I'm really not the number one slacker in Soul Society.

Then, a suppressed roar of pain suddenly rang out.

—It's Mima!

The mysterious woman used Instant Step to appear in front of Mima and swiftly swung her sword twice with lightning speed—

Then, both of Mima's right hand, which was holding the sword, and his left hand, which was releasing the demonic power, fell off.

He screamed in agony, blood gushing out!

"Mizhen!"

Lisa's heart skipped a beat!

Anger surged from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, and a powerful impulse almost made her recklessly grab a knife and fight to the death.

But the mysterious woman's next words were like a bucket of ice water poured over her head.

"I am very interested in you."

The mysterious woman looked at Mima's face, contorted with pain, and casually bent down to pick up his Zanpakuto. She chuckled and said, "One consciousness controls two bodies separated by the Zanpakuto's power—I'm curious, if you were killed by my 'Sword of Slaying Consciousness,' would you truly die?"

Well... Mima is starting to understand the aesthetics of villainy.

If life is like a movie, it would be best to be able to choose a role directly from the positive side, like Zhuge Liang in the Three Kingdoms drama. But if there is really no other choice, he would also like to play a cunning underworld strategist or something similar—provided that he is an undercover agent, he would absolutely not play a real villain.

But as the saying goes, artistic pursuits have their own forms of expression. In the process of beating herself, Mi-jin, who was holding the script of "mysterious and unpredictable bad woman" in her hands, suddenly felt a bit of fun.

This mentality may be somewhat similar to that of a serial killer actor who hears the audience say "You acted so scary"—there is a strange and subtle sense of satisfaction, and they may even wish they could perform more shows immediately to scare more audiences.

Never mind... getting your hand chopped off really hurts...

In short, that so-called "sword that cuts through willpower" was something he made up on the spot. His priority now was to stall for time, and he couldn't act too fakely so that Aizen would see through his act. He was also afraid of breaking character when acting with Lisa, so in the end, he could only use himself as a scapegoat.

But Watanabe Yama is not afraid of death. How can you threaten someone who is not afraid of death?

The answer is to make him afraid of death.

He casually tossed aside the Flowing Moon he had taken from his clone, then used Ghost Path to apply a pretty, but ultimately useless, special effect to the Flowing Moon in his hand. Next, he grabbed the clone by the neck and lightly slashed him with the Flowing Moon that had been enhanced.

Then the clone screamed as if it had been doused with chili oil, and a large amount of white smoke hissed out from the wound, making it seem as if the guy had been tortured—but in reality, the white smoke was just pure spiritual mist, nothing special except for being creepy.

Immediately afterwards, the clone stopped screaming and collapsed weakly as if it had fainted from the pain.

"Oh, it seems to be useful."

Having managed to steady his clone, Mizhen lifted him up by the neck, scrutinizing his deathly pale face like a customer choosing goods before sighing regretfully, "Has he lost consciousness? I was hoping you could provide some data feedback."

"What did you do to Mima?!"

Having witnessed all of this, Lisa was almost overwhelmed by fear and anxiety: "Let him go!"

Mizhen was momentarily dazed.

Isn't this plot a bit off...?

According to the usual practice, in this situation, the woman should be arrested to threaten the man, right?

If the villain is a bit too twisted, the woman might have to be hung up and have her face licked or her clothes torn... Ugh... It's one thing to let him cut her, but to make a scene with her own body is just too perverted. Even if she could buy herself some time, she wouldn't do it.

At that point, not only the Visoreds, but even Aizen might have to re-evaluate their cooperative relationship...

"Do you really want to fight me?"

Mima dodged the attack while carrying her clone, then smiled and pointed the shimmering blade at his heart: "Even I, as the older sister, can't fight someone while carrying something this heavy. If you're planning to do that... I'll just have to kill him first—not the kind where you close one eye and open the other, but a real death."

Lisa's body stiffened, and a variety of painful struggles flashed in her eyes. In the end, she stopped moving and just stared at Mima with resentment.

But she slightly adjusted the direction of the iron dragonfly—towards 'Watanabe Yama'.

If I'd die if this woman killed me... I'd rather do it!

"now it's right."

Mima, of course, saw through Lisa's plan.

But of course, he chose to remain in the dark and, like every villain who succeeds in their plot, began to narrate.

Chapter 57: The True Face of a Villain

“I’m not some bloodthirsty demon after all,” Mi Zhen shrugged. “Besides, this kid is a valuable experimental subject for me. As long as you don’t make any rash moves, I certainly won’t take his life.”

Lisa shuddered: "A...test subject"

“Look, my sword can sever ‘will’.” Mima held up the Flowing Moon, which was radiating all sorts of dazzling special effects, in front of Lisa, and then sighed regretfully, “It sounds amazing, right? But think about it, where in the world are there so many things that need to sever will and soul to die? Most people just die when their bodies are cut off. I’ve never even used this thing more than a few times in my life.”

Lisa thought about Mima's abilities, then glanced at Ryugetsu, and her eyes widened: "You want to use Mima to test your sword..."

"Hey, don't make it sound so scary."

Mima withdrew her sword and lightly sliced ​​the clone's wrist. With a sound like a hot iron burning flesh and a lot of white mist, the 'unconscious' clone trembled violently, then slowly opened its eyes, looking around at everything in a daze as if it had lost its mind.

“If a normal person has a body on the outside and a will on the inside, then this kid is like someone who created a blank body and then covered it with his will like an outer garment—that’s why he reacted so violently to my knife.” Mima looked at the clone with a somewhat fanatical gaze, then looked at Lisa and said, “Do you know how hard it is to find a test subject who is exceptionally sensitive to experimental equipment? How could I bear to kill him so easily?”

Like encountering an incomprehensible madman, Lisa felt a chill run down her spine. But before she could figure out what to do next, an arm gently draped over her shoulder, and a deep female voice followed.

"Don't be so serious, relax." Mi Zhen lowered her head and said softly, "I see you seem to care about this kid quite a bit, how about we make a deal?"

While this pose may enhance intimidation, Mima did not choose it to appear more menacing.

From this angle, no one can see his face, not even Lisa or Aizen.

Why hasn't Urahara arrived yet... I can't hold it in any longer!

"trade?"

"That's right, a deal."

Mi Zhen chuckled: "To me, this kid is a very rare experimental subject, and I really can't bear to waste him so easily."

"what you up to……"

"Look at the ground, don't you notice the changes in other people?"

Mima patted Lisa on the shoulder, and she suddenly became alert.

They quickly scanned the ground and arrived at a terrifying result.

—Hirako, Luo Wu, Lou Juro, Hiyori, Kohachi, and everyone else who was slashed by this guy… all began to have strange, pale white liquid seeping from their facial features, and their spiritual pressure was also changing little by little.

It's like... transforming from a Grim Reaper into... a Hollow?

Thinking about the changes in Kensei and Haku, Lisa felt a chill run down her spine.

“What did you do to them…?” she asked with difficulty.

"Hmm... that's a very troublesome topic after all, and it will take quite a bit of time to explain it clearly."

Mima scratched his head, then summarized as if annoyed, "In short, their lives as Grim Reapers are over—that's all you need to understand."

Mima meant that you could change jobs later, but to Lisa, such a dangerous statement as "your career is over" was tantamount to a death sentence.

She couldn't help but tremble slightly.

"As you can see, I have the upper hand now. I can just leave you to accompany these people underground without saying anything to you."

Mima lifted her clone up and shook it a couple of times, glancing back and forth between the clone and Lisa:

"But things are different now. I can give you an additional option."

Lisa glanced at the clone with pain, then focused her gaze and tried her best to calm herself down.

She asked, "What do you mean?"

"It's obvious you two have a good relationship," Mi Zhen said with a smile.

"So you can choose to watch me kill him, then fight me—and then fall here pointlessly."

"What about the other option?"

“You can sacrifice yourself for him.” Mima brandished the blade at Lisa twice. “I can send him back to Seireitei through normal means, but you have to cooperate with me and finish tonight’s experiment.”

"……experiment?"

"It just means I'll cut you once, very quickly."

Mima shifted her gaze to her clone: ​​"This kid is an interesting test subject, but he's too weak—there's no point in putting a weak person on the test bench. For the sake of my experiment, I need to find a way to make him stronger. Don't you think 'hatred' would be a good motivation? Watching loved ones sacrifice for you, and then working hard to find the murderer to avenge them, that's such a classic story that even I, as an older sister, would be moved to tears."

Before Lisa could speak, Mima manipulated his clone, making him struggle to raise his arm without a hand.

He was extremely resentful, as if he wanted to kill this psychopath on the spot with his eyes.

The air was suddenly filled with silence.

Lisa's eyes were filled with struggle; her clone seemed unable to speak, only able to express her emotions through her eyes. Meanwhile, Mima, playing the villain, appeared to be calmly awaiting Lisa's choice, but in reality, it was because…

He ran out of words...

At this point in the performance, he really couldn't continue the story.

If Urahara doesn't come soon, he really won't be able to keep up that villainous face.

Watanabe Yama cried out in his heart with deep emotion, "Urahara, save me!"

And then, the next second...

Wearing a black cloak, Kisuke Urahara appeared behind Mima without warning, his Benihime flashing brightly in his hand!

—Then it struck the tiny void that Mi Zhen had already covered on his body.

Mi Zhen was not surprised but rather delighted.

Good day...you've come at the right time!

He turned his head sharply, glanced at Urahara who had failed in his sneak attack, then struggled for a moment before unleashing "Torrent" to its limit, dodging Urahara's second strike. He then retreated while swinging his sword backhand, making a cut on Lisa's forearm at a very tight distance.

But Urahara's strength was not to be underestimated. As Mima swung his sword to strike Lisa, he immediately brandished his blade and shouted, "Razor Red Princess!"

The next moment, a crescent-shaped red light blade struck Mima's left arm from below.

He released his grip on the clone's neck, and then used the Secret Technique of Instant Step: Empty Cicada to move the clone back.

Chapter 58: Retreat

"Isn't that Urahara Kisuke, the captain of the 12th Division?" Yama didn't show any annoyance at his mishap; instead, he smiled and waved at Urahara. "I've heard of him before, but interrupting someone's experiment like that isn't very polite..."