The goal of this war is to eliminate the Quincy clan, which can disrupt the balance of souls and threaten the existence of Soul Society, so that the nobles of Soul Society can rest easy.
And now, they have only taken the first step, destroying the enemy's Holy City, but the number of Mixed-Blood Quincy scattered throughout the world is still considerable, which means the war is not completely over...
A series of ghostly howls came from the bushes in the distance. The once unyielding Quincy lad completely chickened out and decided to tell everything he knew.
"Captain, this kid's already planning to confess everything before we've even started."
Kazuo and two Squad Member carried the Holy Soldier out; they weren't even fully dressed yet, and they were about to do something to the Holy Soldier.
The Holy Soldier's name was Chuānpǔ. Out of fear of humiliation, he decided to submit. This name made Zero feel a little disgusted...
"Tell me, what's this Shadow World all about?"
Zero asked calmly, while Hirako remained silent. If Zero hadn't been there, they probably wouldn't have known that the enemy had a stronghold.
Having escaped having his intestines cleaned, Chuānpǔ felt a lingering fear and began to slowly demonstrate his value through intelligence in exchange for survival.
"My lord, I've only been to the Wandenreich once, and since then I've been guarding the Holy City from the outside. All I know is that it's a space created by the Soul Society's Reishi, and it's still under development."
"We Holy Soldiers are chosen and commanded by the adults of the Sternritter. After signing a contract, we can freely enter and leave through their summons, while the adults of the Sternritter need to Quincy Cross and leave the Wandenreich."
"Only Pure-Blood Quincy possess that kind of thing; otherwise, even Mixed-Blood Quincy whose strength surpasses the category of Holy Soldier wouldn't be able to own it..."
"Get to the point, how many people are inside? Since it relies on the Reishi of Soul Society, is the space itself located within Soul Society? If so, roughly where within Soul Society is it located?"
Zero interrupted Chuānpǔ's rambling; he really wanted to get in, and his inquiries were just a ploy to get the Seireitei to help him find a way in.
Having killed only three Sternritter members and a group of Holy Soldiers, Zero's Reiatsu had already increased to 5.1, the gains were too great.
Several Quincy using their Final Forms could provide him with a large amount of Reiryoku, the benefit being equivalent to devouring a Vasto Lorde.
Hueco Mundo is too vast, and finding Vasto Lorde is too difficult, but that place called the Wandenreich, though seemingly small, possesses immense Reiatsu. If we could get inside, we could probably improve our abilities significantly...
"After years of selection, there are over 30,000 Holy Soldiers inside, including men, women, and children, forming a small world where people can live normally."
"As for its spatial location, I truly do not know. The space is indeed close to the Soul Society, but it is not located within the Soul Society. It is merely maintained by plundering Reishi from that place through some method."
Chuānpǔ was extremely nervous. Whenever he said he didn't know, he would glance at Zero's expression, while Zero pretended he genuinely didn't know and continued to ask, "Are there many experts inside? Who are they?"
"Members of the Knights Order who were granted Schrift, and Pure-Blood Quincy who were no weaker than the Knights Order but were not granted Schrift —there are probably about twenty of them in total..."
Zero started by asking questions for Chuānpǔ to answer, but Chuānpǔ didn't know who they were and could only give a rough number.
The purebloods here are 'not weaker' than the Knights of the Crusade, but this only refers to the basic combat strength of Quincy, not counting the supernatural abilities they are given. If supernatural abilities are taken into account, the Knights of the Crusade are stronger.
"Where is your leader Yhwach? Is he dead?"
This question startled Chuānpǔ, who was lying on the ground. He then said with a strange expression, "How could His Majesty be dead? Legend has it that the man has simply fallen into a deep sleep and no one knows when he will wake up."
Chuānpǔ is, after all, a younger generation. Things from hundreds of years ago are like legends to him, and the Sternritter wouldn't tell such a small person as him so much.
"Alright, I have no more questions. Hand him over to Captain Shihoin!"
Zero turned and left, casually instructing Hirako.
Just moments ago, Zero had already obtained blood from Cang Du's severed arm, preparing to create his body and then have Yanis secretly infiltrate the Wandenreich...
This battle was originally commanded by Kiyoyasu. With this place as the center, the badly injured Seigen and Kensei came to gather, and then Kasumioji Yakumo, Shiba Kūsei, and others also arrived.
With the team Captains gathering, the battle was drawing to a close.
While no high-level combatants among the Soul Reaper, a significant number of lower-ranking Seated Officers and Squad Member died.
Under Kiyoyasu's command, the Seventh Division and Ninth Divisions were responsible for cleaning up the battlefield, while the remaining troops and Captains withdrew to Soul Society to continue preparing for the next battle.
Upon returning to Soul Society, Kiyoki Shihoin Yama-jii convened Captains' Meeting together with Yama-no-Ya.
In this timeline, because of Zero's existence, they learned of the Wandenreich's existence; otherwise, they would have been completely unprepared, just like in the original timeline, mistakenly believing that the Quincy who slaughtered the World of the Living meant their extermination...
"The specific discovery was made by Captain Nangong, who single-handedly attacked the enemy Headquarters and fought against members of the Sternritter, who had survived for centuries..."
"The enemy seems to have a strong ability to escape. After Captain Nangong killed three of them, the remaining three escaped and disappeared into a space called the Wandenreich. Captain Nangong, what do you think about that?"
In the conference room, all the Captain stood on both sides, Kiyoyasu gave a summary report, but in the end, he handed over the topic of the Wandenreich to Zero.
In fact, Zero was suspected of acting without authorization, resulting in the failure to completely annihilate the enemy forces. However, Kiyoyasu simply did not mention it. Yama-jii was definitely aware of this, but it is highly likely that Zero would only be reprimanded and would not be subject to any actual punishment.
Before the battle, the enemy's strength had already been analyzed. The remaining members of the Sternritter... were equivalent to Captain-level!
Based on the initial orders and Kyōraku's intelligence estimates, there were four Sternritter members in the Holy City. With seven Captains surrounding them, victory or even a decisive kill was assured.
However, Zero's actions changed the situation, and the expected encirclement and kill failed to take place.
Kiyoyasu felt that Kenpachi was pretty much the same in any battle, except that Nangong Kenpachi lacked a bit of rationality and thought compared to Kuruyashiki Kenpachi.
"You had the most contact with the enemy leader, so tell me the specific information about that space: what are its coordinates? Is it accessible?"
Yama-jii opened his eyes and looked at Zero, who had a calm expression. Zero was someone who could pose a threat to Captain-level. Hearing that three of them had run away, Yama-jii was naturally dissatisfied: If you don't have the strength, why are you acting like a big shot!
But now is not the time to blame; we need to find out the location of the remaining enemy forces, as they are people who could threaten the Captain.
Zero reluctantly took two steps forward, breaking out of the queue, and everyone's gaze turned slightly to Zero.
"That space, as the captives called it, is the 'Wandenreich.' Its method of movement is as follows: a black shadow sweeps past and swallows it up, after which the enemy disappears without a trace and cannot be tracked or located."
"The prisoner named Chuānpǔ revealed that tens of thousands of people were hiding among them, and most importantly, the rebel leader Yhwach, was merely asleep, not... dead!"
Zero's first half of what he said was fine, but the last sentence made Yama-jii's eyes widen, and he interrupted Zero's speech with his Reiatsu. However, Zero still managed to say the last word.
Everyone turned to look at Yama-jii, whose old face was gloomy and filled with hidden anger. His eyes showed that he was already cursing Ling: What an ignorant brat.
Kiyoyasu was secretly pleased that his plan had succeeded. This was why he had thrown the topic to Ling. He brought up the Captain-Commander's past, probably to provoke him.
The original Captains, including the Five Great Noble Clans, knew that Yhwach hadn't been killed.
They just don't dare to openly raise the potential risks. Without finding the leader, bringing it up would only be a slap in the face to Master Yama-jii, just like Zero right now...
"Didn't I ask for spatial coordinates? You just need to tell me the location."
"It's still unclear, and there's no concrete method to get there."
After calming down his Reiatsu, Yama-jii asked a question. Zero initially thought he was acting strangely, but after looking around and seeing that everyone was silent, he understood.
So everyone's using him as a fire poker, to poke at the stove that's Yama-jii...
Since the situation remains unclear, it means that Chuānpǔ's Holy Soldier and status are insufficient. This makes the next steps much clearer: directly raid various Pure-Blood Quincy families in the World of the Living, capture their high-ranking members, and interrogate them.
After less than three days of rest, the Soul Reaper began their second strike against the Quincy, this time targeting Pure-Blood Quincy families scattered throughout the World of the Living world.
Although those families all have pure-blood leaders, Pure-Blood Quincy are not necessarily very strong. It's just that in the initial stage, they are definitely stronger than mixed-bloods and have better talent.
This time, only the First Division, Fourth Division, and Sixth Divisions of the Gotei 13 remained; the rest were scattered throughout various locations, searching for Pure-Blood Quincy...
The Western-style castle exudes an air of Western aristocracy, but if an ordinary person were inside, they wouldn't feel that way.
A dozen or so men, women, and children were surrounded in the central Hall of the castle, weeping incessantly. There seemed to be nothing around them, but in reality, there were a dozen or so ghosts that ordinary people could not see... Soul Reaper.
Captain Komamura of the Seventh Division walked slowly through the blood-soaked Hall, where a man, whom he had beaten to the point of near death, knelt on the ground.
"How about it? Help us get to the Wandenreich, and your children and women will live."
Komamura Tarō was no benevolent man; he directly threatened him with the prospect of Quincy's heir, forcing him to make a choice.
"Heh, so someone has actually betrayed the honor of the Quincy? But don't waste your energy. Even if we disagree with their ideals, I will never betray my own kind."
The man clearly didn't want to say much, and turned directly to look at his children, his eyes filled with apology.
"Really? Goodbye then."
Komamura turned around and waved his hand, and the Soul Reapers pounced on him, screams echoing throughout the room.
Only one of the two races can exist at a time, and no one wants their existence to be suddenly wiped out. That's why the Squad Members of the Seventh Division are capable of doing whatever their Captain tells them to do, no matter who they want to kill.
This was the dark age of the Quincy; they left no trace of their souls after death, being utterly annihilated by the Soul Reaper.
It may seem that the Soul Reaper are wrong now, but when Yhwach attacked Soul Society, the Quincy used "Sklaverei" to absorb countless residents of Rukongai in order to fight the Soul Reaper. Their sins were far greater back then.
The two races can no longer distinguish right from wrong. If they had to talk about it, they could only start with the 'source of evil' from ancient times, which is too far back in time.