"How could your numbers... be accurate down to the exact digit?"
Listening to the long string of figures Rosse reported, Kirinji felt like he was in a fantasy.
At this moment, he felt exactly the same as Sasakibe Chojiro had when Rosse reported the precise number of 147 people.
It was the suffocating feeling of being completely seen through, of having your intelligence crushed from one side only.
He had never imagined that someone as absurd as Rosse could exist in this world.
Even the Soul King, who had once stood at the center of the world, could never instantly grasp such precise population and geographical data.
As a member of Squad Zero, he understood the Soul King's limits very clearly.
Even for the Soul King, sensing these things required time to gather the information.
But Rosse spoke as casually as if he were reading the account book in his own backyard.
Yet he was clearly an invader from another world. Somehow, he understood their world better than they did themselves. The whole thing was unbelievable.
"It is indeed possible to be accurate down to the exact number, Lord Kirinji," At that moment, Sasakibe Chojiro, still bathed in golden light, let out a complicated sigh.
He bowed slightly and answered for Rosse in a voice full of respect.
"Back when Lord Rosse was serving as Acting Captain-Commander, he carried out an unprecedented census of every district in the Rukongai throughout Soul Society."
"During that period, he also eliminated all unstable factors within Soul Society. The purpose was to ensure the data remained stable and accurate."
Recalling those years, a trace of shame appeared on the old man's face, like a recruit facing a veteran.
"The rules Lord Rosse established back then required a complete census every five years. The Intelligence Division of Squad Eight was personally responsible for verification. Detailed records of population changes, resource allocation, and all other matters concerning every district and every street of the Rukongai are still categorized and stored in Squad Eight's intelligence archives."
When it came to governance and management, Sasakibe Chojiro felt nothing but admiration for Rosse.
Compared to Rosse, they were merely warriors who knew how to draw their swords and kill Hollows. There were things they had never even thought about.
Only after Rosse established the entire system through absolute force and put it through a complete cycle of operation did these Shinigami, who had lived for over a thousand years, suddenly wake up.
A world could actually be governed this efficiently.
Even now, Sasakibe Chojiro still remembered the first few captain meetings Rosse held after taking power. He had attended in Yamamoto's place while the Captain-Commander was unconscious, and the entire time he felt completely lost.
Political structure reforms, military defense divisions, lower-level economic development, public welfare in the Rukongai, every system was broken down completely and reported through highly specialized indicators and data.
The feeling of professional governance was overwhelming.
Compared to Rosse, who sat in the Captain-Commander's seat with ease, the Captain-Commander Yamamoto whom he deeply respected, who possessed unfathomable power and had lived for thousands of years, as well as the old captains themselves, seemed like recruits who knew nothing about governing a world.
"So you really did something that outrageous..."
Kirinji stared at the holographic map wrapped in golden light. Everything felt unreal, yet he had no choice but to accept defeat.
He had to admit that some people were simply born different.
Compared to a monster like Rosse, who perfectly combined rule and power, Squad Zero, who only knew how to cling to old traditions, fell far behind.
The difference existed in vision, perspective, methods, and strength.
After hearing Rosse list those cold numbers, Kirinji opened his mouth, but all the arguments and unwillingness he had prepared got stuck in his throat. Not a single word came out.
When that enormous amount of real data was laid bare before him, this proud god-general of Squad Zero began doubting something for the first time in his life.
Was his life really worth the outrageous price of ten Rukongai districts?
Ten districts of the Rukongai.
Using the lowest population figures Rosse had just given, even if they were all the most desolate districts, they would still contain more than five million souls.
Using the average population estimate, the number would definitely exceed ten million.
Ten million lives.
When he had only heard the words "ten districts," Kirinji had subconsciously thought it sounded small and not particularly valuable.
After all, from the Soul King's Palace, the Rukongai looked like a few squares on a board.
But when the concept of ten million living people truly settled in his mind, his legs felt weak.
He suddenly felt not only that he wasn't worth that much, but that he was getting an incredible bargain.
Could the hundred kilograms of flesh he was so proud of really be placed on the same scale as ten million lives?
Had the Rukongai they ignored all these years really grown to such a massive scale under Rosse's governance and development?
"Ten districts of the Rukongai. Deal!"
After a brief period of shock and confusion, Kirinji Tenjiro gritted his teeth and spat out the reed that had already been chewed to pieces.
Under the hopeful gazes of many surviving Shinigami nearby, he made his decision without hesitation.
Using his own hundred kilograms of rough flesh in exchange for the continued existence of ten Rukongai districts.
For a practical doctor, this was a profitable deal no matter how he calculated it.
Ten districts of the Rukongai, over ten million living people, and at least a million square kilometers of land.
If his worthless life could prevent so many people from being destroyed, it was worth it.
However, hearing his straightforward surrender, quite a few Shinigami among the ruins showed deep disappointment and even despair.
Some secretly hated him for only asking to preserve the Rukongai and not asking Rosse to spare his comrades who had fought alongside him.
Others simply could not accept it, believing that a member of Squad Zero had chosen a shameful betrayal in order to survive.
After all, there were hardly any leaders left on the rebel alliance's side.
Now Squad Zero had been wiped out, some dead and some surrendered. The veteran captains had committed suicide one after another.
Looking across this sea of corpses and blood, the only captain still standing with them was Yoruichi Shihoin.
But at a time like this, no one could expect the always carefree Yoruichi Shihoin to shoulder the responsibility of saving everyone.
Holding onto their last bit of hope, the crowd instinctively turned toward Yoruichi.
But when they saw her current state, the hope they had just raised instantly died.
The former Commander of the Stealth Force was lazily leaning against a broken rock.
There was no determination to fight to the death in her golden cat-like eyes. Only absent-mindedness and the look of someone who had already seen through everything.
Even if Yoruichi stepped forward and announced her surrender right now, with her personality, she would never generously bring along a group of worthless burdens like them.
And judging from the current situation, if even Yoruichi wouldn't take them with her, then weren't they truly doomed?
"Rosse, I have another question."
Kirinji ignored the hateful and despairing looks behind him.
Since he had already made his decision, he simply stuffed both hands into his wide sleeves and walked straight toward Rosse's side through the ruins.
As he passed Hitsugaya Toshiro, Unohana Retsu, Matsumoto Rangiku, and the others, the god-general of Squad Zero even raised an eyebrow and casually greeted them.
Since he had already openly switched sides, there was no point keeping up a false front.
Besides, once he had already spoken the words of surrender and thrown away his pride, what was left that he couldn't ask?
"I'm very curious."
Kirinji stopped and looked up at Rosse in the sky.
"What level of value would it take to allow the entire Soul Society, all three hundred-plus Rukongai districts, and the Seireitei to continue existing intact?"
This was the answer he wanted most.
He himself was only worth ten Rukongai districts. It was easy to imagine that even people like Oetsu Nimaiya and Ichibē Hyosube might be worth slightly more in Rosse's eyes, but not by much.
By that logic, even if all these relics of the old era surrendered together and gave up their lives, they still couldn't gather enough value to buy all 320 Rukongai districts and the Seireitei.
"In reality, you're underestimating this world. There are plenty of people more valuable than an old bag of bones like you. There are also plenty of people who want Soul Society to continue existing more than Squad Zero does."
Rosse sighed softly, amusement in his gaze as he looked down.
"I thought you would have figured that out already. Today, aside from the people stubbornly standing in front of me right now, everyone else can actually live."
Rosse's casual words struck like thunder, causing some people present to display twisted expressions.
"Huh? You're saying someone had already paid the price for this world before I even opened my mouth? Who? Who has that much influence?"
Kirinji scratched his pompadour in confusion.
"The fifteen Rukongai districts directly managed by Squad Two, and the thirty districts guarded by Squad Ten... The countless lives in those forty-five districts were already secured by Hitsugaya and Matsumoto through their own value."
Rosse extended a slender finger and pointed toward Hitsugaya Toshiro and Matsumoto Rangiku below, then chuckled.
"Huh?"
Kirinji was genuinely confused now. He even wondered if he had heard wrong.
He was the first god-general of Squad Zero, the Hot Spring Demon, the founder of Soul Society's healing arts and Kaido. Yet in Rosse's eyes he was barely worth ten districts.
Meanwhile, that ice brat Hitsugaya who hadn't even fully grown up yet, plus Matsumoto Rangiku, whose strength only barely met captain standards aside from her impressive figure, how could the two of them together be worth forty-five districts?
Why were they worth so much more than him?
It wasn't that Kirinji thought they were worthless.
Rather, the pride of an old-era powerhouse made him believe that his own value should be far greater than those two youngsters no matter what.
After all, purely in terms of combat strength, Kirinji was confident he could beat both Hitsugaya and Rangiku even without using his hands.
Not to mention the added value of his unparalleled medical skills, capable of bringing people back from death and rebuilding flesh.
"Then tell me, as a ruler, what do you think should be the standard for judging a person's value?"
Rosse wasn't angry. Instead, he smiled and asked a question in return.
"Isn't it absolute strength, rare abilities, and some irreplaceable additional value?"
Kirinji answered as if it were obvious.
At the same time, his gaze drifted downward and briefly examined Matsumoto Rangiku's impressive figure, silently adding another point in his mind.
Back when Kirinji Tenjiro ran a hot spring business in the Rukongai and mingled among ordinary people, he had been quite the playboy.
To be fair, from any angle, Matsumoto Rangiku was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Very few could compare.
If Rosse considered her worth ten Rukongai districts because of her looks, then as a man, Kirinji could barely accept it.
But thirty districts?
That was way too much. It made no sense at all.
"It seems you still don't understand what true rule really means, Kirinji."
Seeing the worldly speculation in Kirinji's eyes, Rosse laughed and slowly shook his head.
"In my eyes, abilities and strength can usually be mass-produced with enough resources and time. Even the stupidest fool can instantly surpass a captain if I'm willing to grant him power. But..."
The smile gradually faded from Rosse's face as he looked toward Hitsugaya and Matsumoto below.
"There is one thing that is extremely rare and very difficult to obtain through outside means."
"That is absolute loyalty."
Rosse's voice echoed across the empty ruins with unquestionable certainty.
"From the day I entered Soul Society as a captain, before my position was secure, the two of them have remained loyal to me and stood firmly by my side."
"For people who are willing to entrust their lives and everything they have to me without reservation, how could I, Rosse, possibly be stingy? How could I betray them or fail to live up to the weight of their expectations?"
"You're worth ten Rukongai districts because that's the value you possess. They're worth forty-five because that's all they asked for. You understand now, don't you?"
Rosse asked with a smile.
Those words were like a heavy hammer, completely shattering the last bit of unwillingness in Kirinji's heart.
He fell silent.
Just as Rosse had said.
In today's gamble, Hitsugaya Toshiro and Matsumoto Rangiku were the ones who had trusted Rosse unconditionally from the very beginning and followed him all the way in overturning the old order.
If even these two people, who had sworn to follow him to the death when he was still insignificant, were worth less to Rosse than a defeated prisoner who had just surrendered, how disheartened would those who had followed Rosse through life-and-death struggles for years feel?
In the end, Kirinji finally saw Rosse's true nature.
He had never been a saint who preached righteousness, selflessness, and absolute fairness.
On the contrary, he was a tyrant who protected his own people to the extreme.
His cruelty toward enemies was horrifying.
But the protection and rewards he gave to his own people were just as unreasonable in their excess.
[🎉 Shoutout to Cesar and Kai for joining p@treon. Thank you very much 🤗]