Surrounding Las Noches was a vast, silent desert. Although the wind and sand raged outside, it did not alter the unusual tranquility of this night.
"It's quite a quiet night..."
In a hidden cave, four Hollows were resting. Halibel sat at the foot of the wall, leaning against it with her eyes closed, resting.
Apacci, Sun-Sun, and Mirarose also had their eyes closed, but unlike Halibel, who was a high-ranking Hollow, the three of them were exhausted after a day of fighting and had long since fallen into a dream.
At this moment, a slight tremor resounded from the ground. Halibel sensed something amiss, picked up her bone Zanpakuto, and stood up.
When Apacci and the others tried to ask what was happening, they also suddenly sensed several powerful spiritual pressures rapidly approaching.
The four women immediately rushed out of the cave and saw twenty Adjuchas walking towards them. Winged dragons flew in the sky, while rhinos, tigers, and packs of gray wolves ran on the ground. Judging by the powerful spiritual pressure they exuded, their strength was formidable.
In an instant, they surrounded Halibel and the four women in the center.
Then, a male Adjuchas with a dorsal fin, appearing to be in the form of a shark, walked over.
"Hahaha, Halibel, you have no other choice but to submit to Lord Barragan!"
The shark's mouth curved into a proud smile, and he reached out to touch the shoulder of the female Vasto Lorde opposite him. In his opinion, no matter how powerful she was, she couldn't possibly dare to defy Lord Barragan, could she?
"Don't touch me so casually."
Although Halibel was unwilling to cause slaughter, she also had a temper. With a flick of her right hand, her Zanpakuto went directly for the shark's chest.
Pfft!
The shark's sturdy body was directly pierced by the Zanpakuto, leaving a deep, bloody hole. The shark spat out blood and fell to the ground, looking at the female opposite him with a face full of shock.
"Heh heh, our Lord Halibel isn't afraid of Barragan!"
Apacci raised her deer head and said proudly.
"Damn it, how can I, Bolder, tolerate you blaspheming the King of Hueco Mundo twice!"
Saying that, a tiger Hollow condensed a Cero and attacked Halibel and the others. Seeing this, the other male Hollows also condensed their Cero.
Facing the overwhelming saturation attack of Cero from the opposite side, neither Sun-Sun nor Apacci could withstand it.
Halibel slashed with her right Zanpakuto, cutting out a red Cero, which collided with the Cero from the opposite side, creating a powerful hurricane.
Those Hollows were blown dozens of meters away by Halibel's power and then fell to the ground.
Seeing Halibel's powerful strength, Apacci and the others cheered, and just as they were mocking the subordinates of the King of Hueco Mundo as being nothing special, a powerful spiritual pressure began to approach.
"Oh my, you really are useless."
A flamboyant Hollow, clearly out of place with the style of Hueco Mundo, walked out with a lotus-like gesture. As the tentacles on his back stretched and wriggled, he instantly absorbed the defeated Adjuchas.
Although the other party's preening and seductive manner was quite disgusting and perverse, Halibel still readied her weapon, looking prepared for battle.
Apacci, Sun-Sun, and Mirarose trembled all over, as if mice had seen a cat. The powerful spiritual pressure suffocated them.
As the Zero Espada, Szayelaporro's strength was far greater than that of a rampaging Hollow Ichigo. Now, in his Hollow form, Szayelaporro's spiritual pressure was three times that of Halibel.
"Mira, Sun-Sun, Apacci... hurry and escape, I'll stop him!"
Halibel shouted to her three companions with a grim expression, seemingly very concerned about their safety.
"But... but what about you, Lord Halibel? How can I abandon you and leave!"
Although Apacci joined the team the latest, a few days of interaction had made her admire Halibel.
Sun-Sun and Mira, standing nearby, were also hesitating. Although it was difficult for them to participate in a battle between Vasto Lorde, they also didn't want to abandon their beloved Lord.
"None of you can run, you will all become my experimental subjects."
Szayelaporro's eyes were filled with a twisted smile. Female Hollows were relatively rare in Las Noches, so how could he let go of these three precious materials?
Facing the laughing Szayelaporro, Halibel took the initiative, instantly Sonidoing in front of Szayelaporro, and a red Cero directly blasted his face.
The roar of the Cero explosion echoed for several kilometers across the desert. The spreading air currents instantly stirred up towering dust, covering everything.
"Hmm, how rude..."
As the smoke cleared, Szayelaporro, completely unharmed, suddenly threw a punch, without any hint of gentleness.
Halibel raised her bone Zanpakuto to block, but her strength was clearly inferior to Szayelaporro's. She was directly sent flying dozens of meters away by him, her body heavily slammed into a sand dune.
"Damn it... how dare you harm Lord Halibel!"
Apacci and the other Adjuchas, facing the powerful Vasto Lorde, not only didn't flee but also protected Halibel.
The three female beasts had red eyes, radiating killing intent. They suddenly condensed Cero from their mouths and attacked the pervert opposite them.
Szayelaporro leisurely watched the attacks of the three female Arrancar, raising his right index finger and gently flicking his fingertip, deflecting their Cero.
A hint of disdain curled his lips: "Your attacks are very monotonous; they can't hurt me at all."
Upon hearing this, Apacci, Sun-Sun, and Mirarose were enraged, rushing directly forward, intending to tear at his body with their teeth.
However, Szayelaporro merely flicked out blue Reishi with his finger, not even condensing a Cero, and used the Reishi bullets to pierce through Apacci and the others' chests.
Sun-Sun and the others hadn't expected the pervert in front of them to possess such powerful strength; after the three women's chests were pierced, they immediately fell to the ground, continuously coughing up blood.
"Apacci, Sun-Sun, Mirarose!"
Although Halibel usually seemed indifferent to them, deep down she regarded the three as incredibly important companions.
An enraged Halibel suddenly erupted with powerful spiritual pressure, a loud boom emanating from beneath her feet as she instantly appeared before Szayelaporro, slashing with her greatsword imbued with yellow Reishi.
With a booming explosion—
The yellow Reishi explosion enveloped Szayelaporro in front.
However, there was no imagined splatter of blood, nor any cries of pain.
Only Halibel's widened eyes, full of disbelief.
Her full-power attack hadn't even harmed him.
Szayelaporro, without splitting his soul, had spiritual pressure even higher than Barragan.
He toyed with Halibel like a cat with a mouse during the battle, constantly lashing her body madly with his tentacles.
"Ah..."
Halibel collapsed weakly onto the sand, her eyes flashing with regret.
If she hadn't held such naive thoughts, and instead relied on devouring other Hollows to increase her strength, her companions wouldn't be facing this desperate situation.
She struggled to her feet, gasping for breath, feeling a burning soreness spread throughout her body, but Halibel still braced her cracked bone blade.
"You truly are tenacious, but this is as far as you go."
The alluring Szayelaporro had grown bored.
He condensed a black Cero in his hand, preparing to knock out this female Hollow.
Halibel had no strength left to dodge such terrifying spiritual pressure fluctuations.
From her appearance, she was at the end of her rope.
However, just as Halibel was about to resign herself to fate, a faint boom echoed from afar.
Then, a human suddenly appeared before her, holding a black blade similar to a Zanpakuto, and with a gentle swing, he cut away Szayelaporro's Cero.
In an instant, Halibel's eyes widened, because she saw that rather than being 'cut away,' the Cero was strangely absorbed by the blade the moment it touched the black blade's tip.
"Who are you...? Are you their companion?"
Szayelaporro hadn't sensed any spiritual pressure; only after Lin Feng eliminated his Cero did Szayelaporro notice this man holding a "Zanpakuto" and wearing black-rimmed glasses.
However, Szayelaporro's triumphant expression didn't fade; it seemed he didn't take the suddenly appearing Lin Feng seriously.
"You're mistaken, I just find you disgusting, so I'm going to kill you with my own hands!"
Lin Feng narrowed his eyes and smiled, looking at Szayelaporro, who had four pink tentacles wriggling on his back.
Among Lin Feng's many reasons for wanting to kill him, his disgusting appearance was just one; the most important reason was that he was a scientist, and it's well-known that scientists in the Soul Society world are like Doraemon.
In battle, no one knows what tools these scientists will pull out of their pockets.
And Szayelaporro, this pervert, conducted 'Conception Notification' research and even extended his tentacles into Hell.
To reduce future threats, Lin Feng decided to eliminate this scientist now.
"Haha, I don't know where you get your confidence, but it makes no difference.
Since that's the case, I'll just take you back for dissection as well."
Szayelaporro waved his four tentacles, seemingly treating Lin Feng as just an ordinary Shinigami.
Of course, if Lin Feng were to remove his glasses that concealed his strength, Szayelaporro would never be so careless.
Snap—
A cold flash, before Szayelaporro even realized it, Lin Feng flicked his wrist and easily severed his four tentacles.
"Bastard, you cut off my beautiful arm-legs!"
The injured Szayelaporro's tone suddenly changed, and the spiritual pressure on his body rapidly expanded.
Szayelaporro, possessing a dual soul, transformed from a refined scientist into a bloodthirsty, violent warrior.
He no longer cared about experimental materials or anything else, furiously swinging his fists at Lin Feng.
However, Szayelaporro in his berserk state still couldn't keep up with Lin Feng's speed.
"Dimensional Sonido!"
With a loud boom, Lin Feng instantly vanished from his original spot.
Relying on a warrior's intuition, Szayelaporro had just realized Lin Feng was behind him when he saw his left shoulder pierced by the black blade.
"So fast!"
Halibel, standing nearby, her eyes wide, was filled with confusion.
This suddenly appearing human's movements were so agile, and he could even cut down a high-ranking Hollow that she couldn't deal with.
Halibel gritted her teeth; she knew this person's strength far surpassed her own.
However, seeing the human send Szayelaporro flying, Halibel let out a sigh of relief before collapsing weakly onto the sand.
Now, her bone armor was shattered, her left arm twisted.
Blood continued to seep from the wounds on her thigh and lower abdomen.
"Something's coming! This spiritual pressure... so strong!"
Halibel sensed a wave of spiritual pressure.
In the distant barren desert, a figure suddenly appeared.
In an instant, that figure rapidly appeared before Tia Halibel, using a unique movement technique called Sonido.
She saw a woman with long green hair suddenly appear, along with an overwhelmingly high spiritual pressure.
"Damn it..."
Halibel suddenly gripped the bone blade in her hand.
Even if her legs were too weak to stand, she would fight for her companions until the very last moment.
"Are you alright?"
Nilu smiled, stepping forward to offer support, ignoring the other party's negligible resistance.
She then put her index finger to her mouth, coated it with her saliva, and applied it to the other party's wounds.
Nilu's saliva had healing properties; after being applied to the thigh wound, the torn skin healed in the blink of an eye.
Although she had no orders from Lin Feng, she wouldn't ignore the injured person in front of her.
"Don't worry about me, go save them first."
Halibel looked at Apacci and the others, who were lying on the ground.
"But your injuries are also severe."
Nilu felt that Halibel should be treated first.
The three fallen beast-type Adjuchas, though injured, were not in life-threatening danger.
They were merely stunned by the powerful spiritual pressure.
"Please!"
Halibel raised her face, her eyes devoid of hostility, but filled with entreaty.
She grabbed Nilu's wrist.
Whether from pain or exhaustion, that hand was trembling violently.
"I understand."
...
Meanwhile, Szayelaporro was kicked away from Halibel and the others by Lin Feng.
At this moment, the enraged Szayelaporro suddenly erupted with red Reishi.
His spiritual pressure density now rivaled Barragan, the King of Hueco Mundo.
The terrifying aura emanating from Szayelaporro even made Halibel, several kilometers away, tremble with fear. She couldn't help but sigh, marveling that such a powerful monster, like that skeleton, existed in Hueco Mundo. At the same time, she clenched her fists, deeply disgusted with her own powerlessness.
However, even such a formidable Szayelaporro found it difficult to harm Lin Feng.
Lin Feng's sword swings were swift and precise, without any superfluous movements. After each Sonido, he would attack from Szayelaporro's blind spot.
"Damn it, you dare to play me for a fool!"
Szayelaporro was consumed by rage, yet oddly, dozens of wounds on his body didn't bleed. Where the blade cut his skin, the blood would transform into Reishi, absorbed by the black sword.
"Alright, I'm done playing with you."
Lin Feng quietly said to Szayelaporro. Although the opponent had high spiritual pressure, it was just that—high spiritual pressure. Szayelaporro, like a wild beast, attacked without method, making him nothing more than a high-HP punching bag in front of Lin Feng.
"What?!"
Before Szayelaporro could understand Lin Feng's meaning, he saw Lin Feng hold the black sword horizontally across his chest, blade facing outward, preparing to release the massive amount of Reishi stored within it all at once.
Instantly, after integrating the abilities of the Sekirei world's Lightning Twins, purple lightning instantly coiled around the black samurai sword!
"You... who are you? Why do you possess such terrifying power?!"
Just by looking, Szayelaporro could feel the infinite, violent power contained within the sword. However, though he was utterly astonished, he wouldn't sit idly by. A terrifying black Cero suddenly condensed in his mouth, firing towards Lin Feng. "Die!"
The purple lightning blade struck down, effortlessly shattering Szayelaporro's Cero.
With a thunderous explosion!
An unprecedented purple light erupted in the pitch-black Las Noches. This light instantly spread tens of kilometers away. Immediately after, the ground began to vibrate violently.
In an instant, the extremely terrifying purple lightning melted and evaporated several kilometers of sand behind Szayelaporro!
Under this terrifying lightning strike, even Halibel, several kilometers away, could feel the destructive power of this blow.
When the smoke cleared, in the hundred-meter-wide crater, half of Szayelaporro's body had turned to charcoal. However, as a top-tier Vasto Lorde, even in such a horrific state, he still clung to life.
"You... I'll get my revenge on you sooner or later... just you wait!"
Perhaps Szayelaporro believed that the laboratory in Las Noches held a backup of his consciousness. Even if he died, he could be resurrected in the lab, so his eyes showed no fear of death; instead, they were filled with rage as he glared at Lin Feng, who stood before him.