After the meal, Baelz harvested Liltotto's favor, approaching 80—close to permanently acquiring "Calamity Undying."
That's basically a built-in "lock HP" ability—of course he wanted it; you can't have too many lifesavers.
The others' favor also rose.
As the ancients say, to capture a woman's heart, capture her stomach first!
After seeing the girl group off, Baelz tidied up.
He stood by the window. From the high Sternritter palace, he saw patrolling Quincy below, moving like machines, faces grim.
He thought a moment, then left his room.
He went left, counting seven doors, and stopped.
As if contemplating something, he knocked.
Knock, knock…
"Who is it?"
A sharp voice inside—one Baelz knew well. "Teacher, do you still remember me? I'm Baelz."
"Baelz?"
The door opened. Quilge frowned, trying to place him.
He quickly remembered. "You're the graduate Liltotto brought into my class? I wanted you in combat training, but you insisted on research."
"So?"
He glanced at Baelz again. "This isn't a place you should come to."
"Yes, I'm glad you remember me," Baelz said. "I've become a Sternritter probationer. Lord Haschwalth brought me to live here."
"Hm?" Quilge was surprised. He looked Baelz up and down. "You became a probationer?"
That means Yhwach granted him a Schrift—slated to be equal to Sternritter.
But in Quilge's impression, though talented, Baelz was still lacking for Sternritter—and it's only been a few years since graduation. Already a probationer?
On drugs?!
Those who get this far this fast are true prodigies.
As an instructor, he prided himself on reading talent—seems he misjudged Baelz.
He didn't think Baelz would lie—too easy to expose.
After a moment's surprise, Quilge leveled out.
Maybe he truly is a rare genius.
"So, why did you come to me?"
Baelz, a bit embarrassed: "First, to inform you. Second… I'd like a favor."
"The 'by the way' is always the main point," Quilge said. He knows their system—no teacher-student sentimentality. He's taught several Sternritter; once Baelz is in, they're equals.
He doubted Baelz's deference was sincere.
Baelz said, "I know the Quincy have 'Sankt Bogen'—a power few can master, usable only in Letzt Stil or Vollständig."
"You are well-informed," Quilge said coolly. "I didn't teach you that."
"I read it in books," Baelz said.
"Captain Haschwalth has tasked me: besides probationer, I'm also Director of the R&D Institute. He wants me to construct a new, stronger imperial security system."
"In one part of the design, there's an application similar to Sankt Bogen, so…"
"You want me to demonstrate Sankt Bogen for you?" Quilge understood instantly.
Baelz nodded.
"If it's for the empire, I won't refuse. Since you call yourself my student, I'll show you."
"Follow me."
He stepped out—clearly not intending to use Sankt Bogen here.
The Wandenreich is in Seireitei's shadow—a world of Reishi.
Sankt Bogen is absolute dominion over Reishi. Use it here and you'd absorb the surroundings.
He'd dismantle the Sternritter's residence!
Baelz followed Quilge to a vast practice ground.
Baelz had never been; he sensed a rather evil aura.
"This is the Sternritter training ground," Quilge explained.
"Sternritter train here, and sometimes we capture Hollows for our lower troops' practice."
Baelz was surprised—there are Hollows in the Wandenreich? He hadn't known that.
He did know the Wandenreich hadn't been literally shut in the shadow for a thousand years.
They have a Sun Gate that connects to places across the three realms. If they just hid here, no need for a Sun Gate.
So, without Baelz knowing, Quincy have been going out on missions.
Ishida Sōken left decades ago with his badge.
Seems they even bring back Hollows to train soldiers.
As an R&D member, he had no idea.
Quilge triggered something in the central plaza; alarms sounded.
Several Hollows appeared!
Not strong. Some weren't even Menos; the Menos there were Gillian at best.
Baelz didn't panic. He stood behind Quilge and readied his instrument to record Sankt Bogen data.
Quilge's favor wasn't high—just over 30. His soul ability is "Fundamentals Mastery."
"Fundamentals Mastery: Master all Quincy fundamental skills."
Fitting for Quilge. It's different from Aura's "Fundamental Adept," which is a binding-type tied to Aizen's hakuda and kidō.
Quilge's is a direct boost to self, fixed values.
But even with this, Baelz couldn't use Sankt Bogen—
Because it requires Letzt Stil or Vollständig, and Vollständig is essentially bestowed by Yhwach.
Baelz doesn't have it yet; even if he learns the method, he lacks the prerequisite.
So instead of grinding favor, better to have Quilge demonstrate.
As the Hollows approached, Reishi wings formed behind Quilge, and a halo above—he entered "The Almighty's Justice."
In an instant, the surroundings blurred and disintegrated into base Reishi; even the Hollows.
Hollows are poisonous to Quincy, but with Sankt Bogen, Quincy can break them down and absorb the harmless Reishi.
Of course, Sankt Bogen has levels—Quilge can do this easily; others might not.
While Quilge used Sankt Bogen and even Vollständig, Baelz recorded and analyzed.
Once the Hollows and matter were absorbed, Quilge exited Vollständig.
"When you master Vollständig, this will be trivial," Quilge said.
"I don't know when I'll be official," Baelz smiled.
He took his leave and began to analyze Sankt Bogen's principles.
Waving the imperial banner works wonders—say you're doing it for the empire, and Quincy will give everything.
Not just one Sankt Bogen demo—many would die willingly if asked.
Many Quincy in the Wandenreich are near-fanatically loyal to Yhwach; Baelz knew this.
At the Sternritter level, the fanaticism is less, but zealots exist.
Quilge is one such zealot, so Baelz felt he could easily leverage his instructor.
Just say it's for the empire.
Baelz sat, studying the data, thoughtful.
Sankt Bogen's mechanism resembled the Shiba clan's Reishi Separation secret art—at least in the initial decomposition stage.
Baelz isn't a Shiba and doesn't know their secrets, but from what little he knows, he sensed a link.
Parsing data alone would be tricky.
If he could get the Shiba secret, he'd have an existing framework; paired with this data, it'd be easier.
So he went to the Surveillance Division again.
Last time he'd relied on Liltotto to borrow monitors and tapes. Now he could order them himself.
Haschwalth's mission gave him authority over any department below Sternritter.
He requested tapes on the Shiba secrets and remote access to Seireitei surveillance to watch feeds from his computer.
...
A month passed quickly.
The R&D Institute was rebuilt; his former colleagues returned. None expected the "newbie" Baelz to become their new Director!
In disbelief, they compared their designs to his and had to concede.
With better equipment and ample funding, his research accelerated.
As the Wandenreich deployed security measures, he steadily strengthened himself.
After a year, his first evil node fruit ripened.
It was the "Evil Person" node—the easiest to complete.
The fruit was black, like an apple, with no smell.
Baelz didn't rush to eat it.
He didn't plan to use node fruits to raise his strength yet—he'd use them to construct his godhood ritual.
He couldn't tell the Sternritter, but Baelz had a way to cover it up.
He could absorb Soul King fragments to boost power, and gain others' soul abilities—passing them off as powers from node fruits.
No one would doubt him.
These fruits had a greater use—the foundation for his apotheosis!
In the second year, Baelz's security barrier covered the entire Wandenreich, and he uncovered data on the Shiba secret.
Combining that with Sankt Bogen research, he finally designed a device to simulate Sankt Bogen.
He made it as a badge and wore it on his neck.
Through it, he absorbed the power of ten Soul King fragments, raising his spiritual power.
At that point, claiming Captain-level pressure wasn't far-fetched.
Haschwalth introduced him, and he officially joined the Sternritter.
He faked his first node ability as Candice's "Lightning Wielder."
Liltotto's "Calamity Undying" and Candice's "Lightning Wielder" were his only two Quincy soul abilities so far. "Calamity Undying" is hard to demonstrate, so he showcased lightning as his first.
That made Candice more interested—both lightning-users.
Among the Sternritter, those two were easiest to grind. Others were harder.
So faking a second node wouldn't be easy.
Anyway, the second node fruit isn't easy to ripen.
The second node is "The Lascivious." In the Wandenreich, collecting that evil is not so easy.
Bambi and Pepe could contribute a bit, but not much; others even less.
This node would take a long time—slow and steady.
In the third year, nothing special happened on Baelz's side. In Seireitei, something did.
10th Division Captain Shiba Isshin left his post for the living world and found the long-missing "Bull-Head Hollow"!
When Yoshio heard this, he was thinking about Hogyoku research and his plan.
5th Division 3rd seat Hinamori Momo reported it to Yoshio in his office.
"Captain Shiba found the Bull-Head Hollow?" Yoshio said in surprise. "And then?!"
He hadn't known—he'd been busy for years!
Busy researching, almost losing track of time, skipping Aizen's activities.
And then…
Time had flown?
"What was the result?" Yoshio asked. "Did you report to Captain Aizen?"
"According to Captain Shiba, he killed the Bull-Head," Hinamori said. "As for Captain Aizen, he wasn't in his office this morning. I thought you might know where he is."
"…I see." Yoshio fell silent.
"Lieutenant Yoshio?"
Seeing him quiet, Hinamori worried. "Captain Aizen didn't run into trouble, did he?"
"No. I'll go find him."
Yoshio decided to check Aizen's lab.
He wanted to know what happened last night—how did Isshin find the Bull-Head? Is the plot proceeding like the original?
Second-generation White is not the same as the original—he's stronger!
Entering the office, Yoshio found Aizen there.
Aizen wasn't surprised to see him. "You've heard about last night?"
"I came because I haven't," Yoshio said. "What happened? How did Captain Shiba kill Second White?"
Second-gen White was gone—Yoshio hadn't obtained his soul ability "Cocoon."
He wasn't too upset; he'd learned it's hard to raise a Hollow's favor.
He'd spent a long time with Second White, got favor past 60, earning one use of Cocoon.
But afterward, no matter what, it wouldn't pass 70!
Years later, Yoshio gave up. Hollow favor-grinding—let someone else do it!
He thought time might slowly raise it—possible, but how many years?
Hollows and Shinigami measure time in decades. Yoshio had too many people to grind, too many tasks—he couldn't spend it all on one Hollow.
He had one Cocoon use—enough.
For such abilities, one key use is sufficient!
So hearing Isshin killed Second White, he only felt mild regret.
"It wasn't Captain Shiba who killed him," Aizen said with interest. "It was a Quincy."
"A Quincy?" Yoshio's mind clicked—so Masaki Kurosaki enthralled Second White as in canon. Even upgraded to second-gen, he still couldn't resist a Quincy.
Outwardly curious, Yoshio asked, "A Quincy from the Wandenreich?"
Aizen shook his head and handed Yoshio a tape.
Yoshio watched the footage.
Second White hunted Shinigami to grow. Isshin sensed it, came to Naruki City, and fought him.
No Aizen ambush this time.
Yoshio didn't know if Aizen was physically there; on camera, he wasn't, and Isshin wasn't inexplicably wounded.
They clashed evenly.
They fought from Naruki to Karakura, drawing in Masaki Kurosaki as in the original.
Second White, upon seeing Masaki, was instantly drawn—like with Rukia—achieving "transfer."
Yoshio pondered—plot inertia is strong. White ultimately entered Masaki.
So barring surprises, Kurosaki Ichigo will still be born.
That means only twenty years left until the main plot?
Time flies.
After the footage ended, the screen went black. Yoshio sat still.
He shifted his consciousness to Angra.
Angra, who had been reading in Hueco Mundo, returned to Karakura, near the Ishida home.
From a height, he saw Masaki Kurosaki inside.
Masaki's soul ability is "Sun."
"Sun: Causes those around you to be unconsciously attracted to you."
Similar to Rukia's "Star." After gaining Star, Yoshio found favor-grinding easier.
If he gained Sun, it would be easier still.
So…
He must get it!
He checked others' abilities.
Ishida Sōken's wife had none. His son Ishida Ryūken's is "Talent and Interest."
"Talent and Interest: Bind to a person; in a chosen field, your talent surpasses theirs."
The source of the classic line: "I lack interest; you lack talent." Ryūken's cool factor is sky-high—this line is legendary.
This ability is great. If Yoshio binds it to Urahara's scientific talent, he'd surpass Urahara in research.
Child of Kirin gave Yoshio top-tier scientific talent, but whether it surpasses Urahara is unclear.
This one guarantees it!
The maid Katagiri Kanae's soul ability is "Remains and Relics."
"Remains and Relics: When dissecting bodies, you can obtain peculiar items from them."
That's loot drop mechanics!
Likely sourced from her own autopsy by Ryūken, which revealed the "Silver Arrowhead" that counters Yhwach's omniscience.
Interesting—good abilities across the Ishida family!
He needed a way in to grind their favor!
Thinking it through, the only entry point is Masaki.
At that moment, Ishida Ryūken sensed something and looked out the window, seeing nothing.
"What is it, Ryū?"
Masaki asked.
"No… nothing," Ryūken said. "Probably my mistake."
"Sharp senses indeed."
Angra moved a kilometer away, then dove down.
He needed to consult Urahara.
Urahara must have sensed Isshin's and White's spiritual pressures last night.
At the shop, Urahara was tinkering at the counter.
Seeing Angra, Urahara smiled. "Good timing—I was about to find you."
"You look pleased," Angra said coolly.
"Thanks to the data you brought, I've made a breakthrough on Quincy research."
"Oh? What is it?" Angra asked.
Urahara is a genius; with need, he's like Doraemon, always inventing.
In tech, Urahara is the strongest in Bleach.
Urahara said, "This confirms a hypothesis: Hollows are indeed the natural enemy of Quincy—everything Hollow is toxic to them."
This was his earlier hypothesis, lacking proof—his reason for partnering with Angra.
But Angra didn't think he'd worked this long just to confirm that. "And then? There's more."
"You're right." Urahara's smile faded. "By cross-infecting Hollow and Quincy factors, I developed a 'vaccine.'"
"Vaccine?" Angra frowned.
No one's infected—why a vaccine?
"If a Quincy is inoculated, they can form a defensive line against Hollow power, greatly weakening the toxicity."
Angra frowned deeper.
Which side are you on?
Not only did he avoid worsening Hollow toxicity for Quincy, he mitigated it?
Are you undercover?
Angra wanted to say that, but realized something:
Vaccines and viruses are linked. If Urahara can make a vaccine, he can make a more toxic virus, too.
So Angra said, "Can I see it?"
"Of course."
Urahara tapped the desk; the surface slid open, revealing a screen.
Data on the vaccine appeared. Angra confirmed his guess.
The vaccine is a byproduct—the virus is the real research!
This guy is devious.
Angra memorized the data, then said, "Your vaccine might be needed soon."
"Oh?"
"I visited the Ishida house and saw the girl they adopted."
"I sensed their spiritual pressures last night," Urahara said. "I was going to check today—did you find something?"
He knew Angra wasn't like other Hollows—he had scientific literacy—so he asked directly.
"She was 'transferred' by a Hollow."
At the word "transfer," Urahara fell silent.
He remembered a century ago—the Visored were hollowfied, some reaching "transfer."
Now a Hollow transferred into a Quincy?
Urahara sensed a new research avenue.
Hollow transfer into Shinigami causes hollowfication; into Quincy, what then?
These two are water and fire—leaving aside why the Hollow did it, the aftermath alone is a paper.
"I'll watch her. If it gets critical, you step in."
Angra said, "I'm very interested in Quincy now."
Urahara frowned, but didn't object.
He shouldn't show up.
He's under watch by Aizen and Seireitei, and Bull-Head just showed up in Karakura—
From Seireitei's point of view, Bull-Head is linked to him.
If he appears, he risks exposure.
Since the Resurrección incident, Aizen has been repositioning himself.
Urahara thought, then said, "Observe first. If there's a chance, bring them to Base Two. I'll be there."
He handed Angra a vaccine.
Angra took it, let black mud swallow it, said "Okay," and left.
He shadowed Masaki.
From the data, her spiritual pressure was in chaos—this hollowfication was different from Shinigami hollowfication—a new branch on the hollowfication tech tree.
If he injected the vaccine, it could delay it.
Would Isshin still stay in the human world as Kurosaki Isshin?
Hard to say…
From observation, Angra sensed Urahara's vaccine might not help much.
Masaki's chaotic pressure wasn't just "Quincy hollowfication," but "Quincy second-gen White-ification"!
A unique sub-branch.
Second-gen White is a Hollow, but not just a Hollow—created by Aizen after absorbing lessons from first-gen White. He's akin to Nimaiya's Asauchi, and his soul ability is "Cocoon."
And at transfer, he'd cocooned at least twice.
Each cocooning elevates the soul. He may have surpassed Hollows.
Angra watched until one day, after school, Masaki went home—and soon Ishida Ryūken ran out carrying her.
At that moment, Angra knew her hollowfication had fully begun!
Without quick intervention, her soul would break limits, merge with the outside, and ultimately "commit soul suicide"!
He still waited.
When Ryūken, distraught over Masaki's loss of reason, failed to react to a Hollow attack—Shiba Isshin appeared and sliced the Hollow in two.
As Ryūken was about to lose it, Angra appeared like Urahara would.
"Stop arguing."
He suddenly appeared before them.
"?!"
They spun around, pupils dilating. Feeling his pressure, their faces changed.
"A Hollow?!"
"An Arrancar?!"
Indeed, a Hollow identity is less convenient than a Shinigami's.
Angra didn't care, saying: "If you don't want that woman to die, come with me. Every minute you waste could cost her life."
"What? Who are you?!" Ryūken asked. "What's wrong with Masaki?!"
"Arrancar… are you with Bull-Head?" Isshin asked.
Angra ignored them, walking away.
They panicked and followed him to Base Two.
Base Two was an underground complex five square kilometers wide, on Karakura's outskirts.
Seeing them arrive, Angra flashed to their side. While they were startled, he took out the vaccine and injected Masaki.
"?!"
Ryūken went for his bow, Isshin for his sword, but Angra said: "I injected a vaccine. For now, it'll buy her time."
Indeed, Masaki's breathing eased, and the rampaging pressure subsided.
Angra said, "Now you can ask questions. This vaccine should buy us time."
He kept monitoring Masaki's body—Urahara's vaccine likely wouldn't cure her.
They'd need the old method: letting Shinigami and human spiritual pressure stabilize the conflict between Quincy and Hollow within Masaki.
"I don't care who you are—I just want to know what's wrong with Masaki and how to save her!"
Ryūken had calmed a bit, but still spoke sharply.
"Her condition is called 'hollowfication,'" Angra said. "But I'm not the best to explain. Let the professional do it."
This is Urahara's part. Angra had done the setup—favor grinding with these two families could proceed.
Now, with one Captain absent, it was time to execute the plan.
...
In Seireitei's Technology Development Bureau, in a hidden lab, two girls suddenly appeared.
They looked at a small parasitic Hollow contained within massive apparatus, easily broke the glass, and took the Hollow out.
The Hollow, as if called, dove into one girl's body.
The two girls were then drawn together and gradually merged.
Their actions triggered alarms; the Bureau descended into chaos.
"Who's there?!"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi rushed in but saw nothing.
He stayed alert; seeing the broken apparatus, his face changed.
Not good!
Too late—a woman in a black cloak appeared behind him and stabbed him in the chest with a scythe!
Mayuri collapsed instantly.
Homura glanced at him, snorted, and vanished.
And so, Seireitei received two pieces of bad news:
"10th Division Captain Shiba Isshin is missing!"
"12th Division Captain, Technology Development Bureau Chief Kurotsuchi Mayuri… has gone insane!"