Return to Seireitei

Thank you, friend, for the 100 Qidian Coins.

Thank you, friend, for the 500 Qidian Coins.

However, he hadn't forgotten the main reason he was here.

After inquiring about the location of the Ninth Division's wounded from a junior member of the Fourth Division, he headed over.

As a high-ranking Lieutenant, Shūhei wasn't staying in a regular ward with ordinary members; he had a private room.

Gaoyu knocked on the door. Hearing a "Come in" from inside, he pushed the door open.

As soon as he entered, he saw Shūhei lying on the hospital bed.

Shūhei was indeed seriously injured, with more than half of his body wrapped in bandages and emitting a medicinal scent.

Gaoyu placed the fruit on the table and then sat down by the bedside.

"I heard the news that you weren't dead, but seeing you walk in here safe and sound..."

Shūhei said softly, "It's good."

"I almost died," Gaoyu said sincerely. "I almost died, but Captain Aizen arrived at the last moment."

"You're lying, aren't you?" Shūhei glanced at him before shifting his gaze back. "I heard all about it. That Hollow you defeated..."

"It was just luck," Gaoyu shook his head.

"Actually, I'm no match for it."

"To achieve this much is still amazing, kid... Well done."

Gaoyu noticed at this moment that Shūhei's favorability towards him had increased to eighty, which meant he had permanently gained the Black Sun ability.

He couldn't help but let out a low chuckle. "Perhaps I'll be promoted to Vice-Captain because of this."

"Is Vice-Captain Gin Ichimaru going to the Third Division?"

"Yes, he's had the talent of a Captain for a long time, there just wasn't an opening before."

Gaoyu said lightly, "You need to recover well. These past few days have been too intense; I feel like I need to numb myself with alcohol right now."

"Letting a patient drink alcohol... isn't that going too far?"

"Mr. Hisagi..."

Suddenly, a voice came from outside the door, and a short Shinigami walked in.

He looked somewhat surprised upon seeing Gaoyu, then quickly lowered his head.

"Mr. Hisagi, do you need your dressing changed?"

"I say, Katarō, we're both Lieutenants, there's no need for honorifics, right?" Hisagi said.

"Th-that's not possible," Katarō quickly waved his hands, flustered. "I'm just from the Fourth Division..."

"What's wrong with the Fourth Division?" Gaoyu asked him.

"Uh..." Hearing Gaoyu speak to him made Katarō even more flustered, and for a moment, he didn't know how to respond.

"There's no difference between a doctor and a soldier going to battle. No, come to think of it, doctors might even be more important," Gaoyu said to Katarō.

He also took a look at Katarō's Soul Ability.

'Medical Wave: Can release a light wave with healing capabilities. The light wave can continuously transmit between multiple people. After being passed through by the light wave, injuries on a person will rapidly improve.'

As expected, it's an ability similar to Kaidō, and it's group healing. Excellent, I've made a friend.

"Personally, I find it quite unbelievable that the Gotei 13 pays the Fourth Division less."

It's not unusual for officers to be paid more than medics, but the Fourth Division's issue isn't just low pay; their status is incredibly low, and sometimes they even have to do cleaning work.

"Pl-please don't say that," Yamada Katarō seemed startled. He quickly said, "We don't have combat talent, so if we can't go to the front lines, it's normal to have low pay. This is a decision made by the Central 46!"

"It's best to be cautious about such matters," Shūhei also said.

"You guys are really cautious," Gaoyu tutted, then said to Katarō, "Right, isn't Shūhei supposed to have his dressing changed?"

"Ah, right." Katarō quickly took out some medicine from his bag and then looked at Gaoyu.

Gaoyu got up of his own accord.

"Alright, you guys treat him first. I'll be going now."

Gaoyu stood up and walked out of the room.

After leaving the ward, he didn't leave but wandered around for a bit, even chatting with a few Lieutenants from the Fourth Division.

The people from the Fourth Division are quite easy to make friends with. Perhaps because their status is usually so low, when Lieutenants from other divisions show them some respect, they immediately gain their favor.

What surprised Gaoyu was that, apart from Katarō, all the other Lieutenants in the Fourth Division had combat-type abilities.

For example, 'Lightning Chain,' 'Blizzard,' 'Heavy Strike,' 'Flame Storm,' 'Dust Storm'...

It seems like all of them are bothered by their lack of combat talent. No wonder they are so respectful to people from other divisions. They probably feel from the bottom of their hearts that being able to fight on the front lines is better.

Unfortunately, he didn't get to see the Captain and Vice-Captain of the Fourth Division. He wondered what Isane's and Unohana's Soul Abilities would be.

However, thinking about it this way, listening to Aizen and becoming the Vice-Captain of the Fifth Division seems to have one benefit.

That is being able to meet more Captains and Vice-Captains from other divisions.

The Gotei 13 has something called a 'Captain's Meeting', which means Captains and Vice-Captains must go to the First Division together for meetings.

Of course, it's the Captains who have the meeting, while the Vice-Captains wait in another room.

This way, Gaoyu would have more opportunities to interact with people from other divisions.

There's another point that's quite important, and that is after becoming a Vice-Captain, you're considered 'Captain-class' within the Seireitei, essentially a big celebrity in the Seireitei.

Perhaps many people will become infatuated with me.

Heh heh, Gaoyu envisioned his future and then let out a foolish grin.

"What a silly smile."

Someone commented in front of Gaoyu.

Gaoyu snapped back to reality and looked at the blonde, busty girl in front of him, saying, "Miss Rangiku, why are you here?"

"What do you mean, 'why am I here'?" Matsumoto Rangiku said, "I heard you were injured when you returned from your mission and wanted to come check on you. But as soon as I arrived, I saw you grinning foolishly."

"I'm fine," Gaoyu sighed. "The one seriously injured is Shūhei. I just came from his place."

"That kid Shūhei... he's really unlucky."

"By the way, I heard you killed the Captain of the Third Division. Is that true?"

"What?! It's already reached your ears? And how did it get more and more exaggerated?" Gaoyu couldn't help but retort, "Next, are they going to say I killed a Captain with one blow?"

"So, what exactly happened?"

"The Captain of the Third Division was possessed by a Hollow. His spirit was already fighting the Hollow, and then he was heavily injured by Captain Aizen. He barely managed to escape."

"It was only then that I took him down. I was just picking up the scraps. If it were a real fight, how could I possibly defeat a Captain?!"