Death-Exemption Gold Medallion?! My Life is Over!

After the Captain brought Ichiro into her office, she pulled a file from a cabinet nearby and handed it to him. As she sat down, she said, "Some time ago, Kisuke Urahara submitted a research proposal to me regarding the Mimicry Shikai. He said you were the primary creator, so what is your opinion? Should we popularize it, or keep it strictly confidential?"

After speaking, the Captain sat quietly in her chair, watching Ichiro. This was no small matter; the emergence of the Mimicry Shikai and the Mimicry Zanpakuto, if popularized, would completely shatter the balance the Head Captain had worked so hard to establish.

It was simple: the combination of Mimicry Shikai and Mimicry Zanpakuto relied solely on resources. With enough resources, one's power would be sufficiently strong!

The role of talent was not significant; one could even say it was almost non-existent!

This was a fatal blow to commoners!

Even though it could now be released alongside a normal Shikai thanks to Urahara's modifications, it remained the same. This still had no impact on the nobility; on the contrary, it only enhanced the strength of noble Soul Reapers.

After all, commoners had no financial means to construct a second spiritual power source.

Ichiro understood this logic. Although his previous Konso classes had improved his impression of the Seireitei, this was a different matter entirely.

For the world as a whole, the Seireitei did indeed do a good job, and many of its measures were intended to maintain the balance between the Soul Society and the living world, but that was irrelevant to the current situation.

The Seireitei was, in essence, a society of nobility!

And it was the arrogant kind of nobility at that. For the current Seireitei, this presented certain harms, which was why the Head Captain had established the Shino Academy and vigorously promoted commoner Soul Reapers—all to prevent the nobility from monopolizing power!

The Head Captain understood the nobility too well. Ichiro might not understand the nobility of the Soul Society as well as the Head Captain did, but he had read plenty of novels. As long as one inferred based on the worst-case scenario, one wouldn't deviate too far when it came to the nobility.

However, even so, Ichiro still wanted to popularize the Mimicry Shikai ability!

Because it could truly maximize the strength of Soul Reapers. From the perspective of a Soul Reaper, the stronger their power, the better. The stronger the Soul Reapers were, the less destruction Hollows could cause, and the safer the humans in the living world would be.

When poor, one keeps to oneself; when successful, one helps the world!

However...

"Now is not the time." Ichiro put down the file and looked at the Captain.

"Not the time? So, you are determined to popularize it?" The Captain rubbed her temples. From her position, she certainly did not want it popularized, as it would disrupt the Head Captain's plans.

It would be disruptive regardless of how much time passed. She knew very well how entrenched the nobility was in the Seireitei. At the same time, she also knew that once this thing was popularized, it would inevitably push Ichiro into the eye of the storm.

It was too dangerous.

"Yes, because this can greatly enhance the power of Soul Reapers and better protect the living world. But it is not the time yet; there is still much work to be done."

"I trust you. Tell me your thoughts. If it is feasible, we will assist you with all our might. If it is not, I hope you will not hold a grudge against us." Sighing, the Captain crossed her hands, slightly shielding her chin.

"Don't worry, I've already calculated it. The feasibility is quite high. First, what we popularize is only the Mimicry Shikai ability, not the technology behind it."

The Captain narrowed her eyes and asked, "Just like the Zanpakuto?"

"Yes. However, this world is not lacking in capable people. We cannot rule out the possibility that someone might reverse-engineer the technology from the finished products. Therefore, we must prepare two contingencies. First, collect all the primary materials existing on the market, hand them over to the Soul King Palace for safekeeping, and have them produce the initial attribute-based second spiritual power sources. Just like the Zanpakuto, they would be distributed uniformly by the Thirteenth Division."

"Considering that some materials might not be fully controllable, we need a second measure. In the subsequent optimization of this technology, we should add a certain material found only in the Soul King Palace as the primary component to fundamentally prevent leaks! I believe the Zero Division, with its unique status, would not recklessly distribute these things to the nobility."

"Hmm, in that case, it would be adopting the exact model of the Zanpakuto." The Captain nodded. Indeed, the impact would be minimal that way, but...

"Optimization? Urahara Kisuke should have already optimized this technology to its limit, right? Can any other core materials even be added?"

"There is still a direction. Indeed, the Dual Shikai developed by that guy Urahara is truly stunning. To be honest, even I didn't expect that. But that is only one direction. In reality, even at this stage, this technology is still a semi-finished product."

The Captain frowned and suddenly asked, "Are you talking about compatibility?"

"Yes. The current Mimicry Shikai technology can only be custom-made, and the efficiency is truly too low. Using this for mass popularization would be a joke. Therefore, the next direction is to create a universal second spiritual power source, similar to an Asauchi. In this process, we can develop it around the unique materials of the Soul King Palace. As it happens, the Soul King Palace has exactly that material..."

Ichiro looked at the Captain quietly, a confident smile on his face. He had considered all these things, which was why he was even thinking about popularization.

"One question remains: how will you ensure that this technology does not leak out from the Soul King Palace? You must know that the Soul King Palace is independent of our Thirteenth Division; we have no authority to oversee what they do."

"..." Ichiro fell silent. He hadn't actually thought about how to solve this problem, or rather, he hadn't bothered to think about it.

Because it was impossible for him to popularize this thing while his own strength was insufficient. If one day his enemy took this thing and killed him with a single slash, that would be quite the joke.

So, in Ichiro's plan, even if this thing were to be popularized, it would be hundreds of years later—at the very least, after Aizen had defected, or if he found an opportunity to kill Aizen beforehand. But for now, he might as well just wash up and go to sleep.

Seeing that Ichiro did not answer, the Captain smiled. She found Ichiro more and more pleasing to the eye, much like a mother-in-law looking at a son-in-law. To her, as long as Ichiro didn't boast and take it all on himself, he was a ten out of ten!

If he had taken it all on himself, it would have been a nine; she would have been looking forward to his subsequent actions.

Watching the silent Ichiro, the Captain smiled and took a box heavily sealed with Kido from her drawer, handing it to Ichiro.

"What is this?" Ichiro asked curiously.

"The Oken I mentioned to you before—the essential item for entering the Zero Division," the Captain said softly.

"!!!" Ichiro looked at the Captain in shock, the box in his hands nearly sliding to the floor. He quickly steadied it, swallowed hard, and asked in disbelief, "The Oken? The power of the Soul King?"

"Yes." The Captain nodded. "However, there is only a tiny bit inside, not enough to construct the Oken; it will dissipate once the box is opened. The real Oken must be forged within the Soul King Palace. Your strength is not yet sufficient. This box is effectively your golden immunity medal and a key to enter and exit the Soul King Palace."

"..." Ichiro was silent for a moment, then asked, "Captain, is someone trying to kill me?"

The Captain was stunned: "Why would you think that?"

"Because as far as I know, when those in power want someone dead, they give them a golden immunity medal."