[King's Way Points: 19800,19700,19600...] [Spiritual Pressure: 100,200,300...]
As he continued to invest points in spiritual pressure, Gilgamesh noticed changes in his body.
The changes were slight, but he could still feel himself growing stronger.
This meant he didn't need to spend points on attributes like strength and agility. He only needed to invest them in spiritual pressure.
As his spiritual pressure increased, so would those physical attributes.
Gilgamesh understood why.
His current state was that of a soul, and spiritual pressure was essentially the density of the soul.
The higher his spiritual pressure, the denser his soul would be, and naturally, the stronger it would become.
Besides that, Gilgamesh also discovered that King's Way Points and spiritual pressure had a one-to-one exchange rate. In other words, one King's Way Point could buy one point of spiritual pressure.
After raising his spiritual pressure to 10,000, Gilgamesh stopped. He didn't invest any more points.
Based on the points he had spent so far, Gilgamesh had yet to discover an upper limit for spiritual pressure, nor had he noticed any change in the exchange rate.
Gilgamesh remembered that, according to the rules of Bleach, spiritual pressure was divided into ranks, apparently ranging from one to over twenty, with rank one being the highest.
Take the Shinigami of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, for example. Ordinary members had spiritual pressure around rank twenty, while Seated Officers usually fell between ranks eighteen and six.
Lieutenants were around ranks five to four.
As for captains, their spiritual pressure was at least rank three.
Gilgamesh had no idea what rank his current spiritual pressure of 10,000 corresponded to.
He opened his status panel again and took a look.
[Name: Gilgamesh Character Template: Gilgamesh (Childhood) Class: Archer ... Spiritual Pressure: 10,000 Spiritual Power: 0 King's Way Points: 9900.]
This time, Gilgamesh noticed that a new attribute had appeared on his status panel.
Spiritual power.
Gilgamesh remembered that, in the world of Bleach, everything was made up of Reishi, and human souls were no exception.
Spiritual power was the ability to manipulate Reishi.
Shinigami could manipulate the Reishi within themselves.
Quincy, on the other hand, could manipulate the Reishi in their surroundings.
For Shinigami, the greater their spiritual pressure, the denser their souls, and the more Reishi their souls could hold.
That also meant they could manipulate more Reishi—in other words, they had more spiritual power—and were naturally stronger.
Gilgamesh's spiritual power was zero, which meant there was no Reishi inside him.
It seemed he had transmigrated into this world with his soul intact, which was why his soul wasn't made of Reishi like the souls in Bleach.
Thinking this over, Gilgamesh couldn't help marveling at the power of the King's Path System.
It had actually granted him spiritual pressure despite his having no Reishi.
And thanks to that spiritual pressure attribute, his body could now contain Reishi, which was why he had gained the spiritual power attribute.
After reflecting on this, Gilgamesh calmed himself and focused his attention.
Soon, he sensed the Reishi drifting through the air.
He furrowed his brow slightly. There was far too little Reishi in the air.
Now that he had spiritual pressure, the Reishi would enter his body as he breathed and be absorbed and stored there. But there was so little of it that Gilgamesh's spiritual power remained at zero.
He didn't dwell on it any longer, because Renji Abarai and Rukia had come up to him.
Renji Abarai and Rukia now accepted Gilgamesh's identity as a king. Combined with the strength he had displayed, it made them feel awkward and self-conscious around him.
Their lips moved as though they wanted to say something, but in the end, neither spoke.
Seeing this, Gilgamesh's expression remained unchanged. As usual, he said, "Don't let my—"
He paused, then changed his words. "Well, don't let my identity come between us. You've earned my recognition. In my eyes, you're both my subjects and my friends."
At those words, Renji Abarai and Rukia both breathed a sigh of relief, smiles returning to their faces.
Renji Abarai spoke up. "Come on. Let this gold-star guide, who's spent over ten years exploring Inuzuri, show you around."
As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and continued, "By the way, Inuzuri is huge, so you'd better brace yourself. Don't collapse halfway through."
Before Gilgamesh could respond, Rukia spoke up for him. "Gil's strength rivals that of the heroes in the legends of the living world."
"If you're worried, you should worry about yourself. Don't be the one who collapses halfway through."
Renji Abarai's eyes went wide as he turned to Rukia, looking thoroughly indignant.
Rukia didn't back down. She glared right back at him.
That was how Renji Abarai and Rukia always got along. They were both used to it by now.
But Gilgamesh had rarely seen anything like it, and found it amusing. A pleased laugh escaped him.
Renji Abarai and Rukia looked over at him, puzzled.
They didn't know why Gilgamesh was laughing, but his laughter seemed to be contagious, and they both joined in.
A short while later, Renji Abarai and Rukia began showing Gilgamesh around Inuzuri.
"The place we were just in is on the outskirts of Inuzuri. It's pretty remote. Go a little farther and you'll reach District 79 of South Rukongai, where conditions are even worse and more chaotic than here."
"I hear there are plenty of terrifying Hundred-Man Slayers there, and even Thousand-Man Slayers. You can see corpses lying all over the roadside. It's a frightening place, so don't go near it."
"Rukia and I wouldn't have come here if we hadn't heard there was a precious water source."
"But we were probably tricked. That rumor was likely spread by those five people from earlier. They wanted to lure people here so they could kill them and steal their belongings..."
Gilgamesh listened to Renji Abarai and grew thoughtful.
If he remembered correctly, Rukongai was divided into four districts: east, west, north, and south. Each district was further divided into eighty numbered areas, for a total of 320.
In each district, the first area had the best law and order, the most ideal living conditions, and the most abundant food.
District 80, on the other hand, was barren and plagued by famine. The souls there killed one another to decide who had the right to survive.
As the district numbers increased, law and order and living conditions grew worse and worse.
Besides, most souls didn't need solid food. They could survive by absorbing Reishi from the air and drinking water.
Souls without spiritual power—that is, souls unable to manipulate their own Reishi—didn't feel hungry. That was why most parts of Rukongai had no food to eat.
Souls like Renji Abarai and Rukia, who had relatively high spiritual power, couldn't sustain themselves on the Reishi in the air alone. They could grow so hungry that they lost their strength, and in even more serious cases, they might die.
Starting around the seventy-eighth area of each district, water grew severely scarce. Water became a target for theft and robbery, and some people even sold drinking water for profit.
That was why Renji Abarai and Rukia had risked coming here.
In stark contrast to Rukongai stood Seireitei.
Some had even said that Rukongai was proof of Soul Society's crimes—and a living hell.
But to Gilgamesh, this was an opportunity.
He needed subjects. He needed King's Way Points. The more chaotic a place was, the more room there was for him to make a difference.
At that moment, an idea took shape in Gilgamesh's mind.
If the Thirteen Court Guard Squads only protected the court and did nothing for Rukongai, then why shouldn't he govern it himself?
He could build a nation of his own in Rukongai and make all its souls his subjects, earning King's Way Points from them.
And the suffering they endured would be borne by their king!
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