When Cang Du saw his companion about to kill him, he wasn't surprised at all. In the Wandenreich, everyone could only move forward; no loser had the right to live.
The one who carried out everything on behalf of Yhwach was the legion commander Jugram Haschwalth; all of this had been arranged before Yhwach fell into slumber.
Jugram Haschwalth brought his team to Hueco Mundo not only to deal with Cang Du, but also to flex his muscles and intimidate Zero with the power of the Sternritter, preventing him from having any further ideas.
Soul Reaper is their common enemy!
"Gangbaiten Tiruti were killed in battle, Baraggan, Picaro, Dordoni, Luppi, and several other Espada were all seriously injured. As for the other Arrancar, a total of forty-seven were killed, twenty-six were seriously injured, and the rest were slightly injured..."
"Alright, you can leave now!"
The Arrancar who came to report the battle damage was dismissed by Zero. He sat silently on the broken ruins, with Ulquiorra, who had returned, standing behind him without saying a word.
Zero turned his head slightly and asked, "Have you completed your mission?"
Ulquiorra replied expressionlessly, "It's done. The Vasto Lorde said she'll be coming later."
"Um."
After receiving the answer, Zero didn't ask about the process or the timeline; Ulquiorra would handle those things himself... If he hadn't returned in time, Dordoni would have been killed by Bazz-B too.
Zero could understand why the Arrancar ranked lower were seriously injured or killed, but he was a little surprised that Baraggan, whose true form was a skeleton, was also seriously injured.
Zero only realized that Baraggan had been targeted when the subsequent battle was copied; the combined abilities of the three Quincy were both offensive and defensive.
Nianzol's 'The Wind' technique can warp space, preventing Baraggan's Death Breath from reaching the three; Robert Accutrone's acceleration can easily evade Baraggan's attacks.
Jerome Guizbatt's 'The Roar' is responsible for the main attack; Respira can Respira everything it touches, so is sound considered an object? Obviously not.
Sound is produced by vibration and is transmitted through sound waves. Since it is not matter, it cannot come into contact with the Death Breath, which is why it can attack Baraggan.
Jerome Guizbatt's ability, 'The Roar,' delivers a terrifying sonic shockwave with each strike, Baraggan several times and injuring him severely—his bones were nearly shattered by the shockwave.
Baraggan would still be in danger if Jugram Haschwalth hadn't ordered the retreat.
The Battle Data recorded by the Spirit Worm didn't just include these few individuals; a total of twelve members of the Sternritter had their data recorded by the Spirit Worm.
Aside from Loyd Lloyd, who was killed by Zero, the only point of victory was Grimmjow, who, with the fighting power of an un- Arrancar Vasto Lorde, defeated a talkative Quincy...
Since Baraggan's surrender, there have been over a hundred Half-Arrancar manufactured by Zero. Adding those manufactured before, as well as some that went missing or died in battle, there should have been over a hundred and thirty bodies before the war.
But after this battle, the casualties reached half, which really annoyed Zero... After developing for so long, he almost had to start all over again.
Over the next period of time, Zero, along with the astute U, and the behind-the-scenes analysis team including Maki Kuzō, continuously calculated the Sternritter's combat strength and ultimately reached the following conclusion:
While most of the Sternritter less individually combat-capable than the Espada of Vasto Lorde, the majority are stronger than Adjuchas- class Half-Arrancar...
The problem goes back to the beginning: they were only Half-Arrancar, not fully Arrancar. Ultimately, it comes down to their lack of strength.
Research into the complete Arrancar transformation of Hollows continues, but progress is slow. Simply injecting Shinigami spiritual power can only make them half-Arrancars, not complete Arrancars.
This battle made Zero realize that Menos Grande Arrancar were still useful, but mid-level Menos Grande were only truly effective once they were fully Arrancar.
A few days later, Vasto Lorde, whom Ulquiorra had personally recruited, arrived, accompanied by two henchmen...
"Welcome to our team! What are your names?"
With Vasto Lorde arriving, Zero naturally had to meet her personally, especially since she was a Menos Grande who had once refused to be recruited by one of his Half-Arrancar. It's unclear how Ulquiorra persuaded her to change her mind.
"Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck!"
"Pesche."
"Dondochakka Birstanne Birstein."
The leader, Vasto Lorde, was none other than Nel, who was given No. 3 by Aizen in the original timeline. At this time, she had not yet been Arrancar and had the appearance of a goat's head and a deer's body.
The other two are both Adjuchas, followers of Nel, and it was only because of these two that Ulquiorra was able to persuade her to join.
Nel gazed at the man in the long Red Long Robe on the high platform, recalling her encounter with Ulquiorra...
After defeating several strange Arrancars Menos Grande were harassing her, Nel left the rocky forest where she had been hiding with two followers and found a new place to live.
After some time, Ulquiorra tracked them down to the rocky canyon where they were hiding.
When Ulquiorra's verbal attempts to recruit him failed, he displayed the immense power of the Arrancar, easily defeating Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka Birstanne.
"Without power, you can only struggle to survive in the darkness. You may evade countless powerful hunters, but once captured, you may face utter destruction."
"I will not kill you. You have come here to gain power, to stand with us at the top of Hueco Mundo as the strong, and to begin a meaningful life, or to continue to run away."
"Of course, the choice is yours. You can refuse me, but later, when you encounter someone you can't refuse, will you regret missing the opportunity to become stronger?"
Just when Nel thought she was about to be forcibly taken away or perish, Ulquiorra left behind a few words and turned to leave.
Based on simple evidence of power, and interpreting Nel's constant 'avoidance of battle and hiding' behavior, Ulquiorra understood that this was a Menos Grande who abhorred fighting.
To get them to fight willingly, you have to make them feel threatened and then tempt them.
Nel never expected that after being defeated, she could choose to follow or leave. From the perspective of the Void, such a thing is almost impossible, and Ulquiorra's behavior is hard for her to understand.
After being released, her chaotic thoughts gradually turned into curiosity about the new ruling power of Hueco Mundo, the 'Arrancar Army'. So, Nel arrived with two of her subordinates...
"Nel, right? Your strength is enough to become Espada, but regarding the Arrancar transformation, we'll have to wait a while, because the technology isn't mature enough yet..."
Zero directly shortened Nel's somewhat long name, and he's also keeping up with the situation regarding Arrancar transformation.
The task of assigning new recruits was still given to the head butler, Ulquiorra. It wasn't that Zero was deliberately exploiting him; it was simply because he was the most patient of the Espada, not as lazy as Starrk, and cherished his time with others.
Only a year later, Nel was placed seventh among the Espada by Zero, below the current battle- Grimmjow, who is also Vasto Lorde.
Dordoni was demoted to eighth, while Luppi, who Quincy, became the Ninth Espada.
At this moment, Szayelaporro deciphered the spatial movement method of the 'Shadow Domain' using the Reishi samples that Cang Du had collected before his death, but he couldn't find the spatial location, so he couldn't open it.
At this moment, Zero ordered him to suspend the research, saying that it would be useless to go there now... Back then, Yanis had entered once in the form of Jugram Haschwalth's Homogeneous Body, but was ambushed and instantly killed.
Therefore, Zero knew that there were definitely many experts inside, and he might not be able to win if they fought.
It was another ordinary day. The interior of Las Noches had been transformed into the 'Sun City,' capable of switching between day and night. The sun, clouds, and Blue Sky were all created by scientists.
With the transition between day and night, the Menos Grande can more intuitively perceive the passage of time.
Zero, who was inspecting the research lab, was summoned by Dordoni; new intelligence had been gathered in the Control Room...
"Sir, we have new information. That thing called the Hōgyoku has the ability to enhance the power of Hollows or Soul Reaper. The New 007's host has had his power significantly increased, rising from around the Fifth Seat to the Vice-Captain level."
"Furthermore, Aizen used the Hōgyoku to forcibly upgrade Giant Hollow to Low-Tier Adjuchas in just a few months; the only difference was that it no longer possessed power..."
As soon as he entered the Control Room, Kuzō began to report on the various intelligence he had just compiled over the past few days. Aizen was not only creating artificially evolved Menos Grande, but also modifying them into strange and unusual Menos Grande.
The known abilities of the Hōgyoku in the intelligence report gave Zero a glimmer of hope, and the research on complete Arrancar transformation had reached a bottleneck; while the situations of Szayelaporro and Baraggan could not be replicated, because there weren't enough Picaro to provide the Reiryoku needed for evolution.
That one time, Picaro has regained his former power... and this isn't the method Zero wanted either.
The Hōgyoku's ability is clearly a shortcut, allowing Giant Hollows to evolve into Menos Grande, which could potentially push them to fully evolve into Menos Grande -Arrancar when they are already half -Half-Arrancar.
"Do you have the manufacturing data for that thing?" Zero asked, sounding slightly excited.
"No, according to intelligence, Aizen created it a long time ago," Kuzō explained.
"Has that thing always been in Aizen's hands? Has it ever been given to his subordinates?" The cold water extinguished Zero's excitement; he was somewhat unwilling to give up and continued to press for answers.
"Yes, but Aizen called it a failed experiment and sealed it away temporarily. His subordinates don't know where it is." Kuzō also a little helpless; he could tell that Zero wanted to steal the Hōgyoku.
"It's alright to seal it up. If he tries to use it, report to me immediately, and we'll go and seize it. If we succeed, it will be a revolutionary product..."
"Yes."
After giving his instructions, Zero turned and went to the research institute with the known information about the Hōgyoku. He wanted to give these things to those lunatics and let them figure out how to make one themselves.
If the genuine product can't be replicated, a low-quality imitation will do.
Further intelligence followed, and the number of Aizen's team members was determined. In addition to Aizen himself, there were at least fifty ordinary Squad Member or Seated Officers.
Furthermore, the Gin Ichimaru, who recently joined the Fifth Division, seems to have also joined Aizen's team. It has also been learned that Aizen's strongest subordinate is none other than the blind Kaname Tōsen, who, according to intelligence, has already mastered Bankai.
In the time that followed, the Espada of Las Noches began to change, with a certain Half-Arrancarization, four-armed mantis suddenly rising to prominence, defeating the recently added No. 10 and seizing the position of Espada.
The new Espada is named Nnoitra. Ulquiorra observed him and commented. "A Menos Grande has lost all hope in the world. He doesn't care who his enemy is; he only wants to die in battle."
As expected, he challenged again and defeated Dordoni, who was ranked eighth. Grimmjow as Dordoni was about to be finished off, Grimmjow appeared and saved his life, ultimately defeating him.
Then, he continued to challenge Nel, who was ranked seventh, and was subsequently and mercilessly defeated by Nel before she became Arrancar... And so began their entangled feud...
Time flies, and we arrive at 102 years before Aizen was sealed away. The New 007 sends back intelligence that Aizen's side is plotting something...