Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 184 - Return

ps: A quick explanation again — due to my work schedule, I get back very late, and Tomato’s update system clocks at midnight, so I often have to post half first to clock in and fill in the rest later. Every chapter is over 4000 words. If you Vasto Lordes feel it's too short, just check back the next day, and it'll definitely be 4000.

Posting half at a time is truly a last resort. I hope you all understand.

Chapter 184

After returning to the Forest of Menos, Wayne made a few brief arrangements and then quickly re-entered secluded cultivation. This time, he had devoured Karlov’s mask and confirmed that the abilities Karlov possessed were indeed granted by the fragments of the Space Law and Time Law. However, those Law abilities were extremely weak — so weak that Wayne could practically ignore them. And after returning to the Forest of Menos, Wayne began his secluded cultivation, attempting to refine and assimilate these two Law abilities.

The seclusion did not last long. In just a few days, he successfully refined the Space Law fragment. But because the Law’s power was so thin, Wayne couldn’t even use long-distance spatial jumps. The only thing he could utilize was using this thin spatial ability to create a small spatial barrier for storing items, and to perform a flash-like spatial swap. After a few days of practice, Wayne now applied this swap between himself and his Zanpakuto, Levi. This way, it could save his life at a critical moment, and this ability could also be used in the future to give an explanation to those captains in the Soul Society. Saying that this ability was a new product of his Bankai was also a pretty good choice.

But compared to the Space Law, the fragment of the Time Law was something Wayne could not refine or use no matter what. He could only store it inside his body. Perhaps because the resonance wasn’t enough, or perhaps Wayne’s own constitution could only accommodate the Space Law. He remembered that when he absorbed the Life Law back then, the Hollow Beast’s master had also said that law could not be used simultaneously with the Space Law. So it was removed from Wayne’s body then, and the current situation was probably the same. Wayne just felt it was a pity. After all, even Karlov could use both abilities at the same time, yet he himself could not. Truly regrettable.

But overall, Wayne’s gains from this battle were still very substantial. His Zanpakuto had absorbed a massive amount of Hollow Beast Reiatsu, and now it could exert at least seventy percent of Wayne’s original strength. This was even after Wayne had desperately compressed it. If he hadn’t compressed and condensed it, rushing up to eighty or even ninety percent of his original strength wouldn’t be impossible. But Wayne wasn’t in a hurry. The more stable his foundation, the faster his improvement would be, and the greater his potential and future growth space. Moreover, through using his Zanpakuto, he had also learned to very effectively control the conversion between his own Reiatsu and the Hollow Beast Reiatsu. This made Wayne feel as if he had opened the door to a new world.

This fused Reiatsu was more powerful than the Reiatsu he usually used. When Wayne exploded with full force, even if the enemy was a mid-tier Vasto Lorde, Wayne was confident he could fight them to a standstill. Perhaps this was the immense power brought by a Soul Reaper’s Hollowfication. Back when Ichigo Kurosaki chose to learn Hollowfication, did he also possess this kind of Reiatsu? Wayne made a self-hypothesis. If his own Hollowfication was the same as Ichigo’s, then did this count as him having self-awakened the Hollowfication ability?

As for this answer, Wayne was indifferent. Whether his current state counted as Hollowfication or not was meaningless to Wayne. After all, Wayne intended to become a complete Hollow. Though he didn’t know what impact this would have, it was something he had to do. He had to get his spatial ability and concealment ability back. This was one of the promises he had made to the Dominator of Hueco Mundo.

Secluded cultivation ended. Wayne walked out of the barrier set up by Jekain and arrived at the core area of the Forest of Menos.

“King.” Timd greeted. “According to your request, we have already installed all the Hollow Beast Mines in the castle in Hueco Mundo.”

Yes, before Wayne returned to the Forest of Menos for secluded cultivation, he had held a brief meeting with the high-ranking members of his faction. For a period in the future, they could use their castle for unlimited hunting. The method was to repair a portion of the ruined castle walls, then bury a large number of Hollow Beast Mines into the ramparts, creating a massive trap. After that, they would release various rumors to attract other group-dwelling Hollow Beasts to come there, then use Timd’s clones for surveillance, execute the trap attack, and after the trap attack, have Mude rebuild the castle and continue the next wave of fishing. They would also set the Garganta transport point in the secret chamber where Wayne used to do his secluded cultivation. This way, they could fish infinitely and continuously obtain Adjuchas-level Hollow Beasts as food for their faction’s growth.

However, the only difficulty was that each encirclement hunt would inevitably risk their base in the Forest of Menos being discovered. But compared to the benefits, this seemed not unacceptable. Besides, Wayne’s faction now completely controlled three Forests of Menos. Even if this place was exposed, the group could go to the other two forests to evade pursuit.

After fully controlling the Forest of Menos, barring accidents, in the future, out of every ten Hollows that walked from the Forest of Menos into Hueco Mundo, at least three or four would belong to Wayne’s faction. The rest would be those unaffiliated ones, or Hollow Beasts that fled using the sand the moment they advanced to Adjuchas.

But three or four out of ten — such a high probability was already very high for Wayne’s organization. It was believed that after a few more hundred years, the shadows of Wayne’s faction could be seen everywhere throughout Hueco Mundo.

“Mm, very good. For the coming period, Jekain, Timd, lead everyone and develop in this way first,” Wayne said, very satisfied with everything his subordinates had done.

“King, are you about to leave?” Jekain had followed Wayne for too long. He knew that when Wayne spoke such entrusted words, barring accidents, Wayne would likely leave very soon.

“Ah, I can’t stay here forever.” Wayne nodded. “As I am now, I must still return to the Soul Society. Over there, I still have many things to do.”

“...Yes.” Jekain and Timd exchanged a glance, and in the end, they lowered their heads and respectfully obeyed Wayne’s order. But that one-word reply carried a deep reluctance.

“Don’t worry, Jekain, Timd. We will meet again.” Wayne snapped his fingers. From his currently not-so-large spatial pocket, a jade-white badge dropped into Wayne’s hand. “In the future, when I have a need, I will use this badge to contact you. You just develop the faction in secret. Believe me, one day, I will lead you back to Hueco Mundo and let our banner fly over the land of Hueco Mundo once more!”

“Yes, our King!”

“During the time I’m away, Timd, I must also trouble you to continue searching for Nel.” Wayne’s expression became somewhat grave. “I believe Nel wouldn’t just die like that. She must still be alive somewhere, striving to improve herself, wanting to avenge me. I need you to find her before she seeks revenge, bring her back, and tell her the news that I am still alive.”

“Yes, my King. I will do my utmost to search for Lady Nel,” Timd responded solemnly. He knew what Nel meant to his King.

“As for Harribel... if you encounter her, pay her no mind. She is no longer our ally.” Wayne’s expression was icy. “Neither she nor her subordinates are qualified to work with us anymore. But after all, Harribel is a Vasto Lorde-level Hollow Beast. If you encounter her, just steer clear.”

“Yes, I will tell the brothers under me to take note,” Jekain nodded in acknowledgment.

“One last point. If you see three people wearing Soul Reaper clothes appear in Hueco Mundo or the Forest of Menos, you must run. Take everyone and run, as far away as possible. They are my mortal enemies. Because my identity has become that of a Soul Reaper, they don’t yet know my true identity. But I can foresee that one day we will face each other directly. So, without my order, all our comrades — the moment you see a man with brown hair and black-rimmed glasses, a squinty-eyed man with silver-purple hair, and a blind Soul Reaper with dark skin... if you see these three, run far away. Do not have any contact with them whatsoever.”

“Alright, I will have everyone take note.”

“Then that’s it.” Wayne smiled faintly. “When there are matters in the future, I will contact you with the badge. Remember, develop as low-key as possible, strengthen your power, and wait for my return.”

“Yes, we respectfully see our King off.” Jekain and Timd bowed their heads in salute simultaneously. And under the gaze of his two subordinates, Wayne drew his Zanpakuto, summoned his Hollowfied self, and after telekinetically dragging over a barely breathing Adjuchas-level captive from afar, Wayne lightly tapped his finger in the void. A pitch-black dimensional space unfolded.

Now, the Zanpakuto already possessed seventy percent of Wayne’s former Reiatsu. Whether opening a Garganta or dealing with an Adjuchas-level Hollow Beast was no longer a difficult task.

The Garganta opened. Wayne stepped inside. Turning his head, Wayne looked once more at his two reluctant subordinates, the corner of his mouth curving into a faint smile as he waved goodbye to them.

The Garganta closed. Jekain felt that this time, the Garganta’s opening was so brief, as if it had ended in an instant.

“Old Jek... do you think... the King will come back?” Timd stood upright, his rat-form body appearing incomparably desolate at this moment.

“Of course.” Jekain said with certainty. “He is our King, after all. The King who has never let us down.”

“Yes, he is our King.” The eyes beneath the mask flickered with hope, and Timd’s desolate figure gradually regained vitality. “For the King’s return, we must get busy again.”

“Mm. At the very least, by the time the King returns next, we must expand our faction’s strength by double — no, double!”

“Ah, I hope double is enough.” Timd raised his head and looked at this old partner. “I’d rather the King come back before we have time to expand it double.” As his words fell, Timd’s body shook, and dozens of clones dropped to the ground one after another.

“I’m going to search for Lady Nel. We’ve almost covered the entire east now. I’m going to look in the west.”

“Be careful. Those lunatics in the central area won’t let you pass so easily,” Jekain reminded.

“It doesn’t matter.” Timd’s rat head gently shook. “Even if I lose some Reiatsu cultivation, I will search as much as I can. Lady Nel is very important to the King. Even if I can’t find Lady Nel, I must find information related to her.”

“Ah...” Jekain gazed into the distance. “Then go and do it. For our King.”

“For our King!”

......

On the other side, in the Seireitei, inside the 12th Division’s monitoring room.

“Akon, Third Seat, I’ve got some freshly made dorayaki here. Do you want some?” A chubby team member held up a plate of freshly prepared snacks and asked Akon, who was staring intently at the monitoring screen.

“Work seriously.” Akon’s expression remained unchanged, but his brows were tightly furrowed. He said with a straight face, “The Captain has ordered us to keep monitoring Hueco Mundo continuously. We must dig out that disappeared guy, even if we have to unearth him.”

“It’s already been over a year now.” The team member tossed a dorayaki into his mouth, then spoke unclearly while exhaling hot air. “If Hinamori were still alive, our search and rescue team would have found him long ago. Besides, Hueco Mundo is so huge, how are we supposed to find him? Even that guy’s Reiatsu marker has disappeared.” Over this past year and more, the 12th Division had taken turns monitoring Hueco Mundo’s surveillance screens. Any Reiatsu fluctuation different from that of Hollow Beasts would immediately trigger a notification to the 5th Division, 10th Division, and 11th Division to dispatch personnel for search and rescue. But the results always ended in failure. What they found were either some strange Hollow Beasts, or some souls that had just entered Hueco Mundo and hadn’t yet begun to transform, thus emitting abnormal fluctuations.

“The Captain firmly believes that kid wouldn’t just die like that.” Akon continued to stare at the screen. “As long as the Captain believes it, we have to keep searching.”

“Come on, come on... a few minutes to eat a snack won’t matter.” The chubby team member waved his hand and brought the dorayaki in front of Akon. “Here, have one. After all, the brain needs sugar to function.”

“We are Soul Reapers. The brain functions on Reiatsu.” Akon let out a long sigh. “Fine, just one. It’ll be time to change shifts soon anyway.” After a full day of intense work, even an elite like Akon would feel exhausted. He relaxed his body slightly, preparing to take the snack offered by the team member.

Beep beep beep!

Suddenly, a piercing alarm sounded, and the entire monitoring room was instantly bathed in warning red.

“Abnormal Reiatsu fluctuation detected!” Akon leaned forward, immediately searching for the location of the abnormal Reiatsu fluctuation. The plate of dorayaki in front of him was even knocked aside and shattered by his movement.

“It’s a Garganta! A Hollow Beast attack. Coordinates are... outside the Seireitei, in the wasteland of West Rukongai! Immediately notify members of the 9th Division, 10th Division, and 11th Division to deploy!”

“Yes!” Within a few brief seconds, the 12th Division immediately began bustling with activity.

“How could a Garganta suddenly open in the Soul Society? Are Hollow Beasts counter-attacking the Soul Society?” Akon hurriedly manipulated the surveillance systems near the area where the Garganta had opened. On the screen, a Garganta over twice a person’s height ripped open in the air with a boom, and a slender figure flew out from inside at high speed, escaping the surveillance view. But just a fraction of a second was enough for Akon to capture it.

“Confirmed, it’s a Hollow. Reiatsu level... mid-tier Adjuchas-class! Notify the captains of the 9th, 10th, and 11th Divisions to handle it!” Akon tensed up immediately. A mid-tier Adjuchas was a Hollow Beast with strength comparable to a captain-class. Why would a Hollow Beast of this level appear alone in the Soul Society? Was it a conspiracy or something else?

And just as Akon was preparing to go report to Mayuri Kurotsuchi, inside the Garganta, he saw a black shadow. The instant he saw that black shadow, Akon’s eyes suddenly widened.

“Th-this, this is...”

➤ Next: Return to Soul Society