Inside Las Noches, the Sky Cover has been made to resemble the real World of the Living, with sunlight, Blue Skies, and White Clouds, but unfortunately, it cannot generate wind and rain.
At this moment, a grand event is being held in Hueco Mundo, where Zero is selecting ten of the strongest Guards, collectively known as the 'Espada'.
This was borrowed from the barely preserved memories of his past life, from the Espada under Aizen. After his past life memories faded, Rei scratched his head for a long time before he remembered the title of Espada.
Zero originally wanted to call them the Ten Courts of Hell or simply select twelve of them, collectively known as the Twelve Divine Generals, directly corresponding to the twelve Captains of the Gotei 13 besides the Captain-Commander.
When Zero released the footage recorded by the Spirit Worm, he suddenly remembered that the mastermind was actually Aizen leader from the original Arrancar.
After comparing several times, he realized that he had stolen Aizen's life. Aizen was probably being guided in some way to constantly manipulate him in order to correct the timeline...
Starrk, Baraggan, Szayelaporro, Ulquiorra, Picaro, Grimmjow, and Dordoni —these seven have been confirmed, with even Dordoni opting for Half-Arrancarization.
On the main stage of the Arena, Zero stood overlooking the entire arena, surrounded by seven top-tier fighters. The Half-Arrancars all remained silent.
There are many Half-Arrancar Adjuchas, but none have been fully Arrancar. Even with Szayelaporro's involvement in the research, the desired results have not been achieved.
Szayelaporro's original main research focus was on 'immortality,' which allowed him to regenerate even if he were reduced to ashes... He only began researching Arrancar transformation after Zero arrived in Hueco Mundo.
Grimmjow leaned down at the group of Adjuchas of various shapes and sizes below and said disdainfully, "Boss, are you planning to pick one out from that pile of trash?"
"You have a lot of complaints about them, huh? Don't worry, although you're all Espada, I'll differentiate your strengths."
Ling smiled slightly. It wasn't easy for a leopard to call him "boss," and he knew why Grimmjow was so disdainful.
Grimmjow is the only Vasto Lorde who hasn't Arrancar. Even Dordoni recently became Arrancar, but he remains the same as before, which is why many Half-Arrancar come to challenge him to a duel.
It could be said that the number of Half-Arrancar who died at Grimmjow's hands was greater than the number sent out to search for the missing Vasto Lorde. Only recently, after realizing Grimmjow's power, did these Half-Arrancar begin to behave themselves.
"Hehehe, Mr. Grimmjow, would you like Arrancar services?" Szayelaporro greeted him, wanting to use Grimmjow for experiments.
"Hmph, no need!"
"Szayelaporro, hehehe, can I kill you? Hahaha..."
Grimmjow turned his head away, ignoring Szayelaporro, but Picaro wanted to kill him as soon as he heard Szayelaporro's voice.
Picaro was mainly tricked by Szayelaporro, whose power was forcibly extracted to power their evolution, causing Picaro's power to drop too much. Even if he is stupid and crazy, it doesn't stop him from holding a grudge against others.
"Alright, that's enough for now. Let's proceed with the selection of the Espada. If you two want to duel, we can talk about it later..."
Zero cast a single glance at him, Picaro trembled violently. It was a genuine fear; for some time now, Zero had thoroughly subdued him...
The selection of three Espada has begun, with a total of seventeen Half-Arrancars who believe they are strong enough participating.
Zero glanced at the group of Half-Arrancar -Half-Arrancar noticed a few of the more promising ones: one named Gangbaiten and another named Luppi. These two were considered among the best.
The draw rules stipulated one-on-one matches. Originally, one player received a bye, but Luppi said to the referee, Ulquiorra, "I don't think there's any need for a bye. Let the player who received a bye, along with my opponent, come together!"
"Are you sure? Then so be it!"
Ulquiorra agreed to the suggestion; after all, having an extra guy would be troublesome.
The referee's main role is to protect those who surrender, preventing them from being killed after surrendering, a task that Ulquiorra is perfectly capable of fulfilling.
"Luppi, you bastard, how dare you look down on me!"
"Hmph, so arrogant? Xidulu, let's team up and take down this piece of trash first, then we'll duel!"
"Hehehe, I agree!"
The two Half-Arrancar revealed cruel smiles; both were high-ranking Adjuchas Half-Arrancar, so who was afraid of whom? Luppi, on the other side, resembled an octopus with six tentacles growing from her back.
"Want one against two? Interesting..."
"It's just a bunch of noobs pecking at each other."
"Nangong, I must take my leave now; I still have some experiments to complete."
"I'm going to sleep now. As for rankings, any one will do..."
Baraggan was intrigued, Grimmjow dismissed it all as rubbish, Szayelaporro bowed and took his leave, and Starrk, equally uninterested, just wanted to sleep.
Picaro and Dordoni, both terrified of Zero, stood firmly behind him, saying nothing.
Next up, the first match is an arrogant one-on-two.
Six octopus tentacles flew around, forcing the two Half-Arrancar to separate and attack one side at a time.
Even so, the two of them had to face an average of three tentacles, with Luppi herself in the center looking smug and constantly making sarcastic remarks.
"Cero!"
A beetle-shaped Half-Arrancar finally couldn't resist and created distance to condense Cero, but it took too long. Luppi smiled sinisterly, and five of her six tentacles began to extend continuously, attacking him simultaneously.
With a single blow, the Half-Arrancar was squeezed into a ball and died instantly.
"Damn it, I surrender."
"Hahaha, are you scared now? You were so arrogant just now!"
Another guy named Xidulu was smart; he surrendered on the spot, recognizing the difference in strength. Luppi then launched into another round of mockery, her mouth running wild...
What followed was a tedious elimination selection process, with Half-Arrancar constantly being slaughtered. Many of them chose to fight to the death, as shameless individuals like Xidulu were, after all, a minority.
With only four people left, Luppi was the strongest and won easily all the way. Gangbaiten was selected. Among the remaining two, there was a female Menos Grande named Tiruti Sandervich!
This is rare in Hueco Mundo, where women are at a disadvantage; many male Adjuchas prefer to hunt female Adjuchas because they are naturally weaker in combat.
The final rankings came out quickly: Luppi defeated Gangbaiten, Tiruti defeated another boar-headed Half-Arrancar named Daisile.
The winners' bracket will determine the strongest player, while the losers' bracket will continue to fight, as one more player needs to be eliminated. The battles on both sides will take place simultaneously.
On the winners' bracket side...
"Damn woman."
"A foul-mouthed piece of trash."
Luppi and Tiruti were fighting when Luppi's tentacle was severed in two by Blade Wings. Enraged, the two exchanged insults and clashed fiercely.
The six tentacles stirred the scene wildly, raising clouds of smoke and Tiruti wasn't stupid either; with a Sonído, she broke free from the smoke-filled area and began releasing Bala into it.
Tentacles burst forth from the smoke and dust, Tiruti dodged and weaved, silently counting in her mind: one, two, three...
Tiruti observed that Ruby's current weakness was that her Luppi tentacles could not shrink in a short time. When she counted to six, she Sonído and approached Luppi, swinging the steel wings on her back to slash at Luppi.
Just as success seemed imminent, a tentacle suddenly appeared and wrapped around the base of Tiruti's wings, preventing her from flapping them. Another tentacle appeared, binding her hands and holding her completely.
"Oops!"
Tiruti felt a chill run through her body. She knew she had been tricked, but her struggles were futile as two tentacles held her tightly in place.
"Haha, didn't expect that, did you? I have eight tentacles, not six! Go to hell, you woman!"
Ruby laughed wildly, Luppi her six extended tentacles snapped back. If they were to strike the defenseless Tiruti at the same time, they would surely kill her.
At that moment, Ulquiorra made his move, instantly deflecting the six tentacles as if they had hit a wall. The whole process was so fast that the Half-Arrancar were unable to see it.
'What's going on? That's too fast!' Luppi shocked. Ulquiorra's speed was beyond her comprehension.
"Ulquiorra, she didn't shout 'surrender,' did she?! Why did you save her?" Ulquiorra Luppi.
"Lord Nangong needs three Guards. She's already one of the Espada, so there's no need to reduce her numbers for now. Let her go!" Ulquiorra patiently explained.
Upon hearing this, Luppi away and stopped talking. Ulquiorra's strength was too great. Luppi knew that she was far from being a match for him. Being able to become one of the 'Espada' of Lord Nangong's Royal Guard was already a great blessing.
He needs to find a way to maintain this position, otherwise he might be eliminated when a stronger competitor emerges.
After the tentacles released Tiruti, Ulquiorra looked towards the loser's bracket. Gangbaiten and Daisile had just been fighting fiercely, but it was already the final moment.
Gangbaiten unleashed a massive Reishi punch, knocking Daisile so badly he couldn't get up again...
"The next three are tentatively set as Luppi, eighth; Tiruti, ninth; Gangbaiten, tenth."
"I am willing to fight to the death to protect Nangong."
Zero announced the result in a low voice, and the three of them were filled with fervor. Zero's power made them worship him, and even the Arrancar Baraggan Vasto Lorde had to submit.
Now, the three of them have finally risen to a higher level, and they are overjoyed.