"The Quincy-related things I buried, some of them are silver spiritual tools. Silver seems to be very valuable in human society."
Mayuri was frustrated. He had found nothing in the cornfield; the things buried there had been dug up. Now he could only try his luck in the human village.
"Silver items... then they may have been sold. Hopefully, they haven't circulated outside the village yet."
The two arrived in front of the village.
This was Sora's second time here.
However, the last time he came, this village belonged to the Quincy.
Sora sensed for a moment; there were no strong spiritual pressure fluctuations here.
Many parts of the village were under construction, giving it a prosperous look.
Many of the man-made structures left by the Quincy had been preserved.
Some of the buildings that had collapsed during the war between the Shinigami and the Quincy had been demolished and rebuilt.
"Tsk tsk, these humans are quite bold. The signs of war here are so obvious, yet they dare to stay."
Mayuri clicked his tongue in amazement, looking at the busy humans.
"Actually, the leader here consulted with the Shinigami before leading the refugees to move in," Sora shook his head. "This group of people were refugees fleeing a famine. When they found this place, the Onmitsukidō were still stationed here and had communicated with their leader."
Since Sora knew he was coming here, he had asked Yoruichi for some intelligence.
Before withdrawing, the Onmitsukidō had communicated with the humans who had moved in.
Among these refugees, one or two had spiritual potential and could see spiritual bodies.
"The leader of the refugees is a human who can see Shinigami, huh? Then let's just go ask him."
Mayuri planned to find the leader first.
After the two entered the village, they were noticed.
This village was in the mountains and rarely had visitors. People cast curious glances at them.
"This is Otani Village. What are you two doing here?"
Two men dressed as hunters came over, sizing up Sora and Mayuri.
They couldn't help but stare at Mayuri's strange attire.
"We are human merchants," Mayuri grinned. "I would like to see the leader here."
The leader here could see spiritual bodies, but that was the extent of it. His spiritual pressure fluctuation was no different from an ordinary human's.
It was impossible to find him using spiritual sense.
"Human merchants?" The hunter's eyes showed a trace of doubt at this strange title.
Moreover, these two didn't seem to be carrying anything, not looking like merchants at all.
"We are from the Karakura Town Merchant Guild, and we wish to discuss some cooperation with you," Sora saw the hunter's doubt and explained, "Although this place has a beautiful environment and fertile land, you still need things like salt and iron, right? Our guild wishes to establish a long-term trade route with your village and hopes to discuss this matter with your village chief."
Sora's understanding of human society was much deeper than Mayuri's, and his few words dispelled the hunter's doubts.
"So you are esteemed members of the merchant guild," the hunter's expression became respectful. "I will take you to see the village chief. This way, please."
The hunter led Sora and Mayuri into the village.
"Did I almost blow our cover just now? Did I say something wrong?"
Mayuri didn't know what method he used, but the hunter leading the way was completely unaware of their conversation.
"Humans don't call themselves 'human merchants'," Sora chuckled. "Karakura Town is the closest city to here, so I used its name. Salt and iron are indispensable to humans, and this village is no exception. This hunter can't make the decision, so he definitely has to take us to see the village chief."
"I see..." Mayuri let out a strange laugh. "The Captain has a very deep understanding of human society!"
Following the hunter, the two soon arrived in front of a large mansion.
This house was clearly left behind by the Quincy.
"Village chief!" the hunter knocked on the door. "We have guests!"
A moment later, a middle-aged man came out from inside.
"Kenji, who are these people?" the Otani village chief asked.
"They are from the Karakura Town Merchant Guild and want to do some business with us," the hunter said.
Just then, Sora took out a 'Gikon-gan' and swallowed it, separating from his 'Gigai'.
"Village Chief Otani, you should know where we come from, right?"
Sora said gently.
Now that he had found the village chief, it was more convenient to communicate with him in his Shinigami identity.
Seeing the sword-wielding spiritual body, the village chief's eyes showed fear.
The hunter, however, had no reaction; he couldn't see spiritual bodies.
Sora's 'Gigai', supported by the 'Gikon-gan', did not collapse.
"Kenji... you can go back now," the village chief said, bracing himself. "I have important matters to discuss with our two honored guests."
The hunter was still a bit wary of Sora and Mayuri and wanted to stay as a guard, but since the village chief had spoken, he left.
"Honorable gods, please come in..."
The village chief's face was full of reverence.
When the refugees had moved here, some of them, having just experienced a famine, could not withstand the fatigue of the long journey and died shortly after arriving.
The village chief had personally seen the Shinigami guide the souls of the dead to the world of the deceased.
"Since you know we are Shinigami, I'll be direct," Mayuri asked straightforwardly. "The things buried in the cornfield outside the village, was it you who dug them up?"
Hearing Mayuri's words, the village chief's face changed drastically.
He lost all his strength, his body went limp, and he fell to the ground.
The things Mayuri had buried in the cornfield had indeed been dug up by the people of Otani Village.
"Honorable gods! Please forgive our ignorance! We didn't know those things belonged to you!"
The village chief didn't dare to hide anything and quickly begged for forgiveness.
"Where are those things?" Mayuri asked.
"Those things... those things..."
The village chief suddenly started to stammer.
The village was in the mountains, and the average temperature was low, but he was sweating profusely.
Many of the items buried in the cornfield were silverware. After the villagers dug them up, they immediately took them to the city to sell!
The village chief knew about this because the money was spent on the village's construction.
He had originally thought these things were left by the previous owners of this place, but he never expected them to be related to the gods.
"Tell me the truth, and I can forgive your ignorance."
Mayuri was already prepared for the possibility that the items were no longer in the village, but he had to find out where they went.
"We took those things... and sold them in Karakura Town..."
The village chief didn't dare to look up.
"We were originally going to sell them at a pawn shop in Karakura Town, but on the way, we were stopped by some strange people.
It was strange...
They seemed to know we had something good and said they wanted to buy it...
They gave us a very good price, so we sold it to them..."
"They could sense the Quincy spiritual tools... sounds a lot like Quincy. Ohohoho..." Mayuri let out a strange laugh. "Captain, it seems our luck is quite good!"
Mayuri hadn't expected that some of the Quincy spiritual tools he had buried in the chaos would lead him to a group of suspected Quincy.
This was truly a pleasant surprise.
Mayuri was very interested in Quincy and had long wanted to capture some for research, but he had never had the chance.
"So, where did you meet those 'strange people'?" Mayuri asked. "And when did you meet them?"
"Just in the northern suburbs of Karakura Town!
They appeared suddenly, but from their style of dress... they were very different from the people in Karakura Town. They must have been outsiders.
It wasn't that long ago, just about a month ago..."
The village chief told them everything.
"It's sounding more and more like Quincy..." Mayuri was getting excited. "Captain, let's go find those Quincy and get my things back!"
Sora nodded, took out a spiritual tool from his reishi space, and pressed it. A thick smoke billowed out.
The smoke quickly enveloped the panicked village chief.
When it cleared, Sora and Mayuri were gone, leaving only the unconscious village chief on the ground.
A moment later, the village chief woke up, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
"Didn't Kenji bring two merchants over?" he looked around blankly. "Why did I fall asleep on the ground? Have I been too tired lately?"
...
After leaving Otani Village, Sora and Mayuri arrived in the northern suburbs of Karakura Town.
"So this is Karakura Town. It looks deserted... Katori Sora, let's make a deal. You're so powerful, you have no use for this 'Gigai' body. Why not give it to me... please have pity on me, it's painful to be without a body..."
Sora's 'Gigai' was chattering non-stop, and he was getting a headache.
After separating from the 'Gigai', Sora hadn't re-entered it.
He wanted to see what kind of personality this 'Gikon-gan' had. If it was a good one, he might keep it.
In front of the village chief, the 'Gikon-gan' hadn't made a sound, and Sora had thought it had a good personality.
Who knew that as soon as they left the village, it would become a chatterbox.
"You talk too much. The 'Gikon-gan' test ends here."
Sora reached for the 'Gigai's' abdomen.
"Wait, wait!!! I can stop talking... just..."
Sora caught the Gikon-gan that flew out of the Gigai.
"These 'Gikon-gan' all have different personalities," Mayuri said, thinking of the one he had, his expression displeased. "After all, they're made from incomplete souls. Although the missing parts are filled in with 'Temporary Soul' technology, it also causes the remaining parts of their personalities to become very prominent."
"Let me look for them, see if the Quincy are still here."
The shadow at Sora's feet rapidly expanded outwards.
In an instant, it controlled the shadows of a large area.
Compared to his spiritual sense, Sora trusted his shadow ability more.
Finding people with spiritual sense was actually not very reliable.
Because both Quincy and Shinigami had ways to block it.
But finding people with shadows was different.
Sora could instantly take control of the shadows of ordinary things.
And for the shadows of Shinigami, Quincy, and Hollows, who had spiritual pressure, it would cost him more reishi to control them.
This difference allowed Sora to quickly distinguish whether the owner of a shadow was a being with spiritual pressure.
"Not here. Let's keep going."
Using his shadow ability, Sora quickly scanned the northern suburbs of Karakura Town.
"Found a human with spiritual pressure. It's not weak."
Sora led Mayuri to a private house in the northern suburbs.
The human with spiritual pressure he had sensed was in the courtyard of this house.
Mayuri also separated from his 'Gigai', ready to fight at any moment.
The two entered the courtyard directly.
"These two don't look like Quincy."
Mayuri scratched his forehead with his nearly ten-centimeter-long fingernails.
In the courtyard was a man with a buzz cut, wearing a white shirt and work pants, and a woman with blue hair in a purple robe.
"Shinigami..." The two in the courtyard recognized Sora and Mayuri's identities. When they saw the captain's haori on Sora, their pupils shrank. "A Shinigami captain!"
The two became wary and took a fighting stance.
"You don't seem to be Quincy."
Sora sized them up. Now that he also possessed Quincy power, he could sense that these two were not drawing on external reishi.
"Are you talking about those small fry Quincy?" The blue-haired woman held a sword in one hand and a fan in the other. "We already took care of them."
"Looks like we were a step too late," Mayuri said, annoyed. "I should have made the 'Gigai' sooner... then I could have come to the human world to test it earlier."
Mayuri was very regretful about missing out on the Quincy test subjects.
Sora looked at the sword and fan and felt they were somewhat familiar, as if he had seen them somewhere before.
Fortunately, as his spiritual body grew stronger, his memories of his past life became clearer. He soon remembered where he had seen them.
"You're Bounts, aren't you?"
Sora stroked his chin, a hint of interest in his eyes.
"What's a Bount?" Mayuri frowned. He had never heard this term before.
"They are a product of an experiment by the Seireitei Research Institute. However, the institute was shut down after a major explosion."
Sora explained. After becoming the captain of the 12th Division, he had gained many more privileges.
He could now view some of the sealed secret archives.
The Seireitei Research Institute was an institute established hundreds of years ago. Kirio Hikifune and Shutara Senjumaru were once researchers there.
After the accident and the subsequent shutdown by the Central 46, they had transferred to the 12th Division and established their own labs.
"The Seireitei Research Institute..." Mayuri's qualifications were still shallow, and he did not have the authority to view related materials.
"This information is not public. If you want to see it, I can authorize it for you when we get back," Sora said.
"Shinigami, are you going to hunt us down to the last one!"
The buzz-cut man did not deny his identity.
"This is just a chance encounter. We were actually looking for Quincy," Sora said with a smile. "But, what's with the corpses in this courtyard?"
In the courtyard, there were some fresh corpses.
It was obvious that these were the work of these two Bounts.
Bounts, or Soul Hunters, possessed power close to that of a Shinigami and could also strengthen their spiritual pressure by devouring spiritual bodies.
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