Bleach [64-67] (Patreon)

Chapter 64: Suppressing Baraggan

Yoshio felt a bit flustered, but not entirely so—he even felt a little like laughing.

"Alright... I'll leave my 'Thousand-Year Blood War' in the hands of Captain Aizen to complete."

Yoshio shrugged.

He actually understood what Aizen was thinking.

He had previously interrupted the battle between Hollow White and Starrk, and Aizen wanted to give him a little punishment.

Yoshio wanted to go to Soul Society to 'observe,' but he didn't want to come to Hueco Mundo, so Aizen arranged for him to go to Hueco Mundo.

However, what Aizen didn't know was that after meeting Starrk, Yoshio had already defected to the Hueco Mundo side.

He wasn't familiar with the Shinigami of Soul Society; Hueco Mundo was better.

"Aren't you already on a monthly schedule? This is a good opportunity to brainstorm in Las Noches."

Aizen said with a smile: "I'm looking forward to your masterpiece."

"Especially some of the settings in 'Thousand-Year Blood War'—I'm quite interested in them."

Last year, Yoshio had switched from weekly updates to monthly, with three updates a day followed by a rest, plus holidays.

There was no helping it; Yoshio had to figure out a way to incorporate the later plot into the Shinigami worldview himself.

Moreover...

He had indeed fallen into the late stages of laziness syndrome.

"Captain Aizen, you're not talking about 'Pluton,' are you?" Yoshio said, "That thing was something I just made up; it doesn't have any deep meaning."

Currently, it had been updated to the 'Desert Kingdom Arc,' which mentioned the ancient weapon Pluton, but he had no intention of incorporating it into the Shinigami world setting.

He didn't know what Aizen was imagining.

Aizen said nothing, just opened a Garganta and left Las Noches.

Suddenly, Las Noches was left with only Yoshio, a single Shinigami.

Suddenly realizing he was alone, Yoshio shrugged and said with a smile: "Ha, although I came with them, don't blame me for what they did to you. If you want revenge, go find that guy with the glasses."

"Shinigami...!" Baraggan seemed to react only at this moment, his heart filled with extreme anxiety and uncontrollable rage. He had dominated Hueco Mundo for tens of thousands of years, but this time, he had been mercilessly humiliated by a Shinigami.

His subordinates had been killed right in front of him, and he had been forced to acknowledge a Shinigami as king—this was an immense humiliation for him.

The glasses-wearing Shinigami had left, but he had left behind a companion.

Baraggan looked at Yoshio, a strange light flickering in his black eye sockets.

"Need any help?"

Starrk glanced at Yoshio and asked indifferently.

He had sensed an unfathomable power from Aizen, which was why he agreed to join.

As for Yoshio, although he had blocked his and Hollow White's attacks earlier, Starrk hadn't sensed much strong spiritual pressure from him.

Moreover, he hadn't used his full power at the time.

Now, facing the King of Hueco Mundo, Yoshio probably couldn't handle it.

"Although I'd like to accept, if I did, Captain Aizen would be disappointed in me, right? After all, he left me here to manage this guy."

Yoshio drew his Zanpakuto.

At that moment, Baraggan also roared, "Despicable Shinigami, how dare you...!"

"Let's just call it even, 'King of Hueco Mundo.'"

Yoshio said coldly, and in the next moment, his body changed.

From his original appearance, he transformed into Aizen's form!

?!

This sudden change stunned everyone who saw it, as if Aizen had instantly replaced Yoshio.

Even Hollow White emitted an uneasy aura, seemingly guessing where Yoshio had gone.

At this point, Yoshio had activated ["Appearance Mimicry."] The ability of ["Appearance Mimicry"] was similar to that of the Sternritter's "Y."

He could not only change into the opponent's appearance but also mimic their spiritual pressure and abilities.

Of course, he couldn't directly obtain Aizen's power, but at this moment, Yoshio only needed his Kyōka Suigetsu.

Because Aizen had already completed the hypnosis on Baraggan earlier, Yoshio could directly apply the hypnosis Aizen had set up.

So, when Baraggan madly attacked him, Yoshio directly distorted his sense of direction, causing his breath of death to spread to Yoshio's left side.

"Special Beam Cannon."

Yoshio pointed his finger, and in the next moment, a black beam about half an arm thick was released from his fingertip.

In an instant, it pierced through Baraggan's body!

"What?!"

Baraggan couldn't believe it; he clutched his chest with one hand, staring fixedly at "Yoshio."

"How is this possible? My power is absolute; no attack can withstand my aging!"

He roared: "What did you do?!"

"You extended your hand, aimed at your own chest, and then your self-proclaimed invincible breath of death was pierced by me—that's all."

Yoshio canceled Kyōka Suigetsu. At that moment, Baraggan finally saw Yoshio's true position. He had already reverted to his original appearance, his words carrying a hint of pity.

Special Beam Cannon had a characteristic: it ignored defenses and penetrated. This ability was quite powerful; otherwise, Yoshio wouldn't have gone to such lengths to increase Tanimoto Toru's favorability to make it his second permanently acquired ability.

"Alright, there's no need for us to keep fighting."

Yoshio said somewhat helplessly: "Don't casually vent your hatred for Captain Aizen on all Shinigami. As the King of Hueco Mundo, you should at least show some magnanimity."

Don't make him look too relaxed; activating [Appearance Mimicry] was actually very stressful.

The main reason was that Aizen's spiritual pressure was too strong, while his own was too weak, so mimicking Aizen's power was a huge burden for him.

So, if he could avoid fighting Baraggan, he absolutely would. Two ordinary workers—why fight? If Baraggan wanted to fight the boss, let him; he was just a small employee, don't get him involved.

"Let's stop here."

Starrk said at this point, "Taking out your anger on a subordinate because you can't beat the leader is already embarrassing enough."

"As the 'King of Hueco Mundo,' at least act magnanimous in front of a 'Shinigami.'"

"Who are you?" Baraggan said coldly.

"Coyote Starrk," Starrk said indifferently.

"A Hollow who acts like a dog in front of Shinigami?"

"Say whatever you want." Starrk looked around and said: "Is there a place to rest? Please arrange a room for me."

"Count me in too."

Yoshio raised his hand and said: "I'm not interested in the 'King of Hueco Mundo' position; go compete with Captain Aizen. Arrange a room for me and Hollow White, right next to Starrk's."

Chapter 65: Perfect Life - Szayelaporro

From then on, Yoshio lived in Las Noches.

No matter what Baraggan thought in his heart, he didn't make things difficult for Yoshio afterward.

He even didn't interact much with Yoshio.

Special Beam Cannon was indeed very powerful, able to break through defenses.

But this ability also had a drawback.

Because the attack was too fierce, aside from the wound, it didn't cause any other damage.

This was similar to Lille Barro's 'X-Axis'; his attacks could pierce through anything, but if they didn't hit a vital spot, the destructive power wasn't very strong.

Precisely because the attack was too sharp, the body tissues outside the penetration area were completely unharmed.

So, for Hollows, especially at this stage, this wasn't a serious injury.

Because Hollows possessed 'Super High-Speed Regeneration' ability.

After becoming Arrancar, Hollows would become more powerful, but they would also give up the Super High-Speed Regeneration ability; only a very few Hollows could retain it.

However, currently, aside from Starrk, the other Hollows hadn't become Arrancar yet, and Baraggan was among them, so he had long recovered from the damage caused by that Special Beam Cannon.

He avoided Yoshio simply because he didn't want to face a Shinigami; after all, Shinigami had taken away his power and status as King of Hueco Mundo.

Yoshio was happy about it; he had no interest in fighting an old guy like Baraggan. It was better to spend his time increasing Starrk's favorability.

Starrk and Lilynette's favorability was indeed easier to increase; Yoshio just lived as their neighbor for a while, and the favorability rose noticeably.

During this time, Yoshio also basically figured out the structure of Las Noches.

Although they rarely showed themselves, the Hollows in Las Noches all knew that the master of Las Noches had changed.

That master wasn't here now, but his envoy had stayed behind.

Therefore, after living in Las Noches for about a month, another Vasto Lorde in Las Noches finally came to see him, the envoy.

"Pleased to meet you, Shinigami from Seireitei."

Appearing before him was a pink-haired Menos Grande with tentacle-like things on its back, and since it was in human form, it indicated its level had reached upper Menos Grande, that is...

Vasto Lorde!

Yoshio sat at the table, gently sipping a cup of black tea.

After hanging out with Aizen, he found himself liking black tea too, sometimes even thinking it was more interesting than drinking alcohol.

When drinking tea, he felt like he became more elegant.

Now, facing this Vasto Lorde, he felt the same—he must look very much like a big shot at this moment.

"You've finally come to see me."

Yoshio said in a tone implying "I've been waiting for you": "I thought you'd come even later."

Szayelaporro smiled, then looked around and said: "What? Where's that strange Menos Grande by your side? He's not here?"

"You mean Hollow White," Yoshio said indifferently, "He's out hunting.

I don't know if he's still in Hueco Mundo or in the Human World; anyway, he's not interested in ordinary Hollows."

"I see, it's a shame I haven't met him." Szayelaporro added after saying that: "What about your captain? I heard from Baraggan that he once said he would grant us a higher realm and new power."

"This..." Yoshio thought for a moment and said: "He can indeed do that, but it depends on when he remembers you, right?"

"Oh?" Szayelaporro's gaze grew a bit colder: "If he doesn't care about us, then why did he come here?"

"No, no, you've misunderstood." Yoshio said softly, "Captain Aizen doesn't not care about you; it's just..."

"He doesn't care about anyone."

"Helping you step into a higher realm is no different to him than what tea he'll drink tomorrow."

However, I like one thing about Captain Aizen: he keeps his word. So, he will definitely help you complete the 'Arrancar' transformation.

"Like Starrk?" Szayelaporro said, "Interesting, a Hollow breaking its mask and gaining a Zanpakuto—doesn't that make it just like a Shinigami?"

Szayelaporro and Starrk had met before; after all, they were both Hollows, and Hollows had a common language.

"So, if you want to suppress your beast-like instincts and achieve the 'perfect life' you pursue, you can also do it through the 'Arrancar' method."

Yoshio's lips curved slightly upward, "How about it? I can help you."

He looked at Szayelaporro's Souls Ability, ["Perfect Life."]

["Perfect Life: The ability to regenerate after death, and after regeneration, gain resistance to the ability that caused the previous death."]

This ability...

He really wanted it!

So, Yoshio absolutely couldn't let Szayelaporro repeat the same mistakes!

If Szayelaporro followed his original path, he would split like Starrk, and after splitting, his Souls Ability would change!

He could split, but only after Yoshio permanently obtained the ['Perfect Life'] ability!

No matter the cost, Yoshio had to get Szayelaporro's Souls Ability!

He wanted to increase Szayelaporro's favorability!

Who wouldn't want the ability to resurrect after death?!

At this moment, Szayelaporro was stunned, because he never imagined that Yoshio knew his secret!

The thing about wanting to achieve a perfect life...

How did Yoshio know?!

This shouldn't be!

He had never told anyone!

Szayelaporro narrowed his eyes, looking at Yoshio, suddenly feeling that this person might not just be the spokesperson for the mysterious Aizen.

He said softly: "Help me? How will you help me?"

"I have my ways, of course." Yoshio said slowly, "But... I also need you to do me a favor."

"What favor?"

"Among your subordinates, there's one called Roka Paramia, right? Hand her over to me, and I'll grant you a higher realm."

Yoshio slowly stood up. Although his spiritual pressure was clearly far inferior to Szayelaporro's, at this moment, for some reason, Szayelaporro felt an unknown oppressive force from him?!

"Roka Paramia? Just her?" Szayelaporro asked.

Roka Paramia was indeed his subordinate, and one he had spent nearly two hundred years modifying.

Although she still had some utilitarian value now, compared to becoming a perfect life form, what was a mere Roka Paramia?

Chapter 66: Exchanging Loly

Actually, Yoshio didn't need anything; he just needed Szayelaporro's favorability.

But he still had to request something.

This was to put Szayelaporro at ease.

People like him wouldn't believe in gifts; he only believed in giving and receiving, in transactions.

Communicating with these heartless Hollows was indeed exhausting; their way of thinking was completely different from Shinigami and humans, belonging to a very biased and extreme type of creature.

Yoshio originally thought he could easily get Starrk's favorability above eighty, because Starrk was someone who desperately wanted friends.

But after actual contact, he realized that although the favorability did increase relatively quickly, it was far from the speed he imagined.

Moreover, just like with Kyōraku Shunsui, the higher the favorability, the slower it increased.

Yoshio guessed this might be because Starrk had lost many 'companions' in the past; those friends had all been killed by his overwhelmingly strong spiritual pressure.

So, in his heart, he longed for friends while fearing the loss of the next one.

This contradictory psychology was already one of the better ones among Hollows.

According to Aizen's later classification of the Espada based on 'aspects of death,' Starrk's aspect of death was solitude.

And Starrk was already trying to fight against solitude; perhaps it was this behavior that made Starrk the most special Hollow, one who autonomously achieved resurrection.

Like the other Espada, they perfectly embodied their respective aspects of death.

Baraggan pursued aging, Harribel revered sacrifice, Nnoitra indulged in despair, Grimmjow was obsessed with destruction...

Thus, Starrk, who sought friends and didn't enjoy solitude, autonomously achieved resurrection, while Ulquiorra, who sought to escape the void through spirit, achieved Segunda Etapa...

And if even Starrk was this awkward, let alone the other Hollows.

Winning the favor of Hollows was a long and arduous journey.

If Szayelaporro and Starrk's soul abilities weren't so attractive, Yoshio wouldn't bother playing house with these Hollows.

"How about it? Decided?"

Yoshio looked at Szayelaporro and said.

"..." Szayelaporro showed an exaggerated smile and said: "You're quite interesting."

"That Roka Paramia, although she's still somewhat useful to me, compared to a perfect life, she's nothing."

"But I'm curious—how exactly do you know about me? Did you investigate me before?"

"I've always thought I wasn't the type to show off; I usually just quietly do research in Baraggan's shadow."

Szayelaporro's strength was definitely not weaker than Baraggan's, perhaps even stronger, but he was willing to be Baraggan's scientist subordinate, which was unbelievable for a Hollow.

Because Hollows followed the law of the jungle: the strong devour the weak, and it's already good if strong ones don't fight each other, let alone a strong one becoming another's subordinate.

So, Szayelaporro was curious how Yoshio had discovered him.

Even when occasionally attacking Soul Society, he always sent experimental subjects or subordinates; his true self had never been discovered.

"Brilliantly..."

Yoshio paused, then placed his finger on his lips and said softly: "That's a secret."

A trace of killing intent emanated from Szayelaporro, but it quickly vanished.

"Forget it, I don't really care about that anyway."

He turned and said: "You want Roka Paramia, right? Then come with me."

"It's not that I want Roka Paramia; it's that you want a perfect life, so you have to give up Roka Paramia. Don't reverse the order." Yoshio followed Szayelaporro out.

He knew this person had a pathological obsession with the concept of a perfect life.

And now that he said Roka Paramia was still useful, it proved he hadn't completed the 'Gabriel' yet, making things much simpler.

Roka Paramia was one of Szayelaporro's experimental subjects, originally an Adjuchas Menos Grande. Szayelaporro, having witnessed the battle between the Eleventh Division's seventh-generation Kenpachi Kuruyashiki and the eighth-generation Kenpachi Sōya Azashiro, became interested in Azashiro's abilities and began modifying Roka Paramia.

Roka Paramia possessed an ability called "Telaraña." This ability allowed her to release invisible "threads" that invaded an object's interior, analyzed its components and information, and then retracted them into her body.

Through analyzing the object, she could use Telaraña to reweave and create it, replicating the item.

Szayelaporro's initial idea was to have Roka Paramia create backups of himself, so that after Szayelaporro died, Roka Paramia could recreate him.

But this creation wasn't true resurrection, because what she created was just another individual with the original memories.

Therefore, "Szayelaporro" considered it imperfect, and once he completed Gabriel, "Roka Paramia" would naturally become useless.

However, for scientists like him, they often overlooked that byproducts could sometimes have greater uses.

Roka Paramia's ability was still very powerful, able to extract information from all things and then replicate them—it was practically a divine skill.

Yoshio couldn't say he completely ignored this ability; this was a perfect opportunity to exchange for Roka Paramia. This way, not only could he put Szayelaporro at ease, but Yoshio could also gain a capable subordinate.

So, he followed Szayelaporro all the way to his laboratory in Las Noches.

Yoshio was very confident; he had many trump cards, and even if Szayelaporro wanted to harm him, he was confident he could escape.

So, he boldly came to visit.

"You should feel honored." Szayelaporro said proudly, "My laboratory—even Baraggan can't enter without permission."

Clearly, "Szayelaporro" didn't respect "Baraggan," the former "King of Hueco Mundo," especially now that he was no longer the "King of Hueco Mundo."

"From a sensory perspective..."

Yoshio toured the laboratory and gave a brief evaluation.

"This is pretty crude."

"What did you say?" Szayelaporro was a bit annoyed. Being called weak was acceptable, but being criticized on his technique was not.

"Do you want me to help you revise it?" Yoshio said slowly, "And by the way, revise the erroneous thinking in your mind caused by the Hollow's corrupting factors."

"Shinigami!" Szayelaporro instantly turned around, looking at Yoshio behind him, a flash of madness in his eyes.

"Don't think that just because you're Aizen's envoy, you can speak to me so arrogantly!"

Chapter 67: The So-Called Perfection

"Are you talking nonsense?"

Faced with Szayelaporro's question, Yoshio's expression remained unchanged. He walked to an instrument, touched it with his hand, and then sat down.

"If I were you, I wouldn't speak like that to someone who can help you become a perfect being in this way."

Yoshio believed that Szayelaporro's obsession with becoming a perfect being was terrifying.

To become a perfect life form, he had even abandoned his Vasto Lorde-level power in this desolate place called Hueco Mundo.

It was important to know that once a Hollow degenerated, it might never evolve again.

For example, if an Adjuchas degenerated into a Gillian, it could never become an Adjuchas again, and even its intelligence would be completely eroded, leading to eternal degeneration.

Before Szayelaporro, there had never been a case of a Vasto Lorde degenerating into an Adjuchas-class Menos Grande, so even he wasn't sure if he could return to Vasto Lorde after degenerating to Adjuchas.

Moreover, in a place like Hueco Mundo, voluntarily giving up power was extremely foolish, and as a Hollow, he should know this best.

But he did it anyway, proving that his obsession with becoming a perfect life form had reached a terrifying degree.

So, as long as Yoshio dangled this in front of Szayelaporro, no matter how outrageous the things he did to Szayelaporro, he would definitely accept them.

Sir, you don't want to be unable to become a perfect life form, do you?

Sure enough, Szayelaporro just sneered: "You talk as if you can really do it? Do you know what a perfect life form is?"

"Hmm, of course, it's 'immortality.'" After saying that, Yoshio looked at the mockery on Szayelaporro's face and added:

"This immortality, of course, isn't invincibility, but 'resurrection after death.'"

"Not transcending death, but incorporating death into the cycle of life—that's what you call perfection."

Sure enough, as soon as these words were spoken, Szayelaporro's expression changed. His eyes revealed intense longing, staring fixedly at Yoshio as if he wanted to devour him!

What Szayelaporro pursued was indeed 'resurrection after death'; that was the perfect life form in his heart. Who exactly was this guy? How did he know his inner thoughts?

Could this be his ability?

In an instant, Szayelaporro's heart was filled with doubt and surprise. Could this guy really help him achieve a perfect life?

A raging fire couldn't help but burn in his heart. As long as Yoshio could help him, let alone one Roka Paramia, he would give a hundred!

"Roka Paramia."

As Szayelaporro spoke, in the next moment, a white spider walked out from the depths of the laboratory.

"Lord Szayelaporro, did you call for me?"

From her words, one could tell this Menos Grande's emotions were extremely shallow, which was no wonder, as she was originally a product of Szayelaporro's experiments.

She wasn't in human form, meaning she was just an Adjuchas.

"From now on, you are his property."

Szayelaporro said without hesitation.

"I... Is that so..." Roka Paramia seemed a bit surprised, but she still obediently followed her master's command, looked at Yoshio, and bowed.

"You are my new master."

"Good." Szayelaporro looked at Yoshio again and said: "Now, you should tell me how to become a perfect life form, right?"

"Brilliantly."

Yoshio activated the ability of 'The Animals' again, splitting off a fragment of his soul, forming a substance that emitted a glowing orb.

He said softly: "You can try this."

"Hmm?" Szayelaporro took the [The Animals] somewhat puzzled, examined it carefully, and suddenly, [The Animals] emitted a strange light.

"This... What is this?"

Szayelaporro asked in some surprise.

He had never felt such a strange power before.

In his previous life, Szayelaporro was an alchemist, and in alchemy, there existed a universal substance that alchemists called the Philosopher's Stone.

They believed the Philosopher's Stone was eternal light, a panacea that could cure all diseases, the phoenix of heavenly grace, the most precious treasure among all riches, and the most important asset in all of nature.

It was said that the Philosopher's Stone could complete any experiment, doing whatever the alchemist desired!

And now, Szayelaporro felt as if he were looking at the highest creation of alchemy—the Philosopher's Stone!

Although he had never seen or used such a thing, at this moment, he purely had that feeling!

Szayelaporro looked at the fragment, trembling with excitement.

"Too perfect..."

Szayelaporro couldn't help but laugh loudly: "With this, I can become a perfect life form!"

"Perfect?" Yoshio heard his words and reminded: "Actually, there's no such thing as perfection in this world; even gods are only approaching omnipotence."

"Especially for a scientist, you shouldn't casually say the word 'perfect.'"

"What is perfection? Perfection means no room for 'progress,' meaning a scientist's wisdom and talent can no longer be utilized. For a scientist..."

Yoshio pointed to the left side of his head, looking seriously at Szayelaporro and said: "The so-called perfection is 'despair.'"

"If it's perfect, your form will stagnate, unable to progress forever. In my opinion, there's no truly perfect life; only life that infinitely approaches perfection."

"No matter how well it's done, there's always room for improvement, so you must fill the gaps and constantly approach perfection."

"Now you should understand what I mean, right?"

"..."

Szayelaporro still held the glowing soul fragment in his hand. Hearing Yoshio's words, he seemed to fall into deep thought.

After a long while, he snorted coldly.

"Don't try to lecture me, you mere Shinigami fool."

With that, he turned directly.

"Get out quickly; I can't wait to start the next experiment."

Watching his back, Yoshio smiled.

He simply turned to the white spider beside him and said: "Alright, let's go, Roka Paramia. It seems this guy still needs time to figure things out."

"Or perhaps, after he evolves, he'll have a completely different insight."

To gain Szayelaporro's favor, he had sacrificed a soul fragment, but it was worth it.

One soul fragment could affect him for at most a year.

He...

Could afford it.