5th Division

At the 12th Division's Surveillance Department at White Road Gate, people moved constantly through the building, monitoring the surrounding area for any abnormal Reishi activity. The moment they detected anything unusual, they would report it to the 12th Division headquarters and notify Seireitei.

In the center of the Surveillance Department stood an enormous screen. It showed Wu Biao lifting White Road Gate with one hand, captured and transmitted by Reishi in that very instant.

Several figures stood in front of the screen, watching the image.

"That kid doesn't look very old, but he sure is strong!"

"Something's strange, though. Our recent scan suggests this kid has a physical body!"

"A physical body?" The person at the head of the group froze. "You mean... this kid is human?"

"Probably!" The speaker sounded uncertain. After all, the image of Wu Biao lifting White Road Gate with one hand was right there on the giant screen. Not one of those present had ever heard of a human with such incredible strength.

The supervisor shook his head at that. "Impossible. If there were a human that strong in the Human World... Oh no!" Before he could finish, his expression changed. He hurried to the computer and began frantically tapping away at the keys.

The others gathered around, puzzled, unsure what had gotten into their leader.

The supervisor ignored them, eyes wide as he searched through old records, muttering, "The Human World, a human... It can't be that much of a coincidence... Found it!"

He opened the file that had recently arrived from headquarters. An image appeared on the giant screen: a Gillian facing off against a human.

At first, everyone looked confused. But as the image enlarged and the human came into focus, alarm spread across their faces.

"It's him!"

"Exactly the same..."

"Is that the kid who killed the Menos Grande Gillian recently?"

"..."

The supervisor's face darkened. He quickly turned to the others. "Hurry, revise the alert! The invading Ryoka is extremely dangerous. He can kill a Gillian on his own. Put all the divisions on alert and send reinforcements to White Road Gate at once!"

"Yes, sir!"

Rumble—

Just then, the wall holding the giant screen exploded. Countless Shinigami who couldn't get out of the way in time were buried beneath the rubble, and the room was instantly filled with cries of pain.

"Hey, girly boy! Are you in here?"

A man in an orange gi stained with blood walked in, carrying a backpack taller than two people on his shoulder. It was none other than Wu Biao.

The surviving members of the Surveillance Department turned pale. Even without asking, they could guess from Wu Biao's blood-soaked gi that the Shinigami near White Road Gate had probably already...

Wu Biao stepped over the rubble and took in the room at a glance. Seeing rows of computers and a group of terrified people in white lab coats, he scratched his head.

"Um... is this place an internet café or something?" Brother Biao felt a little awkward asking. Judging by their spiritual pressure, these people were a lot like the Shinigami he'd encountered, but they were absurdly weak. And unlike the Shinigami he'd met earlier, including Ichigo, they weren't wearing Shihakusho.

It was no wonder Wu Biao had asked. He didn't know that the 12th Division was practically the weakest division among the Thirteen Divisions.

Why?

Did you really expect a bunch of scientists to charge into battle? Give me a break. They used their brains.

The people in the Surveillance Department were especially weak in spiritual pressure. They spent every day holed up in this building, living like shut-ins. They'd long since forgotten everything about Kidō and spiritual pressure that they'd learned at Shino Academy!

For example, if Mayuri Kurotsuchi were here right now and had to choose between doubling his spiritual pressure and researching why Wu Biao was so strong despite being human—

That mad scientist would absolutely have no interest in spiritual pressure. He'd choose to dissect Wu Biao and study him instead...

Back to the matter at hand, the 12th Division members in the room exchanged bewildered looks. Those who had never gone on duty in the Human World clearly had no idea what "internet café" meant.

The supervisor was terrified. He stammered at Wu Biao, "You... do you even know what you're doing? Attacking the 12th Division's Surveillance Department in broad daylight is a serious crime!"

"Your nagging's driving me crazy." Wu Biao made a show of picking his ear, then turned to leave.

Seeing that, the 12th Division members all breathed a sigh of relief. Secretly, they decided that as soon as the bastard left, they'd report his whereabouts to all of Seireitei.

"Wait, that's not right!" Wu Biao stopped after a couple of steps. "I came here to flatten Seireitei!"

Flatten it?

Everyone stared at Wu Biao, clearly not understanding what he meant.

"To flatten it, I've got to knock everyone down!"

Two minutes later, Brother Biao looked down at the Shinigami sprawled unconscious across the floor and nodded with satisfaction. Then he took off his backpack, sat down, and started eating.

"This food doesn't keep you full at all!"

Grumbling with dissatisfaction, Brother Biao ate thirty-nine bread rolls, sixty-four sausages, and sixteen apples, then drank twelve bottles of water. He patted his stomach contentedly. "I'm half full. Time to keep flattening!"

With his enormous backpack, now a little less than half full, slung over his back, Wu Biao wandered through the streets of Seireitei like a schoolboy on his way to class.

Dusk had fallen. Aside from the patrols responsible for their respective areas, most people had finished dinner and gone to rest, leaving Seireitei's streets unusually quiet.

Every patrolman Wu Biao came across had been stuck into a wall. A few unlucky ones, like Togakushi, had been planted headfirst in the ground. Of course, no one had died.

As mentioned earlier, Wu Biao could kill monsters like Hollows without hesitation. But he'd grown up in a peaceful era and still had his limits. He could injure or cripple someone, but killing them was something Brother Biao just couldn't bring himself to do.

If everyone killed people as casually as the protagonists in novels from his old world, society would have fallen into chaos long ago.

Of course, there was a condition: if anyone hurt Wu Biao's family, he couldn't guarantee what he'd do. If that really happened... given Wu Biao's destructive power, it probably wouldn't stop at one or two deaths!

Back to the matter at hand, while Ichigo and the others spent the night practicing how to form cannonballs, Brother Biao was already wondering where he could get some sleep in Seireitei.

After leaving the Surveillance Department, Wu Biao headed toward the center of Seireitei. He still didn't know where Rukia—the person he'd come to rescue—was, and he hadn't found out where that girly boy had gone, either.

But Wu Biao figured that the strongest people would live in the central area. There was no way he could go wrong by heading there!

But after less than ten minutes, Wu Biao stopped in front of a huge estate. It covered a vast area and held all sorts of buildings. Many Shinigami in Shihakusho strolled around in groups of three or five, chatting.

A large character, "Five," was carved above the gate.

Of course, none of that was why Brother Biao had stopped. He'd stopped because...

"That smells amazing!"

That's right—it was the smell of food. Wu Biao rubbed his half-full stomach, glanced at the backpack that was a little less than half full, and strode resolutely into the 5th Division barracks. He followed the delicious aroma straight to the cafeteria!

The Shinigami coming toward him found his Turtle Hermit Gi a little strange, but it was break time, so it was normal for people to take off their Shihakusho. They took one look at him and paid him no further attention.

It never occurred to them to connect Wu Biao with the Ryoka. After all, what kind of Ryoka, unless he was crazy, would walk into a place full of Shinigami?

And so Wu Biao, the Ryoka, walked into the 5th Division cafeteria with eager anticipation, as if he were back home...