Two months after the Kagerōza incident, Seireitei finally returned to its former peace.
The destroyed Division Barracks was rebuilt, and Senkaimon Management Office also completed repairs.
There are gradually more and more Soul Reapers coming and going on the street.
Except for the occasional scorch marks that have not been cleaned up in the corners, everything seems to be back on track.
Twelfth Division.
Research and Development Institute underground monitoring room.
Dozens of Reishi screens were on at the same time, with dense data scrolling from top to bottom.
Akon is sitting at the main console.
Three consecutive days without rest left him with two obvious circles of black under his eyes.
But for Research and Development Institute people, this is normal.
When they go to bed on time, it means something big is going to happen.
Drop.
One of the screens suddenly turned red.
The piercing alarm sounded throughout the monitoring room.
The team members who were recording data raised their heads at the same time.
"An abnormal number of souls has been detected."
"Abnormal area, Hueco Mundo."
"Recalculating the Three Realms soul ratio."
Akon took a breath and stretched out his hand to pull the data on the screen in front of him.
After just one glance, the fatigue on his face disappeared.
Instead, there was unprecedented solemnity.
"Retrieve all the monitoring records of Hueco Mundo in the last two months."
"Yes."
Several technicians immediately started operating.
A huge Hueco Mundo projection appeared in the center of the monitoring room.
The dense red light spots represent the virtual Reiatsu reaction.
But at this moment, the red light spots in a large area are disappearing.
These disappearing points of light did not die due to internal fighting.
Akon stared at the declining numbers, cold sweat slowly breaking out on his forehead.
"What is the reduction amount?"
One team member's voice was tight.
"Preliminary estimate is that it has exceeded 25,000."
"And it's still going on."
The monitoring room instantly became quiet.
The reason why Three Realms can remain stable is because there is a soul cycle between World of the Living, Soul Society and Hueco Mundo.
Soul Reaper After killing Xu, Xu's soul will be purified.
Virtual objects can be erased directly, and their properties are completely different.
That means the total amount of souls in Three Realms is permanently reduced.
Once the gap exceeds a critical point, the boundary between Three Realms begins to collapse.
When the time comes, both World of the Living and Soul Society will be involved in the disaster.
"Notify Captain-Commander."
Akon had just opened his mouth when a familiar strange smile came from behind him.
"Grrrrrr."
"What's the use of informing that old man?"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi slowly walked into the monitoring room. The black and white paint on his face looked even weirder under the red alarm light.
Nemu Kurotsuchi followed him quietly, holding a stack of experimental reports in both hands.
Akon stood up.
"Captain Kurotsuchi."
Mayuri Kurotsuchi walked to the main console and slid his long nails gently on the screen.
A series of new data was retrieved.
He looked at the decreasing Reiatsu reaction in Hueco Mundo, and his golden teeth were slightly exposed.
"Has it really started?"
Akon's eyes narrowed.
"Do you know why?"
"Just a guess."
Mayuri Kurotsuchi narrowed his eyes, and his tone rarely lacked a hint of sarcasm.
"There is a group of guys who should have disappeared long ago, and they are using their best method to clean up the void."
Akon immediately asked, "Quincy?"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi has no answer.
But silence itself has already given the answer.
Akon looks at the red numbers on the screen.
"At the current rate, in six hours at most, the soul balance will exceed the safe value."
"Must report to First Division immediately."
"Then what?"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi turned his head and looked at him sadly.
"Convene a captain's meeting?"
"Discuss the reasons?"
"Send someone to Hueco Mundo to investigate again?"
"By the time those idiots come up with the results of their discussion, Three Realms will have already started to collide with each other."
Akon said in a deep voice, "This is a major incident, and Twelfth Division has no right to handle it privately."
The smile on Mayuri Kurotsuchi's face gradually widened.
"Rules are for those who still have time to follow them."
"Now, what we lack most is time."
He stretched out his hand and brought up the soul distribution map of Soul Society.
Beyond Seireitei, the vast Rukongai is divided into dozens of areas.
Several of the areas located on the edge are marked with red apertures by Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
Akon Looking at those marks, an ominous premonition suddenly arose in his heart.
"Captain Kurotsuchi, what do you want to do?"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi casually entered a string of numbers.
The calculation results quickly appeared on the screen.
Twenty-eight thousand.
This number was magnified and reflected on everyone's faces.
"Hueco Mundo will replace as many souls as Soul Society has reduced."
"Since we can't stop those Quincy from continuing to destroy the void, we can only restore balance from the other side."
Akon pupils shrink.
"You mean..."
"Erase the soul of Rukongai."
Mayuri Kurotsuchi said very calmly.
Just like those are not twenty-eight thousand lives, but two data that need to be corrected on the experimental report.
The faces of the team members in the monitoring room changed.
Someone opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Akon Clenched his fists.
"There are innocent wandering souls in there."
"Innocent?"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi sneered.
"When the world collapses, we won't let them go just because they are innocent."
"Sacrifice twenty-eight thousand, and let three worlds be destroyed together."
"You don't understand this kind of choice that even a child can make, right?"
Akon cannot refute.
Because judging from the results, Mayuri Kurotsuchi's judgment is correct.
But those are 28,000 drifting souls.
It is not a number that can be deleted casually.
They can talk, they can be afraid, and they can live their own lives in Rukongai.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi has turned and walked towards the console.
"Block Research and Development Institute."
"From now on, no one is allowed to send any news to the outside world."
"Nemu."
Nemu Kurotsuchi Take a step forward.
"Nemu is here."
"Lead Seventh Monitoring Squad to the target area and activate Soul Erasure Device."
"Yes, Lord Yuri."
Nemu Kurotsuchi's voice has no ups and downs.
She turned around and left holding the report.
Akon suddenly stretched out his hand to stop her.
Nemu Kurotsuchi stopped and looked at him quietly with his black eyes.
"Akon Third Seat?"
Akon's hand froze in mid-air.
He knew very well that even if he stopped Nemu Kurotsuchi, Mayuri Kurotsuchi would send someone else there.
The alert numbers on the screen are still rising.
For every minute of delay, the risk of Three Realms crashing increases by one point.
After a few seconds, Akon slowly put down his hand.
"Nothing."
Nemu Kurotsuchi nodded slightly and continued walking out.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi looked at Akon with sarcasm on his lips.
"Boring feelings."
"If you want to become a technician, don't regard life as something noble."
"In the face of data, all souls are just weights to maintain balance."
Akon lowered his head.
"Once this matter is exposed, Central 46 will not let you go."
"That group of trash hiding underground?"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi laughed disdainfully.
"By the time they find out, Soul Society will have been rescued by me."
"As for punishment."
"Are they willing to kill the only person who knows how to handle this situation?"
Akon was silent.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi is crazy.
But he is not stupid.
He had even calculated everyone's reactions in advance.
That night.
The outermost areas of Rukongai are blocked by an invisible layer of Barrier.
A light blue Light Screen slowly swept across from the end of the street.
The house touched by Light Screen did not suffer any damage.
But the wandering soul living in it turned into Reishi in a brief moment of shock.
After the light blue Light Screen passed by, all sounds disappeared.
There were only empty houses left in the entire neighborhood.
On the screen of Research and Development Institute, the number representing the number of souls of Soul Society began to decrease.
Two thousand.
seven thousand.
Sixteen thousand.
Eventually, the number stopped at twenty-eight thousand.
The piercing siren then disappeared.
Three Realms soul proportion has returned to the safe range.
No one in the monitoring room cheered.
Everyone just looked at the screen quietly.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi nodded with satisfaction.
"Crisis averted."
"Delete all relevant records."
"Yes."
Several technicians responded in low voices.
Their fingers landed on the operating table, but it was much heavier than usual.
Early the next morning.
Soul Reaper, who was responsible for delivering supplies to Rukongai, came to the outer area.
He opened the door of a house.
The food on the table is already cold.
There was no one in the room.
He checked a dozen houses in succession and the results were exactly the same.
The entire neighborhood seemed to have evaporated overnight.
The news quickly spread back to Seireitei.
First Division Barracks.
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto Shigekuni stood in front of the hall, his long white beard swaying slightly.
An investigation team member knelt below, his forehead covered with cold sweat.
"Captain-Commander-sama, Rukongai There are a large number of missing souls."
"According to current confirmation, there are more than 20,000 missing souls."
"There are no traces of battle or virtual Reiatsu around."
"All the missing persons disappeared on the same night."
Yamamoto's hand holding the crutch slowly tightened.
There was a dull cracking sound from the ground.
"Summon Yoriichi Tsugikuni to come."
After a while, Yoriichi walked into the hall.
He stopped in front of Yamamoto and asked calmly, "Captain-Commander, are you looking for me?"
Yamamoto slowly opened his eyes.
"Rukongai A large number of wandering souls have disappeared for no reason."
"I order you to go to Rukongai immediately to investigate this matter."