Missing Members

In a desolate area outside London, overgrown with weeds, the ground looked as if it had been scraped away, much deeper than anywhere else.

Hidden within this shadow is a medieval-style town, with people dressed primarily in white moving about, bringing life back to a town that had lost its vitality.

This is the hiding place of the Quincy army. More than a thousand years ago, the Quincy lived on this land.

When Yhwach decided to send troops to Soul Society, he took all the Quincy who were capable of fighting with him and personally sealed away the town where he had once lived.

Originally, they didn't want this town to be destroyed during the process of the unification of the Three Worlds, but unexpectedly, a thousand years later, it became a resting place for the Quincy.

Since the shadows also provide Reishi, the town, which had not been used for a thousand years, had long since become a desolate place. Fortunately, the Quincy had a large number of people, in addition to the special Saint Letters abilities of the Sternritter members.

It took two days for the town to finally return to normal operation.

Yhwach forcibly led his army across the world from the East, had long since fallen into a deep sleep. Now, the one managing the Quincy affairs in the central castle of the town is Yhwach's other half, Haschwalth.

"Lord Haschwalth, after two rounds of personnel checks, we have discovered that five Sternritter, including Bambietta, are not within the Empire's jurisdiction."

The person speaking to Haschwalth was a blonde woman with narrow eyes, dressed in a white military uniform. She was Haschwalth 'Haschwalth subordinate and confidante; she was one of the people Liltotto mentioned who trusted Haschwalth even more than Yhwach.

Haschwalth was not surprised by the disappearance of Bambietta and the others; this so-called Quincy girl group was always quite a handful within the Wandenreich.

Furthermore, since they have no subordinates and do not need to participate in the reconstruction of the empire, it is only natural for them to take the opportunity to go out and have fun.

"How did they leave? How long have they been gone?"

The trusted confidant had already investigated everything before she was able to come and report on her work. "It's said they went out disguised as a supply transport team, but the team didn't wait for them at the agreed location, and two days have passed."

The Quincy army has a large number of Quincy, so feeding and watering this group is a considerable problem.

While under the Seireitei, the Wandenreich spent a long time building up its self-sufficiency system, but all of this had to be rebuilt after arriving in the West.

Prior to this, the Quincy also needed to purchase supplies from London to maintain the legion's daily operations, and the girls took advantage of this opportunity to slip away.

"Two days... have the team members gone to look for them?" Haschwalth asked.

"According to them, they've checked every tourist attraction and food shop in London, but haven't found them."

"Not a single one?"

It's understandable that there are no girl group members at the tourist attractions, but it's strange that Liltotto can't be found at the restaurant; the spawn point no longer has a fixed NPC.

"So, they're missing." Haschwalth had to come to this conclusion. "How's the situation in London? What's their strength?"

After arriving in the West, Haschwalth and his team discovered the presence of a large number of people with high spiritual pressure in London. In order to verify the strength of the people in London, a covert investigation team has quietly infiltrated London.

"Currently, we can find that London, like Karakura Town, has a path leading to Soul Society. They call it Reverse London, and there are eight powerful captains in Reverse London. It is said that their group is called Corner Tip."

The Quincy's covert forces did not rashly enter Reverse London. The information they were able to gather consisted mainly of secretly taking some wealthy London families hostage; they could not gather much real information.

Haschwalth was silently weighing the pros and cons. The fact that Bambietta and the others could disappear meant that there was at least Captain-level figure hiding in London. In this situation, he needed to weigh whether to find the girl group or hide himself.

After thinking for a moment, Haschwalth said, "Here's what we'll do: have the covert forces infiltrate Reverse London. We need to get intelligence on Reverse London's strength."

London is right next to this new Wandenreich. Regardless of whether the girl group disappeared because of Reverse London, Haschwalth must find out the intelligence about London.

Before his confidant could answer, Haschwalth sensed someone calling him from inside the palace. "Go and make the arrangements. If anything changes, come back to me."

Haschwalth abandoned his confidants and headed towards the most secret dark room in the palace. The room was empty except for a bed and a throne, on which sat Yhwach had just woken up.

"Your Majesty," Haschwalth knelt respectfully on one knee.

"Was the empire's migration relatively smooth?" Although Yhwach was a hands-off manager, that didn't mean he was completely uninvolved.

"Some unexpected things happened."

Haschwalth slowly told Yhwach about the girl group's disappearance and the possibility of Captain-level member being in nearby London.

"Has London... developed into this state?"

Yhwach's eyes showed a look of reminiscence. Those who were, in a sense, forsaken by God, had actually built such a prosperous city on this land.

"You did a great job. We definitely need to figure out London's strength. If possible, we should also rescue those members of the Knights Order. Each of them can withstand the strength of a captain."

Without the Almighty Yhwach, all he could speculate was that perhaps the girl group wasn't adapted to the fighting style in London and was ambushed.

"Yes, Your Majesty! I have already sent the secret service to do it."

"We can't waste too many of our secret forces; their destination should be Seireitei..."

Yhwach didn't care what was in London; his goal was pure: the Soul King above the Seireitei. If possible, he didn't want to waste a single ounce of his power in London.

Haschwalth didn't speak. It's impossible to infiltrate without any casualties; otherwise, it wouldn't be infiltration, but a complete crushing of strength.

Yhwach wasn't the kind of boss who just kept throwing out problems; he also provided his subordinates with ideas for solving them.

"Come with me."

Yhwach rose from his throne and opened a hidden passage leading underground. Yhwach offered no explanation, and Haschwalth did not ask. The two walked for a long time before finally arriving at a dimly lit cell.

Yhwach waved his hand, illuminating the surroundings with Reishi flames. Several fierce-looking dragons were carved on the walls of the cell, pulling a cart behind them. The person in the cart looked like a young Yhwach.

"This is where I kept my pets. I never imagined that after so many years, it would have fallen into disrepair." Yhwach saw a small hole in the corner of the wall and quickly covered it with his Reishi.

Yhwach then led Haschwalth around the cell block, which contained seven cells, each containing a strangely shaped egg. Beneath each egg was a peculiar magic circle, and the egg was bound by shackles.

"Hmm? This one is so small? Did it escape before?" Yhwach stopped in front of one of the eggs, remembering the hole he had just sealed.

"Do you want to know what all these things are?" Yhwach didn't keep Haschwalth in suspense. "These are all illusions, the most fundamental illusions of the West."

"They appeared even before me, and they weren't very strong, so I kept them as pets."

"The only advantage is that they are completely fearless of death. I have connected the Saketsu deep within their souls to this cell. When they die, they will return here and, relying on the spirit-gathering array here, gradually return to their original form."

"Like this egg, it just died not long ago," Yhwach said, pointing to an egg no bigger than the palm of his hand.

"Look at this one, it's on the verge of hatching. You can use it to create some noise to cover the covert infiltration operation of the secret forces," Yhwach suggested to Haschwalth.

"Don't let my treating them like pets fool you; ordinary Captain-level Bleach can't do anything to them. They're enough to cause a commotion."

"As for the others, they seem to be nearing the incubation stage as well."

Yhwach waved his hand, and the spirit-gathering array rapidly activated, with a large amount of Reishi flowing into the body of each egg. Except for the newly hatched egg, Yhwach replenished the bodies of the others.

Through the rapid circulation of Reishi, the egg, which was already on the verge of hatching, broke open, and a featherless chick emerged. After eating the eggshell, it began to gnaw on the shackles at its feet.

"It seems that's how that one escaped," Yhwach said.

These so-called shackles are nothing more than creations of Reishi; in essence, they are Reishi. With enough time and effort, this little chick will be able to break free of its restraints.

"I will tell you about the restrictions here. Do as you see fit, Haschwalth," Yhwach said.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I have a question. Why didn't Your Majesty take these captain-level warriors with you to attack Seireitei?" Haschwalth asked.

"How do you know I didn't bring them? These things are the origin of the West; their power is inextricably linked to the West, and their strength diminishes the farther they are from it."

"When we arrived in Soul Society, they were struggling to even pull a cart, so I took it upon myself to cut them all down. Hopefully, the original Hollows will naturally return here afterward."

Yhwach's tone showed no regret whatsoever. To him, these Hollows, unable to attack Seireitei, were utterly useless, utterly worthless.

Perhaps because he had talked too much, or perhaps because he had mobilized his Reishi, Yhwach yawned. He was truly helpless; he couldn't get rid of his sleepiness until the Almighty returned.

"I'm leaving everything to you, Haschwalth. I need to rest..."