“Wait, what are you guys talking about?” Octane asked, scratching his head. “Ready to know what?”

“…” Lei averted his gaze, hesitant. Jim eyed him, sighed, then took it upon himself to explain.

“The fact that the bloody Emperor-level Ghosts all over the world right now are needin’ to feed on humans to recover their strength means they were in a weak state when they first arrived,” he said. “Now, we don’t know why exactly that is, considerin’ Ghosts usually spawn in completely uninjured, but I do have a few speculations.”

“… Tyranny,” Finn muttered.

Jim stopped, turning to him. “What was that, kid?”

“… It’s tyranny,” Finn reiterated. “There is a being above even the Emperor-levels — and it’s controlling them through violence.”

“Ha! Looks like I won’t have ta explain at all,” Jim chuckled, impressed.

“Jim, you…” Lei narrowed his eyes. “… That was classified information, not to be told to any Ghost Hunters below S-Rank. Do you realize what you just did?”

Jim scoffed and folded his arms, leaning against a pillar casually. “What are ya gonna do, old pal? Report me to those bastards up there who just sit on their asses writin’ papers everyday while we risk our lives out here?”

“You know why they ordered us to keep a lid on things. It was to prevent chaos from ensuin-“

In an instant, Jim dashed towards Lei’s throne and picked him up by the collar, lifting him up from his seat as everyone watched in shock.

“Chaos is going to happen anyway, whether ya like it or not,” Jim whispered to his friend, faces mere inches away from one another. “Whenever that bloody monster gets bored of hidin’ in its lil’ room… it’ll come out. Because no one even knows about itss bloody existence, they’ll be confused. Puzzled. And before they can even react… they’ll be bloody dead.”

Lei could’ve reacted to Jim’s speed, of course, but he chose not to. Instead, he merely reached up, tightened his own fist around his friend’s, and yanked it away from his collar.

“… I’m aware. But would you rather that chaos happen then… or now?”

“Now,” Jim replied, not backing down. “We drive ’em crazy with this news. Then, we reign ’em in, and train ’em. Train ’em real bloody hard, ta prepare ’em for what’s comin’ next.”

Lei, faced with this argument, sighed and closed his eyes. “… Very well.”

Sitting back down, he turned to the group of young Ghost Hunters staring in confusion at what just happened, while Jim retreated to one side of the room again.

“Just like what Jim just said… there is indeed an existence above the Emperor-level Ghosts, who appeared during the Perfect Outbreak as well,” Lei said. “Its current whereabouts are unknown, but according to the Guildmaster, its power is on a scale beyond anything we’ve seen before. To give you a little idea… it can trample this entire District in below ten steps of its feet.”

“W-Wha-?!” Octane’s eyes seized up in shock. “J-Just how big does it have to be to be able to do that…”

“Its size is not even the biggest problem,” Lei said, clenching his fists. “The problem is that… its intelligent. Unlike other Ghosts, whose actions are only stemmed from their craving for killing and food, this monster thinks like a real human would. No… its far more cunning and evil than any human.”

“So this new ‘leader’ of sorts is controlling all these Emperors, distributing one in each District… but for what?” Iris asked.

“Pretty sure it was just ta balance it out,” Jim replied, tipping his white top hat. “It had 26 Emperors to deploy, makes sense to put one in each of the 26 Districts.”

“Hm… I guess so…” Iris murmured, but still was not fully convinced.

“In any case, we can be sure the leader is scheming something, though we do not know what just yet,” Lei said. “Eventually, we will have to go up against that monster, but I think we should be safe for now. Focus on the matter at hand first — the Emperor.”

“Right,” Jim agreed. “I propose we go tomorrow morning and let ya guys take the rest of today off. I know yer all eager to go in there and take down that bloody bastard, but rest is important.”

“Sounds good to us,” Fanatic said.

“No objects here either,” Qi Ling added.

“In that case, you are dismissed,” Lei said, waving them off. “Take it easy for the rest of today.”

The group all bowed at the same time, with the exception of Finn and Iris. They then left the room, leaving only Lei and Jim behind.

“… You didn’t tell them about your ‘other’ theory,” Lei said quietly. “So much for your argument earlier.”

“Oh, shut up,” Jim muttered, folding his arms and sighing. “I’ve never wanted to be wrong this much in my bloody life. I hope to god that theory of mine ain’t right… for if it is, we’re all bloody screwed.”

“Not if we can reach that monster in time,” Lei said. “If we can get to it before the process finishes… there may still be hope. But of course, for that, you will have to tell those guys the truth in order to give them a reason to move faster.”

“… Ha. If I can confirm my theory is truly right, then I’ll tell ’em. Don’t wanna make ’em worried over nothin’. But uh…”

He trailed off, scratching his head. Lei frowned in puzzlement. “What?”

“Er… y-ya won’t actually report me to those office monkeys, will ya?”

Hearing this, Lei laughed deeply. “Worry not. I won’t. Besides… I can’t contact those people myself anyway — it will have to be Guildmaster who does it. And she seems to hold a similar opinion to yours.”

“Oho! She is quite a wise lad, I see!” Jim chuckled, rubbing his own mustache, pleased. “I would like to meet her someday.”

“She will smite you on the spot if she knew you referred to her as ‘lad’,” Lei mused.

“Yeah? But she’ll never know, aha! Right?”

But Lei merely smiled innocently, and on the contrary, Jim’s froze on his face.

“… R-Right?”