Looking at the man who had delivered the map before him, Suzuki Makoto's expression carried a trace of amusement.
"Is this a map of the Rukongai?"
"Yes, Lord Suzuki. This is the map of the Rukongai, from District 1 to District 80. A complete survey map of the entire Rukongai—this is a map surveyed by those nobles before the establishment of the Gotei 13 a thousand years ago. Although it is not the original edition, it can be said that among the maps circulating within the Rukongai, there are only a few of these."
Although the merchant's words were humble, they also carried a bit of pride.
"What do you want to exchange this map for?"
"Please, Lord Suzuki, bestow the General of Heaven Banner upon us, and let the Yellow Turbans shelter us pitiful people who have no one to rely on!"
"You should know that the Yellow Turbans have never allowed any privileged class to exist. You are a merchant; at most, I will allow you to continue conducting business. However, your servants, your mansion, your fields, and your water sources will all be returned to the people of the Rukongai. And you yourself must also undergo trial."
The merchant trembled but remained silent.
"Tell the truth, or else I will make you take this map back. Those people behind you... if they know you failed to complete their mission, I'm afraid they won't let you off that easily, will they?"
"You knew?"
"Your emotions are leaking out so obviously; aren't you doing this on purpose to let me know? Alright, speak."
Suzuki Makoto didn't care about the petty tricks the other party was playing. As a person with pitifully low Spiritual Power, it was natural for the other party to exhaust all means to survive; this little bit of cleverness was still within his tolerance range.
"The nobles have completely abandoned the Rukongai. They are desperately transporting wealth and food from various places back into the Seireitei, and they are also systematically destroying all arable land and water sources outside of District 40. Within District 40, because the Shinigami are still guarding it, they don't dare to go too far, but they are also taking away as many resources as possible."
"Besides that, there are quite a few places that have already raised the Yellow Turban flag, even within District 40. They are all awaiting your arrival and are willing to defect to you. I once did some business for the nobles, so I received an order: I must deliver this map to you and report the entire situation to you—every word I say is the truth!"
The merchant knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe loudly.
He truly didn't know why the nobles wanted him to notify Suzuki Makoto while they were looting supplies, or why they weren't hiding what they were doing at all, as if... as if they hoped Suzuki Makoto's Yellow Turbans would completely rule the entire Rukongai.
Suzuki Makoto's face darkened, and his gaze fell back onto the map.
The nobles' response was somewhat out of his expectations. Whether it was the plotting for Black Jeanne's Zanpakuto or this current unhesitating abandonment of the entire Rukongai, these actions did not seem like things the nobles in his prior knowledge would do.
The matter with Black Jeanne proved that the nobles possessed extremely accurate intelligence channels. Suzuki Makoto had guessed this much; after all, he remembered key institutions like the Great Spirit Book Gallery very clearly.
But now, the nobles were actually willing to use the entire Rukongai as bait to force him into a direct confrontation with the Gotei 13. This was completely inconsistent with their previous greed for the Zanpakuto.
Did they not want this Zanpakuto anymore? Did they only want Shigekuni Yamamoto to completely destroy the Yellow Turbans?
However, now was not the time to sit here and ponder.
"I will accept this map. You may leave for now. For the sake of this intelligence, do not touch those water sources and arable lands. Go wherever you wish."
"Many thanks, my Lord!"
The merchant was overjoyed. He had thought that even if he didn't die this time, he would at least lose a layer of skin. He didn't expect to be able to return in one piece.
"Jeanne."
Once the merchant left, Suzuki Makoto immediately summoned Black Jeanne.
"Depart immediately. Take this map with you. According to the old rules, intercept and kill all those bastards who have destroyed water sources or settlements. Draw the range up to District 40 of the Rukongai. Do not enter District 40, but outside of District 40, kill as many of those scumbags as there are!"
"Understood."
The young girl rolled up the map with a wild smile on her face and instantly disappeared into spirit form.
Suzuki Makoto left the tent and found Hideki, who was currently serving as the general manager of the Yellow Turbans.
"Hideki, where are Ken and the others right now?"
"They are helping to clear the logging camp. Because there are rumors of many ferocious beasts in that area, and some people even sighted Hollows in the depths of the forest, they all went into the woods."
"Assemble everyone immediately and advance toward the interior of the Rukongai. Those lackeys of the nobles have retreated and are destroying arable land and water sources everywhere—we must first ensure that the largest rivers and lakes remain safe!"
Although Suzuki Makoto only wanted the Yellow Turbans to stay in the Rukongai outside of District 70, the nobles had now started to lose their minds. At a time like this, there was naturally no room to care about any agreements. Even if they had to fight a round directly with the Gotei 13, they had to immediately rescue those resources that were vital to the survival of the entire Rukongai.
Hideki immediately realized the seriousness of the problem. He promptly organized messengers to go to various places to gather the scattered Yellow Turban Army. Meanwhile, Suzuki Makoto used this time to start drawing a simple map, with the destination pointing directly to all large water sources from District 41 to District 70.
Once the drawing was complete, Hideki immediately led people to start copying it, then distributed the copies to the Yellow Turban soldiers. They split into multiple routes to thrust directly into these places. As for Suzuki Makoto, after drawing the map, he struck out alone just like Black Jeanne—every minute and every second was precious now.
As soon as he entered District 69, the atmosphere clearly began to feel wrong. Large groups of refugees began to appear, and the black smoke on the horizon had never ceased. Obviously, those guys were executing the nobles' orders with intensified severity.
A piercing chill flashed through Suzuki Makoto's eyes. Without pausing, his figure sped rapidly toward the trails of black smoke on the horizon.
When he entered the town, there weren't many arsonists inside. Suzuki Makoto left only the leader alive.
"Why burn down the town?"
"Because this place is right by the river! The source of the river is in District 62, so we can only burn this place down. There are others responsible for the source over there!"
Missing an arm and two legs, the team leader wailed as he answered Suzuki Makoto's question.
"What about places not by the river?"
"Fill them in! Fill them all in!"
"You have that many people?"
"We kill people and fill them in! Just polluting it works too!"
For the sake of the intelligence, Suzuki Makoto gave him a quick death, then began rushing to the next location without stopping.
He could ignore the places already burning for now; the most important things right now were the water sources!
____
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