Fighting you is like being in jail.

Without saying a word, Aya dragged Kaneki away, determined to meet him first.

......

Antique coffee shop.

When Kaneki and Ayato entered, Touka stepped forward with a smile, but her expression immediately fell when she saw that it was Ayato and Kaneki.

"Oh, it's you guys. Take a seat."

She pointed to the empty seat next to her with little interest, but a hint of delight flashed in her eyes.

Due to the changes in ghouls and Ayato's relationship, Touka is very familiar with Kaneki. Although she was targeted by Rize Kamishiro, she miraculously survived and joined the Hot Absolute, becoming Eto's right-hand woman. She also has a good relationship with Ayato.

"Okay!" Kaneki nodded with a silly grin.

After they were seated, the two ordered coffee, and Touka also secretly served them a small cake.

This surprised and delighted Kaneki, who thanked him profusely.

Touka smiled slightly, gave a greeting, and went to get busy. Then, Kaneki, while eating his cake, looked at Ayato and said seriously:

"Ayato, aren't you going to eat?"

"Tch! Who wants to eat the cake my older sister gave me? Only you would always be all smiles like an idiot."

Ayato waved his hand, pouted in dissatisfaction, and looked out the window, not wanting to say anything.

This scene left Kaneki bewildered, but it was also how Ayato and Touka interacted, so he didn't say anything good about it.

A moment later, after taking a sip of coffee.

Dongxiang finished her work and walked over to Kaneki, patting him on the shoulder.

"I'm done with work, come on, I'll treat you to a drink."

"what?"

Kaneki stared blankly at Touka, who had already walked away, completely bewildered. This scene brightened Ayato's eyes, and he raised his fist in encouragement, saying:

"Hurry and chase after them!"

"oh oh!"

Once he came to his senses, Kaneki stood up and chased after Touka, leaving Ayato behind with an expectant look on his face.

In the alley outside the antique shop, in front of the vending machine.

After tossing Kaneki a can of juice, Touka tilted her head back and gulped down her own juice.

"Phew! It's so delicious!" she exclaimed, smiling contentedly.

She felt happy every time she drank something sweet, a feeling she had always dreamed of.

Kaneki, who was standing to the side, silently opened a juice bottle and took a sip.

"Kaneki, how have things been on your end lately? I hope Aya hasn't caused you any trouble."

"No, no, I'm the one who often causes trouble for Ayato."

Kaneki fidgeted, gripping his toes nervously as he looked at Touka, seemingly flattered. He then pursed his lips, speechless with embarrassment.

Touka glanced at Kaneki and asked with a sigh:

"The store manager is currently in the hospital, and everyone is busy with preparations at the store, so there shouldn't be any major problems. Um... if possible, could you introduce me to Leng Chang from the investigation team? I'd like him to look after you and prevent you from being assigned to dangerous missions."

"..."

Mentioning Leng Chang, Kaneki felt a heavy blow to his head and lowered his head, unsure of what to say.

"What's wrong?" Touka asked, puzzled, and looked at Kaneki with a puzzled expression.

“Um… Team Leader Leng Chang is dead, and the current team leader is Senior Lu…” Kaneki said, feeling his mouth dry.

"What!? What happened?" Dong Xiang's pupils shrank, she never expected that the previous team leader was dead.

"During the previous mission, Leng Chang was ambushed by the enemy while scouting ahead for us..." Kaneki sighed and lowered his head, somewhat unable to look Touka in the eye.

"I see..." Touka nodded heavily, then continued, "So what are your thoughts?"

“Continue. Only enough merit can ensure that Eto’s efforts are not in vain. As long as one of us becomes an executive, we can take over Eto’s power. Only in this way can everyone feel at ease. I don’t know what the organization is thinking. But Eto’s position can only be held by ghouls.”

Kaneki was absolutely certain of this, and looked up at Touka with a clear mind, not allowing himself to hesitate in the slightest.

"Um……"

Touka nodded heavily. She understood that it was best to give Eto's position to someone she knew well, which was also the goal that Ayato and Kaneki were striving for.

The good life she enjoys now is inseparable from Aite's past efforts, but now Aite has lost her memory, and now another cadre has died... She feels very uneasy.

She could no longer bring herself to say those words of advice, and now, having kept quiet about them, she felt another pang of heartache.

"Things were just starting to get better..."

She sighed deeply, unable to find the words to stop him, and could only look at Kaneki with sorrowful eyes, remaining silent.

After leaving the antique shop, Ayato and Kaneki said goodbye.

Kaneki walked home alone, the sound of his sneakers hitting the sidewalk muffled by the surrounding noise. It was nearing night, and the streetlights slowly came on, their glare stark against the dim sky.

The sounds of cars and pedestrians rushing by on the street brush past us as they hurry by.

Just then, a black figure suddenly stood behind Kaneki.

"You, come with me."

"who!"

Kaneki's pupils contracted, and just as he was about to turn around, he felt a strong arm grab his neck, pulling him uncontrollably to the side.

In the dark alley, he turned around immediately after regaining control of his head.

The moment he saw who it was, his eyes widened, and a sense of horror shot from the back of his head to his scalp.

"Team leader!?"

The newcomer was Leng Chang. He stood in front, a smirk playing on his lips, his fingers making the shape of a cross as he spoke with smug confidence:

"YES! I'M!"

"Brother Leng Chang! You're not..."

"That's a lie!"

"What!? Why?"

Leng Chang nodded slightly, a hint of fierceness hidden in his eyes, and said earnestly:

"I fooled everyone because I realized there was a traitor among us!"

"What?!" Kaneki was so shocked that he gritted his teeth, completely unprepared for this situation.

"Don't you find it strange? Why were they able to pinpoint the people who could influence the organization so accurately both times?"

Although I sold it the first time, they guessed it themselves the second time.

Leng Chang inwardly complained, but it didn't matter! The important thing was that he now had more room to maneuver.

Heh! Heh! Heh!

"You have a lead!?" Kaneki asked hurriedly.

Leng Chang shook his head regretfully and said, "Not yet, but the current situation is clearly not right. So I faked my death to escape and fooled everyone's secret investigation. Now I need your help, Kaneki!"

"Okay!" Kaneki nodded without hesitation.

"Great! That makes things much easier for me. Based on my observation, everyone except you and Xuan is a suspect!"

"How could this be? Could it be that even Team Leader Kaname...?"

"Yes! In fact, the suspicion is even greater!"

"What?!"

"I know what you're trying to say. You're going to say that she and I are very close, right? But you're completely wrong! It's precisely because we're close that she's more suspicious! People tend to subconsciously overlook the person they're close to, but often that person is the most suspicious!"

"This……"

Looking into Leng Chang's solemn eyes, Jin Mu felt a pang of resentment. This was hard for him to accept, just like how Xuan Du was the mole—it was impossible no matter how he thought about it.

But they had nothing to say.

Suppressing his inner resistance, he nodded solemnly and said, "I understand. Is there anything I can do?"

"What are your plans next?"

"We took the initiative, but the target was not identified."

Upon hearing this, Leng Chang's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he nodded with an air of authority.

"Very good! It seems you're acting according to the plan I left behind. Now you need to be careful. Remember, watch your back, because you never know when you might be ambushed."

"Ok!"

"Next, all you need to do is stay hidden and stay with the group. But there's one thing you need to be careful about: never let anyone out of your sight. If you split up, remember to contact me."

As he spoke, Leng Chang handed him a black old-fashioned mobile phone, the kind that only had call functionality.

"Okay, big brother!"

"That's all for now!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Leng Chang leaped into the air and attacked in a superhuman manner.

Beast!

With a whooshing sound, he disappeared from Kaneki's sight, as if he had never been there.

At that moment, Kaneki clenched his fists, the joy of regaining what he had lost making his fists tremble, but he knew very well that he could not tell anyone about this.

After all, this concerns everyone's lives.

"It's so good you're not dead." He laughed, his gloom completely vanishing.

......

On the other side, in a basement.

Bessie came in from outside carrying five pizzas and then distributed them to the others.

"Great! It's pizza!"

Gachu yelled impatiently, eagerly anticipating opening the pizza box.

However, when he saw the pizza in the box, his face darkened and he began to tremble.

"Huh? What are you shaking for?"

Prosciutto, who was standing nearby, leaned over to take a look, and his face immediately turned black, and he began to tremble.

What are you all doing?

This scene puzzled Meloni, so he went over to take a closer look, and his face darkened as well.

An barely suppressed rage simmered beneath the dark faces of the three men, like a jetpack fighter bursting to find the restroom full.

"Crap! It's a pineapple pizza?!"

"What the hell bastard invented this thing! I'm going to kill him!!"

"This is fucking more demonic than the devil himself! Heretic!!"

The three men's angry roar startled Risotto, who then slowly cast a fierce glance at them.

"What did you say?! Pineapple pizza?! What the hell—! Throw it in the trash!!"

"Bessie! How could you buy us such a terrible thing?!"

Instantly, all four of them turned to look at Bessie, the culprit, which made Bessie tremble with fear.

"N-no, I don't know! I just ordered randomly... they said they were delivering milk."

“…”

"..."

“…”

"So you're the real mama's boy, Bessie!!"