Siwei Yan stood at the entrance to Runlin An, wearing an impeccable smile as he waved vigorously.
He watched until that gentle figure with brown hair completely disappeared around the street corner.
He let out a long breath.
"Ah, dealing with a future ultimate boss really shortens your lifespan..."
He rubbed his slightly aching cheeks.
To be honest, when he had first transmigrated here, he had tried to become a copycat writer, transplanting classic scenes from memories like Battle Spirit Realm and Mysterious Soul Society.
What happened? They just didn't fit the local setting at all!
Even Lieutenant Kyunnan Shiro, his own perpetually dazed vice-captain, had unusually sobered up for thirty seconds after reading the draft and offered the review: "I don't understand it, but I'm deeply shocked."
After reality had beaten him down and left him with nowhere to turn, he had no choice but to set his sights on the readily available "material" around him.
With the spirit of "better a fellow cultivator than myself," he had used Aizen as the template to heavily rewrite The Loneliness and Arrogance of a Genius Boy.
He had thought this sort of artsy inner exploration would be too highbrow for most readers, and that earning enough to scrape by would be good enough. Who could have imagined it would become an overnight sensation, with an outrageously positive response?
Apparently, all his readers were geniuses too~! Only geniuses could resonate with Aizen's experiences.
"Burp~"
Yan Si shook his slightly dizzy head and staggered along the riverbank toward the Ninth Division Squad Barracks.
Runlin An was not far from the Squad Barracks. Following this moonlit river, he would arrive in half an hour.
"I can't keep writing Aizen's story. If I do, it'll get censored..."
He rubbed his brow, his mind calculating rapidly.
"I need to start a new project soon. Otherwise, once next month's salary comes in, it'll all go toward paying off the tavern's debts, and I'll be living on air again."
Two possible options quickly surfaced in his mind:
The first was The Killer of Meteor City, with First Kenpachi, Unohana Yachiru, as the protagonist's inspiration!
The second was The Godfather of Death, depicting the bloody years when Captain-General Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni established the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.
The legendary lives of those two big shots should earn him quite a bit of drinking money, right?
Bang!
Yan Si, immersed in a storm of ideas, slammed solidly into a somewhat lean yet exceptionally sturdy "object."
He staggered back a step, steadied himself, and looked up. A professional smile instantly spread across his face.
"Captain Hirako! Sorry, sorry. I was thinking about the plot of a new story and didn't watch where I was going."
Before him stood Hirako Shinji, captain of the Fifth Division, with his dazzling long blond hair and an expression that always carried a trace of laziness and mockery. He had tilted his head as he looked at Yan Si.
Rather than getting angry, he stepped forward and casually draped an arm around Yan Si's shoulders, his grip anything but light.
"You brat," Hirako dragged out the words, ill intent glinting in his dead-fish eyes. "You went drinking without inviting me. Are you looking down on me, your captain?"
He sniffed hard, catching the distinctive lingering fragrance of Spiritual Intoxication on Yan Si. A vein immediately bulged on his forehead.
"And it was Spiritual Intoxication! You've made it big, kid! How could you be so disloyal? Have you forgotten who put in a good word for you in front of that guy Kensei and got your manuscript approved?"
Hirako grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth. His smile was positively "nuclear-friendly."
Yan Si's heart skipped a beat.
It was true. When he had submitted the manuscript for Genius Boy to his own captain, Kensei Muguruma, that hot-blooded captain had not cared much for such artsy, angst-ridden writing.
Hirako Shinji had happened to be visiting at the time. After skimming a few lines, he had said, "Kind of interesting. Let him give it a try," and that was how the manuscript had been allowed to serialize in Soul Society Communication.
In a sense, Hirako really was his talent scout.
"Captain Hirako, how could you say that? I wouldn't dare!" Yan Si hurriedly protested.
"You don't know this, but Lieutenant Kyunnan Shiro has recently been blocking me everywhere like she's gone mad, demanding that I continue that Hell Girl flop of mine. I can barely avoid her as it is. How would I dare show off at a tavern? I even hid by the river to drink just now!"
"One thing at a time." Hirako Shinji did not take the bait at all, forcefully tapping Yan Si's chest with a finger.
"You could go drink by the river with Aizen, but you couldn't invite me? Do you think Hirako Shinji isn't worthy of your liquor, or... are you looking down on me?"
The final few words sank slightly, carrying a trace of pressure.
Yan Si silently cursed this old fox for being difficult, but laughed it off on the surface.
"Captain Hirako, you're really wronging me! Aizen came to the tavern to find me himself, and he even fought to pay for the drinks. It wasn't as if I specifically invited him! A sucker who delivers himself to my door... cough, cough, a kindred spirit who delivers himself to my door—I couldn't exactly ignore him, could I?"
"Oh? He specifically came looking for you..." Hirako Shinji released him, placed both hands on his hips, and adopted a somewhat teasing tone.
"Tomorrow is the day Central Spirit Arts Academy graduates choose their divisions. Are you representing the Ninth Division for recruitment?"
"Captain Hirako, please stop teasing me." Yan Si scratched his head with a bitter smile.
"Even if Lieutenant Kyunnan Shiro doesn't go, Captain Kensei will personally oversee things. There's no way it would fall to a mere Fifth Seat like me to make a fool of myself."
Soul Society, in the end, still revered strength above all else.
Before those dazzling captains and lieutenants, what capital did a Fifth Seat like him have to attract outstanding graduates?
Hirako Shinji raised his head slightly. Moonlight fell across half his face, and his eyes carried a profound depth that seemed to see through everything.
"Not necessarily. Maybe... if you go, that Aizen Sōsuke will choose to join your Ninth Division."
He dug at his ear with his little finger, speaking in an offhand tone.
"Don't let that kid's merely first-place Kidō grades at the academy fool you. Maybe... he's someone even more dangerous than your Lan Chuan."
Yan Si's heart abruptly tightened! Hirako Shinji's intuition was terrifying!
At this point in time, there was probably not a second person in all of the Seireitei who could see through appearances and sense Aizen's true nature.
He only knew how terrifying Aizen was because of the "script."
He forcibly suppressed the turmoil in his heart and asked with a smile, "Then... Captain Hirako, are there any graduates you want to recruit?"
"Phew—" Hirako blew at the nonexistent dust on his little finger, and his dead-fish eyes returned.
"Yes. I've got my eye on Aizen. I was just thinking of bringing him into the Fifth Division."
Then his tone shifted, and he fixed his gaze on Yan Si again.
"Back to the matter at hand, brat, don't change the subject. What exactly does Lan Chuan plan to do to break through his limits in Genius Boy? Don't tell me you're really stuck."
Alarm bells rang wildly in Yan Si's heart!
The concept of "Shinigami Hollowification" was an absolute taboo. He could not touch it, not even by implication!
Hirako Shinji might seem familiar and easygoing with him now, arm around his shoulder and all, but if he revealed even the slightest hint related to it and the Hollowification incident truly happened in the future, this seemingly easygoing captain would absolutely be the first to throw him into the deepest level of Central Underground Great Prison!
"Haha, Captain Hirako, I'm stuck precisely because I don't know what to do!" Yan Si spread his hands, his expression utterly sincere.
"Do you have any good ideas? I've decided to put this book on a temporary hiatus and start a new one to clear my head. Maybe inspiration will come someday."
"Lan Chuan's story will end here for now."
He maintained an impeccable smile as he met Hirako Shinji's gaze.
Time seemed to freeze until he felt the muscles in his cheeks beginning to stiffen and the corners of his mouth twitching uncontrollably.
Hirako Shinji's gaze, as though it could see through people's hearts, lingered on his face for a long time before he finally turned away and casually waved a hand behind him.
"Fine. If... Lan Chuan gets a new plotline, remember to tell me first."
As his words fell, his figure seemed to melt into water, silently vanishing into the deep shadows of the street.
Only then did Siwei Yan finally relax completely. A fine layer of cold sweat had formed across his back.
He let out a long, foul breath and continued toward the Squad Barracks.
Aizen had barely left, and Captain Hirako had "just happened" to appear right afterward? How could there be such a coincidence in the world!
Hirako Shinji had probably begun keeping a close eye on Aizen long ago. Even Yan Si's contact with Aizen had not escaped his notice.
"Sure enough, stopping the updates here was the wisest choice..." Yan Si felt a wave of lingering fear.
"If I keep writing, I'm afraid I really will end up on Hirako's priority watch list."
He merely wanted to earn some drinking money and improve his life a little. How had he ended up having to play mind games with these big shots whose thoughts ran as deep as the sea?
This was exhausting!
Clang, clang, clang!
"I'm innocent! I've been wronged!"
Heavy pounding on an iron door and anguished cries suddenly came from the corner ahead, interrupting Yan Si's self-pity.
Hearing that familiar commotion, Yan Si instead felt as if he had returned to his comfort zone, and his steps immediately grew lighter.
He quickly rounded the corner and arrived at the source of the noise: the side entrance to the Ninth Division prison.
The two Shinigami guards immediately straightened their backs and saluted when they saw him. "Fifth Seat Yan Si!"
Yan Si nodded and asked in a businesslike tone, "How many did we catch today?"
"Reporting to Fifth Seat! Ten Shinigami who violated regulations were apprehended today!" the guard reported loudly.
"Oh? Only ten?" Yan Si was somewhat surprised. "Didn't those battle maniacs from the Eleventh Division pick fights today?"
The Ninth Division was primarily responsible for detaining Shinigami and civilians who violated Seireitei regulations, conducting preliminary interrogations and holding them in custody.
Only heinous criminals would be transferred to the true Central Underground Great Prison after trial.
This place was more like a detention center with specialized functions.
"No! Today, we only caught a few freeloaders."
The words "freeloaders" made Yan Si's eyebrows jump.
Not long ago, he himself had nearly become a potential offender for "grabbing Spiritual Intoxication and running."
"Ahem! Good work!" He cleared his throat, concealing his guilty conscience.
"But make sure to strictly maintain the three-shift rotation system. Keep your energy up, and do not let your guard down!"
After giving them a couple more instructions, Yan Si followed the road outside the detention center into the Ninth Division Squad Barracks courtyard.
However, the moment he stepped into the courtyard, he stopped.
Under the moonlight, an extraordinarily tall and broad man with very short silver hair and a resolute face stood in the center of the courtyard with his back to Yan Si.
Those broad shoulders and upright back resembled a silent mountain, carrying an invisible pressure.
It was none other than the Ninth Division captain, Kensei Muguruma.
Yan Si's heart skipped a beat. He quickly composed himself, stepped forward, and greeted him respectfully.
"Captain! You're still here so late... is something the matter?"
Kensei Muguruma slowly turned around at the sound of his voice.
His sharp eyes appeared especially bright beneath the moonlight.
"Mm." He answered succinctly, his voice low and magnetic.
"I was waiting for you. We need to talk about something. Don't worry, it won't take much of your time."
Before you continue