The two of them walked and talked.
Hikifune Kirio's loud laughter echoed through the night sky from time to time, drawing the attention of passing Shinigami, all of whom glanced over and felt reassured by this harmonious scene.
The entire Twelfth Division was wrapped in a Reishi barrier. From the outside, all you could see was a faint blue light screen.
With Hikifune Kirio's strength, she could of course forcefully probe it.
But after all, the Twelfth Division was no longer her territory, and throughout the day, the Gotei Thirteen hadn't treated her poorly. It wasn't to the point where she'd do something so out of line.
"Senior Hikifune, please."
At the entrance of the Twelfth Division, Rosse made a gesture of invitation.
"Commander Rosse, please as well."
Hikifune Kirio was extremely polite. The two stepped through the gates together.
"Th-this is?"
The moment she stepped inside, Hikifune Kirio's pupils shrank sharply, and her whole body froze in place.
What appeared before her was no longer the damp, gloomy, preservative-smelling Research and Development Institute she remembered.
As far as the eye could see, it was a futuristic domain enclosed within a Reishi barrier.
Countless transparent Reishi pipelines crisscrossed like blood vessels, connecting independent laboratories floating in midair.
Those laboratories weren't traditional buildings, but spherical structures formed from some kind of semi-transparent liquid Reishi. Inside, researchers in white coats busied themselves, while streams of intricate data cascaded across the surrounding air walls like waterfalls.
What shocked her the most was the massive core device in the center, piercing straight up to the dome.
She could tell at a glance, it was a Reishi computer running at all times.
It used Reishi as its energy source and served as the brain of the entire laboratory.
Computers were something that only existed in the living world, and Hikifune Kirio had heard of them.
But she never expected that not only did the Twelfth Division have one, it had developed to such an advanced level.
"Th-this really is the Twelfth Division?"
Hikifune Kirio's eyes widened. Even her usually smiling, plump face couldn't hide her shock, "Using a Reishi computer to handle experimental calculations, and just looking around, there are at least a hundred laboratories. Does the Twelfth Division even have that many researchers?"
Everything before her completely overturned her understanding.
She had held her position for hundreds of years, yet the changes in the Twelfth Division didn't even compare to the few short years Rosse had been here.
After all, she had some idea of what the Twelfth Division was like before Rosse arrived.
"Welcome to the Twelfth Division of the new era."
Standing beside her, Rosse looked at the futuristic scene ahead and said with a faint smile, "Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri's intellect is indeed astonishing. His personality has its flaws, but on the path of scientific research, he has gone farther and faster than anyone else."
The technological system of the Shinigami world couldn't compare to his own world in terms of structure.
But in certain areas of black technology, it far surpassed his world.
To advance the technological development of his own world, he had transferred quite a number of scientific personnel over. Even Sora had been brought here by him and had served as a squad leader for a time.
Mayuri's personality wasn't easy to control, but Rosse personally had no issue with him.
If Mayuri was willing, he wouldn't mind giving him the position of Deputy Director of the World Government's Science Department.
Rosse turned his head and looked at Hikifune Kirio, who was still immersed in shock, and said with a smile, "Well, Senior Hikifune? Does this small change meet your standards?"
"More than just meeting them."
Hikifune Kirio took a deep breath, her tone extremely complicated, "This is honestly a bit terrifying."
'How could this be the Research and Development Institute I remember?'
To be honest, at this moment, Hikifune Kirio really did start to believe the vision Rosse had laid out in the captains' meeting.
At the very least, he truly was moving forward along that path.
Standing in the radiant center of the Twelfth Division, Hikifune Kirio fixed her gaze on Rosse's profile, "Commander Rosse, what exactly is this experiment about?"
There was less probing and tact in her voice than before, and more of a researcher's pure curiosity toward the unknown.
She had to admit, just half a day of what she'd seen and heard had already shaken her.
If the man in front of her was truly the unforgivable destroyer that Ichibe had described, then why would he pour so much effort into developing this land?
If it were only for power, he could have simply devoured the Soul King and then reshaped a new world on the ruins however he pleased.
Why bother tending things here like a diligent gardener, trimming branches bit by bit and planning for the future?
'It can't be that all of this is just a rehearsal in advance, right?'
'That would be far too idle.'
In her view, Rosse not only had the will, but also the ability, and he was genuinely making this world better.
If that was the case, then why not choose a more dynamic leader?
As for that Ichibe, who had sat in the Soul King Palace for millions of years, Hikifune Kirio shrugged inwardly.
If the old era's ship could no longer carry the waves of the new era, then being washed ashore was simply inevitable.
Even if Ichibe were swept into the trash heap, what did it have to do with her?
As long as the world still existed, as long as order remained, she could always step down to the Gotei Thirteen. Even becoming a vice-captain and continuing her research wouldn't be so bad.
"This experiment is somewhat special."
As Rosse led her toward the core area, he pointed at the massive Reishi computer. His tone was calm, yet carried a subtle depth, "We've named it Reishi Solidification."
"Reishi… solidification?"
Hikifune Kirio paused slightly, frowning, "What does that mean? Soul Society and Hueco Mundo are already worlds composed of high-density Reishi. Reishi itself is already a materialized existence. Why would it need to be solidified again?"
"Hmph! Let me explain such a stupid question, you outdated old hag!"
An oddly mocking voice suddenly came from behind.
Kurotsuchi Mayuri wore his signature black-and-white mask, head held high, hands clasped behind his back, strutting forward with an arrogant swagger.
The moment he saw Hikifune Kirio, a trace of undisguised contempt flashed through his yellow eyes.
"What did you call me?"
Hikifune Kirio's eyes narrowed dangerously. The cheerful aunt-like aura around her vanished instantly, replaced by the terrifying pressure of a Zero Division member.
"Old hag, you've completely fallen behind this era."
Mayuri didn't seem to care about her pressure at all. Instead, he spread his arms even more arrogantly, showing off the grand laboratory behind him, "Take a look at this place! Back when you were here, the Research and Development Institute was nothing but a crude makeshift setup. The equipment was so primitive it looked like a garbage heap!"
He raised a finger and shook it disdainfully, "It wasn't even as good as that annoying guy Urahara Kisuke. At least he knew how to standardize the institute. And you? Seeing the Twelfth Division reborn in my hands now, don't you feel utterly ashamed?"
Anyone facing a former superior who not only rejected their ideas but also personally locked them in the Maggot's Nest wouldn't have a pleasant expression.
At this moment, Mayuri practically wanted to throw all his achievements right in Hikifune Kirio's face.
"Heh! I'm already an old relic who's been up in the heavens for over a hundred years."
"If you're still not better than an old woman like me who's been swept into the pile of history, then who exactly should feel ashamed is still up for debate."
Hikifune Kirio snorted coldly but didn't actually lash out. She simply crossed her arms and shrugged, "Cut the nonsense. If you won't say it, I'll just ask Commander Rosse directly!"
"Kukukuku! This is why mortal wisdom is so narrow."
Mayuri let out a strange laugh. Turning around, he walked toward the core of the Twelfth Division, speaking without looking back, "Old hag, as a member of the Zero Division, you should know better than anyone what kind of situation our world is in."
He suddenly stopped, turned his head, and his gaze beneath the mask became unusually deep, "Everything depends on that so-called wedge. If one day that wedge even trembles slightly, or worse, collapses entirely, then our world is finished."
"So…", Hikifune Kirio's pupils contracted slightly. A chill crept up her spine as her gaze shifted back and forth between Mayuri and Rosse. Her voice turned dry, "Reishi solidification… is meant to let Reishi completely break free from that wedge's control and achieve self-stability?"
'This is outright heresy!'
'This is trying to de-Soul-King the world!'
As a member of the Zero Division, her first reaction was shock and anger.
But as a top-tier researcher pursuing truth, her heart began pounding uncontrollably at that very moment.
This was a genius-level concept.
She had spent so long in the Soul King Palace, even feeling the Soul King's gradually weakening presence every day. She had long known how fragile the foundation of this world was.
'But why… why have I never thought of solving the problem at its root, of breaking free from dependence on the Soul King?'
"Whose idea was this?", Hikifune Kirio took a deep breath, staring fixedly at the two of them.
Scientific progress often begins with an idea that seems absurd.
Turning an idea into reality might require countless failures, but if one doesn't even dare to think it, then one can only remain stagnant forever.
She truly wanted to know who had the audacity to shake the million-year foundation of this world.
"Mine," Rosse smiled slightly, his tone as casual as discussing tomorrow's meal, "After learning the truth about the Soul King, I kept thinking about one question: why must this world rely on such a broken, suffering, and unstable Soul King as its pillar?"
"Kukukuku! With the Commander's genius concept, a genius like me quickly deduced a feasible plan for Reishi solidification."
Mayuri rubbed his hands excitedly, his eyes gleaming with fanatic light, as if dissecting the most perfect experimental subject of his life, "We always say the energy cycle of the three realms stabilizes them. The Soul King is like a massive central processor, responsible for converting 'Kishi' and 'Reishi' back and forth to maintain dynamic balance."
He tapped the air a few times, and a Reishi projection screen appeared, displaying a dynamic model of the three realms, "But have you ever thought about why, once the Soul King is gone, the three realms collapse?"
"That's because without the Soul King acting as a forced conversion valve, the 'Kishi', that is, matter, in the living world will decrease as it can no longer be replenished. Meanwhile, 'Reishi' will continue to accumulate since it cannot be released."
"Although Hueco Mundo and Soul Society appear independent, they are essentially projections that depend on the living world. They are just another disordered accumulation of Reishi."
Mayuri's fingers moved rapidly, and the model began to evolve wildly, "At the beginning of creation, the Soul King first created Soul Society. But he soon realized that a world composed purely of Reishi was extremely unstable and could collapse at any moment. So he had no choice but to create the living world, made of stable 'Kishi,' hoping to maintain balance through energy exchange between the two realms."
"But he failed."
Rosse picked up the thread, his tone calm and indifferent, "The speed of this bidirectional flow could never achieve perfect balance. The self-replication speed of Reishi far exceeded the generation speed of Kishi. So, to patch this massive flaw, he had to create a 'garbage dump' called Hueco Mundo to store the excess Reishi that had nowhere else to go."
"Kukukuku! In essence, this isn't a refined system at all, but a shoddy project full of patches and loopholes."
Mayuri spread his arms, his tone filled with mockery toward the so-called creator god, "After millions of years, this system is riddled with holes. Not only have the bugs not been fixed, they've grown bigger and bigger with the increasing number of souls."
"I can assert that even if the Soul King continues to cling to life, within a thousand years at most, this fragile ecosystem will completely collapse."
"At that point, there won't even be a need for the Soul King to collapse."
Mayuri leaned in close to Hikifune Kirio, his voice low like a devil's whisper, "As long as a single captain-level figure dies, the Reishi fluctuations it causes could become the final straw that breaks the camel's back, triggering a chain reaction and causing the entire world to go boom, completely finished!"
These words struck Hikifune Kirio like a heavy hammer.
Precisely because she was knowledgeable and professional, she understood better than anyone, every single word of this was true.
"So that means…"
Hikifune Kirio felt her throat go dry. Her muttering carried a bitter edge, "All of us… have been sitting on this broken ship full of holes, just waiting to die? Sooner or later, this system will completely collapse and take all of us down with it?"
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