The Supreme Soul, Starting with Death

With its master's passing, the Zanpakuto fell onto the cold floor. The lively aura that seemed to be alive quickly dissipated, and in the blink of an eye, it reverted to its most primitive form, the "Asauchi," which did not yet possess a sword spirit. The Soul Burial Record that should have remained in the sword spirit also disappeared completely.

From this point on, no one will know where in the Soul Society the soul that was sent after the final soul burial of this sword.

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Chapter Thirty-Six: Shame

"So, as long as the opportunity arises, you can use your black voice, and we'll all be safe once we run straight to Hueco Mundo."

Under the cover of the "battle," Gu Shi, while grabbing the bat and rolling around on the ground, whispered his plan into the bat's ear.

It's hard to say whether Bat Xu's acting skills are superb or that he doesn't need to act at all. He always appears calm and emotionless, and no matter what Gu Shi says, he doesn't have to worry about revealing any flaws.

"Okay, you take care of the timing."

He responded to Gu Shi in a low voice as well. Green Cero began to condense in the bat's mouth. Gu Shi released him and quickly retreated, successfully maintaining the time of their close contact at a "touch and then separate" length, so as not to arouse the suspicion of any potential monitors.

With a nimble roll, Gu Shi dodged the oncoming Cero and was about to resume his offensive when the second Cero was already in front of him. Perhaps because he had already fought many battles, Gu Shi tried to dodge again, but his legs suddenly went weak and he was unable to avoid the attack, which pierced through his right arm.

The intense pain seemed to have unleashed Gu Shi's berserk nature as a phantom. He let out a furious roar, completely disregarding the wound on his arm, and charged at the bat phantom again, grabbing its claw as it was about to take flight and dragging it down.

"Don't worry about missing the opportunity. I will find opportunities to injure myself every day. I am a valuable research material. That madman will definitely not sit idly by and watch me die. He will definitely capture other voids for me to devour to help me recover my spiritual power and heal my injuries."

He muttered something in a low, quick voice, interspersed with several angry roars as cover. Gu Shi slapped Bat Xu hard on the head, grabbed him, and brought him close to his face, letting out an angry roar.

"Are you crazy?! You hit me so hard in a fight, do you really think I wouldn't dare kill you?!"

After his roar, Gu Shi took the opportunity to add something in a low voice.

"So, as long as that guy doesn't send a new Hollow one day, it means she can't get away, and we can escape."

After saying that, Gu Shi huffed and puffed as he tossed the bat aside, then walked to a corner and lay down, seemingly having temporarily lost interest in fighting.

After this secret exchange, Bat calmly dusted himself off, hung himself back on the roof, closed his eyes, and began to doze off, awaiting the next "battle" and exchange.

Gu Shi appeared to be sulking alone, but he was still calculating in his mind.

He had deliberately left a mark at the border between the Death Girl's and the Bearded Man's territories, indicating that "a Hollow was walking heavily and carrying someone on its back."

Once the search team from Soul Society discovered this, anyone with a modicum of sense would easily deduce that "a Hollow severely injured or even killed Oniki (the bearded man), then carried his spoils and fled into Saito's (the Shinigami Girl's) territory," and then entered the Shinigami Girl's territory to conduct a search.

All conditions are in place; all that's left to do is wait patiently.

As Gu Shi was thinking this, suddenly, a familiar voice that he was wary of inexplicably echoed in the vast emptiness.

"Lord Gu Shi, I'm about to leave. I hope my abrupt departure won't anger Lord Saito. By the way, if you also feel that Lord Saito is too enthusiastic and want to part ways with her for a while, now is a good opportunity."

Just from that voice, Gu Shi could imagine the young man's polite demeanor and smiling face.

The bat, hanging upside down from the cave ceiling, opened its eyes and calmly looked at Gu Shi. It knew nothing about the young man and could not judge whether his words were credible. It could only wait for Gu Shi to make the judgment.

At this moment, Gu Shi was basically certain that the so-called Yusuke was Aizen, and he quickly began to make calculations in his mind.

[Judging from these words, Aizen is planning to leave. He reminded me because he realized that given how much that madman values ​​me, if we both escape at the same time, the main focus of the investigation will definitely be on me, and he wants me to help relieve the pressure on him?]

[Logically, it makes sense, but that's Aizen, after all. Can his words really be trusted?]

After a moment's hesitation, Gu Shi quickly made a decision, abruptly looking up to meet Bat's gaze.

"Now's the time, activate the black chamber!"

The bat remained calm, showing no sign of joy at its impending escape. Guided by what seemed to be an innate instinct, it opened its mouth and gently bit into the air, instantly creating a palm-sized, pitch-black hole.

As expected, the killing intent stones buried in the surrounding walls not only isolated spiritual pressure and spiritual particles, but also interfered with the formation of the black cavity.

Gu Shi had seen it in a manga before; the main material of the outer walls of the Seireitei was killing intent stone.

Judging from the plot, in the same Soul Society, Hollows occasionally break into Rukongai by accidentally opening their black chambers and eating people. However, theoretically, the Seireitei, with its higher concentration of spiritual energy, is more likely to attract Hollows. Throughout the series, it seems that apart from Hollows that Aizen specifically brought in for his experiments, very few Hollows have broken in.

There may be other factors at play in this situation, such as the barrier that Kurosaki Ichigo broke through when he entered the Seireitei. However, the Killing Stones that formed the outer walls of the Seireitei may also have had the effect of interfering with the formation of the Black Cavity. Gu Shi had already guessed this.

Having prepared himself mentally, he wouldn't be easily disappointed. Seeing the tiny black cavity, Gu Shi simply nodded calmly.

"It's good that it can be opened. Let's keep trying. We don't know how much time we have left."

Bat Void was even calmer, showing virtually no emotional fluctuations. He eliminated the black cavity that could only be used on sparrows, and after a moment of preparation, he made his move again.

This time, perhaps they found the trick, and the black hole expanded to half a meter in size.

Then, Bat Void tried twice more, and the black cavity that had been opened finally expanded to a diameter of two meters, which made Gu Shi nervous.

Such a large cavity would be large enough for a bat to squeeze into if it simply folded its wings, but for a Gu Shi of that size, the cavity would need to be at least three or even four meters in diameter to pass through smoothly.

What if he abandons me and runs away first?

Uncontrollably, doubt and anxiety arose in Gu Shi's heart. After all, both of them were prisoners of the Death Girl. From their first meeting to now, the total time was less than a week. They didn't have any deep friendship at all. Moreover, the Bat Void didn't seem to have any feelings.

From the perspective of the Bat Hollow, rationally speaking, rather than risking discovery by continuing to try to expand the diameter of the black cavity and leaving another guy to attract the wrath of the Death Girl, it would be the best choice to escape alone.

Gu Shi had made preparations in secret. If Bat Void tried to enter the black cavity, he would grab it as quickly as possible and force it to continue expanding the black cavity.

However, the bat merely glanced calmly at the black cavity that was already wide enough for it to pass through, then deactivated it and tried again.

Gu Shi was stunned for a moment, feeling a little guilty and ashamed.

"Okay, that should be enough."

With a calm, even cold, voice, a black cavity nearly four meters in diameter appeared out of thin air.

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Chapter Thirty-Seven: Naïve and Ignorant

"Finally, I'm free!"

The black cavity behind him had closed, and the madman hadn't chased after him. Breathing in the hot, dry air, which seemed to contain no moisture, Gu Shi felt incredibly refreshed.

"Is this Hueco Mundo?"

The bat flew low beside him. As far as the eye could see, there was only an endless, pale desert and some withered, twisted branches that showed no signs of life. Looking up, the sky was completely black, without blue sky or white clouds, or even the sun, moon, or stars, only boundless, pure darkness.

"That's right, this is Hueco Mundo."

Gu Shi nodded, not finding the scenery strange at all. Before Aizen arrived, Hueco Mundo was just as desolate and lifeless. It was only after Aizen took control of Hueco Mundo that he created fake blue skies and white clouds within the Las Noches Palace area, making Hueco Mundo look more pleasing to the eye.

It has to be said that Aizen, for the simple reasons of "looking at things in a more pleasing way" or "improving the living environment," was able to set up astonishing methods and forcefully create a blue sky and white clouds in Hueco Mundo. Even though the main characters and the Espada fought fiercely in the false world, causing countless terrifying impacts and destruction, they were unable to completely destroy this false world. Thinking about it deeply, it is simply outrageous and terrifying.

Taking another deep breath of the dry air, Gu Shi grabbed a handful of white sand from his feet, watching the white particles slowly slip through his fingers with a touch of melancholy, and shook his head with a sigh.

"The desert we see isn't actually made of real sand. These white particles are all fragments of Hollow masks that died here. Bat, can you imagine how many Hollows have perished here throughout history?"

Even the composed Hollow Bat finally showed a hint of shock. He couldn't imagine how many Hollows would have to die here to create this vast desert.

Hundreds of millions? Billions? Or even more?

Gu Shi could completely understand the shock of the bat Hollow. After all, this setting was indeed outrageous. If the desert was made up of Hollow "corpses", that would be one thing, since there was never a shortage of big Hollows in the Hollow group. But even if the Hollow was the biggest, how big could its mask be?

Even if someone were as large as Yammy, the Zero Espada, his mask would only be roughly the size of a wall. Even if you took off tens of thousands of Yammy's masks and ground them into powder, you could probably only make a small sand dune, not even enough to form the tip of Mount Tai. You can imagine how many Hollows' lives this desert has buried.

Giving the bat Hollow ample time to process his thoughts, Gu Shi pulled a finger-sized lizard Hollow from the sand beneath his feet. After observing this small creature, which, despite its small size, had all the necessary Hollow holes in its mask, he casually tossed it to Jiro, whom he had carried to Hueco Mundo.

Although Jiro was just an ordinary soul that had not yet become ethereal, the lizard was too weak. Jiro easily bit off its neck and swallowed it whole.

Holding Erlang back from running around in this dangerous place, Gu Shi searched the surrounding gravel for any other unfortunate little creatures while taking the opportunity to think about how to deal with his relationship with the bat Xu.

Initially, he planned to part ways with the Bat Hollow as soon as he arrived in Hueco Mundo.

After all, Hollows, even those who have grown to the level of a mid-level Hollow Adjuchas before becoming Arrancars, are still mostly driven by instinct rather than reason.

Traveling with another virtual companion is more likely to result in mutual devouring and killing than mutual assistance in times of crisis.

You might finally kill an enemy you unexpectedly encountered, but you're seriously injured and want your companion to protect you and buy you some rest. But then he smells your blood, gets instinctively craving food, and ends up eating you instead.

Therefore, not only was Batman unaware of the situation, but Gu Shi also shared the same thought as Erlang.

Although Gu Shi had been pushing for Erlang to become intangible, his main purpose was actually to help Erlang gain the ability to open the Black Hole after becoming intangible, thus facilitating his escape.

When Erlang truly becomes a phantom in the future, Gu Shi will definitely have to carefully test him several times before deciding whether to continue keeping Erlang by his side.

In short, acting with other virtual people is simply the behavior of a fool who thinks they are living too comfortably.

However, recalling how Bat Xu could have run away first, but still risked opening a larger cavity for his own sake, Gu Shi's determination to part ways wavered.

[This guy is quite strong, able to use Cero before even becoming a Hollow, and has the advantage of flight, but looking so clueless, can he really survive two days venturing into Hueco Mundo alone?]

It's important to know that the Hollows are a very complex group. They include not only wild animals who act purely on instinct, but also some cunning and treacherous individuals skilled in intrigue and deception.

I have a feeling that with Bat Hollow's carefree and unsuspecting attitude, any Hollow could easily coax him with some low-class lies like "I have something good here, come closer and I'll show you," and then easily bite off his head.

"...Never mind, he saved me after all. I'll teach him some anti-fraud tips first, and then consider whether to break up."

Shaking his head, Gu Shi ultimately couldn't abandon this naive and innocent fellow. He sighed, grabbed Erlang who was about to run around again, tossed him onto the "dog seat" that the Grim Reaper girl had once sat on, and patted Bat Hollow's head.

"Snap out of it. You don't actually want to calculate how many Hollows are buried here, do you? What's the point? Let's go. The fluctuations from the opening of the Black Cavity might have already attracted the attention of the 'natives' here. If we don't leave quickly, we'll become prey."

Gu Shi's claws were covered in sand, and when he patted the bat's head, some of the sand fell onto the bat's head.

Having sand on your head is no fun. The bat shook its long ears, just about to shake its head to shake the sand off, when it heard Gu Shi say, "What's the point?" It was momentarily stunned again.

[Yeah, why shake the sand off? What's the point? Will the sand on my head hurt me? If not, why should I bother with it?]

Caught in a new dilemma, Bat Xu calmly pondered in his heart, subconsciously flapping his wings to follow Gu Shi's footsteps, without considering where Gu Shi was going or the possibility that Gu Shi would trick him into a corner and kill and eat him.

After the two had walked quite a distance, Bat Void suddenly seemed to have realized some truth. He shook his head vigorously, and his two long ears swayed back and forth, hitting his mask with a crisp slapping sound.

"I understand. Even if it's meaningless, I'll do things that make me feel comfortable."

"Huh? What are you saying? Being comfortable is the meaning of life, isn't it? Besides, why bother thinking about meaning so much? Look at Erlang, he never thinks about these things, and he still lives a very comfortable life every day."

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Vacuuming

In the stark white desert, a large black dog ran wildly, its tongue lolling out, kicking up a trail of dust along its path.

That's normal; dogs love to run.

Beside the big dog, an even larger bat, on all fours with its wings as forelegs, expressionlessly followed the big black dog as it ran wildly.

...This is very abnormal.

Gu Shi followed behind, his face stiff, slowly eating the dust, offering no comment on the bizarre scene.

After a while, the big black dog finally ran enough, made a sharp turn and rushed back to Gu Shi's side, panting with its long tongue lolling out, its whole body radiating happiness.