Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 58 - Small Figure, Big Impact

At the center of Jekain's territory, a Garganta slowly split open. The sudden surge of Reiatsu put the guards on immediate alert, but after a moment's identification, they stood down.

That Reiatsu belonged to their true king. Wayne's Reiatsu.

The Garganta opened fully. Wayne and Timd stepped through, and the Hollow Beasts standing watch nearby dropped to one knee in unison.

"We welcome our king's return!"

"Mm." A slight nod. Rise and report.

"Where are Jekain and Nel right now?"

"My king, Lord Jekain is setting up Hollow Beast Mines inside Peromon's territory. Lady Nel is leading a patrol along the border." The Hollow Beast answered respectfully. "Shall I send for them?"

"No need. Go organize the troops and head straight to Jekain's position. Tell him Atak and Gross are already dead — have him lead his forces in and attack directly. Reposition the Hollow Beast Mines at the new front line at the same time. And tell Nel to accompany them and handle front-line affairs."

"My king... you... you alone..." The subordinate Hollow Beast was struck dumb. Two lords, killed single-handedly, in just a few days?

"What? Don't believe me?" Wayne asked, amused. Though truthfully, if the two sides hadn't already erupted into open war, he could never have reaped the spoils of their conflict. Not the most honorable victory, but two lords were dead all the same.

"No, this subordinate would not dare." The Hollow Beast quickly lowered its head in apology.

"Relax. I'm not blaming you. I did take advantage of the situation — don't let it bother you. Carry out the orders."

"Yes, my king!"

The Hollow Beasts withdrew. Only Timd remained, trailing behind Wayne.

"My lord... no — my king." Timd corrected himself. "My king, I'm not sure what use my abilities could be to you."

He knew how hard it was to find a place to put down roots. And Wayne wasn't about to keep him around simply because they had both been human once. He had to prove his worth if he wanted to stay.

On the surface it looked no different from his time under Atak. But it wasn't the same, at least for now, Wayne had no intention of sending him to the front lines.

"You mentioned before that you were a chemistry student in the living world?"

"Yes, my king."

"Then naturally, you'll go back to doing what you know." Wayne smiled. "Come on. I'll take you to the testing ground." He grabbed Timd and Sonído'd them there on the spot.

When they arrived outside the testing ground, Timd collapsed onto the ground and lay there gasping, pale and barely holding himself together.

"First time experiencing Sonído's spatial shift?" Wayne asked.

"Yes, my king..." Timd managed weakly. "Back in Atak's territory, he had me placed between third and sixth in the Negación sequence — I could keep up on foot. And I've never been taken along for a Sonído over that kind of distance before."

"Get used to it. That's the only way you'll ever have a chance to learn it yourself." Wayne didn't scold him. He patted the chubby rat Hollow on the back and left it at that.

"Come on. Follow me inside."

"Yes." Timd hauled himself back onto all fours and followed Wayne in.

Inside the testing ground, Borut, Mude, and two others, four Hollow Beasts in total, were still at work producing Hollow Beast Mines. Not a single day of rest in the past few days. With Gillian resources coming in steadily, they had been working overtime, building up the territory's defenses mine by mine.

"We greet our king." The four paused and bowed as Wayne approached.

"Mm. You've all worked hard." Wayne walked up and gave a small nod. "How many mines have we produced so far?"

"My king, we're averaging around a hundred per day. Nearly four hundred have been planted throughout the territory, and roughly two hundred more are held here in reserve."

"Good. You may need to keep that pace, our territory is about to expand again very soon."

"Th... this fast?" The four exchanged glances. Their king had already taken down another lord, in just a few days?

"Mm. Keep at it." A faint smile. "Oh, let me introduce someone." Wayne stepped aside and brought Timd forward. "This is Timd. An Adjuchas-class I brought back from Atak's territory."

"H-hi. Hello, everyone." Timd nodded timidly. The four Hollow Beasts greeted him in turn, and brief introductions were made all around.

"Mude, you four, make one mine right now and walk him through the production process. Explain what each of your abilities contributes. Timd, watch from the side. Study how it works."

"Of course, my king." Timd swept a paw across his Hollow Mask and stepped forward to observe.

Rock-type abilities shaped the outer shell. Larval bombs with explosive properties were housed inside, along with spikes and venom as the payload. A trap bomb, essentially. Timd turned it over in his mind. He knew this sort of thing well, an explosion was the reason he'd ended up in Hueco Mundo in the first place.

"My king, this is basically a replica of a land mine from the living world, isn't it?"

"You're the chemistry student. That question shouldn't be coming to me." Wayne sat to one side, smiling.

"Heh... then, my king, can I see it go off?" Timd's eyes lit up.

"Of course. Mude."

"Yes, my king." Mude picked up the mine and tossed it directly into the nearby cluster of Gillians being kept as a Reiatsu supply. Borut used the moment to explain the detonation mechanics and his own method of triggering it to Timd.

BOOM!

The explosion cracked through the air. Purple haze billowed upward. A wide swath of Gillians dropped, some losing all ability to move, others losing their breath entirely.

"The force of the explosion vaporized the venom into a toxic mist, expanding the damage radius. The neurotoxin entered the Gillians through the air and through the spike punctures, triggering poisoning. Damage and control, simultaneously."

"Well? Not bad, is it?" Wayne looked over at Timd. "The only problem is I only have a rough understanding of this, I can't optimize it further."

"It's excellent, my king. Truly excellent." Timd took a moment to gather his thoughts. "The neurotoxin liquid and the spikes survived the blast intact because the outer shell protected them, you must have tested and adjusted for that already. But I wonder whether you've considered the toxin's tolerance threshold."

"That part I hadn't thought through. When I saw the venom blast out as a mist, I was actually surprised myself. My original goal was only to have the spikes coated in poison."

"That explains it." Timd's tail swayed behind him. "That's why there are spikes inside what is otherwise a poison-gas bomb."

"In fact, my king, by varying the explosion's force, the shell's toughness, and the substances packed inside, we could produce completely different weapons. Fill it with a flammable liquid, incendiary bomb. Fill it with a high-temperature-resistant burning compound, smoke bomb. Fill it with a highly corrosive liquid, acid-mist bomb. And there's also, "

"Stop, stop, stop." Wayne cut him off with a wry smile. Timd's eyes were practically glowing. "I don't know much in this area. But I think you already understand why I brought you here."

"Yes, my king! Completely!" Timd hadn't felt excitement like this since becoming a Hollow. He was genuinely grateful, for Wayne, for this moment, for the chance it represented.

"No chemical reagents, no testing instruments, none of that matters. I can use our Hollow Beast abilities to find substitutes and build weapons that are no worse than anything human ingenuity ever produced. Weapons that can handle Adjuchas. Super-weapons that could take on Vasto Lordes!"

"Ha. Having ambitions is a good thing." Wayne didn't dampen it. "Going forward, I'll have someone compile the abilities of every Adjuchas-class in the territory and pass the information to you. As for what I need from you, there are three things." He paused, then continued.

"One: we have no unified language among us Hollow Beasts. I want you to standardize it into a single tongue, transcribe it into written form, and teach it throughout the territory. Can you do that?"

"Yes, my king." Timd nodded. "Unifying the spoken language and converting it to writing is only a matter of time. I can do it."

"Two: map out the territories, lords, terrain, and the general distribution and rank breakdown of Hollow Beasts across Atak's former alliance. As detailed and complete as you can manage."

"Just the alliance? No problem at all. I can even roughly indicate the bordering zones adjacent to it."

"Good." Wayne was satisfied. "Third: while you're developing tech-side weapons, don't forget to look into long-range communication. We have Sonído and Bala, but for passing information covertly, transmitting Reiatsu directly is nowhere near enough. There are several Hollow Beasts in our territory whose abilities are based on sound waves, see if that gives you any ideas."

"Information transmission requires electromagnetic waves, transmitters, frequency-band calibration referenced against the light spectrum..." Timd muttered to himself, expression pinching. "My king, I'm chemistry, not physics."

"Do your best." Wayne understood his difficulty. "When I get the chance, I'll make a trip to the living world and see if I can bring back some reference materials."

"My king, I'd advise against going at this stage." Timd shook his head. "That Adjuchas who snuck through before, I watched him get surrounded by dozens of Soul Reapers with my own eyes. Died horribly. I'm not doubting your strength, my king. I just..."

"What part of the living world were you from?"

"Hm?" Timd blinked, thrown off. Wasn't Wayne from the same living world? "My king, I don't follow."

"Let me put it this way, does the place you came from have somewhere called Karakura Town?"

"It does. I'm from Karakura Town myself." Timd answered.

"Have you heard of a place called Huaxia?"

"Yes. A vast country with a long history, not far from Nihon. My king, are you from..."

Wayne didn't answer. He was already talking to himself.

"So does that mean both the real world and the fictional Karakura Town actually exist? Or do all the cities and countries from the anime exist there too?"

He turned it over for a moment, then let it go. It didn't matter. That was a question for the far future.

"Uh... my king?"

"It's nothing." Wayne shook his head. "In any case, do your best. Get the map done first. We'll be needing it soon."

"Yes."

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