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

The three of them exchanged glances, clearly at a loss for what to do.

"This……"

Chunshui paused for half a second, then rushed forward like a whirlwind, grabbed the mysterious man kneeling on the ground, and knocked him unconscious with two powerful punches to prevent any possibility of an accident.

Mima followed closely behind, reaching out to pry open the mysterious man's mouth. After confirming there was no poison or anything like that inside, he casually released two binding spells on the man's hands and feet, then pulled out a short towel from his sleeve, rolled it up, and used it as a gag.

He watched anxiously for a few seconds before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, this guy's head didn't explode.

At this point in time, no stranger would dare to play such a joke on him. The only plausible explanation is that this guy is an assassin sent by the Shihouin family.

But how could there be an assassin with such a unique art style in the world?

Could...could there be some kind of conspiracy?

Even with Mima's broad and open-minded thinking, it was impossible for him to figure out the cause and effect of such a strange event in a short period of time.

So his lips twitched a few times, and he looked at the two captains present for instructions: "Captains... what... should we do?"

Clearly, Chunshui had never seen anything like this before. After a moment of contemplation, he confirmed that the mysterious man was indeed tightly bound. He then signaled to Mima to keep an eye on him for a while, while he and Kuchiki Ginrei stepped aside to discuss the matter.

"Captain Kuchiki, do you have any clues?"

"This guy's skills are quite good, and very methodical; he doesn't seem like someone who came from a self-taught background." Kuchiki Ginrei coughed lightly. "I have a few suspects, but regardless of where he comes from, it's not convenient for the Kuchiki family to directly intervene—"

"Is that so?" Chunshui nodded knowingly, then whispered, "In that case, leave it to us."

The two veteran captains exchanged a few more meaningless pleasantries and then dispersed. Kuchiki Ginryo vanished from his spot in a flash, while Chunshui returned to Mizhen's side and said to him, "Take this man with us. Let's go back to the barracks for now."

Mima shrugged: "Fine."

..........................................

A few minutes later.

A jolt of electricity shot from the top of his head to the soles of his feet, waking him from his unconscious state.

He opened his eyes and found himself sitting in an ordinary-looking reception room.

His hands and feet were bound by some kind of demonic magic, making him unable to move, and his mouth was stuffed with a wad of cloth, preventing him from making a sound.

Eighth Division Captain Kyoraku Shunsui and Eighth Division Fifth Seat Watanabe Yama were whispering something on the other side of the room. Although he couldn't hear clearly, Forty-Two felt a chill on the back of his head.

"Captain, so now... is it the interrogation phase?"

Having just woken someone up with a low-powered white lightning bolt, Mima asked Chunshui in a low voice, "Do you need me to get some tools, like candles and whips or something?"

“Those things don’t really sound like they’re for interrogation…”

Chunshui's lips twitched twice, and he said, "Mizhen, Captain Kuchiki's hint just now was quite obvious. This guy comes from a large organization—that alone is enough to narrow down the list of suspects."

"Which noble family, is it..."

Mima sighed: "To attack me at this time, and with such a covert method, no matter how you look at it, there's only one possibility..."

"Just know it, don't say it out loud." Chunshui coughed lightly. "So Captain Kuchiki can't get involved in this matter, and we have to pretend we don't know anything—do you understand? He's just a simple highwayman."

"Okay."

Mizhen nodded and said, "I'll ask them—although I'm not very skilled yet, I once learned a couple of lie detection techniques from a book."

"it is good."

Chunshui nodded, stepped aside, and adopted the attitude of an onlooker.

Mima: "..."

In recent years, Chunshui has been consciously letting him take the lead in doing things like this.

The meaning is clear: they want to subtly guide him to become someone who can shoulder great responsibilities.

Although it's a bit unethical to say this, the Eighth Division has indeed been lacking in talent in recent years. The main force is relying entirely on Shunsui and Lisa to hold things up, and Mima is basically the only junior who can help out... As for the Third and Fourth Seats, it's not that they don't try, but it's sad that their abilities are limited no matter where they are. It's really not their fault that they can't be of any use.

Now that Lisa has gone to the mortal world, if he wanted, Chunshui could take him to Room 46 that very day to complete the promotion procedures.

Then a mountain of work piled up and crashed down on him.

That would be a bit scary.

Occasional overtime is fine, but if overtime becomes the norm, it's basically killing him.

So, Nanao, grow up quickly...

After thinking about various things, Mi Zhen took two steps forward, pulled the short cloth out of Forty-Two's mouth, threw it aside, and then placed one hand on his head, calmly saying to him, "I'll ask you questions, and you answer them. If you lie more than twice, I'll immediately make your brain boil like water. Do you understand?"

As he spoke, a faint, deep blue light shone in his eyes.

Using a mind beacon at low power won't allow you to enter someone else's mental world, but this method can enhance emotional perception—in layman's terms, it can detect lies.

Of course, this ability cannot work on everyone. If the target's spiritual pressure is higher than that of Yama, then he will naturally be helpless.

Unless that person is willing to open their mind and let him spy as he pleases.

Forty-two nodded first, but his expression immediately hardened: "I can tell you everything I know, but you must promise to guarantee my safety, otherwise I will never tell you even if I die."

Mima: "..."

If Chunshui hadn't been watching, he would have immediately activated his mental beacon and told this guy why the flowers were so red.

"That depends on whether the information you provide is valuable," Mima said coldly. "If it is, my captain can let you change your identity and start a new life in a place where no one knows you."

Perhaps because the Eighth Division has always had a good reputation for being kind to others, Forty-Two didn't say anything more, but simply nodded and said, "I have no more questions, go ahead and ask."

"Name?"

"Forty-two."

"Where did you come from?"

"The covert mobile 'criminal army'."

“As expected…” Mima sighed, “What is their purpose?”

"Knock Watanabe Yama unconscious and take him to the 42nd ward of South Rukongai within three days—by the way, today is the second day."

Mima: "?!"

Hey, hey, hey, why did you just blurt it out?

Shouldn't this kind of thing be kept secret at every level? Why did this guy, who looks like a nobody, reveal Shihouin Hyakugetsu's location as soon as he opened his mouth?

So what was the point of all that trouble I went to find Urahara and the others last night?

But thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. The Shihōin family is really short-handed these days, so it's unlikely that they'll resort to any more subcontracting.

"Why do this?"

"I don't know, I'm only responsible for carrying out orders."

"Who gave the order?"

"The deputy corps commander of the Criminal Investigation Department."

Mizhen turned around and exchanged a glance with Chunshui.

So far, this guy hasn't been lying.

"According to the rules, the criminal police should disregard their own lives. Why would you think of surrendering as soon as you see us?"

“That’s prejudice.” Forty-two sighed. “I’m not stupid. Why should I bother with a mission that’s practically a death sentence? After thinking it over, the only option with a better chance of survival was to surrender to you directly, so I naturally chose that.”

“…” Mi Zhen’s lips twitched twice. “Well, you really are… realistic.”

There is no indication that this statement is a lie.

But this friend's defection was far too decisive. As the saying goes, a thousand-mile dike is breached by an ant hole. This is a case of a noble's grand plan being ruined by a working-class person running away with a bucket. It's black humor to the extreme.

But this meant he had to change his plans again. His original idea was to first investigate Shihouin Hyakugetsu's hiding place, find out the situation, and then drag Aizen and Shikatori Hakunsai together to beat her up until she would tell him why she accepted the power of the Soul King.

Although this plan is a bit crude, it shouldn't be too difficult to execute—after all, Shihouin Hyakugetsu's mental state is probably a bit off, so talking to him is probably useless, but fists don't care if you're crazy or not, they'll just hit you without saying anything, and if all else fails, they'll beat you until you're on your last breath and then use the Mind Beacon.

However, this extraordinary person suddenly appeared out of nowhere, not only directly revealing part of the Shihouin family's plans, but also ruining his good deed.

Now that Chunshui knows there's a problem in the 42nd district of South Rukongai, he'll definitely send someone or go there himself to investigate. Once he does, he'll surely discover that barrier, and he might even directly clash with Shihōin Hyakugetsu.

This makes it harder for him to play the seniority card and the Aizen card, which is damn troublesome...

I never expected to suffer such a setback in such a strange place. Life is unpredictable...

Mizhen raised her hand and rubbed her temples, then began to think rapidly for a solution.

Of course, he didn't stop talking either, asking every question he could think of.

After confirming that what the other party said was true, he directly punched Cheng Yaojin, who had ruined his plan, and knocked him unconscious, then turned around to talk to Chunshui.

"No need to ask anymore, it's all the truth."

Mima spoke first, "Captain, what do we do now? Should we send someone to explore the place he mentioned?"

"Don't rush..."

Harumi sighed heavily and said, "Don't worry... It seems there's more to this than meets the eye... Here's what we'll do, Mima, go to the Fourth Division barracks now and say... you're going to visit Soi Fon."

Mima asked in confusion, "Huh?"

“I need to go and discuss the matter with Old Man Yama and Ukitake. I don’t have time to look after you anymore,” Shunsui said solemnly. “So the safest place for you right now is the Fourth Division barracks. As long as you stay there, no one will dare to touch you.”

Chapter 101: Aizen, Watch Me Expose Your True Colors

While Chunshui was making dirty deals, some strange new situations were also occurring in the 42nd district of South Rukongai.

After studying the barrier from a distance, Mima made a preliminary judgment.

Can't get in.

This barrier even protects the underground, so the technique of digging tunnels is useless this time.

Breaking through this thing wouldn't be difficult; a single Flying Dragon Strike Thunder Cannon would do the trick. However, he didn't want to launch such a large-scale frontal attack. He wanted to at least quietly capture a few prisoners, interrogate them, and gather more intelligence before making any further plans.

After all, the original brutal plan had failed, and he had to find another way.

The mission has a time limit of only seven days, and Mi Zhen needs to solve a mystery that has been unsolved for more than a thousand years.

Although he has the advantage of historical exploration, he still needs to find artifacts from that era first.