:re Chapter 128

A crowd of hooded ghouls assembles to witness Ken Kaneki's return to the 24th ward, Shuu Tsukiyama and Kou among them. From pipes lining the walls, ghouls rain down quinques of every shape, and Kaneki tells the gathering that thousands of investigators have been disarmed, urging them to bear their present suffering as a passing trial and vowing never to lose until they can live freely above ground. The assembled ghouls cheer their One-Eyed King as Kou looks up at him.

Afterward, Tsukiyama waits as Kaneki showers and lays out the grim reality: the ward's ghouls verge on starvation, and the CCG, holding firm above, intends to press underground next. Tsukiyama argues the CCG must be stopped, meaning killed, but Kaneki counters that killing would only rekindle the cycle of fear and hatred, insisting Goat must take no human life. He asks Tsukiyama to remain with him to the end, and when asked why he is so devoted to the ghouls' future, Kaneki gives no answer as the ring on his neck sways.

Among the scrap heaps, Touka tends the orphans from Aogiri Tree when Nishiki Nishio arrives with food and describes how dire matters have grown, with the CCG exterminating ghouls so thoroughly that they can no longer collect the bodies of suicide victims for sustenance. Talk turns to Ayato, who is probing deep into the ward where a legendary one-eyed ghoul is said to dwell. When a child mistakes that ghoul for Kaneki, Nishiki recounts an old story of a ghoul hero who once led the CCG to ruin, commanding surface ghouls and slaughtering investigators while humanity lay weakened by war, until a new CCG technique drove the ghouls back underground to wait. Nishiki leaves Touka a package she requested, and she settles in to read to the children.

At CCG headquarters, Juuzou Suzuya and Hanbee Abara discuss how Kichimura's policies may finally end humanity's long war against ghoulkind. Hanbee reminds the injury-prone Suzuya that he is only human and should not overexert himself, though Suzuya claims to feel no pain and jokes he will turn ghoul once the fighting stops. After he departs, Keijin Nakarai joins Hanbee and suggests a leaner policy budget could fund treatment for the wounded, noting Suzuya longs for Yukinori Shinohara's recovery more than ever, and wondering what Suzuya would fight for if he knew the truth. In Kichimura's office, the Clowns gather as Itori reports Goat's whereabouts; Uta muses that the ghouls may lose, which she sees as a spectacle worth watching. Kichimura credits his gains to unleashing the Washuu Clan's full power and unveils the concept of a final adversary, a last boss for Kaneki, which he names Dragon in honor of his lineage. Deep in the ward, Ayato's companions urge retreat, but they follow him toward a breeze and, at the sight of a vast city, Ayato drops to his knees.

Kaneki returns to the 24th ward as the One-Eyed King and forbids Goat from killing humans. Nishiki recounts the legend of an earlier one-eyed ghoul who fought the CCG. Suzuya and Hanbee weigh the coming end of the ghoul war. Kichimura reveals a new ultimate enemy named Dragon. Ayato discovers a massive hidden city deep underground.

Meal, titled Zen in Japanese, is the one hundred twenty-eighth chapter of Tokyo Ghoul:re. It was published in issue 2017-29 on June 15, 2017, within volume twelve, between chapters 127 and 129.