Chapter 27

"Not human?"

Seiko was completely stunned.

At this moment, Mugen suddenly lunged forward, dashing to Seiko's front and, before Seiko could react, tightly grabbed his cloak.

"Rip———!"

With a tearing sound, Seiko's cloak was directly torn open by Mugen, exposing Seiko's body to the air.

When Seiko's body was exposed to the air, everyone present drew in a sharp breath.

It was clear that Seiko's body was covered with metal plates, like inflexible bandages, wrapping around nearly a third of his body.

Moreover, Seiko's skin not only had an unusual color but also had red, vein-like patterns that extended to his heart.

Then, in Seiko's heart area, there was a glowing object.

That was Seiko's heart.

A glowing heart.

A heart identical to a Kabane's——heart.

"Kabane... Kabane!"

The surrounding people all screamed in unison.

"You...?!" Kurogane Raiki's heart tightened, and her expression was completely replaced by a murderous aura. She shouted loudly, "You, you are indeed a Kabane!"

"No... no!" Seiko took several steps back, as if betrayed by the whole world, or unwilling to accept the truth, and shouted loudly, "I am not a Kabane! I am not a Kabane!"

Unfortunately, in the face of such irrefutable evidence, no one would believe Seiko.

Kurogane Raiki no longer intended to say anything more. She aimed the steam gun in her hand directly at Seiko's heart and was about to pull the trigger.

However, just before Kurogane Raiki's gun was about to be fired, a hand suddenly reached out and pressed it down.

"When will you ever change that seemingly calm but easily irritable nature of yours?"

The person who pressed down Kurogane Raiki's steam gun was Fang Li.

"Don't rush it." Fang Li did not look at Kurogane Raiki but continued to gaze at Seiko, who was extremely shaken, and said, "Give him some time to explain."

"Explain?" Kurogane Raiki's expression did not change at all. Like Fang Li, she only stared at Seiko, her eyes cold and unyielding. "What else needs to be explained? Isn't that heart enough to prove he is a Kabane?"

"But have you ever seen a Kabane that looks so human?" Fang Li smirked and said, "Besides, someone just said he is not a Kabane, right?"

Upon hearing Fang Li's words, the first to react was not the others but Seiko himself.

Seiko turned his head and looked at Mugen, who had torn off his cloak, causing the current situation, but was yawning as if it had nothing to do with him. Seiko instinctively wanted to speak.

However, before Seiko could speak, Mugen began to explain on his own.

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

Mugen seemed to have regained some energy. His lazy eyes began to sparkle, and he glanced around at everyone.

"He... no, I should say we, we are beings that exist between humans and Kabane——Kabaneri."

Saying this, Mugen turned his back and suddenly took off the coat on his back, exposing his back to everyone.

At this moment, everyone's expressions changed.

"You..." Seiko exclaimed in shock. "You... you are the same?"

That's right.

The same.

On Mugen's slender, pale back, at the heart position, there was also a glowing heart, just like a Kabane's.

Seeing the glowing hearts of Mugen and Seiko, which were the same as a Kabane's, everyone lost their words and could no longer react.

Only Fang Li had already understood everything.

——Kabaneri.

As Mugen said, they are beings that exist between humans and Kabane.

People who are bitten by Kabane will turn into Kabane after death.

This is common knowledge in this world.

Even if they do not die after being bitten, they will gradually turn into Kabane and become monsters after the incubation period.

However, the world is never short of special cases.

When someone is bitten and infected by a Kabane but the virus does not reach the brain due to various reasons, this person will not completely turn into a Kabane but will become a being that exists between humans and Kabane.

Such beings are Kabaneri.

Kabaneri possess the physical abilities of a Kabane but retain a human heart.

The reason Mugen is so strong is largely due to this.

This girl became a Kabaneri for some reason and, after specialized training, possesses extraordinary combat power.

As for Seiko, he simply turned into this existence without even knowing about the existence of Kabaneri.

In the original plot, when Kankin Station fell, Seiko escaped from prison. To fight against the Kabane, he returned home to get a spear and fought with the Kabane, but was bitten.

In a panic, Seiko came up with the idea of welding metal plates onto his body to prevent the Kabane virus from invading his brain, and ultimately succeeded in not becoming a Kabane.

However, even though his brain was not invaded by the virus, Seiko's body still turned into a Kabane.

Thus, Seiko became a Kabaneri and a non-human existence.

Of course, Seiko successfully retained his human self and did not turn into a monster that only attacks people.

Naturally, the others, who did not know about this, could not accept it.

But at this moment, Mugen suddenly put on his coat again, turned around, and looked into the distance, saying,

"Let's talk about the rest later. The Kabane you keep talking about are already here."

Hearing this, everyone was startled and reflexively turned their heads to look in the direction Mugen was staring.

There, a black tide suddenly surged.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The terrifying roar was unprecedentedly loud, turning into a wave of sound that spread through the air.

Hundreds and thousands of Kabane, densely packed, surged like a black tide, like a herd of beasts, towards this place.

That scene made everyone's hearts tremble with fear.

"Quick!" Fang Li said without hesitation.

"Quick, get on the Iron Fortress!"

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