An Unscientific World

Duke hurried onward, using Shunpo the entire way. Three days later, he discovered something serious... he was lost. Out in this godforsaken wilderness, there was not even a ghost in sight, so he could not find anyone to ask for directions.

Because he was not yet proficient with Shunpo and had yet to master many of its finer techniques, Duke had repeatedly gone the wrong way while traveling. He corrected himself a few times after noticing, but more often than not, he did not realize it at all. And so, things had become awkward.

"How could something as trivial as getting lost stump me? I'm not some muscle-brained beast like Kenpachi Zaraki. I'll use science to solve this problem that only rookie travelers would fret over." Duke spoke with complete confidence. There was no need to panic when lost in the wilderness, especially not in the Soul Society. As long as he determined east, south, west, and north, he could not truly be lost, because Seireitei stood at the very center. It was the best possible landmark.

"Hmm, let me think... Plants are a lost traveler's best friends. First, I need to find a tree..." Duke found a large tree nearby and studied it carefully.

"Based on how the sun rises in the east and sets in the west... a tree's shadow can indicate east, south, west, and north... How did that go again? I can't remember, but it doesn't matter. I have plenty of other ways to tell direction. This won't stump me." Duke had intended to use the sun to determine his direction, but since he could not recall the specifics, he switched methods. This method... also required finding a tree first.

"According to plant habits, the branches and leaves on the south side should be lush, while those on the north side should be sparse. Pretty simple." Duke gave himself a mental pat on the back, then looked at the tree before him... It seemed to have grown rather evenly. Its branches and leaves were luxuriant, and it was thriving splendidly. He could not tell which side was lush and which was sparse.

"It's fine. I can't hang myself on a single tree. I'll try another one." Duke did not give up. He switched to another tree... then another... then yet another...

"The trees in the Soul Society really are a blessing for obsessive-compulsive people. They all look exactly the same?" Speechless, Duke abandoned the method of using plant habits to distinguish the cardinal directions. Unwilling to admit defeat, he changed methods again. Naturally, he still needed to find a tree.

One-Sword Style Iai!

His five fingers clenched around the hilt of his Zanpakuto. Using the friction between blade and sheath, he created an instant burst of power as he drew. A flash of sword light passed, and the tree was split cleanly in two at the waist. A faint killing intent spread through the air. Duke let out a soft breath and sheathed his Zanpakuto.

"Let's see... The wider side of the growth rings points south... They're actually equally wide. What a miracle!" After studying them carefully for a while, Duke took out his Zanpakuto and measured them. To his astonishment, he had accidentally found a one-of-a-kind tree. Its growth rings were densely packed beyond counting, and there was no telling how many years it had grown for. That was not the important part. The crucial thing was that the rings formed a perfectly standard circle, the kind that could only be drawn with a compass. A sense of foreboding rose in Duke's heart. He turned and felled another large tree. It had the same circular growth rings, with widths as uniform as though stamped from the same mold.

"Who told me that plants never lie? That was clearly bullshit! Science has proven that the Soul Society isn't scientific at all... So it isn't me who's wrong. It's this world!" Frustrated, Duke could not accept the fact that he was lost and could only blame the differences between the Soul Society and his previous life. The entire Soul Society was made of Reishi. The theories from his previous life were worthless here.

"When you're lost, relying on intuition is out of the question. You'll only go in circles. What should I do... Got it, there's one more move." Duke scratched his head, but in the end, he came up with a solution. This method involved mysticism, probability, astronomy, psychology, and more. It was extremely difficult to master and could not be used except in emergencies.

Duke drew out his Zanpakuto and stood it upright on the ground. His face was solemn, and he did not blink even once. Then he gently let go. With a smack, the blade fell to the ground.

"Excellent. The direction the tip points will decide it. It's you!"

Three days later, Duke finally emerged from that damned forest, starving to the point of dizziness and blurred vision. He robbed several fierce-looking burly men of their food and water, then wolfed it down. He felt no psychological burden over it. This was an unspoken rule of the Soul Society: the strong preyed on the weak. He himself had survived this way before.

Leaving behind several groaning burly men, Duke tightened his Zanpakuto at his waist and went in search of somewhere populated. Those brutes had been too weak to even qualify for him to draw his blade. They were not ideal whetstones. Along the way, he passed through several small villages with only a handful of people in each. Almost everyone was a desperate outlaw, and even obtaining a little food required risking life and death. When they saw Duke's Zanpakuto, greed filled their eyes. Unfortunately, they were far too weak to even touch the hem of his clothes.

"Kenpachi Zaraki forged his beast-like swordsmanship on the outskirts of Rukongai. Why haven't I encountered even a remotely decent opponent? Have all the strong ones left this place?" Duke ate the food he had taken, vanished in a flash, and reappeared a hundred meters away. He headed toward the most barren region.

From several villagers, Duke learned that he had entered North Rukongai District 70, one of the farthest-out areas. Here, new souls were born every day, and countless souls likewise perished in conflict. Chaos, disorder, and scenes too horrific to bear were the truest depiction of this place.

When Duke appeared at the entrance of a ruined town, pairs of bloodthirsty eyes turned toward him. He could clearly smell blood in the air. Duke stepped over the charred mud and walked toward the crowd. He took out a waterskin, drank a mouthful, and amid everyone's ragged breathing, said, "Do you want water?"

The murderous souls wore ragged clothes, their thin bodies seeming as if a gust of wind could knock them over. Every one of them stirred restlessly, licking the damaged weapons in their hands, madness gleaming in their eyes.

"Or do you want the Zanpakuto at my waist?" Duke displayed the Zanpakuto at his side and asked with narrowed eyes.

Those words snapped the last taut string in everyone's minds. Filled with jealousy and hatred, they charged at Duke. Many people present held broken, rusted swords, or even wooden clubs and stones. In chaotic Rukongai, food and water were indeed important, but compared to a sharp weapon, they were not worth mentioning. Only strength allowed one to live long. These souls understood better than anyone how precious a Zanpakuto was. It was a treasure they had to obtain no matter what.

"Kill him! That blade is mine!"

"Get the hell out of my way! Whoever dares fight me for it, I'll kill them!"

"Talk after we take it! Whoever grabs it gets it!"

Ignoring the onrushing crowd, Duke slowly drew his Zanpakuto. The clashing of weapons rang out, accompanied by screams. The sharp blade of the Zanpakuto sliced through skin, cut open muscle, severed bone, and splashed hot blood as it brought death. Every strike was fatal, leaving no survivors. These Rukongai souls collapsed without a sound before they even felt pain. Only a few lucky ones managed a mournful cry before dying.

Chop! Slash! Thrust! Sweep! Cut!

Duke's Zanpakuto moved faster and faster. Every slash became harder to block, its angle more vicious and its lethality greater. His body was absorbing the memories, recording those blood-soaked sword arts in every cell.

Blood spraying everywhere!

Bodies falling!

Helpless screams!

As they watched their companions fall one after another while Duke continued swinging his sword at high speed, almost completely unharmed, those besieging him utterly broke down. Their opponent's strength was simply beyond anything they could match. At this moment, numbers offered no advantage.

"Impossible! How can he be this strong?"

"How can someone like this exist? There's no way we can defeat him..."

"Run! Run!"

A miserable scene, a one-sided slaughter! One by one, those whose courage Duke had shattered turned and fled. Before long, the rabble scattered in all directions.

"Don't kill me, I surrender..." One terrified Rukongai soul had wet himself and fallen to the ground. His legs had gone limp as he begged Duke.

Duke ignored him. He gently wiped down his Zanpakuto, sheathed it, and turned away. There was no reason to kill someone who had lost the will to fight. Doing so would disgrace his swordsmanship.

"Die!" The Rukongai soul who had escaped death climbed to his feet, picked up a broken blade beside him, and launched a sneak attack from behind Duke, chopping down with all his might.

A sharp gaze swept over him, cutting across his body like countless blades. The air became incomparably heavy. Killing intent mixed with Reiatsu and surged into the sky. It was as if someone had seized the attacker by the throat. He even forgot the instinct to breathe, his face turning red as he could not utter a word. Beads of sweat slid down his forehead, and his wide-open mouth looked absurd.

As Duke walked farther away and the sound of his footsteps faded, the entire place fell silent. Those who had fled gradually returned and picked through the piles of corpses for usable weapons. Several people cautiously approached the attacker, intending to take the broken blade clutched in his hand. At the slightest touch, his whole body collapsed as though all his bones had been broken, falling into a pool of blood. His eyes were vacant and lifeless, gray all over. He had already stopped breathing.

"What happened to him?"

"He's dead... How could this happen?"

"Why did he die? There aren't even any wounds?"

"Was that man a monster?"

Duke left the village without the slightest attachment and set off into the distance. Though these people had all been tempered by blood, it was not enough. Mindless slaughter was not the battle he sought. What he wanted was an evenly matched fight to the death. Only powerful opponents of the same level could draw out his potential and allow him to fully master the swordsmanship he had fused.

"I hope the next district will have strong opponents who can force me into a hard fight. Rukongai shouldn't be limited to this." Duke thought of the directionally challenged Kenpachi Zaraki. Because he could not find anyone worth cutting in Rukongai, Zaraki had entered Seireitei. By then, Kenpachi Zaraki already possessed captain-level strength, so Rukongai definitely had powerful people. Duke simply had not found them yet.

"And you, when will you tell me your name? I've waited a long time already!" Duke gently stroked his Zanpakuto. Whenever he calmed his mind, he could clearly sense the blade's presence. But no matter what it said, whenever it came to the crucial moment, the words became blurry, and he could not hear its name. It was like seeing flowers through mist, separated by a thin veil. He could see it but could not say it. The name was clearly on the tip of his tongue, yet he did not know how to speak it.

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