Recreating the Hōgyoku, Spirit Mediums to Feed It
The story takes place 65 years before the original timeline began. The tug-of-war Soul Society and Hueco Mundo in the World of the Living has gradually weakened, but many Menos Grande are still going to Soul Society to capture awakened Reiryoku beings on Zero's orders.
Over the past decade or so, countless souls have died in both the Soul Society and the World of the Living, but Hollows purified by Zanpakuto have also replenished the Soul Society, maintaining a balance.
Seeing that Nangong Ling did not send out a Vasto Lorde-class Menos Grande, the Seireitei made the correct guess: Hueco Mundo did not want to have a decisive battle too early, probably because Nangong Ling was not confident of defeating the Captain-Commander.
In a large mansion in the first district of Rukongai in the North Rukongai of Soul Society, on the surface it is the home of a junior Seated Officer of the Fifth Division, but in reality it is another new stronghold of Aizen.
Since Zero stole the Hōgyoku, Aizen has replaced all his subordinates except for Tōsen and Gin, and he has prevented these cannon fodder from coming into contact with the core.
Aizen knew that the theft of the Hōgyoku was due to him being monitored, and the root of the problem could only lie with those Grunts... To this end, he dissected the bodies of more than a dozen of his subordinates and discovered 007 parasitizing in their eyes.
After losing a group of capable henchmen, Aizen's group was always short-handed until Amagai and Kibune joined the small group, making the five of them barely enough.
In this war, Aizen already knows what Nangong Ling is looking for. Nangong Ling isn't the only one who benefits; he also gains considerable advantages, such as now...
"Hehe, thanks to Nangong Ling! I've finally managed to gather all the materials I needed; now all I need to do is manufacture it again."
Aizen's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes revealed excitement; he was about to recreate the Hōgyoku.
"If it's successfully manufactured, what's the next step?"
Tōsen began inquiring about the next steps, continuing, "Should we find Kisuke Urahara? If we forcibly seize the Hōgyoku from him, it's very likely that Nangong Ling will also discover that Kisuke Urahara possesses the Hōgyoku!"
Meanwhile, Gin Ichimaru, standing to the other side, had a squinting, smiling expression, resembling a venomous snake ready to devour its prey. However, at this moment, he was still circling Aizen, assessing whether he could swallow him whole.
Aizen adjusted his glasses and explained with a smile, "We just don't want Nangong Ling to know that Urahara the Hōgyoku, but Urahara is different from us; he's afraid that Nangong Ling will find out he has the Hōgyoku."
"If Nangong Ling finds out that he also possesses the Hōgyoku, it will inevitably trigger another large-scale search in the World of the Living. That guy will do it."
Aizen had already thoroughly analyzed Nangong Ling's purpose: 'wanting to rewrite the rules of Soul Society's was less accurate than 'wanting to rule Soul Society,' and for this he needed power.
After obtaining the Hōgyoku, he learned about Hōgyoku value based on the information he had left behind, but he also became aware of Hōgyoku flaws, so he worked hard to overcome them.
"So what should we do next? I don't want to get slashed by him again, it's terrifying, I could really die!" Yin said with a grin, sounding scared.
Aizen glanced at him and chuckled, "After creating the Hōgyoku, closely monitor the World of the Living, search for Kisuke Urahara's hiding place, and then gather all sorts of people who can follow us. Only we can reshape the Three Worlds..."
Aizen and his group had been collecting soul fragments for a long time, but due to the high level of surveillance by the Research and Development Institute, they could only collect a few hundred soul fragments each year.
Based on the requirement of at least 30,000 Soul Reaper soul fragments, it would have taken Aizen at least a hundred years to complete the collection. However, because Zero was searching for the 'Soul King Fragment,' the Soul Society was thrown into turmoil, and Aizen took the opportunity to accelerate his plundering and search, which allowed him to gather enough materials.
Those who have had their soul fragments stripped away can still possess Reiryoku, but they are very difficult to tame Asauchi because the part of their soul that turned Asauchi into Zanpakuto is missing. Aizen gathered it in his hand and forged it into the Hōgyoku using Reishi Arts.
Several months later, another brand new Hōgyoku appeared, and this Hōgyoku was even more complete than Urahara's.
During the creation process, Aizen secretly went to the private Laboratory of the Tsunayashiro Clan and stole some fragments of the Soul King, such as toes and fingers.
As for how he knew that the Tsunayashiro Clan possessed this item... Aizen, who was able to infiltrate the Great Spirit Book Gallery, surely knew this secret.
After the plan to attack the Soul King Palace failed, and the search for the Soul King Fragments was progressing too slowly, Zero thought of another place where there might be a large number of spirit mediums.
That's right, it's the space where the Quincy who attacked Las Noches were located— the Wandenreich!
Since the last war, Zero's Laboratory has already conducted a systematic analysis of the Quincy: the Quincy race is born with powerful Reiryoku, can see the existence of Hollows and souls, and uses human bodies to absorb Reishi to fight...
Thinking of the Quincy Zero reminded him of the Sternritter. Those people were indeed made of flesh and blood, yet they could rival Captain-level while still possessing human bodies. Zero guessed that they must have Soul King Fragment within them...
The idea is there, but it still needs to be tested. There are still Quincy clans lingering in the World of the Living, but they are well hidden.
Therefore, Zero ordered the Menos Grande to capture Quincy, even hybrids would do, with only one requirement: they must be alive...
Zero didn't have to wait long; the Menos Grande completed their mission in just a few days.
"Human souls... have become the King of Hueco Mundo?"
"You're kidding, right!"
The five Mixed-Blood Quincy stared in fear and disbelief. High above in the gleaming, reflective hall sat a human man; unlike the others who still bore traces of their masks, he was truly a human soul.
Zero ignored them and waved his hand, saying, "Then, let's begin!"
Two professional researchers stepped in, and after a violent struggle and screams, the first Quincy collapsed, his Reiryoku completely drained.
The researcher respectfully presented the Quincy Reiryoku placed in the Container to Zero, who then personally poured it into a specially made Container holding the Hōgyoku...
"This feeling... is it happy? It seems to be working!"
After absorbing the Quincy's Reiryoku, the Hōgyoku began to actively convey its emotions to Zero: it wanted more of this Reiryoku.
Zero drained the Reiryoku of the Quincy in one go and fed it to the Hōgyoku. The Hōgyoku seemed quite happy, as if it were eating its favorite food.
'Why does the Hōgyoku favor the Quincy's Reiryoku so much? Do all Quincy possess the power of Soul King? Never mind, since it's useful, then... hehe!'
After only a moment of doubt, a cruel smile appeared on Zero's face. He wasn't a scientist who pried into every detail; he didn't need to know so much, he only needed to know where to obtain this 'Reiryoku'.
In fact, according to the Quincy bloodline, they all have Yhwach's blood flowing in their veins. Yhwach was formed from the power that the Soul King left behind in the Three Worlds, so he can be considered the Soul King's son.
This means that the Quincy all possess the bloodline of the Soul King, and have shared some of the Soul King's power within them, which is why the Hōgyoku favors their power.
Unfortunately, Zero had no intention of understanding these things; he only wanted to understand how to advance into the 'Wandenreich'.
With a new target in mind, Menos Grande that had been sent out were recalled, leaving only a small number of Ragged Hollows in the World of the Living to search for the Quincy. Once discovered, they would be attacked again by sending out Menos Grande.
In just one month, Zero received dozens more Quincy Reiryoku Cores. With these weak Reiryoku Cores, Zero was already able to slightly activate the Hōgyoku with his own will...
Szayelaporro was ordered to resume the location tracking in the Shadow Space, which was difficult, but Zero said he would give his full support.
Regarding the fact that there are still many experts within the 'Wandenreich', Zero also began to prepare countermeasures. He wanted to continue to strengthen the combat power of the Espada so that they could clear out most of the Grunts.
The enhancements began with Starrk, who was ranked number one. After Starrk demonstrated his various abilities after his Resurrección to Zero, Zero began to enhance certain weaknesses in Stark's techniques...
Next up is Baraggan, who succeeds Szayelaporro as the Second Espada. His Death Breath is countered by spatial abilities, and Zero begins to address this weakness for him...
Then there's Ulquiorra in third place, whose most prominent ability is regeneration, so let's make him even stronger...
The fourth one, Picaro, the fifth one Grimmjow, and so on, all had their seven Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar strengthened in zero time.
While Zero was busy hunting Quincy and strengthening the Espada, the Seireitei was also busy cultivating various talents.
Perhaps after the battle with Zero, Yama-jii truly felt a sense of crisis. He no longer allowed Vice-Captains or Captain-level to retire easily... Even if they were to retire, they would have to retrieve their Zanpakuto and fight as soon as possible when the Gotei 13 needed them.
He felt that the Vice-Captain's combat strength should also be improved so that the Gotei 13 could maintain a strong state to face any future crises.
For example, Nangong Ling's Rei Namiya in Hueco Mundo, Kisuke Urahara and his group whose whereabouts are currently unknown, and the Quincy group hiding in some corner.
At this time, Byakuya Kuchiki is training all over the Soul Society. Ginrei Kuchiki's body has entered a stage of complete aging. Byakuya wants to fully master Bankai to fight so that he can take over Ginrei Kuchiki's position.