CHAPTER 27: BETWEEN HUMANS AND CABANÉ

"Not human?" Ikoma was completely dumbfounded after he heard Mumei's words.

At that moment, Mumei suddenly dashed forward, rushing to Ikoma's face. Before Ikoma could react, she tightly grabbed his cloak.

"Tear—!"

Amidst the sound of tearing fabric, Mumei ripped apart Ikoma's cloak, exposing his body beneath it to the air.

And as Ikoma's body was exposed to the air, everyone present here collectively sucked in a cold breath.

They saw that Ikoma's body was covered in metal plates, like unyielding bandages, wrapping around nearly one-third of his body. Moreover, Ikoma's skin not only had an unusual color but it was also marked with red veined marks, spreading like blood vessels, extending towards his heart.

Then, within Ikoma's chest, there was an object emitting a glow.

That was Ikoma's heart.

A glowing heart.

An identical heart to that of a Kabane.

"Ka… Kabane!"

The surrounding crowd simultaneously screamed when they saw this scene.

"You…?!" Konochi Kurusu's expression tightened, completely replaced by a murderous aura as he exclaimed, "You, you're indeed a Kabane!"

"No… That's not true!" Ikoma's footsteps retreated incessantly and it was as if he had been betrayed by the entire world, as if he refused to accept the truth. He shouted, "I'm not a Kabane! I'm not a Kabane!"

Unfortunately, faced with the unyielding truth, no one believed Ikoma.

Konochi Kurusu no longer intended to say anything. He aimed his Steam Gun directly at Ikoma's heart, his finger poised to pull the trigger.

However, just before Konochi Kurusu could fire his gun, a hand suddenly reached out and pressed it down.

"I have to say, when will you, who appears calm but is easily agitated, change your temperament?" It was Fang Li who pressed down on Konochi Kurusu's Steam Gun as he spoke.

"Don't be hasty." Fang Li didn't look at Konochi Kurusu but continued to gaze at Ikoma, observing his shaken appearance. He said, "Give him some time to explain himself."

"Explain?" Konochi Kurusu's expression remained unchanged, just like Fang Li, both of them still fixated on Ikoma, their coldness not fading in their eyes. He said, "What else is there to explain? Doesn't that heart prove that he's a Kabane?"

"But have you ever seen a Kabane that looks so human?" Fang Li shrugged and said, "Besides, someone just vouched for him, saying he's not a Kabane, right?"

Upon hearing Fang Li's words, the first one to react was not the others, but precisely Ikoma. Ikoma turned his head and looked at Mumei, who had torn off his cloak and caused the current situation. She was there, yawning lazily as if she were an onlooker in a matter unrelated to herself.

But before Ikoma could speak, Mumei began explaining on her own.

"I've said it many times already, he's not a Kabane, but he's no longer human either."

Mumei seemed to have regained some energy. Her lazy eyes started to sparkle, and she glanced at everyone around her.

"He… No, I should say, we are something between humans and Kabane—a Kabane hybrid called Kabaneri."

Saying this, Mumei turned her back, unfastening the garment draped over her body, revealing her back to the eyes of the onlookers.

At that moment, the complexions of the crowd changed once again.

"You…" Ikoma exclaimed in shock as he spoke. "You… Are you the same as me?"

That's right.

She is the same as him.

On Mumei's slender and fair back, at the location of her heart, there was also a glowing heart.

As everyone witnessed Mumei and Ikoma both possessing glowing hearts similar to the Kabane, they were left speechless, unable to react any further.

Only Fang Li had already understood everything.

——Kabaneri.

As Mumei had stated, it was an existence that existed between humans and Kabane.

When a person is bitten by a Kabane and dies, they will transform into a Kabane. This is common knowledge in this world.

Even if they are bitten and don't die, they will gradually transform into a Kabane after a certain period, becoming monsters.

However, the world never lacks special cases and exceptions.

When a person is infected by a Kabane bite but, for various reasons, the virus fails to reach their brain, they will not fully transform into a Kabane. Instead, they become an existence between humans and Kabane.

This kind of existence is called a Kabaneri.

Kabaneri possesses the physical abilities of the Kabane but retains their human hearts.

The reason why Mumei is so powerful is mainly due to this.

For some reason, this young girl became a Kabaneri and, after undergoing special training, gained exceptionally strong combat abilities.

On the other hand, Ikoma had only become this kind of existence without even knowing about Kabaneri.

In the original plot, when Aragane Station fell, Ikoma escaped from prison and returned home to retrieve the Tsuranuki Zutsu to fight against the Kabane but ended up getting bitten.

In his desperate situation, Ikoma came up with a plan to attach metal plates to his body, preventing the Kabane virus from invading his brain. In the end, he succeeded and didn't turn into a Kabane.

However, even though the virus didn't invade his brain, Ikoma's body still transformed into a Kabane.

Thus, Ikoma became a Kabaneri and someone who couldn't be called a human.

Of course, Ikoma successfully preserved his human self and didn't become a monster that only attacks humans.

The rest of the people, who were unaware of this, naturally couldn't accept it. But at this moment, Mumei suddenly put on her coat again, turned around, and looked into the distance, saying a line.

"Let's wait a moment to discuss what happens next. The Kabane that you've been talking about so much has already arrived."

Upon hearing this, everyone was startled and they reflexively turned their heads and looked in the direction Mumei was gazing.

There, a tide of black suddenly surged toward this location.

"AaahAaahAaahAaahAaahAaah————————!"

An unprecedentedly enormous and terrifying roar turned into a sound wave, spreading through the air.

Countless Kabane densely packed together, like a black tide, surged toward them like a galloping herd of beasts.

This scene made everyone's hearts tremble and filled them with fear.

"Hurry!" Fang Li immediately spoke without hesitation.

"Get on the Hayajiro Train quickly!"