Help, Urahara A-Dream

Siwei Yan headed straight to the Second Division barracks and, familiar with the place, found his way to the door of the secluded "laboratory."

He knocked on the door, then pushed it open without waiting for an answer.

The room was as chaotic as ever.

Urahara Kisuke was crouched amid a pile of metal parts and scattered blueprints. His hair was as messy as a bird's nest, his face smudged with machine oil, and he held a bizarre-looking tool as he gestured at a board covered in circuits.

Hearing someone enter, Urahara Kisuke did not even raise his head. He muttered, "Wait, wait, this Spirit Particle Circuit is almost connected..."

"Urahara." Yan Si spoke. His voice was not loud, but it was unusually grave.

That tone made Urahara Kisuke pause. He looked up through the gaps in his messy hair toward the doorway.

When he saw the heavy expression on Yan Si's face, he immediately set aside what he was holding, dusted off his hands, and stood up, unconsciously straightening his posture.

"Brother Yan Si? What is it...?"

Yan Si entered the room and casually shut the door behind him, blocking out the sounds outside.

He walked over to Urahara and got straight to the point. "There's something urgent. I need your help."

Seeing his manner, Urahara Kisuke became more serious as well. "Go ahead."

"Tomorrow, I'll be departing with the Eleventh Division for the Human World."

Yan Si did not speak quickly, but he enunciated every word clearly.

"It's a mess over there right now. War every day, people beating each other's brains out. You know how it is—there's no reasoning with a battlefield... anything can happen."

He paused and looked Urahara straight in the eye. "I need something. Something that can keep me alive. The more reliable, the better."

Urahara Kisuke blinked, looking somewhat puzzled.

"The Human World battlefield? Those newly born Hollows are weak. Even top students from the Central Spirit Arts Academy can handle them easily. What danger could there be?"

What he said was indeed common sense.

Before officially becoming Shinigami, every graduate of the Central Spirit Arts Academy had to complete an internship.

They had to go to the Human World and carry out the most basic work of guiding souls—the Soul Burial.

It was mandatory. Not even geniuses could skip it.

Of course, Hollows were rarely encountered during this internship.

To the vast majority of Shinigami, no matter how chaotic the Human World became, it only meant there were more souls to guide and more work to do.

If they were unlucky, they might run into one or two newly born Hollows. But such Hollows had limited strength and posed little threat to properly trained Shinigami.

That was why Urahara Kisuke felt Yan Si might be making a mountain out of a molehill and worrying too much.

Yet Yan Si's expression darkened further. He slowly shook his head and lowered his voice.

"Urahara, if you think it's just 'a few more souls,' then you're oversimplifying the problem."

He stepped closer and analyzed, "A prolonged, large-scale number of unnatural human deaths will create an astronomical accumulation of souls.

What will so many souls filled with intense negative emotions attract in the Human World?

They will attract massive numbers of wandering Hollows hungry to devour souls, swarming in from Hueco Mundo or the gaps within the Human World!"

He posed a question. "Otherwise, why do you think they're sending the Eleventh Division, the most battle-hungry division, instead of the Fifth Division, which is responsible for support and rescue?"

Without waiting for Urahara's reply, he dropped another bombshell. "And Kurayashiki Kenpachi himself is leading the team.

They're sending a Kenpachi on what sounds like a routine mission to 'assist in clearing newly born Hollows'?

Don't you think that lineup is a little too extravagant?"

Urahara Kisuke's eyes slowly widened.

He followed Yan Si's line of thought.

That was right. If they were merely dealing with scattered Hollows or a large number of ordinary souls, there was no need for a captain to personally deploy, much less send a sharp-bladed force like the Eleventh Division.

Unless...

"You mean?" Urahara's voice became grave as well.

"That's right!" Yan Si nodded firmly, his expression unpleasant.

"Ordinary Hollows, even if there are a few more of them, aren't much trouble for us Shinigami—especially for squads led by Seat Officers. Newly born Hollows are even less worth mentioning."

He paused before saying each word distinctly.

"But with an accumulation of souls and negative emotions on this scale, there is a very high chance that 'that' will appear."

Urahara Kisuke's breath caught, and he instinctively asked, "You mean... the Great Hollow mentioned in the textbooks?!"

He had only seen vague descriptions of Great Hollows in the Academy's textbooks.

He only knew they were forms evolved from ordinary Hollows—stronger and more savage.

After wandering the Human World for some time, most ordinary Hollows would instinctively head for the gathering place of Hollows—Hueco Mundo.

As for how ordinary Hollows became Great Hollows in Hueco Mundo, the textbooks were vague, and most teachers avoided the subject.

But he clearly remembered how the Kidō instructor had warned all the students in an extremely stern tone.

If they ever encountered a Great Hollow, then unless they were captain-class Shinigami or members of the legendary Royal Guard, the only way for ordinary Shinigami to survive was to run without looking back!

They absolutely could not hesitate!

"That is indeed possible." Urahara Kisuke's expression changed as well. Yan Si had completely convinced him.

If there were no such enormous potential threat, why send a Kenpachi to the Human World? It made no sense.

"I understand! Brother Yan Si, wait right there!" Urahara Kisuke stopped asking questions. He immediately turned around and ran to a corner piled high with junk.

He pressed something on the wall a few times. A soft click of mechanisms came from beneath the floor, and a floorboard quietly slid aside, revealing a pitch-black opening.

Without hesitation, he crawled down.

Before long, the sounds of rummaging through boxes and cabinets came from below.

Then Urahara Kisuke climbed back out of the opening, somewhat laboriously carrying a metal case.

He placed the case on the empty floor in front of Yan Si and dusted off his hands.

He opened it. The inside was lined with soft padding, and in the center lay something that looked like an ordinary piece of wood.

It was about the size of a palm, thin, with uneven edges, as though it had been casually snapped off a wooden board.

Pointing at the wooden piece, Urahara's expression became much more serious.

"This... is still a prototype. I call it a 'Substitution Wood Talisman.'

"When you encounter danger, all you need to do is inject Reiatsu into it and recite the activation incantation. It will instantly swap your position with the position where it was placed, within a range of nine hundred meters."

"So you'll need to set this thing up in advance."

Yan Si's eyes instantly lit up. Good stuff!

Wasn't this a simplified version of a substitution technique? It could save his life at a critical moment!

He hurriedly picked up the wooden piece and held it close to inspect it carefully.

The surface was smooth, bearing the natural grain of the wood. There were no patterns or inscriptions on it. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like an ordinary piece of wood.

"What are the side effects?" Yan Si asked the crucial question.

Something this useful could not be a prototype if it had no drawbacks. Urahara would not have called it one otherwise.

Urahara Kisuke scratched his messy hair, revealing a somewhat embarrassed smile.

"The side effects... after the swap is complete, you may experience fairly intense dizziness for around ten minutes, accompanied by nausea and the urge to vomit. That's all. Nothing else."

Yan Si breathed a sigh of relief. Dizziness and nausea? Compared to his life, what kind of side effect was that? Completely acceptable!

"No problem! That little side effect is nothing!" Yan Si tucked the Substitution Wood Talisman into his clothes and kept it close to his body.

He looked at Urahara Kisuke with a sincere smile and patted him on the shoulder.

"Thanks. You've really helped me out this time, Urahara A-Dream!"

After thinking for a moment, he added, "When I return safely from the Human World, I'll add another two hundred thousand rings to your investment. My word is my bond!"

"Urahara A-Dream?" Urahara Kisuke was briefly stunned by the strange title, but when he heard "another two hundred thousand rings in investment," his eyes instantly shone brighter than the laboratory's Reishi lamps!

He sprang forward, tightly clasped Yan Si's hands in both of his, and shook them vigorously. His tone was so earnest it was almost devout.

"Brother Yan Si! Rest assured! With these preparations, you will definitely return safely! I'll be here waiting for your good news! The funding can wait—your safety is what matters most!"

Yan Si got goosebumps from his sudden display of "deep affection," but he did feel considerably more reassured.

After briefly going over a few more things with Urahara, he turned and left the chaotic "laboratory."