"Ah, this... um... I..." The expression on Goku's face right now was definitely one never seen in the original work. It was full of confusion, almost like a young girl who had been violated.
"Mr. Goku," Morgan stepped forward, still trying to smooth-talk a few words.
"Waaah!" At this moment, Gohan, riding on Goku's shoulders, seemed to finally react as well, bursting into loud, wailing sobs.
"Ah! N-no, sorry, my son is in a hurry to go back for his milk, I, I gotta go!" After uttering this incoherent sentence, Goku quickly placed two fingers on his forehead and fled using Instant Transmission.
Lott couldn't help but laugh seeing this scene.
In the original work, Goku had been defeated, even killed. But he would never 'be afraid'.
Yet just now, Goku's face truly showed a 'fearful' expression. One could only say that the human heart is truly terrifying.
"So terrifying..."
Goku, the second strongest in the universe, or maybe third strongest now with Cell present, was scared like this. The other group members naturally didn't need mentioning. For an empty promise, they could raise their blades so without hesitation against their former benefactor...
"This is the fate of wanting to be a hero, woman." Lott glanced sideways at Kagura Chizuru.
Kagura Chizuru lowered her eyes, silent, clearly also deeply shocked. But hearing Lott's address for her, she couldn't help but add in her heart, 'I'm not a woman yet, just a girl.'
"Th-this is just an individual case, right? M-most people probably aren't this extreme..." Shiranui Mai, having barely regained her composure, licked her dry lips and said.
Lott gave a 'heh' cold laugh.
Just then, a message from Genos came through:
[Genos: @Lott, I'm very sorry, Sensei. Could I trouble you to come pick me up? The Planet Shinigami is about to be destroyed. I don't have time to return to the spaceship to leave this planet.]
Lott glanced sideways and replied the next second:
[What's the situation?]
[Genos: Yhwach has absorbed the Soul King and was just absorbed by Cell who arrived. This planet is collapsing.]
Seeing Genos's message, the group members who hadn't yet recovered from Mark's death were shocked again.
'What kind of day is today? Major events are happening one after another!'
"What does Yhwach being absorbed have to do with the Planet Shinigami collapsing... Hm?" Halfway through his sentence, Lott suddenly remembered something.
"Individual case, you say? Come here, I'll take you to see something good." Lott beckoned to Shiranui Mai.
Shiranui Mai was curious inside, but seeing the faint, wicked smile curling at the corner of Lott's mouth made her a little afraid.
After hesitating for two seconds, she grabbed Kagura Chizuru's hand, "Chizuru, let's go together."
Having a sister along meant there was someone to rely on if something happened.
Kagura Chizuru was full of question marks, 'Wait, why am I, the loser, involved in this?'
But before Kagura Chizuru could take any action, Lott had already grabbed Shiranui Mai's arm and used Instant Transmission. The three of them vanished from the spot.
…
Planet Shinigami, Soul King Palace.
The entire Soul Society, no, to be precise, all three realms of the Planet Shinigami, the Soul Society, the Living World, and Hueco Mundo, were experiencing bizarre spatial fluctuations.
The invisible air continuously collapsed, reflecting the figure of Cell on the other side.
"The Almighty... this is also a good ability. Pity it followed a good-for-nothing like Yhwach in the original history. But it's fine, I can let you display the power you deserve." Semi-Perfect Cell excitedly clenched his fist, his expression growing more and more excited.
Across from him, Ichigo, Aizen, and several Captains of the Gotei 13 had drastic changes in their expressions.
The Soul King, as the cornerstone maintaining the three realms of this planet, being killed by Yhwach was already serious enough.
Now Yhwach had been absorbed by Cell. The situation couldn't be worse.
"This planet's lifespan has reached its end." Genos looked at the rapidly collapsing Soul King Palace, clearly understanding that the Planet Shinigami was finished.
It was a pity he didn't have time to return to Urahara's shop in the Living World to escape by spaceship. He could only trouble his Sensei to come pick him up.
"There's no need to stay on this planet any longer. Goodbye, everyone. It's a pity you won't be able to witness my peak showdown with Lott." Cell left a mocking smile for the people of the Planet Shinigami. The next second, he used Instant Transmission to flee to another planet.
"Wh-what exactly is..." At this moment, Kagura Chizuru, who had been forcibly dragged into this by Shiranui Mai, saw the surrounding situation.
Her face, a perfect blend of loveliness and holiness, was filled with terror. This wasn't just destruction caused by battle… it was the complete imbalance and collapse of 'order' itself!
"Sorry, Sensei, for troubling you." Genos quickly walked over.
Seeing Lott's arrival, the Captains of the Gotei 13 present, as well as Aizen and his few Arrancar subordinates, had varied expressions.
To be honest, not many held any expectation of Lott. Of course, this wasn't doubting his strength. But they all knew very well that this man simply wouldn't bother with them.
"Lott, fight me," Aizen suddenly spoke, "Rather than dying due to the collapse of the planet's order, I'd prefer to die by your hand."
The relationship between the Soul King and the Planet Shinigami was quite similar to that between Orochi and the Planet King of Fighters. But there were still some differences.
Orochi was the personified will of the Planet King of Fighters. So as long as the Planet King of Fighters wasn't destroyed, Orochi was immortal. The one killed by Cell half an hour ago wasn't really Orochi, but the body of Kyo's girlfriend, Yuki.
The Soul King was different. Although the Soul King was also roughly equivalent to the Planet Shinigami, he could be killed. And once he died, it meant the complete collapse of the Planet Shinigami.
To use an analogy, if the Planet Shinigami was compared to a building, then the Soul King was the 'foundation' supporting this building. Once the foundation was destroyed, the planet would naturally collapse.
Facing Aizen's request, Lott didn't even acknowledge him.
"Can't you just create a new Soul King?" Lott's offhand remark caused the locals like Ichigo and Rukia, as well as the outsiders Shiranui Mai and Kagura Chizuru whom he brought, to be stunned.
'A new Soul King? The old Soul King had been killed and his power absorbed by Yhwach. Following this logic, the new Soul King would be Yhwach.'
If they could defeat him, perhaps they could transform Yhwach into the new 'foundation' of this planet. But now, Yhwach had been absorbed by Cell! Where would a new Soul King come from!?
Before Lott could explain, several afterimages descended from the sky using Flash Steps.
"Ichibe'e-sama, what should we do now?!" Abarai Renji shouted.
The newcomers were the five members of the Zero Division. Lott's expression momentarily seemed amused. These five were also very overpowered.
Before the battle, they boasted to the skies, but when it came to actual combat, they completely fell flat. Kyoraku had said that each one of their combat power was comparable to the entire Gotei 13.
But after just a couple of exchanges, they were beaten like dogs by Yhwach.
Hyosube Ichibe'e didn't answer Renji. Instead, he suddenly swung the large brush in his hand, attacking Ichigo.
Seeing this, Ichigo's face changed drastically. Although in terms of close combat ability, after several power-ups, he now wasn't much inferior to this Captain of the Zero Division, he never expected the other party to suddenly attack him.