Jun had discovered several outer regions of Hueco Mundo. He would call them that for now. In any case, Jun had discovered them, so the naming rights were his.
Jun named the outer regions the Endless Sea, the Earth-Rending Stone Forest, and the Green Grassland. Adding the Forest of Menos and the Silent Sand Sea, Hueco Mundo now had five maps in total.
For the moment, Jun had little desire to explore the five maps. They were too far away and too vast, and he still remembered the lover waiting at home. If Soul Society really thought he was dead and he stayed away for decades or even a century, he might come back to find a green grassland over his head.
So Jun turned his attention to studying Hollows. Starrk and Lilynette had no particular thoughts on the matter. They had lived in Hueco Mundo all this time, and there was nothing to do here but eat. The only exception was Las Noches, but construction had only just begun, and Baraggan had awakened not long ago.
Hollows who had only just gained humanity were nothing more than two children who didn't know what entertainment was. The reason the Espada had turned out that way in the original story was all thanks to Aizen's excellent teaching.
Now, Jun introduced them to a new hobby.
"Starrk, Starrk, let him eat! Let him eat!!"
"Mm~ I'm doing it."
The three were in the Forest of Menos. Starrk had taken only about ten days to confine his Reiatsu field within ten meters, but the further he progressed, the harder it became.
Still, they could have fun within a ten-meter radius, so Jun had Starrk find that unlucky Rhinoceros Beetle again. Of course, he could also be called a lucky Rhinoceros Beetle.
Because what Jun was about to do involved Rhinoceros Beetle's favorite thing: eating Menos Grande.
The differences in rank among Hollows were clearer than those among Soul Reapers, and it was the naked law of the jungle. Under that law, higher-ranking Hollows had considerable authority over lower-ranking ones.
But that authority gradually weakened as a Hollow's intelligence increased. An Adjuchas could command Gillians perfectly, but a Vasto Lorde could only suppress an Adjuchas, not command one.
At Starrk's level, he could make an Adjuchas unable to move on the spot, but he still couldn't command one. However, while Starrk couldn't command them, he could force them. The difference in power was simply too great.
At Jun's request, Starrk summoned all the Gillians within an area, then lined them up to be eaten by the Adjuchas-class Rhinoceros Beetle.
The difference in rank between Starrk and the Gillians was so great that, although a Vasto Lorde couldn't make Gillians go to their deaths when they knew they would die, the Gillians couldn't disobey Starrk's orders. So they could only present themselves at Rhinoceros Beetle's mouth.
Rhinoceros Beetle ate happily, but Jun thought he was eating too slowly, so he had Starrk force-feed him.
Hollows were ultimately masses of energy, and so were Soul Reapers. There wasn't really any difference. Starrk could compress a Menos Grande into an energy ball the size of a yoga ball and stuff it into Rhinoceros Beetle's mouth.
This brutal sort of game suited Hollows perfectly. Lilynette cheered and jumped for joy, and Starrk gradually became hooked too. But after stuffing thirty-seven into him, Starrk spoke.
"Should we keep going? If we stuff any more in, this guy will explode."
"Oh~~ Can you feel his limit?"
"Yeah~"
"Then stop stuffing him. Wait a moment."
Jun cast a Tōzanshō to protect Rhinoceros Beetle, because he could also see that his current condition was terrifying. His entire body had been stretched to the point of cracking by the energy, but Starrk said the next one would make him explode, which meant he was just about at his limit now.
He was completely unable to move in this state and had no fighting strength at all. If another Hollow saw him and ate him, Jun really would have no tears left to cry.
After finishing, Jun said, "Is it fun? If it is, let's find a few more to play with."
"It is! It is! Starrk, let's find some more!"
Starrk said nothing. He picked Jun up with Spiritual Power, held Lilynette in his arms, and vanished from the spot in an instant.
Soon, Starrk found a second target: a giant stick insect. This Adjuchas couldn't take any more after being stuffed with twenty-five Gillians.
Then came the third, a creature that looked like a cricket but had a snake-like lower body. They stuffed it with forty-one Gillians.
Then, while looking for a fourth target, Starrk traveled a long way before suddenly stopping.
"Jun, there's a Vasto Lorde. How about stuffing this one?"
Jun was taken aback. "Can you do it?"
"No problem."
"Yay~ Stuff a Vasto Lorde~ Stuff a Vasto Lorde~"
"Then let's stuff him. Let's go."
But when they found the Vasto Lorde, Jun recognized him at a glance. It was Ulquiorra.
Jun liked Ulquiorra a lot, so he had looked up information on him. In the original story, Ulquiorra had also recalled his past when he died, and Jun had seen what he looked like as a Vasto Lorde.
He was almost completely humanoid, though exceptionally thin. His mask had become a helmet with only eyes, and the two rabbit ears on it were decorations, because sight was Ulquiorra's only sense as a Vasto Lorde.
Messy black hair hung down his back, and his outer skin was entirely white. Two small bat wings made of black Spiritual Power grew from his lower back, with a wingspan of less than a meter. Compared to the Black-Winged Demon Ulquiorra became after Resurrección, they were pitifully small.
Although sight was the only one of his five senses that Ulquiorra possessed, his perception of Spiritual Power was still that of a normal Vasto Lorde. He looked at the trio in terror, his whole body trembling slightly and his little wings flapping even faster.
Ulquiorra was eating the corpse of an Adjuchas, and even in that state, he didn't forget to keep eating. He had no mouth, so he was absorbing the Adjuchas's corpse as Reishi.
"Should I stuff him with Adjuchas?"
"Uh, forget it. Where would you stuff them? He doesn't have a mouth."
"A mouth? What's that?"
"Uh, it's where you eat."
"Oh~ Is where you eat called a mouth? Isn't it where you talk? He has a mouth. Can't you see it?"
Jun thought his understanding and Starrk's must be different, and his explanation of a mouth must have been wrong too. He would find another chance to correct it later.
"All right, do whatever you want."
"Mm." Starrk fell silent. After a while, he said, "I can't stuff him with Adjuchas. This guy is very fast. If I don't stay here, I won't be able to find him again."
As Starrk spoke, he sent out a wave that summoned Gillians. Countless Gillians headed toward them. Ulquiorra knew how to send out that wave too, so he didn't understand what Starrk meant.
"Hide!"
Starrk tossed Lilynette into Jun's arms, then flung them both away. In an instant, he slammed into Ulquiorra.
A tremendous jet-black Reiatsu burst out of the forest. Jun could tell it was Starrk's Reiatsu, and he could sense Ulquiorra's Reiatsu making up about fifteen percent of it.
But Starrk's Reiatsu continued to grow, steadily squeezing down Ulquiorra's share until it was almost zero. The erupting Reiatsu also began to contract.
Jun still didn't dare move, but Lilynette tugged at his clothes.
"Jun, let's go over~ Starrk is really strong."
"Oh~"
Jun used Shunpo to make his way forward, but he still didn't quite dare go fast. By the time he reached the spot, Lilynette had grown somewhat impatient. Then Jun saw Ulquiorra pinned completely beneath Starrk's foot.
Starrk had one foot on Ulquiorra's lower back, with Ulquiorra's arms twisted behind him and held together with the wings on his waist. Ulquiorra was in great pain, but there was nothing he could do. He no longer had the strength to fight back.
This wasn't the Black-Winged Demon he would later become, an Arrancar who had also undergone a spiritual transformation and could use Second Resurrección. Right now, before Starrk, a naturally formed Arrancar, Ulquiorra was
pitiful, weak, and helpless.
The Gillians had been frightened off by the earlier burst of Spiritual Power. They only came after Starrk summoned them again, and then he compressed them one by one into balls of Spiritual Power and stuffed them into Ulquiorra's "mouth."
It was actually where his mouth should have been, but a mask covered that spot now. Yet when the balls of Spiritual Power were pushed against it, they really did disappear.
As Starrk stuffed them in one after another, Ulquiorra soon began to struggle. The black Spiritual Power around him surged violently, but Starrk's Reiatsu was so strong that no amount of rampaging did any good.
One after another, then another and another. Soon, all the more than a hundred Gillians that had been summoned over were gone, stuffed into Ulquiorra. But a Vasto Lorde was a Vasto Lorde, and Ulquiorra seemed perfectly fine.
"Lilynette can find me. Bring her along."
With that, Starrk vanished, still holding Ulquiorra down. Lilynette pointed Jun in the right direction, and Jun used Shunpo at full speed to chase after them. Unfortunately, he still couldn't see them. They were just too fast!
By the time Jun arrived, Starrk had already been stuffing Ulquiorra for a while. Jun and Lilynette crouched down, and the two could see Ulquiorra's expression, even though he only had eyes.
Ulquiorra's eyes were bloodshot and looked ready to split open. His whole body was trembling, but it was no use. Starrk had him completely suppressed and gave him no chance at all.
This time, another hundred-odd Gillians went into Ulquiorra's stomach. Starrk considered for a moment, then let go. Ulquiorra rolled around on the ground, crawling slowly away. He couldn't get up or walk anymore.
"He still hasn't reached his limit. Should I keep going?"
"No, no, no, stop. This is already extreme enough. Gillians won't be coming near here again anytime soon, right?"
"Right, they're all gone."
"All right, then." Jun cast a Tōzanshō over Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra seemed to sense what it could do and stopped struggling. Jun breathed a sigh of relief and felt a pang of sympathy for him.
The three stood before the Tōzanshō, looking at the sky-blue inverted pyramid. Lilynette liked it very much and ran circles around it.
"Was it fun?"
"Mm, it was."
"Haha, I didn't expect you to find it fun too."
"I've never done anything like this before, so it's interesting."
"Then you can keep doing it in the future."
"Are you leaving?"
"Yeah, if you'll let me go."
"Mm, I don't mind. Ask Lilynette."
"Hm?" Lilynette turned around. "Jun, are you leaving?"
Jun crouched down and stroked the little one's head. Lilynette was really cute at this age. "May I, my little princess? Will you let me leave?"
Her single crimson eye fixed on Jun, and she shook her head.
"Ah~, then I'll stay with you a while longer."
"Really!?"
"Mm." Jun held out his little finger. "You hold out your little finger too, and we'll hook them together. It's a gesture to seal a promise."
"Mm!"
After they linked fingers, Jun smiled. "But next time I want to leave, you can't stop me."
"Mm~~" Lilynette pouted and said reluctantly, "All right~~"
"What should I do from now on?" Starrk asked.
"Observe. I think the Hollows you've stuffed with Spiritual Power will all grow stronger. You were once an Adjuchas and a Vasto Lorde too, but you're different now. If you keep doing this, it's possible that, for example, the one in front of us might become one of your kind someday."
"Are others of my kind companions?"
"I don't know."
"Why? Aren't others of my kind companions?"
"No. I'll talk to you about that later. Since you haven't had enough fun yet, let's continue."
"Mm, it's interesting. Let's continue."