"Now, it's his turn to talk to you."
After Ryūsaki finished speaking, she closed her eyes slightly. When she opened them again, her pupils had turned red.
Hello everyone, it's been a long time.
Zero's slightly magnetic voice rang out, accompanied by an even more wicked smile, more arrogant than the Crooked-Mouthed Dragon King.
Tier Harribel finally couldn't hold back and asked first, "Is it really Lord Nangong?"
Ling nodded slightly and smiled, "I am sealed away, not dead. If you are willing to believe what Yanis says, then I am real."
"Stop with those disgusting human emotional scenes, you bastard. Since you have a clone, why didn't you go back to Hueco Mundo sooner? By human standards, it's been at least forty years."
Grimmjow spoke, he took a few steps forward and slapped the Reishi tent behind Zero.
With a bang, the curtain was instantly ripped open, and the Arrancar outside the hall all looked in.
As soon as Grimmjow withdrew his hand, the tent was slowly repaired.
Why go back to Hueco Mundo?
Zero asked calmly before continuing, "The time isn't right. Am I supposed to come back and tell you to help me break the seal so that Soul Reaper will tear you apart one by one?"
Grimmjow stopped speaking, slowly took two steps back, and his signature maniacal laugh gradually appeared on his face, making the surrounding air increasingly heavy.
"Soul Reaper tearing us apart? Don't be ridiculous, watch out..."
Seeing Grimmjow continuously releasing his Reiatsu, Yanis shouted, "Grimmjow, what are you trying to do? Lord Nangong is standing right in front of you!"
Grimmjow's Reiatsu continued to rise until it formed a pillar of light that shot straight into the sky, surrounded by streaks of lightning.
Each time lightning flashed by, space immediately twisted and shattered, revealing the boundless void within. The shattered space would slowly recover after a second or two.
The Reishi tent had long been shattered, and even the main hall had been flattened by Reiatsu. The Arrancar facade guarding the outside had been blown hundreds of meters away.
Even so, at this distance, they still felt like they were underwater and couldn't breathe.
Zero could also clearly feel that even Ryūsaki's body was tense up from the pressure. Judging from the Reiatsu released by Grimmjow, perhaps only the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13 could reliably defeat him at present.
The small amount of Hōgyoku Power that was once given to them has gradually transformed into their own power.
Grimmjow is this strong, then Ulquiorra and Tier Harribel, who also obtained a trace of the Hōgyoku Power, must be no less powerful. The strength of these three cannot be distinguished by Reiatsu alone.
Nel's Reiatsu, however, seems to have only increased slightly compared to before. She has always been somewhat resistant to absorbing Menos Grande to increase her strength, just like Tier Harribel in the past.
If we had to categorize the differences, Nel was a level below the three, while Yanis was close to Nel.
Grimmjow!
"Stop it."
Nel frowned and rebuked, Tier Harribel's sharp gaze was about to stop her directly, but someone beat her to it.
Stop!
Ulquiorra's voice remained indifferent as he approached Grimmjow from behind and placed his hand on the latter's shoulder.
Grimmjow glanced at him sideways and slowly withdrew his Reiatsu.
"Nangong, I apologize, he was too impulsive." Ulquiorra bowed slightly.
"It's alright, it's quite impressive."
Zero couldn't help but praise, "You're already able to destroy space with your Reiatsu, even if it's only for a brief moment, it's enough to make you stand out from the vast majority of the Soul Society and the Wandenreich's forces."
Currently, Grimmjow is perhaps only below Ulquiorra.
Zero then looked at Ulquiorra, his smile returning, "And you, you actually know how to explain things up for your comrades. You get along quite well with Grimmjow!"
Ulquiorra paused for a moment, then resumed his expressionless demeanor; what he was thinking remained a mystery.
Grimmjow scoffed again, "Don't change the subject. My power is at least eighty percent of what you gave me back in the Soul King Palace."
"That Zero Division is no match for us, let alone the Gotei 13. Just tell us how to get to the Soul King Palace, and we'll tear your seal apart in no time."
Seeing Grimmjow, the other three didn't find him arrogant at all. Tier Harribel even chimed in, "That's right, Nangong, our strength is more than enough to rescue you."
Zero was deeply moved by Tier Harribel's earnest gaze. He had thought that he could only break the seal with the help of Ryūsaki, and had even considered scheming against them.
It wasn't until just now that Zero realized she had been overthinking things.
From beginning to end, they never stopped following their own path, and the belief that supported them to become stronger was themselves.
"Your orders before you were sealed were to Guards Hueco Mundo, and I carried them out meticulously. Anyone who dared to cause trouble in Hueco Mundo was slaughtered and left running for their lives," Grimmjow said smugly.
Over the years, the only one in Hueco Mundo who could rival the Hueco Mundo Council was Szayelaporro, but only for a moment; he was forced to hide in remote areas and dared not approach the core.
After allying with Aizen's faction, they only managed to stabilize their position and avoid being completely wiped out.
Zero became serious. "Very good, your strength surpasses even my clones. I believe you can accomplish some things..."
Zero began by laying out his entire plan, including what he needed to do with the rest of them.
Of course, he also revised some of the steps, such as allowing for the activation of a second plan should something happen to Ryūsaki...
Zero didn't end the discussion until the four girl groups returned, bringing two Adjuchas with them, and Ryūsaki's soul returned to its place.
But Bazz-B didn't come with them again.
More than five months had passed since the two Menos Grande were captured, and their survival was a testament to their incredible luck.
But one of them couldn't hold on and died at the hands of the Quincy.
One person died.
"There's nothing we can do; too much time has passed."
"These two were obtained from the Trial Grounds after a lot of hard work."
The group looked at the roofless hall with curiosity, as if it were different from before; finally, their gazes toward Ryūsaki carried a strange meaning.
They all suspected that Ryūsaki had sent them away because he had fought with these Arrancar, otherwise he wouldn't have ended up in such a state.
Ryūsaki didn't explain, but looked at Yanis calmly and said, "So? Give me an answer, whether you want to form an alliance or not!"
Yanis slowly said, "It's not so much an alliance as cooperation. As we agreed before, you deliver the goods, and we'll only intervene once."
"Alright, I'll go back and apply to His Majesty. Let's go."
After saying that, Ryūsaki instructed a few errand boys to activate the formation, instantly teleporting them back to the Wandenreich.
"What did you say to them? What did you give them?" Bambi finally couldn't help but ask Ryūsaki out of curiosity.
The other three also looked over.
Ryūsaki pondered for a moment, then said seriously, "When I mentioned asking them to produce at least three hundred Adjuchas and one thousand Gillian, they said that many Adjuchas had their masks torn off by their own kind, thus losing the opportunity to evolve and having low combat power, so they couldn't produce that many."
"Therefore, I propose manufacturing a thousand sets of Spirit Weapon to arm them and enhance their combat capabilities."
Bambi exclaimed in surprise, "What can three hundred Adjuchas do?"
Gigi chimed in, "Exactly! Three Holy Soldier working together can definitely take down an Adjuchas. And we have over five thousand Holy Soldier. It's said that the Reserve Forces have recently been renamed first-class Holy Soldier, and their numbers have reached two hundred."
"Hmph! You ignorant bumpkin."
Candice hummed a few times, attracting everyone's attention. "From what I understand, Adjuchas can control Gillian battle. Apart from lacking intelligence and being slow-moving, Gillian's Cero Gillian are incredibly powerful, and they also have great physical strength."
"I once encountered Adjuchas controlling Gillian in the Menos Grande Forest, with over a dozen Gillian unleashing Cero side-by-side. For a Soul Reaper below Captain-level, that would have been a devastating blow!"
Meninas McAllon nodded vigorously in agreement. "Mmm~ I know that too."
She used to go on missions with Candice often, and she happened to be there that time as well.
"I need to go report for duty. You may make yourselves at home."
Ryūsaki stopped participating in the discussion and turned to walk towards the Ice Palace.
Watching his retreating figure, Gigi said, "We were just bystanders after all; we don't even know the specifics!"
Bambi stroked his chin and pondered, "Judging from that situation, he probably wanted to deliberately hide his strength from us."
Candice scoffed, "As if we're a burden."
"Do you really think you can fight that expressionless guy? One of his Sonído was enough for us to run for five minutes with our Hirenkyaku. That's a bit of an exaggeration." Meninas McAllon clutched her chest, looking like she was still shaken.
Candice recalled those terrifying five minutes, her face covered in cold sweat. "Those kinds of guys, I'm afraid only the Shrine Royal Guard could handle them."
"So that means Ryūsaki Ishida also has that kind of strength? He sent us away to protect us?"
"I don't know. If Bambietta is curious, you can go ask him tonight, hehe~"
Their discussion veered further and further off-topic, but they generally agreed that Ryūsaki had been hiding his true abilities and that he was very strong.
Seeing Ryūsaki approach, Jugram Haschwalth said directly, "Your His Majesty is taking a nap. What's on your mind?"
Ryūsaki didn't waste any words and went straight to the point. "I promised to send Hueco Mundo a thousand sets of combat Spirit Weapon, Hueco Mundo promised to help us this once."
"A thousand sets? Those bows that can only fire Reishi Arrows and ordinary Heilig Pfeil, is that alright?"
"Sure, as long as it can attack the enemy, it doesn't matter to them!"
Jugram Haschwalth paused for a moment, then asked, "Bazz-B said you seem afraid to fight those Arrancar, why?"
Ryūsaki said helplessly, "I don't know if he's genuinely stupid or just trying to cause trouble for His Majesty. The enemy covered a distance of only one Sonído, but we took a full five minutes to run that distance with our Hirenkyaku. Just imagine what would happen if a fight broke out?"
Upon hearing the words 'simply trying to cause trouble for His Majesty,' Jugram Haschwalth's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he had cursed Bazz-B's recklessness countless times.
In fact, Jugram Haschwalth's question was unnecessary, because he knew Bazz-B's nature; he certainly wouldn't obediently complete the mission and come back, and would still remain determined to kill Yhwach.
"In your opinion, how strong can they be?"
Jugram Haschwalth's eyes flickered. He had always known that the people in the core of Hueco Mundo were very strong, but he had never witnessed it firsthand.
As for the encounter a hundred years ago, he didn't even need to consider it anymore; too much time had passed, and his opponent couldn't possibly remain unchanged.
"My intuition tells me that only a handful of Sternritter might be able to defeat them individually."
Ryūsaki stared intently into Jugram Haschwalth's eyes and said seriously, "For example, the Schutzstaffel."
Jugram Haschwalth narrowed his eyes slightly, then regained his composure. "I understand, you can go ahead and get back to work."
Ryūsaki turned and left, showing no intention of continuing the conversation with Jugram Haschwalth.
Back at the villa, Ryūsaki immediately took out the miniature communicator given to her by Yushima and pressed a button.
A moment later, a voice came from the miniature communicator. "It's me, Yushima."