Chapter 277: 277: Kanou General Hospital

Late at night.

Kanou General Hospital, located in the heart of Ward 20, was still brightly lit.

But beneath the hospital, hidden in a basement that almost no one knew existed, a white-haired man with his hair slicked back was carefully dissecting the corpse laid out on the operating table.

The corpse’s face was horribly distorted.

The torn corners of its eyes and malformed body made it obvious that the person had suffered agony beyond anything an ordinary human could imagine before dying.

“Another failure.”

The man carefully removed a shriveled liver from the ruined corpse with a pair of forceps.

He held it beneath the light and examined it for a moment before placing it into a sterile container.

“I have to admit, that boy was extraordinarily lucky.”

In the original story, Dr. Kanou had spent three years conducting more than a thousand experiments.

Yet fewer than ten subjects had successfully survived transplantation with Rize’s organs and become viable specimens.

That alone showed just how absurdly low the success rate was.

Kanou removed his surgical mask, revealing an aging face.

The fine lines around his eyes made it clear that he was no longer young.

He sat down at his desk and recorded the results of the latest experiment.

Then he opened a file lying on the desk.

A photograph of Ken Kaneki was attached to the first page.

Name: Ken Kaneki

Age: 18

Currently attending Kamii University.

Social relationships: …

Recent movements: …

Ghoul Type: One-Eyed Ghoul.

A one-eyed ghoul referred to a ghoul with only one kakugan.

There were only two known ways for one to exist.

Either a human received a ghoul’s kakuhou through transplantation, or a ghoul and a human produced a child together.

Both were extraordinarily rare.

That made one-eyed ghouls exceptionally uncommon.

Kanou closed the file.

His gaze shifted toward a photograph on the desk showing him with his mother.

A faint trace of warmth appeared in his eyes.

Ever since his mother had died after becoming gravely ill, Akihiro Kanou had devoted himself to experiments involving the fusion of humans and ghouls.

He had been trying to use that research to extend the human lifespan.

Kanou had once worked for the CCG for four years as an autopsy surgeon.

However, after accidentally discovering the secret behind the Washuu family, the true power controlling the CCG, he had come to understand just how dangerous his position had become.

To preserve his own life, he found an excuse and left the organization.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Kanou pulled out his phone and answered.

“Dr. Kanou, there’s a patient’s family member here asking to see you.”

Nurse Taguchi’s voice came through the phone.

“Which patient?”

Kanou began organizing the files on his desk as he prepared to leave the laboratory.

This place was only a temporary site he used for certain experiments.

His real laboratory was located beneath another property.

The house had originally belonged to Yasuhisa Nanao, a veteran physician affiliated with the CCG.

He had later been silenced by the Washuu family.

The underground laboratory beneath his property had subsequently been abandoned by the Washuu and eventually ended up in Kanou’s hands.

“He says he’s Ken Kaneki’s older brother.”

Kanou froze.

His brows drew together slightly.

“All right. I’ll be there shortly.”

As far as he knew, Kaneki had lived alone ever since his parents died.

Since when did the boy have an older brother?

Curiosity got the better of him.

Kanou quickened his pace and made his way to the hospital lobby.

There, he finally met Ken Kaneki’s supposed “older brother.”

The man wore a black coat with both hands tucked casually into his pockets.

He was handsome, smiling, and completely at ease.

“You’re Ken Kaneki’s brother?” Kanou asked as he extended his right hand. “What should I call you?”

Ivan took the offered hand and smiled.

“Ivan Greevs.”

Kanou studied him for a moment.

“That’s certainly not a Japanese name. You’re European?”

“French. Born in Paris.”

There was a faint French accent in Ivan’s Japanese, along with the effortless confidence of someone who clearly had no intention of explaining anything further.

“I see.”

Kanou remained calm.

“Let’s speak somewhere else. This isn’t the best place for a private conversation.”

“Bien sûr. No problem.”

Out on the street, cars streamed past beneath the city lights.

Standing under a streetlamp, Kanou looked at Ivan and spoke quietly.

“Ken Kaneki doesn’t have an older brother. You’re with Aogiri Tree, and you’re looking for Rize.”

“Mostly correct.”

“Mostly?” Kanou turned his head toward him.

“I don’t remember the CCG having anyone like you.”

“I’m not with Aogiri Tree, and I don’t belong to the CCG.”

Ivan smiled.

“I’m just me. I don’t represent any organization, and no organization gets to represent me.”

“I’ll take you there.”

Kanou pulled out his car keys.

“Good.”

A black sedan parked by the roadside flashed its lights.

Kanou was a smart man, and smart men did not need to waste time talking in circles.

He was only an ordinary human, and he still had things he needed to accomplish.

He had no intention of dying here at Ivan’s hands.

After getting into the car, Kanou drove Ivan to his residence.

Only after passing through several layers of identity verification did Ivan finally see Kanou’s real laboratory.

The place was enormous and unnervingly clean.

The ceiling was nearly ten meters high, and the entire facility covered at least a thousand square meters.

Corridors branched off in every direction, while high-precision medical and research equipment could be seen almost everywhere.

“If you’re planning to rescue Rize Kamishiro, I suggest you forget about it,” Kanou said. “You have no idea how much darkness is hidden behind her.”

He pressed a switch on the wall.

The heavy metal doors slid apart.

Rize Kamishiro was revealed inside.

Her arms and legs were restrained by machinery behind her, leaving her suspended in a posture that looked uncomfortably suggestive.

Rize really had been unlucky.

All she had wanted was dinner, only to become the target of Souta Washuu-Furuta after his feelings were rejected.

He had been the one who arranged the steel-beam accident.

To make absolutely sure nothing went wrong, he had even coated the beams in Rc suppressants.

Otherwise, with Rize’s strength, a pile of falling steel would never have been enough to knock her unconscious.

Now, however, Rize was little more than a vegetable.

Her sense of self was already gone.

“No matter how great that darkness is, it cannot cover me.”

Ivan turned slightly toward Kanou, the corner of his mouth lifting.

“Since I’m here, I’m the endless darkness hanging over their heads now.”

Bang!

A black tentacle shot out from behind Ivan and punched straight through Rize’s chest.

“So you only came here to eat her.”

Kanou’s expression turned ugly.

There was even genuine pain in his face.

A specimen like Rize was far too valuable.

She could continuously regenerate kakuhou, and removing them did not kill her.

There might not be another experimental subject like her anywhere in the world.

“How fast do her kakuhou regenerate?” Ivan asked.

To Kanou’s surprise, Ivan withdrew the tentacle.

But he quickly understood what Ivan was thinking.

“As long as she receives enough nutrients, she can generate them twice a day.”

Kanou pulled a pair of rubber gloves from his pocket and put them on.

Then he stepped over to Rize and examined the wound.

As expected, the kakuhou inside her body had already been consumed.

Kanou turned back toward Ivan, his tone grave.

“Cannibalism affects the brain. If you keep doing this, eventually you’ll turn into a berserk killing machine.”

“I know.”

As expected of an S-rated ghoul’s kakuhou.

After consuming it, Ivan could clearly feel the mutation rate of the cells inside his body accelerate several times over.

What surprised him, however, was where those cells began gathering.

Two small bulges rose beneath his shoulder blades.

Then, just as quickly, they disappeared.