Chapter 128: Terms Agreed

Sikong Xu glanced at Xiao Yuqi. Seeing how completely unconcerned she looked, he relaxed as well.

It seemed the ghouls in the Antique Coffee Shop were nothing in her eyes.

The two of them entered the café, and Touka led them to a relatively secluded corner.

There were no customers in the shop at the moment, only a few employees belonging to Antique. Naturally, every one of them was a ghoul.

With such a powerful bodyguard by his side, Sikong Xu was entirely at ease. After settling onto the soft sofa, he began surveying his surroundings.

“Demon Ape, Black Dog, Crow… Hmph. So they’re all here.”

At the counter, a man and a woman were also studying Sikong Xu and Xiao Yuqi.

The man had a rather round face and a broad nose, and his hair was neatly combed in a businessman’s style. He looked exceedingly amiable.

His name was Enji Koma, a powerful SSS-rated ghoul and the leader of the Demon Ape ghoul organization.

Standing beside him was a woman with a cool, beautiful face and long black hair.

Sikong Xu was no stranger to her, either. Her name was Kaya Irimi, though she was better known as Black Dog. Like Koma, she was the leader of a ghoul organization—the Black Doberman—and another powerful SSS-rated ghoul.

From what Sikong Xu could sense, there was also someone watching him from the loft in a corner of the café. The man wore a trench coat. He was most likely Crow, reputed to be the strongest SSS-rated ghoul.

“Looks like you’re taking this rather seriously. Most of the staff are here already. But why hasn’t Ken Kaneki arrived?” Sikong Xu asked Touka, who was standing nearby.

“Who’s Ken Kaneki? There’s no one by that name in our shop.” Touka frowned, clearly unable to understand what he was talking about.

“Ah… I must have remembered incorrectly.”

Sikong Xu was embarrassed. He had not expected them not to know Ken Kaneki. Then again, if Rize Kamishiro had crossed over as well, perhaps Ken Kaneki had never had any part to play in this world.

Just then, the real host finally arrived.

Sikong Xu turned his head and saw an old man with a vigorous stride approaching him. He wore a suit, his eyes were narrowed, and a kindly smile rested on his face.

At first sight, Sikong Xu knew who he was: Kuzen Yoshimura, known as the Owl Who Does Not Kill.

The moment he saw Yoshimura, Sikong Xu immediately rose to his feet. He held a certain measure of respect for this old man from the Anteiku district.

The old man was genuinely kind. He often helped weak ghouls and refused to harm humans. Even when fighting his enemies, he would avoid injuring them whenever possible. That was how he had earned the title of the Owl Who Does Not Kill.

“I presume you’re the Sikong Xu Touka mentioned,” Yoshimura said with a smile.

“The Owl Who Does Not Kill?” Sikong Xu looked at Yoshimura and smiled.

“Touka was right. You really do know a great deal about us.” Yoshimura gestured for Sikong Xu to sit, then took the seat opposite him.

However, he cast several more glances at Xiao Yuqi, who stood silently beside Sikong Xu. The beautiful woman gave Yoshimura an inexplicable sense of danger.

He had never felt anything like it—not even when facing his strongest enemy in the past, the man known as the White Reaper, Kishou Arima.

“What do you think of this world, Mr. Yoshimura?” Sikong Xu asked, lifting the hot coffee Touka had just brought him.

A gleam entered Yoshimura’s eyes.

At first glance, he had taken Sikong Xu for an impetuous young man, brimming with confidence and incapable of settling down. Yet who could have imagined that this young man was far steadier than he appeared?

Yoshimura had expected him to get straight to the point and discuss serious matters. Instead, Sikong Xu was deliberately making small talk, evidently trying to gain the upper hand in the conversation.

In truth, Sikong Xu himself was curious about how he could remain so calm under these circumstances. After thinking it over, he could attribute it only to the powerful will forged in him by the Infinite Martial Refinement.

“To be honest, this world appears much more peaceful than ours,” Yoshimura said, taking a sip of coffee as well.

“What do you think of this world?”

“We have no particular opinion. After all, coming here was not our choice.”

Sikong Xu nodded. Most creatures that had crossed over through the rupture of a world had been dragged into it against their will. When an entire world suddenly descended upon one’s head, there was little anyone could do.

After a moment of silence, Sikong Xu smiled and spoke directly.

“Forget it. I won’t keep beating around the bush. You know that I understand you quite well, so I’m also aware of what you did in your world. Personally, that gives me considerable faith in you.”

Yoshimura nodded. He was not foolish enough to ask how Sikong Xu knew so much. He understood that some questions were better left unasked.

“I want to know your attitude—or rather, the attitude of every ghoul in the Anteiku district.” Sikong Xu’s question was crucial. He did not want a single voice of opposition to arise in the Antique Coffee Shop.

The survival of the café depended on it.

Yoshimura might be one of the strongest ghouls alive, but even he had failed to protect Antique in the original story, let alone in the real world. He was surely aware of that himself.

Judging by the mature and captivating Xiao Yuqi standing beside Sikong Xu, she alone might be more than enough to give the ghouls a terrible ordeal.

“My personal view is that we should simply refrain from infringing upon one another,” Yoshimura said. “But I’m curious—what makes you believe that humans and ghouls can coexist peacefully?”

“Nonaggression? In principle, that’s impossible unless you ghouls stop eating humans.”

“We can survive without eating living people.”

“Heh. How many corpses could possibly be provided for all of you? Besides, can you guarantee that every meal you eat consists of the dead? What about a certain voracious ghoul…”

Sikong Xu’s meaning was obvious. He did not trust ghouls—or, more precisely, he did not trust Rize Kamishiro.

“What are you implying? You don’t trust us at all? You certainly made it sound different yesterday!” Touka could not help protesting from the side.

“Don’t be so hasty. Let’s hear what your manager has to say first.” Sikong Xu smiled. Whenever he saw Touka grow angry, he could never resist teasing her.

Touka looked toward Yoshimura, only to see him shake his head at her.

“May we hear your proposal first?” he asked.

Sikong Xu nodded.

“You know about RC cells, right?”

“We ghouls prey on humans to replenish our RC cells,” Touka said.

“Then if you replenished only the RC cells without eating humans, could you survive?”

“In theory, there shouldn’t be a problem. Are you suggesting…?” Touka asked in astonishment.

“Heh. Manager Yoshimura, what do you think of this arrangement?” Sikong Xu did not answer Touka. Instead, he looked directly at Yoshimura.

Yoshimura seemed to be weighing the proposal, and the atmosphere fell silent.

After a long while, Yoshimura finally spoke.

“If you can guarantee our safety, we can give it a try.”

“No problem. I swear on my life that every ghoul in the Antique Coffee Shop who agrees to this plan will be safe!” Sikong Xu declared, thumping his chest.

“Then the Anteiku district will likewise guarantee that, from this day forward, not a single human will be hunted for food.” Yoshimura immediately made his position clear.

“In that case… I look forward to our cooperation.” Sikong Xu smiled.