He entered the Anteiku Cafe and noticed that everything was the same as it was, like the time before. He stands directly behind the bar, where an old man Yoshimura is preparing coffee. He just sat there and observed the art of coffee making without saying another word.
Apparently, Touka wasn't there, to which Lucien was a bit happy as there wouldn't be any awkward situation ahead. He knew that sooner or later, he would need to confront her on this, but he hoped to do it after he got rid of all threats here and before the Apocalypse began when his Family and the entire Wandenreich settled in the 24th Ward.
Remembering that, Lucien smiled slightly as he ordered one cup of coffee from Yoshimura and then kept observing the coffee-making. Soon his cup of coffee was done and was already before him in all its glory.
Lucien felt the wonderful aroma of freshly made coffee which made him smile and he sipped from it immediately.
"It's delicious as always, Mr. Yoshimura."
Lucien praised the coffee as he put down the cup of coffee and looked at old man Yoshimura who was currently cleaning some.
"That, what is happening to the CCG, is your job? Isn't it?"
Asked Yoshimura after he finished cleaning the cup of coffee he was currently cleaning and looked at Lucien, who was leisurely sitting before him. Lucien then nodded his head before proceeding to explain the state of things.
"You know, I need to smoke out the rats hiding in the shadows, so tomorrow, there will be no rats."
Old man Yoshimura knew that he was referring to the Washuu Clan and their lapdogs, Vasuki organization. Although Washuu Clan weren't rats, they were still hiding in the shadows. He knew that Lucien had in his plans to exterminate the entire Washuu Clan during the war between the Commission of Counter Ghoul and ghouls for the 20th Ward.
"Don't worry, my pawns are strong enough to take care of the Commission of Counter Ghoul now; even though the Aogiri Tree was weak in the past, they at least have enough strength to destroy them. What would one expect, that two of strongest Special-Class Ghoul Investigators were killed..."
Explained Lucien to him; now only a week or something around that remained till the day when the CCG would start their retaliation operation in the 20th Ward. Lucien knew this information thanks to the Arima, and thus he could wonderfully prepare.
He immediately commanded forces of the Aogiri Tree to prepare hideouts and traps around the whole 20th Ward so they could be of some use. He also got to know that commander of the operation would be Washuu Yoshitoki, so he ordered Arseahr to kill him at first and only then go to the HQ of Vasuki and slaughter them all.
"Oh yes, one more thing. Don't let that girl fight; even though she is stronger than before, this battle would be more dangerous."
Lucien said to Yoshimura as he was referring to Touka; even though she was stronger thanks to Lucien's training, she was still rather weak compared to really strong ghouls or numerical disadvantage against several high-class ghoul investigators, namely Associate Special-Class and Special-Class.
Yoshimura, hearing Lucien's words, nodded in agreement as he knew that it was too dangerous for her to fight in such, we could already say, a large-scale war that was nothing compared to some street fights and scuffles.
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Lucien then returned to this manor to resume his training and more importantly, to wait for the start of the "Final Act" as it would take some time for the CCG to coordinate everything they had in their arsenal and move their forces to the 20th Ward.
After some time he spent training, he decided to go to the 24th Ward, which now looked like a proper city, more to be precise, fortress city and went to find his new soon-to-be Sternritter Tatara, who was currently training in the martial arts that Lucien gave him.
When Tatara agreed to become one of the Sternritter, Lucien gave him a whole bunch of martial arts and a good amount of blood essences to enhance his strength as much as possible.
"Your Highness."
Said Tatara as he bowed when he saw Lucien appearing in the secluded yard, which belonged to him.
Lucien nodded and head and then waved his hand so he could relax.
"I came to inform you about your target and mission. During the battle of the 20th Ward, you will kill Washuu Yoshitoki, as he will be the commander of the whole War of the 20th Ward, based on my information. After the extermination of the Washuu Clan and Vasuki is done, we will be leaving for Blood Island immediately."
Tatara nodded in agreement and then continued training in his martial arts. They needed to start the evacuation of Blood Island so the citizens could leave for the 24th Ward and that would be for sure accompanied by a huge number of demons attacking them.
Days went as fast as the wind and soon, there was the message sent that CCG would start with the cleaning of the 20th Ward from every ghoul located in the Ward. The operation would start after two days from now, to which Lucien showed a delighted smile when he heard this news from Arima.
Soon, when the final day arrived, the whole 20th Ward was basically locked down, with every road blocked by the military or police. Apparently, the Washuu Clan, together with their subservient organization, Commission of Counter Ghoul, used much of its power, at least what remained, and were prepared to do this perfectly.
The military was blocking every road to prevent anybody from either entering the 20th Ward or escaping the Ward. Major location in the 20th Ward was already swarming with cannon soldiers of the CCG and low-rankling ghoul investigators, clothed in combat attires, which looked rather unpractical.
High-ranking ghoul investigators were already with their own squads of cannon fodder soldiers of the CCG, prepared to engage the Aogiri Tree members who appeared out of nowhere and started slaughtering the soldiers and policemen at the blockades.
This caught the CCG by surprise, as they weren't expecting huge retaliation. They were preparing to enter hideouts of small ghoul gangs to annihilate them and not to combat practically the whole Aogiri Tree, which was already on standby.
Lucien stood on the top of the roof, together with his Sternritter, Arseahr and Zelilios by his side. There was also one more person besides Arseahr and Zelilios, and that was soon-to-be Sternritter Tatara. Behind the three of them, there were more than two hundred red-cloaked people wearing weird skulls masks.
Members of the Aogiri Tree were already ready under Tatara's command.
Lucien didn't know where Eto disappeared when she gave the command to Tatara, but Lucien didn't care too much, as he knew that she was already losing he sanity; she was still pretty strong for an ordinary ghoul.
"It's starting."
Said Lucien calmly as he was clothed in his samurai-like battle attire and wearing the Hollow Mask. Truth be told, he truly enjoyed wearing this armor, as it was practical and also, he loved his Hollow Mask, as it looked intimidating and dominating.
All three Sternritter nodded, hearing his words and waited for further instructions. More to be precise, they only watched the confrontation between cannon fodders of the CCG and the Aogiri Tree, as neither side sent a strong fighter to join the fight. This was only testing of the waters.
"Tatara, bring your men there and leave non-alive. This is the last chance to slaughter as many as you can of the filthy doves and complete your mission of killing Washuu Yoshitoki. Zelilios, you have your orders, go to the HQ of the CCG and help Arima in his mission. Same to you, Arseahr; head to the HQ of Vasuki and complete your order."
All three bowed slightly; soon Arseahr and Zelilios were already nowhere to find and they disappeared to complete their own missions. Tatara then led his small army of ghouls to slaughter his way to the command center of the CCG, where his target Washuu Yoshitoki was located. Lucien was still observing the fight between his pawns and the pawns of the Washuu.
Soon, as he had enough of observing, he vanished from the roof where he was standing and went to complete his own mission, the extermination of the Washuu Clan and headed to the estate which belonged to the Washuu.
"Let the fun begin."
