The newcomer's name is Gezeli Thompson. Language communication is now completely fine; however, she still retains some animalistic traits.
Because the symbol is a herbivore with low aggression and a high acceptance of the team, it's sitting with the others listening to Chun's future plans.
"I can confidently say that it's all thanks to me that everyone is sitting here today, safe and sound, and showing no apparent hostility towards those around them, haha."
"But what I give everyone is only one idea, and that is an open mind. All of us here have various names in name: Soul Reapers, Hollows, Undead, Fullbringers. It seems like there are big differences between us."
"But is there really a difference? Including these Fullbringers who have completed their physical transformation into Reishi and are willing to face all of this, as well as a cat and a dog, we actually share a common characteristic."
"That means we're already dead. Yes, we live together in an afterlife, a world where we don't have to work as hard as we do in World of the Living. Most of us have already lived in this world, and the hardships of the afterlife are incomparable to those of the World of the Living, right?"
"The biggest problem is that we don't need to struggle for food; we can survive as long as we have Reishi. I've stated this point many times in different settings. Some people accept it, some don't, and those who do are all sitting here today."
"So let me tell you what my ultimate goal is?"
"My goal is to create a world where all of us present, who are willing to accept peace, can fully contemplate the existence of higher intelligence, a world where we, as intelligent beings, can live together peacefully, without hostility."
"Just like we are now, any one of you can tell me, among all the people here today, what grudges exist between the various so-called different ethnic groups? What are the reasons for these grudges?"
"Undead and Fullbringers, you are all too young. I'd like to ask the Soul Reaper and Hollows present here, who have a history of conflict spanning thousands of years: what is your grudge?"
The Visored and the Arrancar exchanged glances. They figured they had no grudges; they were all acquaintances, what was there to hate? Even if they didn't know each other, if they met and neither side launched an attack, it was best to pretend they didn't see each other, right?
"If no one speaks, then there's no hatred. So why does Soul Society hate Hollows? Why do Soul Reaper hate Hollows? I won't say why Hollows hate Soul Reaper, because Hollows don't hate Soul Reaper at all, just like humans in the World of the Living don't try to reason with animals."
"Ordinary Hollows are just animals, but high-level Hollows possess intelligence. How many of these high-level Hollows have grudges against Soul Reaper? It's a simple question: how many Soul Society's Soul Reaper and family members have died at the hands of high-level Hollows?"
"Especially those who ran into Hueco Mundo and bumped into Adjuchas and Vasto Lorde, how many of them are there? Now, Visoreds, raise your hands if you know anyone who has done this, and tell me the number you can count on your fingers."
What was the result of this problem? None of the young people from the Visored were there. Why was that? Because when they stepped onto the stage, they were already purely as Expedition leaders, and the death toll of the Expedition force had plummeted; they hadn't lost a single person in several years.
After Jun asked this question, the group of Soul Reaper finally realized that the young people no longer had a reason to be hostile to Hollows—the most fundamental reason for their hostility, not the reason demanded by propaganda.
The Soul Society of Soul Reaper has never been slaughtered by Hollows, so there is no such thing as national, inter-sectoral, or familial hatred. The one who always seeks trouble is the Soul Society. Hueco Mundo only has miscellaneous Hollows who accidentally wander into the Soul Society, and they are mostly wild beasts.
So the question arises: why is the Soul Society hostile to a group of wild beasts? It's truly an inexplicable reason.
In contrast to the younger generation, the older generation, including Kuruyashiki, Azashiro, Kanō Miyabi, Aijima, Jun, Isuzu, Aozumi, Kōga, all knew people who had grudges against Utsuro. Jun knew that Aizen had a grudge against Utsuro, and that his mother had died at the hands of the Vasto Lorde Argali Ram's Horns.
"Only some of our generation have a grudge against Xu You, but since I took over as the Expedition leader, it has become very difficult for these younger members to harbor any hatred towards Xu You for the loss of their family and friends."
"The only ones truly creating enmity are the Soul Reaper! The Hollows, the Undead, and those beings affected by many past events I don't even know about, right?"
"Therefore, if we want to achieve the kind of existence I described, the first thing we must eliminate is the current mindset and practices of the Soul Society."
"As for Soul Society itself, it wasn't just my choice, but rather that it truly is the best place. Of course, if we can find a better place, then it doesn't matter what kind of place Soul Society is."
"Let's broaden our horizons and take a longer, broader view. We see so many maps of Hueco Mundo now, and this is only a small part of it. Let's explore, search, and discover more potential companions and more beautiful places."
"Then if one day we've searched everywhere, or really searched the whole place and haven't found a better place, or if Soul Society collapses on its own, then we'll go help them, that's how it is."
"Therefore, I've decided on only one path for the future: exploration—exploration of a wider world!"
Jun calmed down the few excited children below and said, "However, this time our exploration has a time limit. The situation on Aizen's side is still unclear, but my estimate is that Aizen will launch his final plan within four to six months, so we tentatively set the exploration time at three months."
"This is our third exploration project. The previous two were done by the Arrancar individually, but this is the first time we've done a joint exploration project. Everyone needs to integrate into this group and use their own strength to do what they can."
"Then, during the exploration, we need to record all the problems, summarize them three months later, and then overcome these problems to accumulate experience for future explorations."
"So now, today is the first day we've all gathered together, let's celebrate joyfully. Tomorrow, everyone is free to form teams, but each team must have at least one Arrancar present, otherwise they won't be able to find the space link."
"If we can assemble a team quickly enough, we'll set off the day after tomorrow, or even tomorrow! We're strong enough! No need for hesitation!"
There are still quite a few Arrancars. The dozens of Arrancars that Jun created using the Hōgyoku have all survived, so the number of Arrancars isn't an issue.
The problem lies in safety. How many people have the ability to win or even draw against a very dangerous Vasto Lorde- class vessel? The most crucial thing is to protect the team members.
Under these circumstances, there was no other way. Only a few people could lead the team. First, there were all eight original-level Arrancars, then the three Captain-level Visoreds and the Aozumi Kōga couple as one group, and the seven Fusion Warriors divided into four groups, all of whom could fight against Vasto Lorde. Among the younger generation from the Visored, only two groups could be assembled.
This initially confirmed Group 18, which, including Jun himself, would make it Group 19. However, to ensure Jun's absolute safety, the final decision was made to keep it at Group 18. Furthermore, Oka, the strongest Oka among the Arrancar, would protect Jun, and the newly Catalyzed Antelope Ge Ze Li was still unstable and couldn't lead a team alone.
After dividing the population into eighteen groups, each group actually doesn't have many people. The largest group is Chun, with nine people, and the smallest group has only four people.
The eight members of Jun's group are: Jun, Isuzu, Oka, Coco, Dolu, Ge Ze Li, Aijima, Stigmata, Shitōmachi Mi (from the Visored).
Chun repaired the Stigmata and several other swords, and the other materialized blades were distributed among many teams as emergency support. While the number of Spiritual Power storage devices seemed large, after being distributed across nearly a hundred swords, each sword only had two or three storage devices, which wasn't enough to support too many frequent battles.
"Well then, I won't say any more. Martial luck! Let's go!"
There are currently thirteen known maps. The previous nine are: Endless Sea, Earth-Rending Stone Forest, Green Grassland, Silent Sand Sea Forest of Menos, Blazing Hell, Demon Wind Canyon, Frozen Circle, and Deathmist Swamp.
The newly discovered maps are: Bottomless Abyss, Cloud-Mist High Cliffs, Scorching Sun Sand Sea, and Filthy Mud Swamp.
The Bottomless Abyss connects to the Forest of Menos. This location is part of the Forest of Menos's surface structure and is currently the only known area whose entirety cannot be explored. It's unclear whether the Bottomless Abyss or the Endless Sea is larger.
Cloud-Mist High Cliffs is an expansion of the Earth-Rending Stone Forest, Scorching Sun Sand Sea is an expansion of the Blazing Region, and Filthy Mud Swamp is an expansion of the Deathmist Swamp.
The place Chun wants to explore this time is the Bottomless Abyss. Why explore here? Because Chun suspects that Ulquiorra 'Ulquiorra hometown is here, and the Abyss is a perfect place for Bats to live.
And most importantly, it's close by. Chun doesn't really want to go too far. Exploration is a good thing, but Chun prefers to let others explore while she just observes. Essentially, Chun is quite lazy.
The discovery of the Bottomless Abyss is related to the place where Kenpachi challenged him twice. After Zaraki and Azashiro finished their battle, Biersen the Bear returned to the area for a look, then slipped and fell. This idiot thought it was fun and didn't try to stay airborne, so he fell all the way to the ground level.
Many Hollows had never been to the surface level of the Forest of Menos, Biersen was naturally here for the first time as well. So this rascal wandered around among the Hollows, eating as he went, and after an unknown amount of time, he found the spatial link to the Bottomless Abyss.
This guy was especially happy because it was the place he discovered, and he could receive praise from Chun. Of course, Chun praised him, and now Chun had arrived at this connection point.
This is the ground level of the Forest of Menos. This connection point is the entrance to a pitch-black abyss, spanning several kilometers in size. However, this size is not unusual due to the roots of the numerous giant trees in the Forest of Menos, so it cannot be seen from above. Many tree roots also grow downwards from here.
Junichi was Starrk's team. Because the Bottomless Abyss was so vast, one exploration team was clearly insufficient, and this area was a high priority. Chun condensed a ball of Spiritual Power and threw it down.
Everyone watched as the ball of light fell downwards, illuminating part of the rock wall, and then suddenly disappeared.
"Sure enough, there are quite a few voids below, all invisible. They're probably hidden inside the rock wall. My light orb was swallowed," Chun condensed another light orb, this time holding it in his hand to illuminate the way. "Going down the rock wall isn't difficult. Let's go."