"Ceasefire?"
Upon hearing this, Yoriichi's brows furrowed slightly.
His gaze was like a torch, fixed intently on the two, carefully observing every minute detail.
In the blink of an eye, an extreme sense of danger, like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, suddenly coiled around his heart.
The surrounding air seemed instantly encased in ice, sending a slight chill down his spine.
This sense of danger was so intense that he hadn't even felt it when he encountered Szayelaporro...
It was as if it were a crushing blow at the very level of existence...
—Something isn't right.
Yoriichi's brows were tightly knit, his thoughts surging like a turbulent tide.
He stood there quietly, without making any moves.
Seeing this, Coyote Starrk nodded lightly, a relaxed smile curving his lips:
"Very good, just like that, don't move. I really dislike fighting. I won't make a move unless necessary, because..."
"Death can be said to be the most superfluous thing in this world."
"Shinigami, what is your name?"
He asked softly, his posture devoid of any hostility, which was fundamentally different from Lilynette's stern gaze.
Yoriichi exhaled slightly, pondered for a long time, then slowly said, "Tsugikuni Yoriichi."
"Tsugikuni Yoriichi? A good name." Coyote Starrk smiled.
From his smile, Yoriichi could see the genuine sincerity of his emotions.
—Is he another special Hollow?
No... to be precise.
He's a person who closely resembles a Hollow.
Yoriichi had never seen a Hollow treat a Shinigami with such an attitude.
Even Harribel, when facing him, would generate some degree of hostility, whether slight or significant, due to their respective identities; it was ingrained in their very being.
However, the Hollow before him did not...
At this moment, Starrk continued:
"Let me introduce myself, my name is Coyote Starrk."
"This is Lilynette Gingerbuck."
He pointed to the girl beside him, paused, and then raised his eyes.
"Before we formally converse, I'd like to ask you, do we have any animosity between us?"
"No."
"Then... between you and those Vasto Lorde, is there any animosity?"
"Yes, or no..." Yoriichi looked up, "They have eaten Shinigami."
"That's all."
Hearing this answer, Coyote Starrk understood: "I see."
He nodded, stating as a matter of course:
"Because they ate your comrades, you're going to kill them, is that right?"
"Correct."
...But that raises a problem," Starrk immediately continued.
"Suppose there's a Hollow that has never eaten a Shinigami, would you still treat them this way?"
"It depends on the situation." Yoriichi replied, his voice steady, "The one beside you... Lilynette Gingerbuck also said that we are natural enemies."
"I believe there are Hollows who have never eaten Shinigami, but I don't believe there will be a Hollow who never eats souls in their entire life."
"Protecting those souls is our duty as Shinigami."
"Hmm." Starrk nodded lightly, "Well said, young Tsugikuni. I believe in your professional integrity, however..."
"The souls you refer to should be human, or Shinigami souls, right?"
"This is Hueco Mundo, and besides you, there's nothing else of that kind here, so I don't think we should be opponents."
"Although slaying us helps the stability of Soul Society, the Three Realms have developed this way for millions of years."
"Letting it continue to take its natural course is not a bad thing."
"What do you say?"
Clearing his throat, before Tsugikuni Yoriichi could answer, Coyote Starrk continued:
"Your entry into Hueco Mundo must be a mission assigned by Soul Society, right?"
"If we are willing to help you complete your mission..."
"Hey! Hey!" The more she listened, the more something felt off, and Lilynette quickly interrupted.
Her lips twitched, growing more speechless, and she exclaimed loudly:
"Starrk, what are you saying? Help him complete his mission? Are you crazy?!"
"We are Hollows!"
"What's wrong with being a Hollow?" Coyote Starrk countered with a smile.
"Without any conflict of interest, can't Hollows and Shinigami be friends?"
"This is the first time I've seen a Shinigami, the first time I've seen a being unaffected by my spiritual pressure."
"My intuition tells me he's very strong, and also, his personality is like mine, he dislikes trouble..."
"His current actions must be forced by external pressure, right?"
"Isn't that right, young Tsugikuni?"
After speaking, he added a sentence.
"My intuition has never been wrong."
Indeed.
Yoriichi remained silent.
He increasingly felt that the Hollow before him was truly human.
If all Hollows were like him, why couldn't the relationship between Shinigami and Hollows improve?
The million-year-long feud between the two sides will probably slowly resolve.
Unfortunately...
Hollows like him were ultimately a minority.
He silently exhaled.
Yoriichi could not sense any hostility in the air. His hand, tightly gripping the hilt of his sword, slowly relaxed, and he raised his eyes, his voice slow:
"Correct."
"Due to some special reasons, I need to kill two hundred Adjuchas, or twenty Vasto Lorde in Hueco Mundo to leave."
"Two hundred?" Coyote Starrk was slightly taken aback.
Not because the number was too high, but because it was too low.
Subconsciously, he looked at the twenty-meter-high mountain of white bones beside him.
Among the countless white bones, nearly a hundred Adjuchas skulls could be vaguely seen.
To this gaze, Grimmjow, who was sprawled on the bones, bared his teeth:
"I'm not afraid of you!"
"Vasto Lorde!"
"Want to fight?"
"..."
Ignoring Grimmjow's provocative tone, Starrk shook his head slightly.
He looked sideways at Tsugikuni Yoriichi, his tone a little wistful:
"Young Tsugikuni, I'm not entirely sure how you in Soul Society view Hueco Mundo, perhaps you think that Adjuchas are few and far between within Hueco Mundo."
"But what I want to tell you is that since the birth of Hueco Mundo, over the long years, the number of Adjuchas, like Gillian, is almost immeasurable."
"It's just that because they are scattered throughout the boundless Hueco Mundo, they seem particularly rare."
"Two hundred... Honestly, for strong beings like us, that's really an underestimate."
He once accidentally killed hundreds of Adjuchas due to his overwhelming spiritual pressure, the piled-up corpses were as high as three mountains.
It was precisely because of this that he connected the dots here.
He slowly said:
"If it's just two hundred, I can tell you a location. There are Hollows there who once bore sins."
"Approximately one hundred and fifty Adjuchas..."
"Of course, this information is not free."
"Let's agree beforehand, once your mission is complete, you must leave here immediately and return to Soul Society."
"As the first Shinigami I've ever met."
"Tsugikuni Yoriichi..."
"I'll remember you. I hope we can meet again in the future."
"I look forward to that day."