"The Fourth Hueco Mundo Exploration Project, the Complete Exploration Project of the Bottomless Abyss, has officially begun!"
As Chun announced the start of the plan, the exploration team, now expanded to 23 teams, leaped from the Bottomless Abyss. The goal this time was to completely explore the Bottomless Abyss, with the first phase of exploration lasting three months.
The Endless Sea has now more than doubled its size. Apart from Arrancar Aizen Felix, Healdos who is free, and the missing Centipede Cirucci, even the giant squid Tejuda has been captured, bringing the total number of Arrancar to 13.
With the Visored joining, plus Yoruichi, Gin Ichimaru, Kaname Tōsen, and the Hollowfication of the Undead and Fullbringers, the Visoreds' side now numbers a total of 65. However, among the Undead and Fullbring, only the Fusion Warriors possess combat power exceeding the Captain-level.
Felix's three lieutenants, all girls, were thrown into the Endless Sea, and they integrated quite well. Mainly, they understood that Aizen and Felix no longer needed them.
Sōjirō Kusaka returned from Soul Society and told Jun that his mission was complete. Jun had done everything he could for Little Lion; as for what Tōshirō would become, he could only leave it to fate.
Expanding the team is great; it speeds up exploration. Jun's team remains the strongest. To ensure Jun's safety, it's still a six-person team: Jun, Isuzu, Nel, Yoruichi, Gin Ichimaru, and Golvi.
This Golvi is a newly Arrancar, her full name being Golvi Llargo, and her symbol is the Monarch Butterfly. Her Hollowfication Mask is on her forehead, shaped like two butterfly antennae, and her Hollow Hole is on her lower abdomen. She has very unique double pupils, naturally colored eyeshadow, and colorful, fluffy eyelashes and eyebrows, making her look like a very fantastical girl.
But if anyone knows the surname Llargo, it's not hard to guess her origins. Her predecessor was called Yammy Llargo, and she was born from the giant cocoon that Yammy had transformed into. She was a complete newborn, without any memory of Yammy.
So, after taking care of Ge Ze Li, now it's time to take care of this little girl. Ge Ze Li strongly insisted that she become the new youngest sister, and the other Arrancar agreed. By the way, let me mention Golvi's strength here—a genuine Original Arrancar- level.
Yammy was stuffed with over 400 Gillian, an unimaginable number. Ulquiorra only used 130+ back then, Grimmjow only needed 257 Gillian to raise Adjuchas from a single champion to Arrancar Adjuchas.
Among the many Arrancar, Golvi's strength, based solely on Reiatsu, is currently third, only behind Oka and Ulquiorra. However, she is still a newcomer and has room for further growth.
This sparked a new idea: to capture the Adjuchas or Vasto Lorde, symbols of the caterpillars, and see if something similar could be accomplished. These creatures exist in the Bottomless Abyss; I saw quite a few when I was here last time, which might be related to the fact that this place is beneath the Forest of Menos.
These are merely byproducts of this exploration; the main purpose was to delve deeper. Chun is genuinely curious whether the Bottomless Abyss truly has no bottom, and if it does, what lies at the bottom?
Chun's team was the strongest, so they naturally went down to the bottom. With more than twenty teams spaced five kilometers apart, they could cover the entire area of over one hundred kilometers without any problems.
A new Paranormal Detective Agency was established, consisting of Ichigo, Uryū, Sado, Orihime, and Rukia. Although the paranormal detective named Reigen Shinchō was skeptical of the middle school students, the group's super-professional abilities convinced Reigen Shinchō that they could indeed complete these tasks.
The Fullbring Organization and the Undead Liaison Office returned to Karakura Town. The Undead Liaison Office remained at its original location, while the research institute became the Fullbring Organization's new headquarters.
Then Ichigo discovers that members of the Fullbring Organization are frequently contacting several of his classmates, including Tatsuki Arisawa, Keigo Asano, Asano Mizue (who likes Ikkaku), and Mizuiro Kojima. Three of them Ichigo's classmates, and one is his Childhood Friends.
"Hey! What do you mean by this?!" Ichigo stormed into the research institute, finding Yukio, the Tokyo area manager. "What do you want with my classmate?!"
Yukio put down her game console and gave Ichigo a disdainful look. "Don't you have any manners at all?"
"Bullshit! If you don't give me a satisfactory explanation, I'll show you something even more rude than what you're showing now!"
"Tsk~ So what if you're powerful? You think you can bully people at will?"
Ichigo shoved aside the person blocking his way and grabbed Yukio by the collar. "I'm telling you this seriously! I'm asking you! Why did you look for my classmates! My friends!"
"Why so many whys?" Yukio looked at her like she was an idiot. "They've already become Fullbringers, it's that simple, isn't it? You really are a brainless moron."
What did you say?
"Didn't you notice that your classmates possess Spiritual Power? You definitely did, you just don't want to admit it."
Ichigo, at a loss for words, forced a defense. "They only have a tiny bit."
"We don't have many either. The strength of Fullbring lies in its wondrous abilities, not the amount of Spiritual Power," Yukio said, giving her a look that said, "You're really an idiot." "Can you guarantee that they'll become good people after they acquire Fullbring, or that they'll awaken some incredibly dangerous abilities without even realizing it? Our organization has discovered many such examples."
What example?
"For example, there was a guy named Yagami Kira. He watched too much anime, and coincidentally, his surname was also Tsukigami, so he thought he could become the new world's Kira. He imitated the anime and made a notebook, and then his notebook came to life, and that's how his Fullbring awakened."
Ichigo was startled. "Then my classmate couldn't possibly be... uh..."
Ichigo was speechless; he looked embarrassed and put Yukio down.
Yukio straightened her clothes. "You ill-mannered person, can't you even apologize?"
"I'm not ill-mannered!" Ichigo's rebuttal sounded utterly feeble, and he could only offer a deep bow, "I'm sorry!"
"That's more like it," Yukio scoffed. "Their Fullbring will definitely be developed. Abilities are like floods; it's better to channel them than to block them. Forget it, you wouldn't understand anyway."
"I understand!"
"If you really knew, why would you come here?"
"I"
Yukio ignored Ichigo and walked straight out, with Ichigo following behind.
"You're currently doing work related to the paranormal."
"Uh yes"
"This business is ours nationwide, but forget it, it won't make a difference if you two take our business. Besides, that Reigen Shinchō is quite capable, so you can do this from now on."
Ichigo had nothing to say, only able to reply with an "Oh."
"These four people are your classmates. They originally had no Spiritual Power, but because of your existence, they gained Spiritual Power. Do you understand?"
"It's my fault!?"
"It's all your fault! You and your Soul Reaper girlfriend... Soul Reapers unconsciously emit Spiritual Power, and this Spiritual Power can be absorbed by humans with strong intuition, eventually leading to awakening. So as long as you and your Soul Reaper girlfriend continue to stay in the mortal World of the Living, sooner or later one of your classmates will awaken."
"Oh, is that so? What should I do then?" Ichigo was dumbfounded, realizing he had caused all this trouble.
"There's not much we can do. Like I said, only those with strong intuition can awaken it, so there are only a few around you. New ones might appear after the classes are reshuffled in the second and third years of junior high, but we'll see then."
"Oh~"
Yukio led Ichigo to the outside of the Training Ground, where a monitor could see what was happening inside. Inside Tatsuki Arisawa and the other three were attempting to awaken their powers.
"We didn't coerce or bribe them; we just showed them some tragedies related to Fullbring. Superpowers aren't necessarily all good, especially naive superpowers. If I hadn't had Fullbring Organization, I might have caused terrible consequences for my family—the kind I can't even imagine."
"No one dares to believe that their Fullbring is absolutely safe. Even someone like Orihime Inoue has attack techniques like Arc Heaven Slash Shield. It's entirely possible that she might accidentally kill an ordinary person."
Ichigo nodded. "That's true."
"So after understanding all this, they chose to actively awaken their abilities. Everyone here is Fullbringer, which guarantees the safety of their abilities. Now the question is, after they have completed their ability awakening and control, will they stay with me or follow you?"
"What do you mean?" Ichigo realized his mind was blank again.
"They are your classmates after all. Wouldn't it be fun if you formed a paranormal investigation organization?"
"Uh, that works too."
"Then it's settled. Is there anything else?"
"Fine"
"Then you can get lost," Yukio coldly to Ichigo. Ichigo wanted to get angry but realized that it was even more rude of him to have barged in first, so he could only give a forced smile and disappear in a flash.
Ichigo drove back to the Seaside Villa. Ichigo rarely goes home these days; the villa is more free and comfortable. Uryū, Orihime, and Sado have moved in, especially Sado and Orihime. They used to live in a shack and an apartment respectively, so a change of scenery didn't bother them.
"You got scolded back?" The first question Uryū asked as he entered the room, sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper, was the one he least wanted to hear.
Ichigo was quite annoyed. "How did you know?"
Uryū shook the phone. "Are you a caveman? If you have any problems, just make a phone call."
Ichigo's face turned purple from holding back his laughter. Seeing the others also trying to suppress their chuckles, he immediately realized he'd acted impulsively again. Ugh!
"Do you have work today?" Ichigo decided to steer the conversation away from that question.
The others didn't want to make things difficult for him, but unfortunately, Rukia shrugged, "Nothing today."
Ichigo was even more annoyed, but just then the doorbell rang. The others were quite surprised; who would come? Ichigo felt like a savior had arrived, and when he ran to the peephole in the front door, he froze completely.
"What's wrong?" Uryū walked over, but before he could finish speaking, he froze in place.
The others also walked over out of curiosity, then froze, until the doorbell rang a second time, at which point all five of them snapped out of their daze.
"Why is he here!?" This was the question asked in unison by all five of them.
Because the person at the entrance was a pale-skinned boy with blue hair and blue eyes; even without the Hollowfication Mask, Ichigo and the others could recognize him.
His name is
Ulquiorra Cifer