"Hmm..."
"Interesting, truly interesting. To think I was injured so badly during a stretch of time I know nothing about."
A thousand meters beneath Hueco Mundo, a pink-haired Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar was studying with interest the "himself" soaking in nutrient solution as his body recovered.
"Lord Szayelaporro, I have finished gathering the information you requested on Kuruyashiki Kenpachi after his Hollowfication."
Beside the pink-haired Arrancar, a spider-shaped Adjuchas spoke softly.
"Very good."
Szayelaporro nodded to the Adjuchas beside him, then continued operating the machine nearby.
"That fellow called Kuruyashiki Kenpachi really is fascinating. His combat power increased so much all at once after Hollowfication? Interesting! Interesting!"
"It is just as Lord Sōgo said: Hollows evolve by removing the masks on their faces, while Soul Reapers evolve by putting on masks!"
Szayelaporro held a document recording Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's combat data before Hollowfication. Its contents were extremely detailed, down to how many sword strikes and how much Spiritual Pressure Kuruyashiki Kenpachi needed to deal with a Gillian, how much Spiritual Pressure he needed to deal with an Adjuchas, and how much Spiritual Pressure he needed to deal with a Vasto Lorde. Everything was written out clearly, plain to see at a glance.
Yes, decades ago, when Kuruyashiki Kenpachi led the 11th Division and the Hueco Mundo subjugation force to rescue the Soul Reapers trapped in Hueco Mundo, Szayelaporro had already taken notice of him, the strongest Soul Reaper Szayelaporro had ever seen (in Szayelaporro's mind, Sōgo Shihoin had already transcended the very existence of a Soul Reaper). At the time, Szayelaporro had made up his mind to thoroughly collect his combat records. This was also the main reason why Kuruyashiki Kenpachi and his handful of companions had not only managed to rescue every Soul Reaper trapped in Hueco Mundo and being toyed with by the allied Menos Grande forces, but had also routed those forces with ease.
From Kuruyashiki Kenpachi fighting Gillians... to his duel with a Vasto Lorde-class Menos Grande general under Baraggan, and finally to Kuruyashiki Kenpachi and the others escaping unscathed, Szayelaporro had single-handedly arranged it all.
Otherwise, how could it possibly be that just as Szayelaporro wanted to go to the Soul Society to collect some materials, he happened to encounter a situation where one of Baraggan's generals had just been killed by a Soul Reaper, and Baraggan just happened to fly into a rage and decide to teach the Soul Society a lesson?
It was merely Szayelaporro manipulating things behind the scenes to make everything look so natural and so reasonable. But when all those events were strung together, those seemingly reasonable circumstances were filled with far too many coincidences.
"Bring up the energy data from Lord Sōgo's fight with Kuruyashiki Kenpachi after Hollowfication."
With his hands behind his back, Szayelaporro ordered the spider-shaped Adjuchas beside him.
"I'm sorry, Lord Szayelaporro. Lord Sōgo's Spiritual Pressure data is too vast for me. It will take a month to collect all of it."
The spider-shaped Adjuchas beside Szayelaporro apologized to him.
"Huh?"
Szayelaporro frowned at the spider-shaped Menos Grande's words.
"You really are useless. As expected, your Adjuchas form is still far too weak."
"In that case, I'll give you this body!"
Szayelaporro thrust a fist into the nutrient solution, pulled his clone out, and tossed him in front of the spider-shaped Menos Grande.
"Lord Szayelaporro, this is a precious part of you. Is it really all right to give him to me?"
The spider-shaped Adjuchas-class Menos Grande asked Szayelaporro somewhat hesitantly.
"Hmph! He's just a clone who doesn't even have half my power. He's already useless now."
Szayelaporro snorted coldly, showing considerable disdain for the "himself" before him.
"But even so, he should be enough for you to evolve into a Vasto Lorde... If you fail to evolve into a Vasto Lorde after eating him, you will be useless too! I'll format the current you."
Szayelaporro spoke coldly to the Menos Grande beside him.
"As you command, master."
The spider-shaped Menos Grande nodded gently at Szayelaporro's words, without the slightest anger at his heartlessness. Or rather, she simply had no such emotions. She was an artificial Adjuchas created by Szayelaporro, and from her birth until now, her sole function had been to store information for him. Even her name, Roka Paramia, had been given to her by Szayelaporro. In other words, not a single part of her belonged to herself.
"Clone number one has been eaten, and clone number two is currently serving as Lord Sōgo's butler. The other clones no longer matter. I can just destroy them all."
"According to my research on Lord Sōgo, at his current rate of Spiritual Pressure growth, he will probably completely surpass the limits of a Soul Reaper and reach another dimension in less than five years... When that time comes, I will follow Lord Sōgo to... the Soul Society."
Szayelaporro sat in his underground laboratory, thinking quietly.
"Research into Gabriel no longer matters. There is something more wonderful now. Just as that trash of a Vasto Lorde could merge into Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's body, becoming one with him to form a perfect individual, I should also be able to merge into Lord Sōgo Shihoin's body!"
"In other words... I can skip the perfect life-form stage entirely and become one with Lord Sōgo Shihoin to become the most, most, most... ultimate life-form!"
"Haha... haha... hahahaha... What a wonderful plan! The strongest! The most beautiful! The most perfect! Ultimate life-form will be born into this world! Praise the god who created this world!"
Szayelaporro worked himself into a frenzy, intoxicated with himself, lost in the future he imagined and unable to pull himself free.
"But before that, I must first split off the part of my older brother inside my body! The only one who can merge with Lord Sōgo Shihoin and become the ultimate life-form is me, Szayelaporro!"
Szayelaporro's entire being was twisted, filled with obsession with Sōgo Shihoin.
"This won't do, this won't do! I'm far too excited, far too excited! I'm even finding it difficult to control myself!"
"You must calm down, Szayelaporro. As you are now, you are not yet qualified to merge with Lord Sōgo Shihoin. You still need to wait patiently."
Talking to himself, Szayelaporro picked up the documents beside him and began his next research project. Just like the aspect of death he represented, he was filled with obsession and madness toward perfect life-forms and evolution to a higher level.
(End of chapter)