The King Will Bear It! (Seeking Follow-ups)

King's Path Points: 19800, 19700, 19600...

Reiatsu: 100, 200, 300...

As he continuously added points to his Reiatsu, Gilgamesh noticed changes in his body.

Although these changes were minute, Gilgamesh could still feel his body growing stronger by the moment.

This meant that Gilgamesh did not need to spend extra points on attributes like Strength or Agility; he only needed to invest in Reiatsu.

Because as his Reiatsu increased, these physical attributes would naturally strengthen along with it.

Gilgamesh could understand this.

His current state was that of a soul, and Reiatsu was, in essence, the density of the soul.

The higher the Reiatsu, the greater the density of the soul, and naturally, the stronger the soul's power became.

Beyond this, Gilgamesh also discovered that the exchange rate between King's Path Points and Reiatsu was one-to-one; that is to say, 1 King's Path Point could add 1 point of Reiatsu.

After raising his Reiatsu to 10,000, Gilgamesh stopped and did not continue adding points.

Through the previous process of adding Reiatsu, Gilgamesh had not yet discovered an upper limit, nor had he noticed any changes in the point-to-Reiatsu ratio.

Gilgamesh remembered that in the setting of Bleach, Reiatsu was divided into levels, seemingly from the first to the twentieth, with the first level being the highest.

Taking the Shinigami of the Gotei 13 as an example, the Reiatsu of ordinary members was roughly at the twentieth level, while seated officers usually fell between the eighteenth and sixth levels.

The Reiatsu of lieutenants was between the fifth and fourth levels.

As for captains, their Reiatsu was at least third level or higher.

Gilgamesh did not know what level his current 10,000 Reiatsu corresponded to.

Opening his status panel once more, Gilgamesh began to examine it.

Name: Gilgamesh
Character Template: Gilgamesh (Child)
Class: Archer
...
Reiatsu: 10,000
Reiryoku: 0
King's Path Points: 9,900.

This time, Gilgamesh noticed that an extra attribute had appeared on his status panel.

That was Reiryoku.

Gilgamesh remembered that in the worldview of Bleach, the world was composed of Reishi, and the souls of humans were no exception.

Reiryoku was, in fact, the power to manipulate Reishi.

Shinigami could manipulate their own Reishi.

Quincy, on the other hand, could manipulate the Reishi of the external environment.

For a Shinigami, the stronger the Reiatsu, the greater the soul density, and the more Reishi the soul could contain.

This also meant that the amount of Reishi one could manipulate—that is, one's Reiryoku—would be greater, and naturally, one's strength would be higher.

Since Gilgamesh's Reiryoku was 0, it meant there was no Reishi within his body.

Looking at it this way, he must have transmigrated as a soul, which was why his soul was not composed of Reishi like the souls in the Bleach world.

Reflecting on this, Gilgamesh couldn't help but marvel at the power of the King's Path System.

It had forcibly granted him the Reiatsu attribute even though he lacked Reishi.

It was precisely because he possessed the Reiatsu attribute that his body could contain Reishi, which in turn allowed for the Reiryoku attribute.

After his moment of reflection, Gilgamesh calmed his mind and began to sense his surroundings carefully.

Immediately, Gilgamesh perceived the Reishi drifting through the atmosphere.

His brows furrowed slightly as he realized that the Reishi drifting in the atmosphere was far too sparse.

Now that he possessed the Reiatsu attribute, these Reishi would enter his body through his breathing and be absorbed and stored; however, because they were so scarce, Gilgamesh's Reiryoku remained at 0.

He did not ponder it further, as Renji Abarai and Rukia had already arrived before him.

At this moment, Renji Abarai and Rukia had already accepted Gilgamesh's identity as a King, and combined with the strength Gilgamesh had displayed, they found themselves becoming involuntarily reserved when facing him.

Their lips moved, as if they wanted to say something, but in the end, neither spoke.

Seeing this, Gilgamesh's expression remained unchanged, and he spoke as he always did: "Do not, because of this King..."

Stopping there, Gilgamesh suddenly corrected himself: "Hm, do not let my status create any distance between us. You have already earned my recognition; in my heart, you are both my subjects and my friends."

Hearing this, Renji Abarai and Rukia let out a collective sigh of relief, and smiles returned to their faces.

Renji Abarai spoke up then: "Let's go. Let me, the gold-medal guide who has been deep in Inuzuri for over a decade, show you around and help you understand this place."

As he spoke, Renji Abarai seemed to recall something and added: "Oh, right, Inuzuri is quite large. You should prepare yourself mentally; don't go getting exhausted halfway through."

Before Gilgamesh could respond, Rukia spoke up on his behalf: "Gilgamesh's power is enough to rival the heroes of human epics."

"If you're going to worry, you'd better worry about yourself instead, lest you collapse from exhaustion when the time comes."

Upon hearing this, Renji Abarai's eyes widened as he glared at Rukia, looking thoroughly indignant.

Rukia, not to be outdone, glared right back at him.

This was simply the way Renji Abarai and Rukia interacted, a dynamic they had long since grown accustomed to.

Gilgamesh, however, rarely saw such things and found it quite amusing, letting out a pleasant laugh.

Renji Abarai and Rukia looked over, confused.

Though they didn't know why Gilgamesh was laughing, they seemed infected by his mirth and began to laugh along with him.

A moment later, Renji Abarai and Rukia officially began showing Gilgamesh around Inuzuri.

"The place we were just at was the outskirts of Inuzuri, very remote. If you go any further, you'll reach the 79th District of South Rukongai, where the living conditions are even worse and more chaotic than here."

"I've heard that many terrifying Hundred-Man Slayers, or even Thousand-Man Slayers, exist there. You can see corpses everywhere along the roadside; it's truly horrific. You must never go near that area."

"If Rukia and I hadn't heard there were precious water resources here, we never would have come."

"But we were likely deceived. That rumor probably came from those five people earlier; they wanted to lure people here to rob and kill them..."

Gilgamesh listened to Renji Abarai's words, a thoughtful expression crossing his face.

If he recalled correctly, Rukongai was divided into four sectors—East, West, South, and North—with each sector further subdivided into 80 districts, totaling 320 districts in all.

In each sector, the 1st District boasted the best security, the most ideal living conditions, and the most abundant food.

The 80th District, by contrast, was a barren wasteland plagued by famine, where souls slaughtered one another to determine who had the right to survive.

Following this logic, as the district number increased, the security and living conditions of each area declined, becoming increasingly dire.

Beyond that, most souls did not require solid food; they could survive simply by absorbing the Reishi in the atmosphere and drinking water.

Because souls without Reiryoku—that is, those unable to manipulate their own Reishi—did not feel hunger, most areas of Rukongai had no food to speak of.

Souls like Renji Abarai and Rukia, who possessed higher levels of Reiryoku, could not sustain themselves on atmospheric Reishi alone. They would suffer from extreme hunger, leading to physical exhaustion, or in severe cases, even death.

Starting from the 78th District of every sector, water resources were severely scarce. Water became a target for theft and looting, and some even sold drinking water as a commodity for profit.

This was the very reason Renji Abarai and Rukia had risked coming here.

In stark contrast to Rukongai stood the Seireitei.

Thus, some had once said that Rukongai was the living proof of Soul Society's sins, a living hell.

However, to Gilgamesh, this was an opportunity.

Gilgamesh needed subjects and he needed Kingly Points; the more chaotic a place was, the better he could exert his influence.

In that moment, a thought took root in Gilgamesh's mind.

If the Gotei 13 only cared about protecting the Seireitei and ignored Rukongai, why shouldn't he take charge himself?

He could absolutely establish a kingdom belonging to Rukongai, making all the souls of Rukongai his subjects and having them provide him with Kingly Points.

As for the suffering they endured, the King would bear it for them!