"Hey, why do you want me to carry this corpse?", Harribel was shouldering the Arrancar split into two pieces. Only after returning with Rosse to where Sung-Sun and the others were did she finally ask.
In fact, when Rosse had just left, his voice had already sounded in her ear.
Since it was Rosse's request, Harribel simply did as told.
Compared to those Shinigami of unknown origin, Rosse was clearly more worthy of trust.
"Do you know what an Arrancar is?"
Rosse turned back, looking at Harribel, her whole body wrapped in sharkskin, yet it still couldn't hide her excellent figure.
"Arrancar? You mean like this guy in my hand? He didn't look like this before; he'd become closer to a human shape," Harribel didn't quite understand, but she knew this was information both Rosse and Aizen were familiar with.
The corpse she was holding had also been shouting about being an Arrancar, making a huge racket, though she had no idea what it meant.
"When a Hollow evolves to the Vasto Lorde level, it becomes more and more human in form. To go a step further, it needs to break its mask, shatter the shackles of being a Hollow completely, and acquire power similar to a Shinigami, a way of compensating for one's own deficiencies, in a sense," Rosse explained with a smile.
"How do I do that?", Harribel looked at Rosse and asked directly.
Hollows have always been straightforward; she was long used to that mode.
As for the price, since Rosse had appeared and saved her, she would pay whatever it was.
In that scene just now, she had understood it at a glance.
She had probably become that Shinigami's prey a long time ago.
Otherwise, those Shinigami wouldn't have shown up so early.
And during the fight, the corpse had been shouting about Lord Aizen helping him become an Arrancar, that should have been the reason Aizen sought her out.
He wanted her to witness the power of an Arrancar, then subdue her afterward, making her his subordinate.
Harribel instinctively rejected that.
She didn't mind sacrificing herself, nor did she mind becoming someone's subordinate, but she refused to do it through such schemes.
Someone who recruits subordinates like that doesn't seem like a person who understands the meaning of devotion.
Rather than that, she'd choose Rosse, stronger, and like her, a Hollow.
"Two ways. When your reiatsu accumulates to the absolute peak of Vasto Lorde, you'll naturally complete arrancarization. The other way is to use special means to 'cheat' your way into evolution, that Aizen is attempting it, though he probably hasn't succeeded," Rosse explained with a smile.
He liked talking to smart people; it saved him a lot of explanation.
On this point, the Shinigami world was much better than his own.
That world was full of stubborn hotheads, even knowing they were in the wrong, they'd still shout about dreams and charge forward to the end; all a bunch of passionate fools.
Teaming up with such people was great, but if their ideals clashed with his, talk-no-jutsu was basically useless. He could only kill them, or force their bodies into submission with sheer dominance.
"You mean, if I want to become an Arrancar, I need to study this?", Harribel mused, pointing at the corpse on the ground.
In her mind, Rosse had certainly used the first method, which she clearly couldn't achieve for now.
And Hollows have never been good at research. In all of Hueco Mundo she'd only heard of one researcher, and that one was an ultimate pervert.
If she wanted to use the second method, she would have to follow Aizen's path and see how he did it.
"Exactly. Everything in this world is composed of reishi. If I can determine what's different between it and an ordinary Adjuchas, I can reverse-engineer the equation for arrancarization," Rosse nodded slightly. In truth, this step was also part of corroding the world.
If he developed a Rosse-version method for arrancarization, he could invoke his own world's source to help Harribel and the others become Arrancar.
As long as he stamped Harribel and the others with his world's mark, the corrosion would have officially begun.
However, to reach SSS rank, he didn't need such a slow method. If he could behead the Spirit King, the system would naturally drop that world's core.
Unfortunately, with his current strength, he couldn't do that yet. He could only slowly weaken the world's power first, then ride the momentum to land the one-hit kill in the end.
'Arrancarization…'
Rosse ignored the curious Sung-Sun and the others gathering around. He crouched slightly before the corpse, placed a hand on its body, and felt the changes in its reishi.
At his level, though he wasn't specialized in research, his powers of observation had reached their peak; no minute change could escape his notice.
After obtaining the reishi information from the corpse, he pulled Sung-Sun over as a control group for comparison.
The shark Arrancar had only been an Adjuchas, so using Sung-Sun of the same tier for comparison made it easier to control variables.
Through his comparison, he found there was a bit of power inside the Arrancar that didn't belong to Hollows.
'If nothing else, that should be Shinigami power.'
'But that power isn't strong, nowhere near the level needed to form a Zanpakuto, so this Arrancar is only a defective product.'
So here was the problem: how could he obtain Shinigami power, inject it into Harribel and the others, and still avoid harming their innate potential?
Seeing Rosse fall into thought, Harribel frowned slightly and asked, "Is it troublesome?"
"A bit. There's a power in it that ordinary Hollows don't have, but I don't know how to make you acquire that power," Rosse said, thinking.
"Aren't you an Arrancar too? Can't you inject your power into me? If it would affect your origin, then forget it," Harribel said.
"Hm? My power?", Rosse's eyes lit up, Harribel's words gave him inspiration.
Perhaps he didn't need such a complicated arrancarization method.
Shinigami power combined with Hollow power creates an Arrancar.
In essence, it introduces a new ability to break the Hollow's existing shackles.
Then, what about the demonic power from his own world? Couldn't it achieve a similar effect?
Shinigami and Hollows are two sides of one coin, and there's inevitably conflict.
Demonic power might actually suit Hollows better.
"Wait a moment," After Rosse spoke, he closed his eyes and began communicating with his world's source.
To bring things into this world, he had to have the world source act.
But when it came to corroding other worlds, the world source's instinct would surely agree.
Not long after, six fruits of different shapes appeared in Rosse's hands.
These fruits did not exist in the Pirate World; Rosse had communicated with his world's source and had them made according to his own design.
By comparison, they were essentially custom-ordered.
"What's that? Fruit you can eat?"
Apacci looked at the differently shaped fruits and couldn't help asking curiously.
After learning that Rosse had saved Harribel, their impression of him had improved a lot.
Since even Lady Harribel meant to follow him, naturally they would have no objections to Rosse. In fact, they'd express closeness and acceptance in their own way.
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