Since Azashiro Sōya had issued an order to evict his guest, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi didn't linger. He left the Senzaikyū and headed straight for Squad 1 to invite Kōe Shihouin.
However, Kōe Shihouin had long since left Squad 1, his whereabouts unknown. Coincidentally, the person who received Kuruyashiki was the very same squad member who had just finished cleaning Kōe's office.
"Do you know where Shihouin went?"
"I have no idea. Lieutenant Shihouin never discloses his whereabouts to us."
"Then when will he roughly be back?" Kuruyashiki continued to ask.
"I'm not sure about that either. The last time he went out, he didn't return for three days. Otherwise, why doesn't Lord Kenpachi go ask the Third Seat of Squad 12? He and the lieutenant have a rather good relationship!"
Kuruyashiki stroked his chin in thought for a moment. Rather than searching all over the world for Kōe, it would be better to go see Yamamoto first. After all, his main objective was still to plead for leniency for Azashiro Kōzō. He would tackle the important matter first and wait for Kōe to return in the meantime. If he couldn't wait that long, he would figure it out later.
"Please announce my arrival to the Head Captain."
"Yes, sir!"
...
As for where Kōe had run off to slack off this time, even if Kuruyashiki went to ask Urahara, the latter would definitely put on a blank face and claim complete ignorance.
Next to Squad 10 stood an inconspicuous two-story cabin. It couldn't even be considered a warehouse; from the outside, it merely looked like a utility room belonging to Squad 10.
Naturally, this was not a utility room for Squad 10. It had its own name—the Royal Weaving Facility. It did not fall under the jurisdiction of any squad. In theory, it was a Seireitei institution on the same level as the Gotei 13.
The 'Royal' in its name represented defense, and 'Weaving' represented textiles. From the literal meaning alone, one could deduce the Royal Weaving Facility's duties: it was responsible for constructing the Seireitei's defense systems, while simultaneously serving as the production site for the Shihakushō worn by Shinigami. The two-story cabin on the surface was merely its entrance; the true location of the Royal Weaving Facility was actually underground.
After going through a complex verification process at the door, without a single person in sight, the wooden door in front of Kōe creaked open on its own. Stepping into the bare room with nothing but four walls, a hole had already opened up in the floor, revealing only a few steps of a stone staircase. Kōe, well-accustomed to the route, bent down and descended.
The path down wasn't long. The first floor of the Royal Weaving Facility was only a few dozen meters below ground. This was the area where the Shihakushō were woven, but Kōe's destination wasn't here; it was the second floor.
Turning a corner, he arrived at a secluded nook. A metal ladder was fixed to the wall, but that wasn't the way down. Kōe stepped forward and slammed his face hard against the pristine white wall to the left of the ladder. The seemingly solid wall actually caved in around the contours of Kōe's face.
A sudden click echoed from the corner. Hearing this, Kōe pulled his face out of the wall, grabbed the adjacent ladder with both hands, and gave it a hard pull. The walls on either side split down the middle. As he slowly pulled the ladder open, it became apparent that the ladder on the wall was merely a pair of door handles. Behind the doors lay an elevator that led straight to the second floor of the Royal Weaving Facility.
*It's just going downstairs, is there really a need for all these gimmicks?* Kōe grumbled inwardly.
This was his second time visiting the Royal Weaving Facility, and it was a completely different experience from the first. Last time, it seemed to involve finding the third floorboard after turning left in the hallway, then stomping on it five times within a single second. He also had to step precisely on the midpoints of the floorboard's four edges as well as its dead center. After that, a slide had dumped him directly onto the second floor. What a terrible memory.
However, that was just the kind of place the Royal Weaving Facility was. All the security checks were concentrated at the surface entrance. This was especially true for the second floor, which almost exclusively utilized one-to-one pathways. If someone wanted to enter without permission, there was no other way but to breach it by force. If you took the proper route, you either couldn't even get through the front door, or, once you did, absolutely no one would bother you for the rest of the way.
After a brief wait, the elevator safely delivered Kōe to the second floor of the Royal Weaving Facility. As soon as the doors opened, a yawning man dressed in a Shihakushō was waiting at the entrance. Without saying a word, he pointed at Kōe and turned to leave. Kōe understood that this was the guide sent by the person he was visiting, so he followed without asking any questions.
Unlike the first floor, which featured a quaint, wooden decorative style, the second floor of the Royal Weaving Facility had a much more technological feel. At the very least, the honeycomb-like circular speakers on the walls were something rarely seen anywhere else in the Seireitei.
Left, left, and then right. Just as Kōe was about to get dizzy from all the turns, the person in front finally stopped and placed his hand into a mouth on the wall. It wasn't a statue, but a real mouth. Kōe could even faintly hear the sound of saliva sloshing around.
Three seconds, or maybe five? Kōe couldn't be bothered to count how long the other party's hand was being sucked on. He only saw the mouth on the wall act as if it had grown bored, sticking out its tongue and spitting out the hand. On the adjacent, completely seamless wall, a gap suddenly appeared. It slowly expanded, eventually forming a circular archway about the height of a person.
Beyond the archway was a long, rectangular room of about ten tsubo. Seeing that it was somewhat dim inside, Kōe couldn't help but furrow his brows. It seemed his words had decisively fallen on deaf ears!
Once both of them stepped into the room, the archway behind them closed up again, as if it had never existed. The man leading the way walked over to a control console on the right and lazily called into the microphone on top of it, "Mr. Kurotsuchi, your guest has arrived!"
There was no response from within the room. The guide rubbed his neck and muttered to himself, "He didn't fall asleep, did he?"
"Mr. Kurotsuchi, Mr. Kurotsuchi! Hey, are you still there? Are you still there!"
"Quiet!" A third person's voice suddenly rang out in the room. The owner of the voice sounded rather displeased. "If you disturb me again, I guarantee you will never be able to speak again!"
"Well, you heard him. I think Mr. Kurotsuchi has already forgotten that you were coming."
"It's fine, I can wait a bit." Kōe pointed at the wall above the control console and continued, "But could you let me see what's going on inside, just like last time?"
"Last time? Oh! Mr. Kurotsuchi let you look last time too, so it should be fine!" The man slapped his forehead and fiddled with the control console for a few moments. The previously blank wall suddenly emitted light. It was a wall similar to a one-way mirror, and through it, one could see the laboratory on the other side.
"Take your time watching, I need to slack off for a bit." As the man spoke, he pulled over a chair and slumped directly over the control console. A second later, faint snoring could be heard. This guy really could fall asleep at the drop of a hat.
Kōe didn't mind. He stood behind the man, squinting as he observed what was happening in the room on the other side.
Actually, he couldn't see very clearly from this angle. A man with a blue mohawk and skin so meticulously white it looked painted on was standing with his back to Kōe, blocking the most crucial part of the examination table. However, judging by the crimson stains on the instruments the man picked up and set down, it wasn't hard to guess what he was doing.
He didn't know how long he watched, but in the time it took to rub his eyes, Kōe noticed a beating object had appeared in the man's right hand. He casually dropped it into a nearby receptacle, instantly dyeing the originally transparent liquid inside a deep red.
"Find someone to patch up his heart! Then bring in a new test subject! We restart the experiment in half an hour!"
The somewhat shrill voice from earlier rang out in the room once more. No matter how many times Kōe heard it, he found the voice chilling. He was sure the other person felt the same way, because the sleeping man was instantly jolted awake, his mouth continuously repeating the words he had just heard.
The man on the other side of the wall had already vanished from sight. A few seconds later, a door suddenly opened in the wall at the end of the room. Who else could the newcomer be but the man who had just disappeared from the laboratory?
"Hey! Seeing you so full of motivation puts my mind at ease!" Kōe leaned against the now-empty chair and said with a smile, "I trust that after all this time, you must have made some discoveries, right, my great scientist, Kurotsuchi Mayuri?"
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