Besieged

"Riding a wild boar looks so majestic!"

Shiba Ganju patted the wild boar beneath him, clamped his legs, and the wild boar he was riding charged forward. "Hahaha, look how fast my little piggie is running!!"

Hawk and the others let out strange cries at the sight, and four wild boars followed closely behind.

"..." Duan Mu.

I really want to go home!

Riding something like this to fight people, I feel like there's a deep underlying meaning of wanting to make the enemy laugh to death...

Actually, Duan Mu wasn't resistant to being Ganju's subordinate. It was quite interesting to watch Ganju and the others from the side, and it could be considered a pastime outside of his work.

Moreover...

This identity could also bring him a lot of help.

Not long after opening the 'Soul Reaper Cram School,' Duan Mu found that many 'non-students' had appeared among his 'students.'

It wasn't difficult to identify these non-students. They could generally be divided into three categories: The first category was those who were not good at hiding their Spiritual Pressure. These people were the easiest to distinguish because the intensity of their Spiritual Pressure was completely different from that of the students.

The second category was those who were very good at hiding their Spiritual Pressure, people whom Duan Mu's current strength found difficult to detect. Although it was a bit strenuous to distinguish this type of person, it wasn't impossible, because the experience gained from the increase in their affection level was slightly higher than that of the students.

And the most difficult to distinguish...

Was the type that was both good at hiding Spiritual Pressure and did not increase their affection level. For this type of person, Duan Mu couldn't tell if they were 'non-students' at all, so he simply treated them all the same and kept his distance. Especially those who clearly had no 'affection level' but acted as if they liked Duan Mu a lot, as if they were very familiar with him. Such women either had ulterior motives or were simply manipulative... It's never wrong to stay away!

You ask how men can distinguish them?

Do men need to distinguish?

For these carbon-based life forms that couldn't provide him with experience points, Duan Mu's attitude could be described as 'indifferent.' Apart from 'taking money to do things,' there was no other interaction.

Since discovering these people, Duan Mu had begun to visit the Shiba Clan once a week under the guise of being 'Ganju's subordinate.' Interacting with the Shiba Clan could help him avoid a lot of trouble, and it could also increase Shiba Kūkaku's affection level.

Although he and Shiba Kūkaku had barely spoken a few words in the past six months, by making himself familiar, he had gained a few points in affection... It was probably equivalent to the level of people who would greet each other when they met on the street.

Having gained such great benefits, what was there to resist about being a subordinate?

Duan Mu looked up at Ganju and the others who were gradually moving away, a smile appeared on his face, and he urged his pig forward to chase after them.

"This wretched place is truly chilling." Hawk swallowed, already having thoughts of retreating. He looked at Ganju in front of him and whispered, "Brother Ganju, why don't we just go back?"

His words caused the other three to nod in agreement.

Although they had heard that the areas with lower numbers had extremely poor public order and were gathering places for countless villains, what they saw and heard after entering the areas with lower numbers made them feel as if they had entered another world.

Compared to residential areas, the word 'ruins' was more fitting to describe this place.

Most of the houses in the towns of the lower-numbered areas had collapsed. Countless winding plants covered the houses, and the riverbeds were split by scar-like crevices, resembling gaping mouths ready to devour life at any moment, revealing their ferocious faces.

Here...

Even drinking water was an extremely scarce resource. A few minutes ago, they had even seen several ragged people fighting each other for a pot of water.

As they ventured further, the roads were also filled with many broken corpses.

These corpses did not rot; they would slowly evaporate over time, eventually turning into Soul Society's spiritual particles. However, precisely because they could not rot, no one bothered to bury them, causing these corpses to remain in a state as if they had just died...

This hellish scene made even Ganju a little fearful, but to maintain his authority as the boss, he didn't show any of it on his face. Instead, he said nonchalantly, "With me here, what is there to be afraid of? Even if we have to leave, we have to catch those bastards!!"

With that, Ganju took the lead, riding his pig into the depths.

Hawk and the other four exchanged glances, then gritted their teeth and, as if they had nothing to lose, followed him on their pigs.

Duan Mu, at the very back of the group, had not spoken from beginning to end.

At this moment, his expression was no longer as relaxed as it was at first, his eyes were full of vigilance.

Due to his work, Duan Mu often traveled between various areas of Rukongai, but he had never been to areas beyond District 70.

After stepping into this land, Duan Mu realized...

He had still underestimated these areas that had 'nurtured countless great villains.' Along the way, he had actually sensed fluctuations of Spiritual Pressure from many people. The Spiritual Pressure of some individuals was even not much weaker than that of the Thirteen Court Guard Squad members, and these people had one more thing than the Thirteen Court Guard Squad members...

Killing intent!!

Unlike Soul Reapers who received systematic education, the people here could only improve their Spiritual Pressure through constant killing.

There were no rules, no morality, and they completely adhered to the 'law of the jungle' where the strong prey on the weak. The residents of this area had only two choices: either become stronger or die.

Even though he knew clearly that some people who possessed Spiritual Pressure, like himself, did not wish to become Soul Reapers.

But seeing so many people with Spiritual Pressure suddenly made Duan Mu feel a bit apprehensive. However, after thinking about it carefully, he felt it was quite normal, because as far as Duan Mu knew, some captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads had fought their way out of similar areas and eventually became 'great villains' renowned throughout Soul Society!

If they only fought against ordinary people, how could they grow to such terrifying heights?

Although these people did not have Zanpakuto, nor did they know Kido or Shunpo, and other exclusive combat skills of Soul Reapers, once their Spiritual Pressure reached a certain level, even fighting with just fists and feet could unleash terrifying destructive power!

Thinking of this, Duan Mu rode his pig to Ganju's side and whispered, "I think it's better to listen to Hawk. You must have also sensed the Spiritual Pressure on those people, right? Hawk and the others are just ordinary people. If a conflict breaks out, you'll have to be distracted protecting them."

Ganju's face immediately showed hesitation upon hearing this.

"If they encounter any danger, it will be too late for you to regret it then," Duan Mu added fuel to the fire when he saw this.

Hearing this, Ganju immediately pulled on the reins, causing the wild boar beneath him to stop.

He first glanced at the area deeper within, then finally swept his gaze across the faces of the five people, including Duan Mu, before speaking, "Let's go, I'll take you back first."

Duan Mu frowned. Iwao's words had made his intentions perfectly clear; he clearly wasn't prepared to abandon the purpose of their trip.

"Iwa... huh?"

Duan Mu was about to try and persuade him further, but his expression immediately changed. He turned and asked, "Who told you those thugs ran off to District 79?"

Duan Mu had asked about the purpose of their trip earlier. According to Iwao, some thugs who often hung around District 26 had inexplicably beaten up the families of Hawk and his three companions, claiming it was because of Iwao.

Upon hearing this, Iwao naturally couldn't just ignore it. However, when he went to find those thugs, he discovered they had already fled, escaping to District 79.

Duan Mu hadn't paid much attention to this earlier, but after Iwao stopped, many Spiritual Pressure fluctuations suddenly appeared around them, continuously closing in.

Without them realizing it, the six of them had been surrounded!