Chapter 33: Bubu Wang's Grand Operation
Inside Su Xiao's room, he removed the wireless earbud from his ear. He had basically sorted out the situation regarding the Southern Sparrow lead.
Su Xiao flipped through the tablet and quickly opened a list in text and image format. This was his entire plan.
- Aizen (Already allied, no threat as long as the contract is in effect).
- Other contractors within the Seireitei (Temporarily non-interference; if obstacles arise, can ally with Ichimaru Gin to eliminate them, potentially leveraging Seireitei's military force during the process).
- Yamamoto Genryusai (Currently not a match; already on his radar, but safe for now).
- Unohana Retsu (Temporarily stabilized through Soul Spirit Medicine and Spirit Orbs).
- Southern Sparrow (Member of the 2nd Division's Stealth Force; has swallowed a tracker; safe and exploitable).
...
Everything Su Xiao had done before was like setting up a vast net. The method by which he obtained benefits could be changed, choosing the most profitable scheme, but the current layout could not be altered.
Su Xiao had done so much, essentially to ensure that, while infiltrating the Seireitei, the surrounding plot characters became non-threatening. Now, he had finally achieved this.
If it were a large-scale strategic deployment, Su Xiao might make some mistakes. He was self-aware about this. But if it came to acting or guessing people's hearts, he wasn't afraid of Qing Yan, Aizen, or others like them.
Therefore, Su Xiao simply didn't bother with large-scale layouts; that would be asking for trouble. The method he chose was to arrange the surrounding plot characters clearly and thoroughly. When he was in a relatively safe environment, he could do many things.
In previous derivative worlds, Su Xiao competed with enemies through strength. The difficulty in the Bleach world was much higher. He not only had to defeat enemies but also evade the scrutiny of the Seireitei's higher-ups. It was exceptionally thrilling.
Losing a battle meant death. Being discovered by the Seireitei's high-ranking officials wouldn't necessarily mean death, but it would still cost him dearly.
Tonight, Su Xiao had killed Komamura Sajin, so he didn't plan to continue hunting. Or rather, he wanted to change his method to a safer one.
Based on his long-term observation, a Shinigami's strength, ninety percent of it, lay in their Zanpakutō. Of course, that extremely powerful old man was an exception.
Su Xiao's previous idea was to have Bubu Wang steal the Zanpakutō, then use the Supreme Blade to devour it, thereby increasing the Blade Value of Dragon-Slaying Flash.
This idea needed experimentation, but one thing was certain: Bubu Wang could definitely steal a Zanpakutō. Although Zanpakutō were very important to Shinigami, they weren't always by their side.
Su Xiao's first target was a Captain-level Shinigami. Either way, it was a risk. If he got caught, obtaining just an ordinary Zanpakutō or a Lieutenant-level one would be too much of a loss.
The plan was: first, steal the sword; then, lure out the Captain who lost it; find a relatively safe environment to fight. Su Xiao couldn't strengthen himself in a short time, so he had to find ways to weaken the enemy.
Just as Su Xiao was thinking, Bubu Wang returned to catch up on sleep.
"Bubu, I thought of a plan earlier..."
Su Xiao began narrating the sword-stealing plan to Bubu Wang. The more Bubu Wang listened, the more energetic he became, showing no signs of sleepiness.
A few minutes later, Bubu Wang looked at Su Xiao with excitement in his eyes. Those bright, big eyes seemed to ask, "Master, are we making a move tonight?"
"That's right, we're making a move tonight. The Soul Society is in chaos right now. It's best to fish in troubled waters."
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked softly, asking Su Xiao who the target was. Was it that old man Yamamoto Genryusai?
Bubu Wang was looking for excitement. Even if Su Xiao asked him to steal a Zanpakutō, he wouldn't go to Yamamoto Genryusai. If caught, Bubu Wang would be dead for sure. He could easily escape from anyone else.
"No, the first target is him."
After Su Xiao whispered a few words to Bubu Wang, Bubu Wang turned and ran out of the room, looking incredibly joyful.
In the night-time Seireitei, squads of Shinigami ran through the streets. None of these Shinigami noticed the joyful Bubu Wang running down the street, occasionally doing a standing long jump.
Bubu leaped into the air, pressed the shutter mid-air. Click. Bubu Wang took a selfie, very joyful.
The joyful Bubu Wang passed through the 3rd Division barracks, then entered the 10th Division barracks. After freeloading breakfast at the 10th Division, he headed straight for the 12th Division.
At 5 AM, Bubu Wang arrived at the 12th Division barracks. Most of the buildings in the 12th Division barracks were tall towers, and these towers had few windows, clearly used for experiments.
Bubu Wang crouched in the middle of the street, took out a map from the small bag on his back, confirmed his location several times, and then quickly ran towards a tall building.
The main door of this experimental building was tightly shut. Bubu Wang sat down in front of the door, taking the opportunity to catch up on sleep. About half an hour later, the experimental building's door opened from the inside. Bubu Wang walked briskly towards the main entrance.
- Kido mechanisms: Ignored.
- Spirit Particle alarm devices: Ignored.
- Prosthetic limb bio-detection: Ignored.
- Shinigami sentries inside the experimental building: Ignored.
Bubu Wang easily entered the heavily fortified experimental building. Excluding combat power, Bubu Wang was very strong, no weaker than Su Xiao!
Entering the dim experimental building, Bubu Wang looked up at the sentry high above. He even waved his dog paw, as if greeting that sentry.
Actually, detecting Bubu Wang was simple: just tear off the area where Bubu Wang was located. That is, rip the world itself, not break the space, but tear down that piece of the world.
Bubu Wang began wandering around the experimental building. He had plenty of time. Four hours later, Bubu Wang infiltrated the third basement level of the experimental building.
Drip, drip, drip...
In the silent room, the mechanical sound of electronic instruments was more pronounced. The Soul Society wasn't without technology; it just wasn't widespread.
In front of a precision test bench, a man wearing a white haori, looking neither human nor ghost, was looking down at something. He wore a black and white bio-synthetic mask, and his palms showed an abnormal whiteness. This wasn't just pale skin; it was a white similar to resin.
From this guy's appearance, it was obvious he was probably a mad scientist. Right now, he was studying something.
"Damn it, what kind of structure is this?"
Bang! The mad scientist slammed his hand on the test bench. A golden sphere emitting a golden light was fixed in mid-air by a metal frame for his observation.
"As long as I figure out the conversion process, I can mass-produce imitations. No, I can manufacture Spirit Orbs of higher purity, even use this technology to clone Shinigami. Yes, the basic composition of a Shinigami is..."
The mad scientist's speech rate got faster and faster, but in the end, he suddenly deflated, because he simply couldn't analyze the structure of the Spirit Orb.
"Could it be... I really have to ask that guy? For the sake of exploring the unknown, temporarily setting aside my pride doesn't seem like much, but..."
The mad scientist's name was Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Captain of the 12th Division. He had repeatedly plotted to capture Su Xiao alive and torture the technology for Soul Spirit Medicine and Spirit Orbs from him.
In fact, Kurotsuchi Mayuri had already discovered that the reason Soul Spirit Medicine was so miraculous was precisely because it contained biological nature spirit particles. As long as he had the extraction method for this thing, he could also manufacture Spirit Orbs.
Kurotsuchi Mayuri had tried extracting biological nature spirit particles from food many years ago. If the purity of a Spirit Orb was 10, then the spirit particle content extracted from food was less than 0.15. The difference was like heaven and earth.
"Damn it."
Kurotsuchi Mayuri had been in a bad mood lately. Just as he was about to continue researching the Spirit Orb, he suddenly turned around.
Kurotsuchi Mayuri's mouth slightly opened, because... he saw the empty sword stand.
"My... Zanpakutō?"
Kurotsuchi Mayuri rushed forward a few steps, checking the sword stand up and down. Of course, there was a connection between him and his Zanpakutō, but in that instant just now, his Zanpakutō seemed to have suddenly vanished from the face of the earth.