A Desperate Gamble

"Gasp—"

The moment he said this, everyone eavesdropping in the tavern sucked in a sharp breath.

The reason the Great Villains were called Great Villains was that they were absolutely the strongest existences in District 80. Yet now, someone was telling them...

That the Great Villain of District 80 of West Rukongai had fled the territory where he had once run rampant. If the speaker had not been Habutae, they would never have believed it.

Duan Mu completely ignored the tavern's reaction. He no longer expected these useless people to provide him with any information. They were clearly in West District 79, the district closest to District 80, yet when South District 80 and District 80 of West Rukongai went to war, these people had not received even the slightest news.

The first ones to learn that the two sides had gone to war had actually been the completely unrelated northern Rukongai. It was utterly absurd!

"Because of South District 80?"

"Mm." Habutae nodded.

"As far as I know, don't the various sections of Rukongai rarely interact with one another?" After saying this, Duan Mu glanced at Nishijin-ori beside him.

To be honest, the fact that District 80 of West Rukongai possessed combat power at the level of a Lieutenant Captain had already changed his original understanding of the Great Villains. Now, someone who could force Nishijin-ori to flee had appeared, refreshing Duan Mu's understanding once again.

It was not that he looked down on the Great Villains of District 80. After all, both Unohana Retsu and Kenpachi Zaraki had once carried the title of Great Villain.

But precisely because of these two people, Duan Mu had believed that no matter how strong the Great Villains of District 80 were, they could not be all that powerful.

The reason was simple. As far as Duan Mu knew, before becoming the First Kenpachi, Unohana Retsu had already slaughtered nearly every one of the strongest criminals in Rukongai. After becoming the First Kenpachi, she had carried out a great purge of the later-numbered districts in the name of subduing Rukongai's criminals.

Even more outrageous was...

After her, Kenpachi had simply killed his way up from childhood. Although no one knew exactly how many years he had spent killing in the later-numbered districts, the Thirteen Court Guard Squads had already changed the title of "Kenpachi" nine times. Clearly, that period had not been short. It could be said that before becoming the Eleventh Kenpachi, Kenpachi had also constantly purged the later-numbered districts.

And if one went back even further, it seemed that when the Thirteen Court Guard Squads had first been established, they had also carried out a purge of the later-numbered districts.

As a result, even now, the later-numbered districts firmly believed that the "Thirteen Court Guard Squads" were Soul Society's largest and most brutal assassin organization.

After enduring such repeated devastation, for District 80 to still have powerful figures survive, Duan Mu could only say...

Soul Society truly was teeming with talent.

"Have you heard of 'Kenpachi'?"

"Huh?"

Duan Mu froze slightly and looked at Habutae suspiciously. Could this tough woman actually see through other people's thoughts?

"I suppose you don't know either. Even I have only heard about him." Without waiting for Duan Mu to answer, Habutae continued on her own. "The Kenpachi I'm talking about isn't the name of the northern District 80 region, 'Kenpachi.' He's a Great Villain who took 'Kenpachi' as his name."

"No one knows when he appeared, and no one knows why he was so powerful. But until roughly a hundred years ago, when Kenpachi joined that assassin organization, the 'Thirteen Court Guard Squads,' he was publicly acknowledged as the strongest person in Rukongai. In the era when he existed, aside from him, no one else qualified to bear the title of Great Villain."

At this point, Habutae glanced at Nishijin-ori. Seeing that he had shown no reaction and was merely leaning against the chair with his eyes closed, quietly recovering, she continued. "Actually, the current Great Villains in the eastern, southern, western, and northern sections are all people who once lost to Kenpachi and happened to survive."

"These people are not only Kenpachi's defeated opponents but also his admirers. Every Great Villain strives toward Kenpachi as their ultimate goal, all hoping to become the second Kenpachi."

Habutae paused before continuing. "There are three such people in the entire District 80 of West Rukongai. My boss is one of them. Although outsiders call them Great Villains, they have always referred to themselves as 'losers.'"

"At least until they defeat Kenpachi, that will never change."

Duan Mu let out a laugh when he heard this. In that case, these people might remain losers for the rest of their lives. After all, that man could be called the most talented monster in all of Soul Society—the kind who had been born with cheats enabled!

"Pretty ironic, right?"

Habutae gave a strange laugh. "Everyone is striving toward 'Kenpachi' as their goal, yet none of them can do anything to the others. Instead, they ended up coexisting in one district. They kept fighting, and although there had been casualties, no one had appeared who could sweep through all of Rukongai like 'Kenpachi.'"

"Not long ago, this coexistence in the southern section ended." Habutae changed tack. "Someone in the southern section defeated another Great Villain from the same area and even intimidated him into willingly becoming his follower."

He took him under his command?

Duan Mu froze. If, according to Habutae, the Great Villains of Rukongai's District 80 had been coexisting for the past century, that meant the gap between their strengths could not be very large. At the very least, they should have been able to escape with ease even if they could not win.

Yet someone had now intimidated a person of the same level into submission. To accomplish that, either the defeated Great Villain had not deserved his reputation, or... that person's strength had grown even greater.

"So after subduing the Great Villain from his own region, he set his sights on District 80 of West Rukongai?" Duan Mu asked.

"Strictly speaking, he set his sights on every Great Villain. As I said before, every Great Villain's goal is to sweep through Rukongai, then challenge the Kenpachi who spared their lives in the end under the name of the strongest and defeat him!"

At this point, Habutae gave another strange chuckle. "However, we attacked South District 80 ahead of time, before he could make a move. In my boss's view, aside from 'Kenpachi,' no one in all of Soul Society was qualified to make a Great Villain become a follower."

"You know what happened next." Habutae shrugged helplessly. "That person from the south had not even made a move, yet my boss and the Great Villain who had become his follower had already fought each other to mutual injury."

"..." The corner of Duan Mu's mouth twitched slightly.

So after all that, you were the ones who went looking for trouble?!

He had still thought these lunatics were too normal. Duan Mu had assumed that after conquering South District 80, that person had set his sights on District 80 of West Rukongai. Instead, these two had attacked South District 80 first simply because they disliked him. No wonder Habutae had suddenly wanted to recruit Diao Ao and the others some time ago.

Outside, Diao Ao and the others had been eavesdropping. Their faces turned dark when they heard this.

Although they had previously considered that submitting to the Great Villain of District 80 of West Rukongai might result in their being used as cannon fodder, they had never imagined that the despicable Habutae would take them to attack South District 80—and that their target would be a monster capable of making even a Great Villain willingly become his follower.

This treatment is worse than being cannon fodder!

"Then the injuries this time..." Duan Mu asked tentatively.

"He came to District 80 of West Rukongai."

"Is he very strong?" Duan Mu asked in a low voice.

"Very strong!"

The answer did not come from Habutae, but from Nishijin-ori, who had opened his eyes at some unknown point. He pointed at his chest. "One slash."

Duan Mu froze and looked toward Habutae.

"My boss means that the other party only used one slash."

Habutae seemed to recall something, and her tone turned somewhat bitter. "The ones who first attacked us were Jiu Su and the others. He didn't appear at the time. Only after my boss killed Jiu Su did he show up... His spiritual pressure was extremely powerful, and it was also a strange kind of spiritual pressure I had never felt before."

"If my boss hadn't arrived in time and saved my life, I might already be dead."

Habutae paused, then emphasized again. "Just one slash nearly cut me in half. My boss was pierced through the chest while saving me. After that, my boss carried me and fled District 80 of West Rukongai."

"...It's impressive that you could still carry out a head in that situation." Duan Mu narrowed his eyes. He then lifted the curtain and called to Uzuki, who had been eavesdropping behind the counter. "Uzuki, close up."

"Huh?"

"As for all of you..."

Duan Mu looked at the group of criminals in the tavern. "Go back. You all heard what Habutae just said, right?"

The criminals in the tavern exchanged glances. Understanding Duan Mu's meaning, most of them dispersed in the blink of an eye, but a small portion remained.

"Boss Duan Mu, we'll stay and help you."

Diao Ao thumped his chest and said seriously, "If we're going to die, I'll die with you."

Duan Mu swept his narrowed eyes around the tavern. Everyone who had stayed was from West District 79, and, like Diao Ao, they had struck poses as if they were prepared to "live and die with the tavern."

"Heh. Die with me?" Duan Mu sneered. "Tell me the truth."

Diao Ao gave a nervous laugh. "That person... didn't he go to District 80 of West Rukongai...? We're a little afraid to go back." That was true, but if they were merely afraid of the person who had gravely wounded Nishijin-ori, they could have scattered and hidden in one of the earlier-numbered districts.

There were two reasons they had chosen to stay. First, they liked this place. Although they had not said so aloud, they had already begun to regard Duan Mu as their new boss.

Besides, without Duan Mu, they might already have died in South District 80.

The other reason...

Was also the most important one. They did not think staying with Boss Duan Mu was dangerous. Aside from his powerful strength, Boss Duan Mu also had the strongest backing in all of Rukongai—the Shiba Clan!

If even the Shiba Clan could not protect Boss Duan Mu, then nowhere would be safe for them.

So compared with hiding in a stable district they disliked, they would rather stay here.

At the same time, Habutae stared at Duan Mu in a daze. She had never imagined that after saying all this, Boss Duan Mu would still be willing to let them stay.

Duan Mu glanced at Diao Ao and the others but did not continue driving them away. Instead, he focused his attention on the system interface.

Habutae's Favorability +1, obtained 640 experience points, current favorability: 42

...

Habutae's Favorability +1, obtained 1280 experience points, current favorability: 50

...

Habutae's Favorability +1, obtained 1280 experience points, current favorability: 60

...

Current experience: 20480

All of this was the experience Habutae had provided him in that instant. It was also the confidence Duan Mu had in accepting this commission.

More than twenty thousand experience points was already enough to raise Duan Mu's strength from the "Fifth Stage" to the "Fourth Stage," equivalent to a Lieutenant Captain.

He did not believe the person Habutae had mentioned possessed Captain-level strength. Otherwise, the two of them could never have escaped.

Moreover, compared with High-ranking Officers, the difference in combat power between Lieutenant Captains was enormous. Even among Lieutenant Captains, some could completely overwhelm the others.

Duan Mu was essentially similar to Diao Ao and the others. In a battle with certain death and no chance of survival, he would never provoke the other party unless absolutely necessary.

But a battle with a nine-in-ten chance of death...

Duan Mu did not mind taking a gamble. More than twenty thousand experience points were worth it.

Unfortunately, if only the system could farm experience points.

Then all he would have to do was tell Habutae, "You should leave too." Her favorability would probably immediately drop, after which he could say, "I was joking," and make it rise again...

Unfortunately, Uzuki had already proven that this method did not work.

After favorability dropped, any favorability gained again would not provide him with experience points.

"Um... Mr. Duan Mu." Just then, a somewhat timid voice sounded.

Duan Mu looked at Hanatarou behind him and froze. "Uh, you're still here?"

"..." Hanatarou

Write, delete, write, delete... I've revised it so many times. It's already time, so I'll upload it first and slowly revise it later.