Sombravida ignored the Shinigami patrols and led Nel upstream along the river.
Where water flows, civilization gathers.
Villages.
Towns.
Cities.
Human behavior had not changed, even if the era had.
Technology evolves.
Instinct does not.
Arrival at the City
Half a day later—
A city came into view.
Concrete.
Steel.
Glass.
Electric light.
From above, Sombravida stared in silence.
Once—
He had been human.
Confined to a hospital bed.
Now—
If he released full reiatsu and activated Soul Absorption—
Half this city would collapse in seconds.
He would not do that.
It would summon Soul Society immediately.
His purpose was specific:
Communications theory
Signal transmission knowledge
Engineering principles
Infrastructure blueprints
Hueco Mundo lacked organized information flow.
He intended to change that.
Observation
Nel stared at the streets in awe.
Vehicles roared.
Children laughed.
Vendors shouted.
Humans clustered in proximity without killing one another.
"Why don't they attack each other?" Nel asked quietly.
"Because they are weak," Sombravida replied calmly.
"And because they are weak, they cooperate."
Humans lack innate spiritual dominance.
They compensate with intelligence.
If artillery from this world struck Hueco Mundo—
Without Anti-Membrana—
Even lower Adjuchas would suffer.
Power takes different forms.
Nel listened quietly.
Library Plan
Sombravida located the municipal library.
He entered invisibly.
Humans could not see him.
But books floating mid-air would raise problems.
He decided to wait for night.
Before that—
Nel discovered apples.
Human Food
Nel bit into one.
Sweetness burst across her senses.
Hollows retain taste.
Spiritual particles are nourishment—
But flavor is separate.
She devoured several.
Sombravida stole them effortlessly using micro-spatial displacement.
He tasted one himself.
Sweetness.
It had been decades.
He said nothing.
Nightfall
Darkness descended.
Nel tensed instinctively.
In Hueco Mundo—
Night meant danger.
But here—
Lights bloomed.
Thousands.
Warm.
Steady.
The city shimmered like stars fallen to earth.
Nel trembled slightly.
"So beautiful…"
Sombravida nodded.
"Humans rest at night. They sleep. They gather with family. They wake together to greet sunrise."
"Are we family too?" Nel asked softly.
"Yes."
Without hesitation.
Her spiritual pressure flickered faintly.
Emotion.
Desire.
Attachment.
And then—
It surged.
Breakthrough
Pink reiatsu exploded upward.
Nel's aura intensified sharply.
Sombravida's eyes widened.
"Peak Adjuchas…"
Advancement.
Here?
In the Human World?
Spiritual density here was thin.
Advancement required compression and massive reishi intake.
If Nel unconsciously absorbed—
The city would suffer.
Sombravida reacted immediately.
He grabbed her and fled the city center.
Several kilometers away—
At the riverbank—
He released concealment.
Hollow Summoning
Sombravida howled.
A summoning cry.
Not compulsion—
But dominance.
In the Human World, Hollows respond aggressively to stronger signatures.
Lower Hollows began converging.
Hundreds.
Then more.
Some were mindless.
Some retained consciousness.
Sombravida addressed them:
"If you retain human awareness, leave."
Roughly dozens fled.
The rest remained.
Within minutes—
Over a thousand Hollows gathered.
This was abnormal for the Human World.
The Shinigami felt it immediately.
Shinigami Observation
Several seated officers arrived in the distance.
They did not approach.
They sensed:
Two Adjuchas-class signatures.
Possibly near Vasto Lorde threshold.
Even captain-level Shinigami approach Adjuchas cautiously.
Vasto Lorde-level Hollows rival captains directly.
The patrol held position.
Sending word to Soul Society.
Requesting possible limiter release authorization.
Soul Absorption
Nel's breathing stabilized.
Then—
Soul Absorption activated.
Thousands of Hollows were pulled inward.
Lower-tier Hollows cannot resist peak Adjuchas absorption.
Within minutes—
They disintegrated into reishi and were devoured.
The riverbank fell silent.
Shinigami watched in horror.
Still Not Enough
Nel's aura remained unstable.
"I need more…"
Sombravida frowned.
Nearby Hollows were depleted.
He turned.
Toward the Shinigami patrol.
Confrontation
He appeared before them instantly.
Reiatsu pressed them down.
They knelt involuntarily.
"I do not wish to kill you," Sombravida said calmly.
"But my companion requires reishi."
He requested food first.
Shinigami carry rations infused with reishi.
They surrendered what they had.
Sombravida assessed it.
Insufficient.
He made a decision.
In a flash—
He severed their arms.
Clean cuts.
Minimal spiritual destruction.
Shinigami bodies are spiritual constructs.
The Twelfth Division can regenerate limbs using advanced medical kido and research.
He returned to Nel.
"Return to Soul Society," he told them.
"You will live."
Nel absorbed the severed limbs and ration reishi.
Her aura stabilized.
Peak Adjuchas confirmed.
Captain Arrival
A new reiatsu descended.
Heavy.
Refined.
Disciplined.
Captain-class.
Not far below Sombravida's current output.
A figure stepped forward in shihakushō, haori flowing behind.
"Hurting my subordinates and claiming no malice."
His voice was cold.
"How hollow."
The battlefield shifted.
Sombravida slowly turned.
Peak Adjuchas.
Newly stabilized.
Facing a captain-level Shinigami—
In the Human World.
The true test had just begun.
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