Chapter 197 ⥤ Your Majesty, Another Problem Has Arisen
Rejoice throughout the land, Las Noches welcomes another fierce warrior.
After Szayelaporro's deception and silver-tongued persuasion, Starrk actually joined his laboratory team.
However, he had one condition — to leave Lilynette alone.
Szayelaporro happily agreed. After all, they were one entity; researching one was equivalent to researching both. Besides, Starrk's Reiatsu and other aspects made him more valuable for research than Lilynette.
Actually, upon seeing the atmosphere of Las Noches, Starrk had already decided to join. Although he had Lilynette's companionship, wandering Hueco Mundo as a pair still felt somewhat lonely.
But this place was different. Coming to Las Noches felt like coming home. Being here felt much better than wandering outside, where only he and his companion roamed Hueco Mundo.
In contrast, Las Noches was full of talented individuals with pleasant conversation. Not only did he like it here, but even Lilynette enjoyed this place.
The only thing that annoyed the Hollow was that Akira Kisaragi, as the God-King of Hueco Mundo, had none of the airs a King should have and challenged him every few days. The frequency almost matched that of Grimmjow.
Starrk had absolutely no fighting spirit, but Lilynette still harbored resentment over their defeats. Whenever Akira appeared, without needing to be prompted, she would draw her sword and charge forward with a battle cry. This forced Starrk to fight as well.
As time passed and battles accumulated, under Akira's guidance, his combat experience grew daily, and he even developed many new techniques.
⤫ Bendición de Ametralladora Sagrada ⥤ Holy Machine Gun Blessing! ⤬
⤫ Rondas de Artillería Infernal de Justicia ⥤ Infernal Artillery Rounds of Justice! ⤬
⤫ Mil Balas Justas ⥤ One Thousand Righteous Bullets! ⤬
⤫ Protocolo de Misericordia Divina ⥤ Divine Mercy Protocol! ⤬
⤫ Juicio Explosivo de la Ira Celestial ⥤ Heavenly Wrath Explosive Judgment! ⤬
⤫ Salvación de Disparo Único ⥤ Single Shot Salvation! ⤬
Under someone's guidance, Starrk and Lilynette's overall style became increasingly eccentric. Occasionally coming up with their own ingenious ideas, they could even beat Akira until he couldn't lift his head.
After all, even though this Shinigami prided himself on having a mind comparable to divine beings, he never imagined Starrk could turn Cero into trigger-activated bombs. The firepower was too ferocious.
One day, on the endless desert north of Las Noches, countless brilliant Ceros transformed into fireworks, decorating the night sky. The dazzling scene nearly blinded Grimmjow, who was watching from below.
"Is this all you've got, sir?" Akira activated his "Shunkō: Yōso Gōsei", boundless chains surrounding his right arm, directly withstanding Starrk's suppressive fire, and launched a downward knight's kick that sent him flying.
He also snatched Lilynette in the process.
"Hey, put me down, you jerk!" A flintlock pistol in Akira's hand started shouting, as if suffering some great humiliation.
After days of interaction, Lilynette had figured out this guy's temperament. Seemingly ferocious and violent like a demon, he actually had a good temper. Occasional small jokes wouldn't be taken to heart by him; he would even join in, enjoying himself.
In his words, enjoying something alone isn't as good as enjoying it together; true happiness is when everyone is happy.
"By the way, what's the principle behind your attack? Is it splitting your soul and injecting it into the gun barrel? Or is there another release method?" Akira curiously played with the pistol in his hand, asking with puzzlement.
"Three methods." Lilynette replied irritably, "Inject Reiatsu, concentrate Reishi from the air, and inject split soul fragments. The last method is something I figured out when splitting Starrk, a unique ability that other Hollows don't have."
Hearing this, Akira tilted his head with a puzzled expression, "You split Starrk?! Wasn't it him who split you off? I always thought he was the main body."
Starrk flew back from the horizon, using high-speed regeneration to heal his collapsed chest cavity, and complained, "Strictly speaking, we're currently in a symbiotic relationship, with no distinction between main and split bodies. But before the split, Lilynette's consciousness was always the dominant one."
After his simple explanation, Akira roughly understood what had happened.
To summarize, when Lilynette split her soul, she also split most of her Reiatsu to prevent the newly born companion from having their soul eroded due to leaking Reiatsu.
Their personalities could be described as opposite sides of the same coin. Starrk was lazy, Lilynette was energetic.
"I understand now." Akira raised the pistol in his hand and said, "Speaking of which, since I can't split my own soul, can I just inject Reiatsu into it to fire bullets?"
Starrk scratched his head, "It's not that easy. There's a huge difference in Reiatsu between Hollows, and the Reiatsu of Shinigami is even more vastly different from that of Hollows. Unless the souls are part of the same entity..."
Before he could finish speaking, brilliant light erupted from the gun's muzzle, a handful of sparks blossoming radiantly. The next moment, an extremely violent beam shot out from the barrel, instantly tearing through the sky and forcefully parting the thick cloud layers.
The beam landed at the horizon, and in an instant, torrents swept through. Surging heat waves and flames soared skyward. Intense light appeared, and earth-shaking roars burst forth unrestrained!
Howling winds swept in, nearly blowing away Grimmjow, who was prostrate on the ground watching! He stared wide-eyed, incredulously looking at the magnificent scene in the distance.
Starrk also had a dumbfounded expression, unable to believe what was happening before his eyes.
What was this? Could it be that the soul entity split back then wasn't just one, but two?
Was this God-King of Hueco Mundo, His Majesty, his half-brother from different parents?
Looking at this exaggerated scene, Akira nodded with satisfaction. Although he didn't understand exactly what had happened, facts proved that genius never goes out of style.
"Starrk, this thing is much better than a Zanpakutō." He gestured to the middle-aged man beside him, "If you don't mind, could I borrow it for a couple of days?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a pair of large hands suddenly reached out, unceremoniously snatching back the pair of pistols.
"Impossible, don't even think about it!" Starrk tucked the pistols into his chest, righteously refusing, "Lilynette is my beloved friend and sibling!"
"I get it, I get it." Akira wore an understanding expression, "You want more money, right? From today on, you'll be Las Noches' public face. Apart from me and Aizen, no one else can order you around."
"That's more like it." Starrk, satisfied, handed out the pistol.
But just as his hand was halfway extended, the pistol suddenly broke free from his grasp, then without warning crashed into Starrk's head.
"You bastard Starrk, you're selling me out for just these few benefits?!"
Starrk immediately defended himself, "When under someone's roof, one must bow their head. Someone has to make sacrifices for the other to have it better. Besides, my power is your power; there's no need to make such clear distinctions!"
Lilynette reverted from her pistol form, drew a curved blade longer than her own height, and swung it straight at his head.
"Idiot, why don't you transform into a gun for this guy to play with?!"
Soon, the two were grappling with each other, fighting fiercely.
Meanwhile, Akira looked at his own hands, lost in thought.
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Las Noches. Laboratory.
Akira described the previous events to Szayelaporro in detail, immediately plunging the Hueco Mundo sage into deep thought.
This situation was somewhat outlandish. It was as if he himself had performed Resurrección, then handed a tentacle to Akira, who somehow actually used the ability to create doll replicas. Or as if Akira picked up Baraggan's death axe and unleashed the power of decay that annihilates everything.
"Your Majesty, I believe it's necessary to conduct a thorough examination on you." After careful consideration, Szayelaporro risked asking, "Regarding your racial classification, I feel it remains open to debate."
"What do you mean?"
"That you might not be a Shinigami, but a type of Hollow. Like Starrk, for instance, a self-made Arrancar Vasto Lorde."
Akira: "?"
Previously, when Aizen detected abilities in him similar to those of a Quincy, that was already outrageous enough. Now Szayelaporro had begun to doubt whether he was even a human soul.
Are all researchers blessed with such vivid imaginations?
After casually drawing some blood for Szayelaporro to research, Akira turned and left the laboratory. It had been many days since he'd seen Baraggan, and he strangely missed calling that old one by different names of skeletons.
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In a small, confined room under dim, quiet lighting.
A figure so emaciated it had no skin curled up on the throne, soul fire flickering gently in its hollow eye sockets, as if breathing.
Seeing this, Akira frowned slightly and approached silently. He leaned in to peek.
[The Yin of the Pine Needle]
A work similar to prose, its text exuding a faint air of elegance. Though he had never read this piece before, Akira immediately recognized the author.
"Tch, reeks of Sōsuke's pretentiousness."
Baraggan slowly came back to awareness, looking at him with slight surprise, and asked curiously.
"Is Lord Aizen the author of this work?"
"One hundred and twenty percent." Akira grinned, "What, is it poorly written? Be bold and share your assessment, so I can mock him about it."
Baraggan shook his head, "No, it's very well written. I've read through three thousand issues of 'Seireitei Communication', and excellent works like 'The Yin of the Pine Needle' are rare. Lord Aizen truly is a man of many talents."
Hearing this, Akira stared at the old skeleton with an expression of disbelief.
It was hard to imagine that, as Baraggan spoke these words, Akira could detect wisdom in that skull face — not in a derogatory sense, but in the literal meaning.
Originally, as the former God-King of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan's personality was extremely arrogant and dismissive of others, always acting as if he was second only to the heavens themselves. But after being influenced by books during this period, his temperament had actually become more reserved.
The mighty King of Hueco Mundo, transformed into Las Noches' sage?!
Seen that way, should he also read more books?
Akira fell into contemplation.
"By the way, Your Majesty…" Baraggan now addressed him as "Your Majesty" without any psychological burden, "When you next visit Las Noches, please bring the last few months' issues of 'Seireitei Communication'. And while you're at it, could you tell me the address of Eighth Division Captain Shunsui Kyōraku? I have a gift I'd like to deliver to him in person..."
Akira: "..."
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Seireitei, 11th Division.
As soon as Akira returned home, before he could enjoy the adulation of his subordinates, he saw a dejected face.
"Kisuke, what brings you here? And why do you look half dead?"
Kisuke looked up at him listlessly and sighed heavily.
Why am I like this? Don't you have any self-awareness?
Which Captain never handles official duties and dumps everything on their Lieutenant? Even Captain Kyōraku, famous for slacking off, occasionally helps his Lieutenant with work.
You're the ultimate hands-off boss, disappearing every few days. Those who know have come to accept it as normal, while those who don't might think you've heroically sacrificed yourself in the line of duty somewhere.
"Lord Magistrate, there's a document that needs your approval." As Kisuke sighed, he had already taken out the document from his robe and explained, "Do you remember former Fourth Seat Tetsuzaemon Iba? For certain reasons, he wants to transfer to the Seventh Division as a Seated Officer."
Akira frowned, puzzled, "Why? Have I treated him poorly?"
Kisuke shook his head, "He feels the pressure is too great, and staying in the combat-oriented Eleventh Division leaves him with no hope for promotion, so he's requesting a transfer. In his own words, he chose to become a Shinigami to stop his mother from worrying about him, but now not only can't he become a Lieutenant, his seated rank keeps dropping."
Akira nodded, not taking it to heart. Everyone has their own aspirations; there's no need to keep everyone tied to his side.
And from what he knew, Tetsuzaemon got along well with others, so making such a decision must have been painful for him too. Perhaps in the near future, after Jin'emon Kotsubaki retires, he could take up the mantle of the Seventh Division and become Captain.
He casually approved the transfer request. For transfers of Seated Officers like this, agreement from both Captains was sufficient; there was no need to go through the 1st Division for approval.
Just as the two were chatting, Mayuri rushed in from outside with an anxious expression, taking two steps at a time to reach them.
"Captain, something terrible has happened."
Akira frowned, "Such panic, what kind of example are you setting? Is my Eleventh Division full of mindless brutes?"
Kisuke: "..."
Are they or aren't they? Don't you have any self-awareness?
Mayuri's mouth twitched, but he didn't dwell on this and instead said seriously, "Just now, when Third Seat Aizen and I were returning from a mission in the Rukongai, we encountered several strange-looking individuals with equally strange Reiatsu. They didn't say a word and attacked immediately. Caught off guard, I was instantly repelled, while Third Seat Aizen was abducted by that group."
Akira: "?"
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