Chapter 159: Qiao Qiao's Codename

Evening.
The Midnight Diner.
Qiao Qiao lifted the curtain and stepped inside.
The boss had just opened for business, and there were no customers yet.
Come to think of it, Qiao Qiao rarely ever saw any other patrons in this shop.
Yet the boss didn't seem worried about business at all.
Perhaps this was what they called being entirely at ease.
"Boss, I'll have the pork soup set meal," Qiao Qiao said.
"Alright... Qiao-san, you've brought a different young lady with you today?"
Seeing a girl in a nun's habit following right behind Qiao Qiao, the boss frowned.
"This is my colleague assisting with the new recruit assignment today, Sister Hoshino Sasa from Nerima Ward. Boss, you can call her Specter."
"Specter?"
The boss looked at Hoshino Sasa, who stood barely five feet tall with silver twin tails.
A church and nun from Nerima Ward... could she be a disciple of *that* person?
The boss couldn't help but shiver.
He stubbed out his cigarette.
"What would Sister Hoshino like to eat?"
"Just call me Specter. Do you only have the pork soup set meal here?"
Hoshino Sasa glanced at the menu on the wall.
"As long as you want to eat it, I can generally make it."
The boss replied leisurely.
"Then I'd like soba."
Hoshino Sasa answered.
Soba?
A nun, eating soba in a diner—wasn't something about this quite right?
The boss looked Hoshino Sasa up and down, but eventually gave a nod and headed into the back kitchen.
Before long, the boss brought out their dinner.
"Speaking of Nerima Ward, Hoshino... is Specter a nun at Sakuradai Church?"
Mindful of having a minor present, the boss refrained from lighting a cigarette and simply sat down at the table to ask.
"Yes, my mentor is [White Wolf], and [Meteor], [Snow Owl], and [Killer Whale] at the church are all my seniors."
"???"
Listening to Hoshino Sasa, the boss felt somewhat baffled.
How come he had never heard of any of these nicknames?
Sakuradai Church didn't seem to have that kind of tradition, did it?
Slurping up the soba with great mouthfuls that made a distinct slurping sound, Hoshino Sasa looked thoroughly satisfied.
"Qiao-san, I've decided. Your codename shall be [Doctor]."
"Am I the Doctor?"
Qiao Qiao remained completely unfazed, replying as he ate his pork soup.
He and Hoshino Sasa had easily dealt with the ghost spider.
The two of them had then conducted a thorough investigation of the scene and discovered the ghost spider's eggs.
Indeed.
Ghost spiders gathered resentment and yin energy, ultimately laying their own eggs. After a period of incubation, more ghost spiders would be born.
Normally, it was at that stage that the existence of the ghost spiders would be fully exposed, prompting a subjugation campaign by the Exorcist Association.
Qiao Qiao felt a bit modest; he had merely accelerated that process slightly.
By the time backup personnel from the Exorcist Association arrived and Qiao Qiao and Hoshino Sasa finished filing their exorcism report, it was already past five o'clock.
Therefore, Qiao Qiao decided to bring Hoshino Sasa to the Midnight Diner for a bite to eat.
After all, she was at an age where she was still growing; she couldn't possibly be left to starve.
"Speaking of which, Doctor, your method of exorcism is quite unique."
Hoshino Sasa thought of Qiao Qiao's pistol and grenades.
"Using a chainsaw for exorcism was also quite beyond my expectations."
Qiao Qiao glanced at Hoshino Sasa's briefcase.
A chainsaw?
The boss nearby pricked up his ears.
Chainsaws and nuns—was this really *that*?
The Angel of Death of Nerima Ward, the berserker nun whose very name gave evil spirits nightmares.
This young girl was her student?
The boss drew a sharp breath.
"Why does Specter use a chainsaw to exorcise spirits?"
Qiao Qiao asked again. In his view, a chainsaw was somewhat too bulky for Hoshino Sasa, and not every nun possessed the kind of physical stamina she had.
"This is the legacy passed down to me by my teacher."
She stroked the briefcase as if cherishing it dearly.
"A legacy, I see."
Qiao Qiao nodded slightly.
Still, he felt that Hoshino Sasa could actually modify it somewhat.
For instance, integrating firearms into the chainsaw and improving the grip would allow her to strike distant enemies while retaining powerful combat capabilities in close quarters.
Of course, these were merely thoughts in Qiao Qiao's head; he wasn't tactless enough to voice them directly.
"If we're talking about that, my method of exorcism is also a legacy."
Qiao Qiao took the revolver out of his backpack. The bullets had already been expended, so he could safely hand it over for Hoshino Sasa to examine.
Hoshino Sasa stared at Qiao Qiao's pistol.
One could see that the specially designed frame possessed a unique aesthetic. Unlike the pistols seen in movies, this kind of exposed mechanical construction bore a striking resemblance to a chainsaw.
Moreover, there were some unique inscriptions on the gun body, much like passages carved from the Bible.
"Doctor, is it thanks to these prayers inscribed here that your gun is able to eliminate vengeful spirits?"
Hoshino Sasa's chainsaw had biblical prayers carved all over it, which, combined with the infusion of spiritual power, gave it such formidable destructive force against anomalies.
"No—well, you could look at it that way. These are words capable of obliterating anomalies."
Qiao Qiao took back the pistol returned by Hoshino Sasa and flipped it over, revealing the text engraved upon it.
Made in Huaxia.
......
Returning home, Qiao Qiao did not let down his guard.
After completing his daily routine of infusing spiritual power into bullets, Qiao Qiao opened his computer.
Once he finished processing today's midday assignment report, he opened a new document.
Qiao Qiao had always felt that anomalies were difficult to deal with precisely because their descriptions were ambiguous.
Vengeful spirits, for example, could not be quantified, and the methods and intensities of their hauntings varied.
This was troublesome not just for ordinary people, but for exorcists as well.
Therefore, he had always dedicated himself to describing anomalies in a quantified manner.
Now, after a period of study, Qiao Qiao decided to attempt a standardized description for anomalies.
Initially, he tried using a format similar to an animal encyclopedia.
However, he later realized that such descriptions were far too generalized and lacked practical guidance for exorcists.
After chatting with Hoshino Sasa today, Qiao Qiao suddenly gained an inspiration.
That was to use the format of containment documents to describe anomalies.
First was the anomaly's item designation; specific individuals of the same category would receive independent serial numbers.
Next was the anomaly's clearance level.
Drawing upon numerous references, he divided them into five categories—not based on danger level, but according to the difficulty of containment, control, and elimination.
For instance, Suzuka was simply the safest, Safe-class.
Meanwhile, that major yokai beneath Mount Hiei, although possessing immense strength, had reinforced containment procedures in place, making it a second-tier Special-class.
And so on.
Following that came the description of containment, control, and elimination procedures targeting the specific anomaly.
Then came descriptions of the anomaly itself through text, photographs, and other media.
The final addenda would contain incidents, commissions, and other files related to the anomaly.
With this train of thought established, Qiao Qiao used Suzuka as his first subject and drafted a document.