Chapter 54: Huangmu: Decided! The Next Captain, Lanran, It

Everyone says that monks never utter falsehoods…

Military Chief Department Yibingwei calls himself a 'monk', and the title the Spirit King bestowed on him is also 'monk', yet he is full of falsehoods; according to Yibingwei, he cultivates mind and nature, everything follows his heart, so it isn't considered lying.

"Leaving."

Wang Yue heard that and nodded at the monk.

"Huh…"

"That 'Plague God' finally left! If he had stayed in Zero Squad, I'd have been doomed! I'd probably have to spend my whole life serving the Spirit King inside the Spirit King's Great Inner Palace."

The monk said this while wiping the cold sweat that had appeared on his forehead.

"You already calculated that Huangmu would return to the Soul Society, right?"

Wang Yue asked the monk.

"Of course…" the monk said without confirming, and added, "In fact, Huangmu had long foreseen the price he would pay."

"What exactly are you planning?!"

Wang Yue was truly bewildered at that moment.

"There's no real plan…" the monk first shook his head, then explained, "Wang Yue, didn't I already tell you? Youha will inevitably make a comeback, so we must be fully prepared. Huangmu is the preparation we're sending out! As for how Huangmu will deal with the inevitable return of 'Youhabah' and 'the unavoidable', even I cannot predict."

"Forget it! I'm just a 'blacksmith'; I can't understand your kind of thinking…"

Wang Yue didn't want to keep pondering the mutual scheming between the monk and Huangmu; he was just a 'blacksmith' who couldn't handle these conspiracies.

"Come to think of it, since Huangmu's body has completely transformed into a 'Royal Key', shouldn't his separate palace also be created now?!"

Then Wang Yue seemed to think of something and asked the monk.

"Huangmu's separate palace isn't already built? Wang Yue, take a good look around you!"

The monk's eyes grew serious as he heard that, and he spoke to Wang Yue.

"When… was this built?!"

Wang Yue turned his head and saw that, at some point, the two separate palaces that had been on the Spirit King's Palace's front avenue had become three! The third, of course, belonged to Huangmu. That palace was entirely forged from crystal, and although Wang Yue couldn't discern what lay on it, he could see one radiant glow after another.

"At the moment Huangmu metamorphosed, this thing was already completed!"

The monk gazed at the palace before him, his eyes tinged with a hint of awe.

"Compared with us, Huangmu remains the special one! Wang Yue, you should know that each member of our Zero Squad has a separate palace that serves as that member's 'heart'; as long as the palace remains intact, our lifeblood can keep beating forever, granting us endless resurrection."

"But Huangmu's palace is more than that; the palace and Huangmu are each other's half. As long as Huangmu lives, the palace cannot be destroyed, and if the palace cannot be destroyed, Huangmu will never die! Thus separating Huangmu from his palace is the best choice…"

The monk looked at Huangmu's crystal‑forged palace and spoke to Wang Yue beside him.

"What? That's truly… astonishing."

Wang Yue's forehead broke out in a cold sweat, clearly shocked by the power of Huangmu's palace.

"Then, what magnitude of change can Huangmu bring to the Three Realms? Let us quietly watch and wait!"

The monk said that, turned around, and strode away.

"Military Chief Department, where are you going?"

Wang Yue looked at the departing Military Chief Department and asked in confusion.

After all, the one who should really be leaving is him, the two‑house Wang Yue; this is the Military Chief Department's separate palace.

"Didn't I already promise that kid Huangmu I'd go 'serve' the Spirit King?"

"No matter what, I have to put on a show inside the Spirit King's Great Inner Palace for a few days before…"

The monk said that and left carefree.

"Honestly…"

Wang Yue watched the monk's departing figure, at a loss for words.

"Alas! Forget it! Forget it!"

He first glanced at the monk, then at the descending Heavenly Pillar Palanquin, and finally Wang Yue let out a long sigh and walked toward his own separate palace.

Meanwhile, inside the Zero Squad's exclusive vehicle, the Heavenly Pillar Palanquin.

Huangmu opened his mission interface.

【Urgent Mission: Collect the scattered Spirit King Fragments across the Three Realms!】

【Reward: Power of the Spirit King!】

【Main Quest: Gather the scattered Spirit King Fragments across the Three Realms and restore the incomplete Spirit King within the Spirit King's Great Inner Palace.】

【Reward:???】

Currently, Huangmu has three main quests.

The first main quest is from the perspective of Gotei 13, requiring travel to Gotei 13 for a post. Huangmu is halfway done; he already holds a position in Gotei 13. After taking that post, Huangmu will naturally face the choice of either eliminating 'Youhabah!' or being eliminated by Youhabah.

The second main quest, from the viewpoint of Youhabah and the many Eradicator masters loyal to him, requires eradicating all traitors in the Soul Society who betrayed the Spirit King, and then 'destroy' and 'absorb' the Spirit King sealed within a crystal—crafted as a stabilizing 'wedge' for the Three Realms—so that the Three Realms revert to an undivided era, creating a world without 'life' or 'death'!

The third main quest follows what Military Chief Department Yibingwei described: retrieve all the Spirit King's fragments lost across the Three Realms, and using Huangmu's ability, fully restore the Spirit King's missing organs and limbs.

In Huangmu's view, the common thread of these three quests is that each will bring peace to the world, including the second main quest that aids Youhabah; as long as all enemies are wiped out, peace will naturally follow.

At present, Huangmu thinks the first main quest is the safest; it's basically just following the original story carefully. The end result would simply be Youhabah eliminated, with the Spirit King replaced by a new 'wedge' that maintains the Three Realms… Of course, there's also the chance that Huangmu crashes and ends up being turned by the monk into the Three Realms' 'wedge', since Huangmu now also has the potential to replace the Spirit King.

The most treacherous is the second; once Youhabah fully becomes the unifying presence of the Three Realms, Huangmu would likely already be the 'foundation of peace', which is absolutely unacceptable to Huangmu.

The hardest for Huangmu to decide is the third. The Spirit King became what he is now because the founders of the five great noble houses feared his power, dreading that the Spirit King might resurrect through their own strength. If Huangmu truly helps the Spirit King restore all missing organs and limbs, the Spirit King might indeed resurrect, and Huangmu can't imagine what changes that would bring to the world…

In sum, Huangmu doesn't want to choose any of these main quests!

Yes, even the first main quest—Huangmu doesn't want to pick any…

The first main quest, even if Huangmu eventually defeats Yamamoto Motoyasu and inherits the captaincy of Gotei 13 from Yamamoto, the Jorei Court he protects is merely trash corrupted by a bunch of incompetent nobles; the filth in Central Room 46 is so disgusting that just a glance makes Huangmu feel nauseous.

Huangmu could replace Motoyasu in guarding the Jorei Court, but he doesn't want to guard Central Room 46 or the Jorei Court controlled by the great nobles; even if he were to guard it, it would only be his own Jorei Court.

Moreover, Huangmu now possesses the power of the Royal Key, equivalent to that of a Zero Squad member; if Youhabah makes a comeback, he can't even run away, and Youhabah, wanting to go to the Spirit King's Palace, will definitely plot against his body—simply put, these villains all covet Huangmu's 'body'.

Summing up, Huangmu gradually formed a thought: "How about we let Lanran Souyusuke become the captain of Gotei 13?!"

Whether it's wiping out the Soul Society's incompetent aristocracy, or taking down Yhwach, for Haruki it's all too troublesome; he can't be bothered to devise these plans! But the vast Soul Society isn't the only one with such thoughts—for example, a certain someone who likes to stand in the sky with hair gel shares some of Haruki's ideas.

In that case, Haruki only needs to have Aizen around for food and lodging, and with Aizen's incredibly sharp sword, it's enough to kill those rebel forces!

Many years later……

When Aizen Sosuke, brimming with confidence, wielded a Mirror Flower Water Moon to toy with the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, making them spin around, and schemed to obtain Kisuke Urahara's half of the Collapsing Jade, preparing to fully defect from the Soul Society using the Great Hollow's anti-membrane thread…

The current captain-commander of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, famed as 'the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society history,' Haruki, patted his shoulder and said: 'Sosuke, if you reckon it carefully, I've been holding down the Pure Spirit Court for a thousand years! Now I'm old and feel my strength waning! This new position as captain-commander of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads is yours! Young people having ideas is good; you want to do something, don't hold back—go ahead and do it boldly!'

What?!

Upon hearing that, Aizen truly wavered; his pupils contracted sharply as he wondered inwardly: 'Could I have fallen victim to my own Mirror Flower Water Moon? Or did I just hallucinate? Is this something the captain-commander Haruki could say to me?!'

However, for me who now possesses the Collapsing Jade, the position of captain-commander of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads means little!

After Aizen's brief waver, gripping the Collapsing Jade, he felt sufficient confidence.

Regarding that, Haruki looked at Aizen and laughed: 'Sosuke, when did you get the illusion that your Soul-Cutting Sword is the Mirror Flower Water Moon?! Or do you think that relying on the half of the Collapsing Jade you obtained from Urahara, and that group of weak, infant-like evil spirits you've raised in the Hollow Circle over these years, you could defeat me?!'

Aizen: 'What?!'

These two chapters lay some groundwork and also advance the main plot—Yhwach must be made into a 'wedge'! A Yhwach who isn't a wedge isn't a good Yhwach! The nobility of the Pure Spirit Court who just loaf around also deserve to die!! I want to see rivers of blood!! Well, also please vote for waves!!

(End of chapter)