Chapter 452 - 452: Preparing to Enter Soul Society

Robin's concern didn't surprise Cyrus.

"If that guy can't even handle something this simple, then he isn't worth negotiating or cooperating with in the first place."

"So you reached some kind of agreement with him?"

Robin looked at Cyrus curiously.

"I felt the temperature rise earlier. You fought him, didn't you? But the disturbance wasn't nearly as large as before."

Back in their original world, whenever Cyrus seriously used his power, the effects could spread across vast portions of the planet.

This time, despite the battlefield not being especially far away, all they had felt was a noticeable increase in temperature.

"We talked about a few things, and I showed him a little of what I can do."

Cyrus raised one hand.

Then he abruptly clenched his fist.

Crack!

A sharp breaking sound rang out.

Under the stunned gazes of Robin, Hancock, and Baby 5, the space around Cyrus's fist shattered like glass.

"There. See?"

Cyrus relaxed his hand.

"Hueco Mundo exists in the gap between two realms. Its spatial structure is already unstable. If I really went all out here, this place probably couldn't withstand it."

He glanced around.

"Then again, that instability might also be why the passage from our world connected to Hueco Mundo in the first place."

"You can shatter space just by clenching your fist…"

Robin stared at the fractured air with open amazement.

"I know part of that is simply because you're absurdly strong and almost nobody else could do it, but it's still incredible."

"That's just how space works here."

Cyrus shrugged.

"You can travel from Hueco Mundo to either the World of the Living or Soul Society."

He paused briefly before adding, "I'm probably going to visit Soul Society soon."

Robin immediately looked at him.

"The place where the Shinigami live?"

She remembered Cyrus mentioning the terrifying old man there—the one whose flames had inspired several of Cyrus's techniques.

"Will it be dangerous?"

"Not particularly."

Cyrus waved away the concern.

"If you want, you can come with me."

With that, he led the three women back toward the Rose Hunter.

By the time they returned, Starrk and several other Vasto Lorde-class Hollows were already waiting near the ship.

"What do we do next?" Starrk asked the moment Cyrus arrived.

Cyrus looked over the gathered Hollows.

"You lot should be among the strongest Hollows in Hueco Mundo, right?"

"Probably."

Starrk thought about it.

"Once you reach our level, though, the difference in strength usually isn't that huge."

That answer wasn't entirely accurate.

Starrk himself was noticeably stronger than most Hollows of the same class.

As one of the earliest Hollows to become an Arrancar entirely through his own power, he had accumulated far more strength than most of his peers.

"Then go find every Hollow at roughly your level."

Cyrus gave the order after a moment of thought.

"I don't care how you do it. Bring them back."

Starrk immediately looked miserable.

"All of them?"

He scratched his hair.

"Some of those guys have terrible personalities. Convincing them to submit probably isn't going to work."

"Then capture them."

Cyrus dismissed the problem with a wave.

If he was going to cooperate with Aizen, then Aizen certainly wouldn't abandon his research into the Hōgyoku.

Using the Hōgyoku to create Arrancar might have looked like a shortcut, but judging from what Cyrus remembered of the story, it didn't seem to carry any significant drawbacks.

So Cyrus had decided to gather all the highest-level Hollows himself.

If he delivered an entire collection of Vasto Lorde to Aizen, then Aizen would have even less reason to refuse cooperation.

Cyrus's gaze then shifted toward Ulquiorra.

More specifically, toward the sword hanging at his waist.

He raised one hand.

The weapon suddenly tore free from Ulquiorra's belt and flew straight into Cyrus's palm.

Ulquiorra's expression tightened.

His hand instinctively moved toward the departing weapon, but he stopped himself almost immediately.

"Where did you get this?"

Cyrus raised the blade in front of his eyes and examined it closely.

"I found it."

Ulquiorra answered honestly.

"A Shinigami's Zanpakutō?"

Cyrus murmured.

He should probably have collected a few Zanpakutō from the battlefield earlier for research.

He was genuinely curious whether he could create or awaken a Zanpakutō of his own.

Then again, since he was planning to visit Soul Society anyway, he could deal with that there.

"It probably belonged to one of them," Ulquiorra said. "I never found the body. It may have been eaten."

"You can use this sword to access some other kind of power?"

Cyrus casually flicked his wrist.

The blade flew back across the air and slid neatly into the sheath at Ulquiorra's waist.

"Yes."

Ulquiorra nodded.

"Then why didn't you use it when I captured you?"

Cyrus looked at him curiously.

He suspected Ulquiorra might already have figured out something resembling Resurrección.

But as far as Cyrus remembered, Resurrección was something Hollows gained after becoming Arrancar through the process Aizen developed—a counterpart of sorts to a Shinigami's Bankai.

Ulquiorra simply shook his head.

"Because even if I used it, I still wouldn't beat you."

"Fair enough."

Cyrus nodded.

Then he waved the group away.

"Go get started. Move quickly."

He added, "And tell Baraggan to get off his ass and help too."

The Hollows exchanged glances before turning and leaving.

…

"They're strange."

After everyone had gone and Cyrus's group returned aboard the Rose Hunter, Hancock finally voiced something that had been bothering her.

"Well… I suppose they aren't really people."

She considered how to phrase it.

"They don't seem to have many thoughts of their own."

"For a very long time before reaching this stage, most Hollows exist in a state of confusion."

Cyrus explained.

"They devour other Hollows and gradually evolve. Only after reaching a certain point do they develop proper intelligence and a stable sense of self."

He thought about Starrk, Nelliel, Harribel, and the others.

"Even then, most of them still don't have particularly complicated ambitions. At least not yet."

Robin and Baby 5 were listening with equal curiosity.

"There's not much need for complex thinking in a place like Hueco Mundo anyway."

Cyrus continued.

"But once they start interacting with the outside world more often, that might change."

After all, becoming a better person was difficult.

Picking up bad habits?

That was much easier.

Cyrus looked toward the three women.

"If you want to come with me to Soul Society, start getting ready."

He smiled slightly.

"I'll have Aizen arrange for you to enter the Shinigami Academy while we're there."

"Academy?"

Robin blinked.

"A place for studying?"

"Exactly."

Cyrus nodded.

"They teach people how to become Shinigami and train them in the things Shinigami are expected to know—Zanjutsu, Kidō, and the rest."

Hancock's lips parted in surprise.

"We can learn those things?"

She pointed at herself.

"But we're human."

After all, Cyrus had already explained that Hollows and Shinigami were fundamentally spiritual beings.

"That part I'm not completely sure about."

Cyrus admitted it readily.

"I don't know whether there are any important differences between people from our world and humans from this one."

He paused.

"But humans in this world definitely can acquire Shinigami powers."

"Then I want to try."

Robin agreed almost immediately, her curiosity already fully engaged.

Unlike Devil Fruits, this sounded like a power system that could actually be learned through training.

If that were really true, then Shinigami power seemed far more accessible than Devil Fruit abilities.

And now all three women found themselves increasingly curious about Soul Society.

They wanted to see for themselves what kind of place the home of the Shinigami really was.