join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr
Inside a cave in the Forest of Menos.
"Sorry, I thought you wouldn't come to Hueco Mundo again, so I hid Picaro here."
Tier Harribel looked at the Picaro running and playing freely in the spacious cave and said, "Picaro's personality is no different from that of a child. They even once opened a Black Portal to the Soul Society just to play. Fortunately, they were discovered and stopped in time… But because of this, Aizen…"
Tier Harribel paused, glanced at Ganju, who was surrounded by a group of Picaro, and lowered her voice, "That adult believed he wasn't suitable for an Espada position, so he eliminated him from the Espada and ordered Rudbornn, who is stationed outside Las Noches and has no weaknesses except water, to imprison them in a perpetual sandstorm."
"And the reason they're here is because during an experiment with a Zanpakuto, I accidentally released them, and as a result, they latched onto me…"
As Tier Harribel spoke, she seemed to recall an unpleasant memory, her expression subtly turning grim: "Finally, I couldn't shake them off, so I had no choice but to run to the Outer Circle, far from Las Noches, and then came to this cave that can conceal Reiatsu. I then entered my Second Release Form, which finally subdued them."
"It's just that… after that, they preferred to cling to me even more. Plus, they saw my Second Release Form, so I kept them here and publicly claimed that I had killed Picaro."
"This matter didn't arouse much suspicion because Picaro are somewhat special. Although each of them possesses their own individuality and thoughts, their lives are shared."
"As long as one of them is on the verge of death, the others will share a minute amount of Reiatsu."
"And this method of Reiatsu transmission is an 'inaudible sound.' In other words, they exchange Reiatsu through an internal communication mechanism that allows them to connect with each other, no matter the distance."
"This ability to exchange Reiatsu using 'sound' can also be applied to attacks."
"Just 10 or 20 of them aren't so bad, but if you gather 100 or even more Reiatsu, its destructive power would rank among the top even among the current Espada. Fortunately, my Second Release Form's ability just happens to counter them."
"However, if one can completely eliminate some individuals before they gather strength, or through attrition, they can be defeated one by one. Coupled with the fact that they were eliminated from the Espada, it didn't cause much of a stir."
Ishikawa didn't interrupt. Only after Tier Harribel finished speaking did he nod and say, "They are indeed very special." Then, he frowned as he looked at the Picaro clinging to Ganju, feeling a bit helpless.
Why…
Does he always get involved with troublesome children?
Because of Zanpakuto, Ishikawa now has absolutely no fondness for troublesome children.
Tier Harribel looked at Ishikawa's expression and said, "These children's personalities are too innocent; they don't know anything about keeping secrets, so I haven't told them about your existence."
"However, I will strictly warn them later not to reveal your name and identity."
"Don't worry, I still like children very much."
Ishikawa smiled slightly at her words, but felt even more helpless inside.
As for feeling at ease, he certainly couldn't be at ease. After all, even Aizen imprisoned these little brats because he didn't trust them.
The best method would naturally be to follow Aizen's example, or simply eliminate them.
But looking at Tier Harribel, she clearly liked these Picaro very much; otherwise, she wouldn't have kept them after defeating them and secretly raised and cared for them here.
And Ishikawa holds the same attitude towards anyone who has a full friendship approval rating with him.
It's still the same principle Ishikawa has always upheld: to gain true sincerity, you must give true sincerity.
Although even now, Ishikawa doesn't truly understand what 'sincerity' is, depending on the other party's favorability, Ishikawa is fully willing to take risks for them and do everything in his power to help them.
Therefore…
Unless absolutely necessary, Ishikawa would never use methods that went against Tier Harribel's wishes.
However, speaking of which.
Ishikawa looked at the dozens of little lolis among the hundreds of Arrancar resembling human children, his expression somewhat strange.
It… they…
Hmm…
Are they a collective or individuals?
If it's a collective, is it feminine or masculine?
If they are individuals, then can each little girl Arrancar provide him with favorability?
Thinking of this, Ishikawa rummaged through his black work clothes. Because he habitually fed Yachiru, all the pockets of his black work clothes were filled with candy. Now, they could finally come in handy.
Ishikawa waved at a black-haired little girl with pigtails who was closest to him.
The little girl, seeing this, wasn't shy at all and skipped over.
Seeing this, Ishikawa's face immediately showed a gentle, soft smile—not too shallow, not too deep, but giving a feeling like a spring breeze caressing one's face. The little girl, who had never been treated with such tenderness, was slightly stunned, and a blush appeared on her small face.
"Ishikawa-nii has delicious candy here. Would you like to try some?"
Ishikawa took out a candy from his pocket, peeled off the wrapper, and brought it to the little girl's mouth. The little girl instinctively opened her mouth and took the candy.
"Hmm?"
The next second, the little girl's eyes lit up, and she mumbled indistinctly, "So… so delicious, this taste… Mmm…"
"It's sweet. This is called Konpeito. It's made from rock candy and wheat flour, or rock candy and glutinous rice flour."
[Picaro favorability +9, gained 360 experience points. Current favorability: 9]
Looking at the system prompt in his mind, Ishikawa's eyes lit up.
Just then, the Picaro who had been playing with Ganju all turned to look at Ishikawa.
"Sweet?"
"I know sweet!"
"I want some too, I want some too."
…
Amidst the clamor, one Picaro after another gathered towards Ishikawa.
Ganju, left behind, breathed a sigh of relief and quickly hid to the side. He was truly wary of these little guys now.
Don't let their small size fool you; each of them possesses astonishing strength. In just this short while, they had torn his clothes to shreds. And what made Ganju feel most miserable was…
He actually couldn't beat these brats… No, it's not that he couldn't beat them; one or two were fine, but several attacking at once left him completely defenseless.
Ishikawa, with a wide smile, began to distribute candy, saying, "Don't push, everyone line up. I have a lot of candy here, enough for two pieces each. Whoever behaves, if there's any left after I'm done, I'll reward it to them."
In Rukongai, he had cared for no less than eight hundred orphans, so he was quite experienced in caring for children and knew how to gain their favorability.
It's just that…
[Picaro favorability +3, gained 60 experience points. Current favorability: 3]
[Picaro favorability +5, gained 400 experience points. Current favorability: 5]
[Picaro favorability +9, gained 180 experience points. Current favorability: 9]
…
The system prompts in his mind were densely packed with Picaro, and the strength of each individual varied.
Some had strength equivalent to a regular Squad Member of the Gotei 13, some equivalent to a Low Level Seated Officer, and some equivalent to a High Level Seated Officer…
From the system prompts alone, it was impossible to tell which one had higher favorability towards him.
"Do you have your own names?"
"Yes, yes, I'm Picaro."
"Right, I'm Picaro."
"I'm Picaro too."
…
The smile on Ishikawa's face was a bit stiff. After a long pause, he tentatively said, "Then, Ishikawa-nii, can I give you a nickname in addition to your given name?"
Ishikawa finished speaking, then added, "A nickname is what family and friends call each other. It's a name only the closest people can use."
"A name only the closest people can use?"
"So, only Tier Harribel-nee can call us that?"
"Ishikawa-nii can call us too! Didn't he just say he's our closest friend?"
"Okay, okay, I want Ishikawa-nii to call me by my nickname."
"But I still like the name Picaro."
"You're silly! They said Picaro is our given name, and a nickname is what family and friends call each other."
"What are family and friends? Can you eat them?"
…
Ishikawa watched the endlessly arguing Picaro, neither impatient nor annoyed. Instead, he patiently began to teach them various common sense facts.
Troublesome children are indeed annoying, but cute children who can provide him with experience points are certainly not troublesome children.
Moreover, as they continued to converse, Ishikawa discovered that these children were completely unlike Hollows; their innocence was unbelievably pure.
In their minds, they didn't even consider Shinigami enemies. Their world only had two types of people:
One type was good people. Tier Harribel was a good person in their eyes, a good person they would not harm.
The other type was bad people, who could play with them, fight with them, and it didn't matter if they were killed.
Such pure innocence, paradoxically, instilled fear.
Because their definitions of good and bad people were based entirely on personal viewpoint, not on the other party's actions or conduct.
In a sense, they were dangerous without realizing it, and also uncontrollable.
And most importantly…
They were clearly a single entity, yet individuals within it would quarrel, make different decisions, divide into different factions, and even exclude and oppose each other, lacking any of the tacit understanding typical of a shared life form… This greatly limited the full expression of their true power.
No wonder Aizen chose to give up on further cultivating them.
However, after Tier Harribel explained Picaro's origins to him, Ishikawa also understood why Picaro had become the way they were.
Picaro was originally an Adjuchas-level Menos Grande.
Long ago, a certain tribe suddenly lost the adults who protected their children, causing a group of children to starve to death without assistance.
After they became Earthbound Spirits, no Shinigami performed soul burial for them.
The accumulated time carved a large hole in their chests, and they became Hollows, reborn in other places, and returned to the place where they died out of instinctive emptiness.
It should have been a joyful occasion for these children, now turned Hollows, to reunite. But the emptiness of Hollows led these children, who had played together in life, to devour each other.
The remaining Hollow, perhaps having had its emptiness filled, or for some other reason, somehow regained a portion of its sanity.
But this sanity was worse than having none, because it caused him to completely break down.
This Hollow, with a boy's appearance, born through a special method, special experience, and in a special environment, began to wander between Hueco Mundo and the Human World, searching for the friends he had eaten with a heart both sorrowful and comical.
He became a Menos Grande, and successfully evolved from a Low Level Menos Grande to a Middle Level Menos Grande, an Adjuchas.
After becoming an Adjuchas, he regained his sanity and began to search for Earthbound Spirit children who shared his past plight and were about to Hollowfy. He wanted to be friends with them and extended a helping hand.
And after those Earthbound Spirit children Hollowfied, to fill their hunger, this boy, a Middle Level Menos Grande, shared his own flesh with them.
He firmly believed that if they could forget hunger, they wouldn't quarrel anymore.
Because this Middle Level Menos Grande boy offered his own flesh and bone to feed other Hollows, he, who should have had extremely high potential, was unable to break through Adjuchas and become a High Level Menos Grande, a Vasto Lorde.
But this behavior yielded unexpected results. After eating the flesh and blood of the Adjuchas, this group of Hollows gradually transformed and began to possess the same abilities as the Adjuchas boy.
As time passed, they made a name for themselves in Hueco Mundo, a very rare group of Arrancar with child-like appearances.
And the original Adjuchas, at some unknown point, disappeared.
More precisely, all Picaro are the original Adjuchas… or rather, the original Adjuchas merged into all Picaro, allowing them to collectively possess the original Adjuchas boy's inner wish…
—To have many friends.
But beyond that, each individual displayed the distinct diversity of children among themselves in various aspects.
So, in such a situation, it was difficult for them to reach a consensus: there were times when their ideas aligned, and times when they simply couldn't agree.
Their potential was extremely high; otherwise, Aizen wouldn't have elevated the group that Baraggan, the former Hollow King, kept by his side to relieve boredom, to Espada No. 2.
It could be said that with Picaro's strength, even compared to the new Espada, he could secure a top-tier position, unlike the former Tier Harribel, who was eliminated. However, it feels like the current Tier Harribel might also be eliminated soon.
From her demeanor, she no longer seemed to care about her Espada position.
Getting back to the main topic.
Looking at the group of Picaro, Ishikawa's eyes flashed with a contemplative look.
Judging from Picaro's birth experience, although they were composed of countless individuals, they must have implicitly used the 'soul core' of the same Arrancar. Ishikawa could completely reassemble their soul core with Hollow Marks, just like he did with Tier Harribel, making them more complete.
During this process, the idea of 'not revealing his identity' could be integrated into their soul core.
Of course, this idea would only serve as a reminder and would not change their own thinking.
For example, it was like someone patting them on the shoulder just as they were about to speak; if they really wanted to say something, they still would.
But for children, timely reminders are always much more effective than repeated warnings beforehand.
Moreover…
Just like the connection between him and Tier Harribel, any Arrancar whose 'soul core' was reassembled by Ishikawa would form a connection with him.
This way, he could also timely sense Picaro's current state, thereby preventing them from saying inappropriate things when encountering people they shouldn't.
However, Ishikawa was somewhat hesitant.
He wasn't like Aizen, worried about being unable to control Picaro.
Because there was a fundamental difference between Ishikawa and Aizen.
That was Ishikawa…
Never thought about controlling anything!
Whether it was Tier Harribel, or these Picaro in front of him, or even Himura, Oyama, and others in Soul Society, Ishikawa only regarded them as friends, not subordinates, so there was no talk of control.
He would ask his friends for help, but he would not order his friends to do anything.
And his friends often didn't need him to ask; when they learned that Ishikawa was in trouble, they would all step forward or silently help him from behind.
Ishikawa's hesitation was entirely because he didn't know whether he should make Picaro stronger.
Just as Ishikawa said before, being too innocent can be frightening.
While hesitating, Ishikawa continued to teach the Picaro and gave each of them a nickname.
"Your face is like a steamed bun, how about I call you Baozi from now on?"
"What is Baozi?"
"It's a kind of food, very delicious food. Next time I go to the Human World, I'll find a way to buy some and send them to you through a Black Portal."
"If you like it, then it's settled."
"You like the name Picaro… Hmm… How about Ishikawa-nii calls you Pikachu from now on? Listen… Pika, Pika, Pikachu— Isn't it interesting?"
"… …"
Ishikawa firmly remembered the physical characteristics of each Picaro and the names he gave them.
And the dense list of Picaro on the system interface also changed to their nicknames after Ishikawa gave them nicknames.
Tier Harribel watched Ishikawa quickly become familiar with the Picaro, her face full of surprise.
One must know that although Picaro liked to make friends, the Hollows they recognized as friends would basically be played with until they broke down and couldn't move.
And not like now, gathering around Ishikawa, like ordinary human children, listening to Ishikawa tell all sorts of interesting stories.
As expected of Ishikawa.
She had been very worried earlier that Ishikawa might not like these children, but now it seemed she had worried too much.
Tier Harribel, however, didn't know that if these children couldn't provide Ishikawa with experience points, even if Ishikawa didn't harm them for her sake, he would definitely not be kind to mischievous children.
"Oh, by the way, Tier Harribel, let me introduce you."
Ishikawa picked up the little girl who had climbed onto him, placed her on his lap, and pointed to Ganju in the distance: "He is…"
"I'll do it myself… I'll do it myself!!"
Ganju excitedly ran over: "This great master is Shiba Ganju, self-proclaimed 'Everything Store's Commission Clearing Expert,' self-proclaimed 'West Rukongai's Crimson Bullet,' self-…"
"You can just call him Ganju."
Ishikawa interrupted Ganju's 'self-proclaimed' introduction and asked Tier Harribel: "This time I came to Hueco Mundo, besides wanting to see you, I also wanted to settle a score with Aaroniero. Can you tell me about his current situation?"
"Hehe—"
Tier Harribel rolled her eyes at Ishikawa: "I think the latter is your main purpose for coming to Hueco Mundo, isn't it?"
"Just a side trip, a side trip…"
Ishikawa gave an awkward laugh: "Moreover, I've made some improvements in Hollow Marks, which should be of some help to you."
He wasn't lying. The soul core re-forged with Hollow Marks would naturally exhibit greater strength the longer it accumulated, somewhat similar to Zanpakuto proficiency.
Even with the same Shikai, as proficiency increased, the power it could unleash was completely different.
No matter how many people Ishikawa re-forged their soul core, setting aside the strength they could unleash, in terms of their Second Release Form, Tier Harribel would still be at the forefront.
"Aaroniero?"
The Picaro in Ishikawa's arms, whom he named 'Jasmine,' looked up: "Jasmine knows him! He's like…" Little Jasmine looked around, then pulled out an Arrancar from among the surrounding Picaro: "He's very similar to the Minion."
"Hoo hoo—"
The pulled-out Picaro was an Arrancar whose head was extremely similar to the mask inside Aaroniero's container. The name Ishikawa had just given him was 'Minion'… because he was too similar, which made Ishikawa feel very annoyed.
"That guy always wants to devour me. Besides Szayelaporro, he's the one I hate the most."
"I hate him too, but playing with Szayelaporro is fun."
"What's fun? Sister Tier Harribel said he's not playing with us, but experimenting on us. He's not a good person."
"I don't want to be dissected, and I don't want injections. I hate him."
"Hmm… Although I think playing dissection games with him is fun, Sister Tier Harribel said he's not a good person, so he must not be a good person."
"… …"
Ishikawa rubbed the little heads of the Picaro beside him and laughed: "Let's not talk about Szayelaporro for now, Ishikawa-nii will teach that Aaroniero a lesson for you later."
"Mm-hmm-hmm." The Picaro replied in unison.
"As for Aaroniero, ever since he was almost killed by you last time, he's been hiding in Las Noches and hasn't dared to come out."
When Aaroniero was mentioned, Tier Harribel's face clearly showed disdain.
For such a good-for-nothing, even if she hadn't met Ishikawa and hadn't re-forged her soul core, she would still look down on him.
Tier Harribel shook her head slightly: "It's very difficult to make him leave Las Noches, and recently Las Noches has set up an artificial dome with a surveillance function. The dome is perpetually daylight, and Aaroniero, who is extremely averse to sunlight, basically hides in his room every day. I haven't seen him in a long time."
Upon hearing this, Ishikawa frowned slightly.
"That what's-his-name-what's-his-name-lo…" Ganju, who was beside him, interjected: "I'll help you find him later. Let's find that bastard who looks like my Big Brother first."
"… …"
Ishikawa was silent for a moment, then patted Ganju's shoulder: "Ganju, please, stop playing with sand every day. Learn something else, lest your brains turn to sand from constantly shouting 'Turn to sand!'"
Ganju's face darkened upon hearing this, but before he could speak, Ishikawa said:
"The Aaroniero I'm talking about is the Hollow that fused with Kaien-Dage, and he's an existence whose strength in Hueco Mundo is comparable to a Gotei 13 captain in Soul Society, ranking 9th among the Espada."
"Uh…"
Ganju's words, which were on the tip of his tongue, were blocked by Ishikawa's single sentence. His face flushed red, and after a long while, he whispered: "I… I don't know his name…"
"Also…"
Ishikawa looked at Tier Harribel beside him: "She is Tier Harribel, Espada No. 5. When you called yourself 'this great master' in front of her earlier, I wanted to say that with her strength, if she wanted to kill the two of us, it would be easier than killing a chicken."
Although…
I created her!
Espada!?
Ganju was slightly stunned. Before coming, Ishikawa had already explained about the Espada to him.
Although he didn't have a concrete concept, he could fully understand the words 'strength comparable to a Gotei 13 captain.' In his opinion… such a strong Hollow must look extremely terrifying.
But now…
Ishikawa told him that this petite girl in front of him, who was only about 1.5 meters tall, was actually one of the Espada?
Ganju's mouth twitched slightly.
Upon seeing Tier Harribel, although he was surprised, Ishikawa had always been keen on making friends with women. Having a female friend in Hueco Mundo, while outrageous, also felt like something he could indeed pull off.
However…
It turned out that making friends in the enemy's stronghold wasn't particularly outrageous.
What was particularly outrageous was…
He actually made friends all the way to the top level of the enemy's stronghold.
What kind of social terrorist is this?
If he didn't understand and trust Ishikawa so much, he might even think… Ishikawa wanted to use the power of Hueco Mundo to attack Seireitei.
Hmm…
It wasn't entirely impossible.
Although not out of Ishikawa's will, those self-proclaimed 'Ishikawa's subordinates' villains in the tavern recently were constantly pondering how to persuade Ishikawa-sama to lead them to attack Seireitei after unifying Rukongai.
Looking at Ganju's expression, Ishikawa didn't continue to provoke him, not telling him that the original sequence of this group of children around them was actually higher than Tier Harribel's.
However, how to eliminate Aaroniero?
Las Noches was absolutely off-limits. The artificial dome Tier Harribel mentioned could monitor the entire Las Noches without any blind spots; it was impossible for Ishikawa to sneak in.
He could only find a way to lure him out of Las Noches, and to be safe, it would be best to lure him to the Outer Circle where he was.
Tier Harribel looked at Ishikawa, hesitated for a moment, then said: "Should I try to arrange for him to come out?"
"No, that would very likely make 'that adult' suspect you."
Ishikawa shook his head. While he wanted to kill Aaroniero, he would absolutely not implicate Tier Harribel because of it. Moreover, if Tier Harribel's Second Release Form was exposed, he himself would also be very likely to be targeted by Aizen.
His plan had always been to quietly kill Aaroniero without exposing his own existence, remaining in the Ōkaku Training Hall to cultivate from beginning to end.
So not only did he need to lure Aaroniero out, but he also needed to find a way to prevent the battle's Reiatsu from leaking out.
Regarding concealing the battle's Reiatsu…
Ishikawa turned to look at the long cloth bag containing his Zanpakuto, which was placed aside.
He had already thought of a solution beforehand.
What was missing now…
Was just the opportunity to lure Aaroniero to the Outer Circle.
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr