Chapter 143

"I don't just know Las Noches—I know you have the Espada, right?" Kuchiki Senya smiled faintly.

The Arrancar froze, shaking its head. "No, there were originally ten Espada, but now there are three more."

Now it was Kuchiki Senya's turn to frown. He knew the timeline had shifted—this place must differ from before—but he hadn't expected it to differ this much.

He thought carefully: he knew all ten Espada, and at most one more—the one who switched from No. 10 to No. 0, Yammy.

"By the way, what rank is Nelliel?" Kuchiki Senya asked.

"Nelliel? You mean my lord Neliel Tu Oderschvank? How bold—you dare speak her name directly!" The Arrancar stared at Kuchiki Senya in shock.

No one dares speak the names of those lords lightly—if other Hollows hear it, they'll be eliminated.

"That lord is the Third Espada. The three added later are my lord Tiara Hiyori, my lord Luppi Antenor, and the group called Picaros." The Arrancar continued.

Kuchiki Senya raised an eyebrow—he understood now. The Espada hadn't been fully transformed by Aizen yet, so no stronger Espada had risen to replace them; that's why there were extra ones.

"Still, the Espada are always the Espada—their power can't be underestimated," Kuchiki Senya narrowed his eyes.

He then asked: "Who currently leads Las Noches?"

The Arrancar immediately lowered its voice, tense. "Don't speak of it—if the lord from beyond the heavens hears, we'll be killed!"

Kuchiki Senya gazed at him coolly. "If there truly is a lord from beyond the heavens, he should have come to eliminate me by now."

The Arrancar was dumbfounded, scratching its head. "All I can tell you is—he's not a Hollow. He's human."

Kuchiki Senya narrowed his eyes. Human?

How could an ordinary human lead the entire Hueco Mundo?

Only one possibility remained: a former general of Yhwach!

Only a Quincy—pure-blooded—could possess such terrifying, overwhelming power from the start!

"How do I get inside?" Kuchiki Senya asked the Arrancar before him.

The other paused, then shook its head. "Don't even think about it. You've reached your limit here. Go further, and you'll encounter patrols of the Arrancar legion."

Kuchiki Senya's expression remained calm. This Hollow actually had the potential to become an Arrancar itself—but unfortunately it lacked killing intent, seeming too docile; otherwise, it might have already become one.

"Draw me a map of your territory," Kuchiki Senya pointed to the sand on the ground.

The Arrancar looked embarrassed. "If I help you, I'll be a traitor."

It truly feared this outcome—that's why it didn't want to help. But now, whether it helped or not, the choice was no longer its own.

Kuchiki Senya gazed at him coolly. "I give you one chance: either I kill you and erase your soul, or you tell me—and then you can report to your superiors that you tried your best to stop me."

"That way, you might still gain some favor from them. Isn't that the best outcome?" Kuchiki Senya asked, his tone calm.

But the Arrancar looked awkward. "No—I can't do this. I can't bring myself to it."

"Though I've evolved into an Arrancar, I truly don't know why I'm like this—I have no great power, no Cero, not even a single Hollow ability." The Arrancar now sounded defeated.

Kuchiki Senya's expression turned strange. Logically, Hollows have no hearts—they retain only bestial instincts.

Even if evolved into Vasto Lorde, they remain nothing but Hollows filled with savagery; their bloodlust never changes—it can never vanish.

Hearing this, Kuchiki Senya thought for a moment and decided not to press further.

"I won't kill you—but you must tell me what I want to know. If you're not afraid of death, why fear being hunted? Tell me, and you might die faster." Kuchiki Senya sneered.

The Arrancar looked awkwardly at Kuchiki Senya. "My lord, I'm not afraid of death—but I never said I wanted to seek it…"

His words made sense, but Kuchiki Senya couldn't afford to stall.

"Last chance. If you don't tell me honestly, I'll go hunt down your subordinates—the mindless Gillians. Their deaths won't matter much, will they?"

Kuchiki Senya grinned wickedly, making the Arrancar sense impending doom.

091, Strange Arrancar, Advance Again!

Kuchiki Senya's words left the Arrancar torn.

Though it still bore the face of a Hollow, Kuchiki Senya saw its distress and helplessness in its eyes.

"Well? Think it over?" Kuchiki Senya raised an eyebrow.

The Arrancar grimaced—Kuchiki Senya fancied he saw sweat beading on its brow.

But this Arrancar was a Hollow, composed of reishi; the entire Hueco Mundo was made of reishi, just like the Soul Society—meaning they could not possess human-like bodies.

"Ten seconds left. Make no decision, and I'll do as the Arrancar do—open slaughter." Kuchiki Senya sneered.

This goaded the Arrancar. It glared. "Then what's the difference between you and them? Why should I help you?"

"Then tell me what I want to know before I act," Kuchiki Senya raised an eyebrow.

The Arrancar hesitated—should he tell him?

"How can I trust you?" it asked uncertainly, staring at Kuchiki Senya.

"You have no choice," Kuchiki Senya said coldly.

Instantly, Kuchiki Senya raised Tanduan Xiangwan, the long zanpakutō glowing with faint light.

He twisted the hilt—a flash of cold light appeared before the Arrancar.

"Tanduan Xiangwan—Cut!" Kuchiki Senya spoke calmly.

Instantly, blinding light erupted from Tanduan Xiangwan, saturated with boundless Shinigami power.

The Arrancar finally saw Kuchiki Senya's true strength. Previously, it had only thought of fleeing for help, assuming Kuchiki Senya was merely too strong for it to handle.

Now it knew—it was wildly wrong. Kuchiki Senya had merely released his zanpakutō, and already it couldn't move.

If he had used Bankai, it would have already vaporized.

"Boom!" A pillar of light shot into the sky.

The sky of Hueco Mundo was fake—above it lay another layer, where true darkness reigned, and any living thing within would go mad.

A massive tear appeared in the sky. The department maintaining Hueco Mundo's safety immediately detected a cataclysmic breach in a void thousands of miles away…

"I'll draw you the map—just spare us!" the Arrancar before Kuchiki Senya hurriedly said.

It crouched down, using its finger to trace a map in the sand—including the thirteen territories it had mentioned earlier.

The current Hueco Mundo, because of the altered timeline, has already taken on a completely different appearance.

The Espada, along with the newly added Tercera Espada, all have their own territories rather than gathering at Las Noches to speak with Aizen directly.

They control their respective territories, and they themselves are the upholders of order—anything that happens within their lands, they will know about it.

For example, which new Gillian has been added, or who has evolved into an Adjuchas.

And within those territories there are also many insurgent organizations—organized, premeditated, an entire collective.

But within Hueco Mundo, slaughter is the absolute method; they revel in killing, immerse themselves in killing, devour one another, so here, it is very hard for any civilization like that of humans or Soul Society to arise.

As for the places outside the Espada's territories, those are the outposts—the outposts mark the entry into true Hueco Mundo, a forest of Hueco Mundo made up of countless Gillian; if any foreign species intrudes, they will use Cero to teach them to start over.

"So your Null Zone is actually a place of exile? No one comes here at all, right?" Kuchiki Senya asked the Adjuchas before him, his expression strange.

"Ha, pretty much. My evolving into an Adjuchas was supposed to be a good thing, but I forgot how I evolved, and I was worried the Arrancar lords would come after me, so I could only pretend to be very powerful."

"Then one day I was discovered by the Arrancar lords, but they didn't kill me—just said they wanted me to grow again through killing, to awaken my potential, but I knew I had no potential at all…" the Adjuchas continued.

Kuchiki Senya looked at him with a strange expression. No wonder this fellow had shown up here, and knew so much.

He had been wondering why he had barely walked any distance before running into an Adjuchas—the whole thing had seemed unreasonable, but now, hearing the explanation, it was slightly more reasonable.

"How long is the outpost from here?" Kuchiki Senya asked.

"About two days, I guess, because I walk slowly. Of course, I'd also suggest you just run on foot—the reishi composition of Hueco Mundo isn't the same as yours in Soul Society." The Adjuchas said, looking at Kuchiki Senya.

"Mm?" Kuchiki Senya glanced at him.

The Adjuchas realized he had misspoken; after a moment's hesitation he said: "The reishi here can't be used by you to replenish yourself, so you can only recover through your own strength, but as long as we aren't dead, we can draw on the surrounding reishi at any time."

"Our spiritual pressure recovery speed and physical recovery speed far surpass yours; some Espada lords have even comprehended High-Speed Regeneration, and the spiritual pressure you expend here will be more than double what it is in the real world, more than quadruple what it is in Soul Society."

The Adjuchas's words, though, served as a thorough wake-up call for Kuchiki Senya.

He had indeed been a bit careless before; now it seemed he really ought to be more cautious—after all, no matter how strong he was, he could never be a match for every Espada member plus their subordinates.

Let alone him—even Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni wouldn't dare claim he could certainly do it.

Although the Captain-Commander is the strongest Shinigami in a thousand years, those Espada are no ordinary Hollows—they are Hollows who possess the power of Shinigami, and the abilities they have evolved are stranger than anyone could imagine.

"Using a little spiritual pressure probably won't be too much, right?" Kuchiki Senya gathered spiritual pressure in his feet, then grabbed the Adjuchas before him and set off together.

The Adjuchas being grabbed didn't even have time to react before the entire void began to warp; he was dragged by Kuchiki Senya for a long stretch.

"My head's about to fall off…" he wailed helplessly.

Kuchiki Senya paid him no heed, and pressed on ahead in one go for a great distance, only stopping after the sky began to change.

"What's going on? A sandstorm? Your Hueco Mundo even has this kind of weather?" Kuchiki Senya asked, looking with a strange expression at the Adjuchas who was already foaming at the mouth.

The other's eyes were nearly popping out, and in the end he pressed them back in himself with a reverse grip.

092. A Garganta appears, the reishi form changes!

"This isn't a sandstorm—the sandstorm you mentioned only exists in the real world; this thing is called a Garganta."

The Adjuchas, tossed aside by Kuchiki Senya, said.