that everything was fine.
His unkempt stubble and distinctive moss-green mushroom-cut hair identified him clearly as Dr. Kouitsu Chigyou, CCG's chief researcher.
Vela's mentor in Quinque manufacturing technology and ghoul biology.
"Although the [Arata Proto]'s problem of constant backlash has been resolved, once you enter overload mode, the slight blood absorption caused by activating and releasing the Kagune is unavoidable."
Kouitsu Chigyou explained as he tapped circles and notes onto the tablet.
Conventional Quinques were dead matter. But the 'Arata' series was different. They were living armor. In their normal state, they were manageable, but once entering activation mode, Rc cells had to be absorbed.
Simply put—blood, whether ghoul or human.
"How about the pain? What does it feel like?"
He asked.
"It's fine. Like scraping or cupping… something like that."
Vela shrugged, rolling her neck.
"Hah, Vela, you've tried cupping before?"
"It's a metaphor."
Amidst the calibration, their casual banter continued. Kouitsu Chigyou guided further: "Take a deep breath. Compared to the last Proto model, I improved the fusion ratio and form of Quinque steel with the base specimen 'Arata Kirishima's' Kakuja Kakuhou. This makes the Living Armor's attachment resemble ghoul Kakuja transformation more closely. Breathing and heat dissipation—significant improvements."
"Huuh…"
Taking a deep breath under the V-shaped closed helmet, Vela felt no discomfort. As for heat dissipation, because of air conditioning indoors and minimal exertion, the difference wasn't obvious yet—but she trusted that a pure scientist like Kouitsu Chigyou wouldn't be careless in such matters.
"Impressive, Dr. Chigyou."
In rare jest, Vela turned to face the mirrored wall of the gray-white room, examining her reflection.
The [Arata-Ayato-α] Living Full-Body Armor perfectly accentuated her graceful figure. Its contours were healthy and elegant without seeming seductive or revealing. Metallic gloss radiated an intimidating sharpness.
Visually, her height now approached two meters.
Without doubt, Kouitsu Chigyou had used more Quinque steel in her custom design.
The armor's coverage was so complete it resembled a thin exoskeletal mech suit. Matte black, fully enclosed plating draped her body, streaked faintly with crimson vein-like lines.
Purple-red armor striations spread across her shoulders, writhing faintly like living tissue in rhythm with her breath.
Compared to Yukinori Shinohara and Iwao Kuroiwa's [Arata Proto] units, with their mechanical and metallic emphasis, Vela's carried far more of a ghoul's agility and biological presence.
This was the true prototype of armor technology.
"But this kind of improvement…"
Thud, thud~
As the half-metal, half-Koukaku armored boots struck against the bare concrete floor, Vela slowly approached the training equipment placed indoors.
Bang!
A loud crash, like thunder. A sandbag—200cm × 55cm, weighing 100kg—under Vela's poorly executed sideways hook, swung like a pendulum, the suspension rope snapping instantly. The two-hundred-pound sandbag shot off like a cannonball, slammed into the wall, burst open completely, and sent its filling scattering across the floor.
Effortless.
The armor's movements, the power output, the amplification of strength and defense—it all flowed like a second skin, a second muscle, smooth and natural. It felt like part of her body, an extension.
There was no sluggishness despite the heavy infusion of Quinque steel.
Unscientific…
Could there have been a breakthrough in Quinque manufacturing?
Clack, clack—the helmet unlocked, crisp metallic friction and jointed clashing sounds echoing as the memory armor plates folded back automatically. Flicking her hair back, Vela looked toward Kouitsu Chigyou.
As though intuitively sensing her question, the Quinque craftsman shook his head directly: "It's not so easy to make breakthroughs in manufacturing."
"Then, Doctor, what method did you use?"
Vela asked this as she casually shoved aside one of the 20-foot containers (about 2.2 tons), stacked together for complex terrain pursuit training. The thunderous rumble made Akira Mado twitch at the corner of her eyes.
Already anticipating such performance from Vela in the armor, Kouitsu Chigyou answered with simple honesty: "More material."
"Hah?"
Vela blinked.
"Doctor, you didn't use the portion meant for Special Class Kuroiwa, did you…?"
The key material for producing the [Arata] series was SS-rank Kakuja Kakuhou from Arata Kirishima's complete Koukaku.
As far as she knew, her own, Yukinori Shinohara's, and Iwao Kuroiwa's sets of original material had all been stripped from the imprisoned Arata Kirishima.
They were precious resources built up over time. Aside from those wasted in failed attempts at creating Living Armor, whenever Arata's Kakuhou regrew, CCG's guards would harvest it again.
By the timeline, his last harvested Kakuhou shouldn't have grown back yet.
"Even if I wanted to, given the current crisis caused by Aogiri Tree, Special Class Kuroiwa needs the [Arata] more than anyone."
Kouitsu Chigyou coughed lightly, embarrassed. Truth be told, such an idea had crossed his mind.
Then, his tone grew serious: "Do you remember those two top-quality Ukaku Kakuhou you asked me to safeguard, emphasizing that they had to be fused into Living Armor?"
Vela nodded.
"Ayato Kirishima's."
She had personally hunted them, of course she remembered.
"At the start of the year, when progress on 'Arata' improvements hit a bottleneck, I went to meet Arata Kirishima once."
"Oh?"
Vela raised an eyebrow. "So…"
"Through the special sense of smell ghouls have, Arata recognized the lingering scent of his offspring on me, and he went berserk."
Kouitsu Chigyou explained: "Even reduced to a beast, Arata's personality long shattered by cannibalism and years of captivity, the parental instinct still roused his fading consciousness. He frenzied, draining his Rc cells, regenerating his Kakuhou, forcing a half-Kakuja transformation…"
At this, Kouitsu Chigyou sighed, pausing.
"To be honest, I also have to thank your idea—the [High Rc-Cell Synthesized Food for Ghoul Consumption Experiment]. During the early exploratory phase, all the products were fed to him. His recovery speed surpassed my expectations."
Captured ghouls, including those held in the 23rd Ward's ghoul prison Cochlea, officially, were never fed ghoul meat. After all, investigators were human. Feeding them corpses was appalling, feeding them ghoul flesh was aiding the enemy.
So, just like ordinary prisons—often worse—the food provided was substandard.
Human food harmed ghouls, nauseating them, but it wouldn't kill them. Eat it or starve. If they fainted from hunger, they were force-fed liquid diets.
Prisons wanted them half-dead, suffering. Sometimes even feeding food laced with Rc suppressants.
As for what some people might secretly feed them… who knew…
This was also why, after so many years of Arata Kirishima's captivity, only three sets of Kakuja Koukaku had ever been produced. Certainly, part of the reason was that the CCG harvested him too harshly, leaving him severely weakened multiple times. Malnutrition and constant frailty were also factors.
Starting from late 2014, Kouitsu Chigyou had begun research on high Rc-cell synthesized food. The early products still tasted to ghouls like rotting filth, but the fact that they provided Rc cells was already progress.
Arata was the direct beneficiary; Vela, the indirect one.
"I harvested his Kakuhou once again, and fused it into the set custom-built to match your body's form. Perhaps because of the freshness of the Kakuhou, and the bloodline connection between parent and offspring, right afterward, I succeeded in merging [Ayato] into the Living Quinque Armor—without triggering Kagune cannibalization…"
No wonder.
Vela couldn't help but sigh in amazement.
Sometimes, the simplest and most brutal methods—piling up quantity and material—really were the most effective.
"Vela."
Kouitsu Chigyou's eyes burned with fervor as he looked at her, unable to contain his excitement. "The [Arata-Ayato-α] will be the proudest creation of my entire life! Nothing else compares."
"No."
Vela corrected him with a smile.
"To be precise—it's only for now. The One-Eyed King of Aogiri Tree, with an entire set of SSS-rank Kakuhou, is still waiting for us to claim in the future."
"That depends on you investigators. I am only a scientist. I don't have strength like yours."
The two exchanged a smile.
Clap, clap.
Returning to the main point, Kouitsu Chigyou pointed toward Vela's shoulder plates. "The S+ rank Ukaku Ayato, after fusing with 'Arata,' its performance is even greater. I set the activation switch at…"
Before his words finished—whoosh—
From the shoulder blades of the Living Armor, the purple-red grooves flickered, and the Ukaku erupted in a spray of blood mist, like gas venting out.
In the next moment, high-density Kagune rapidly converged, igniting—like the blazing twin wings of a phoenix, burning in gradated crimson flames, thick and eerie, painting the space blood-red.
"The Quinx surgery… you've already achieved results?"
Vela looked at Kouitsu Chigyou.
The Quinx surgery, a procedure applied in Quinque manufacturing, differed in that Kagune extracted from ghouls was coated with Quinque steel and implanted into humans—similar to the half-ghoul surgery Ken Kaneki underwent, but safer, allowing the intake of human food.
And with her prompting, Kouitsu had evidently opened another path.
"You see through everything."
Kouitsu Chigyou admitted. "When wearing the armor, don't your shoulders feel a tingling numbness? It's what you taught me—the minimally invasive surgery that connects into the nervous system. Combined with the aggressive growth of Kakuhou organs, after cultivation and calibration, the sensation is like having two extra, dull invisible fingers. The technology is immature, it requires long training to adapt and sense them—but for you, as expected, it's no problem."
Whoosh!
As Vela controlled the Ukaku wings again, large crystal shards in purple-red hues condensed at the burning edges.
She turned toward the target wall.
In an instant, countless feathers burst forth. Whizz, whizz, whizz—
The air split with sharp sounds as the cone-shaped crystal Kagune, like ice spikes, rained densely upon the wall.
Piercing metal shrieks echoed. The bullseye quaked as the crystalline Kagune embedded deeply, weaving a suffocating net of spikes. What spread out before the eye was a forest of violet-red thorns.
Clearing out fodder—this was more than enough…
Just as Vela contemplated the Ukaku's additional uses beyond gliding, lift, and second-stage propulsion—szz, szz…
The burning Kagune wings began to wilt.
"Here, Vela. I assume you need this now."
Kouitsu Chigyou's voice sounded.
After rummaging in his pocket, he tossed something.
Vela turned and caught it.
Looking down, it was a vial with a special connector—an Rc cell supply injector.
"The basics of ghoul biology—Ukaku combat relies on violently releasing Rc cells in a short time. High burst, suited for quick battles."
Kouitsu Chigyou explained, one hand in his pocket, the other holding his data tablet: "And the advantage of semi-Quinque transformation is that even in its living state, without feeding, Rc cells can be replenished at any time…"
Following his guidance, Vela located the hidden port on the left shoulder of the armor. Clack—the injector connected. She pressed down on the plunger, and high-concentration Rc cells surged in. Instantly, whoosh—
The fully manifested Ukaku wings expanded by more than a circle, visibly growing brighter.
Like blazing wings of Kagune fire.
"Ukaku truly is the most beautiful Kagune… Investigator Russell, you look just like a seraph now."
Akira Mado, who had barely found a chance to speak, voiced her heartfelt awe.
She barely resisted the urge to pull out her phone and take a picture.
Humans were always double standards—no matter how beautiful a ghoul's Ukaku was, it was nothing but the wings of a demon.
"An angel… an Angel of Death, perhaps?"
Vela arched her brow.
"Mm, CCG's Angel of Death…"
Muttering to herself, Akira's turquoise eyes suddenly lit up. "Yes, that's it! If Special Class Arima is the 'White Reaper,' then Investigator Russell must be the 'Angel of Death'!"
"Better than those awkward titles like Golden Reaper or Blond Reaper… those sound terrible."
To this, Vela only shook her head with a smile.
Nicknames, titles—she didn't care much, as long as they weren't too ridiculous.
Soon, the basic performance and functions of [Arata-Ayato-α] had been explained. As for the specific limits of amplification and mastery, that would depend on Vela herself in actual use. Finally, Kouitsu Chigyou began outlining precautions.
"Remember—please, you must remember. This set is unlike other [Arata] series units. It has been customized in extreme detail for your physique, combat style, and abilities—and the burden on the body is immense."
"Never lend it to other investigators. And be extremely cautious when activating or fully releasing the armor. It can kill—even for Special Class Shinohara or Special Class Kuroiwa, it's no exception."
"Understood."
Nodding, the tall figure turned, a jet-black polearm suddenly in her hands.
"Eh? Wait, wait, wait—Special Class Russell! Why are you pulling out [Black Abyss IV]? That's an SS+ grade composite Quinque! Your new armor is also an SS+ grade amplification-type composite Quinque—ahhh, no, no, no, my lab doesn't have the equipment to withstand your performance tests!"
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