I'm really not the number one slacker in Soul Society.

As Mizhen spoke, she tugged at her collar and then glanced into the distance.

That was the spiritual pressure of spring water; it seemed to be rushing towards this place.

He and Aizen exchanged a glance, and the latter shrugged and said, "It seems we shouldn't stay here any longer."

"Let's stop here for now."

Mizhen shrugged and walked over to Shikatori Bayunzai: "The Jingle band leader will be here soon, so we'll leave now. We can talk about more things another day."

Chapter 126: The Lively World of Mental Images

Having said that, he casually opened a dark passageway, grabbed Lu Quba Yunzhai's wrist, and led him inside.

"Huh...huh? What's going on?"

Rokuto Hakunsai looked at Mima and his hand with confusion, but did not resist, letting him pull him into the dark cavity.

"Then see you another time."

Aizen nodded slightly to the two of them, watching the black chamber slowly close, then turned and fell to the ground.

The angry torrent had just shed many inanimate fragments, and Aizen's target was those things.

Yama knew this, and Aizen probably knew it too.

But neither of them said it out loud.

Aizen isn't some kind of enthusiastic worker; you have to give him something in return to get him to work for you.

Anyway, the core is in his hands, so let Aizen take the scraps.

..........................................

After arriving in the real world through the Black Hole, Mima released Shikatori Hakunsai's wrist.

"A messenger...a messenger..."

The latter looked at him carefully for a few moments, then gave him a gentle smile: "Don't you think you owe me an explanation?"

“Of course.” Mima shrugged. “Watanabe Mima will be here soon—he must have promised you something, so just let him explain it to you when the time comes.”

"Oh~"

Shikatori Hakunsai stroked his chin, then hoisted Kitomaru onto his shoulder and placed his free left hand on Mima's shoulder: "Alright, but before he comes, you'd better have a good talk with me."

In terms of both height and physique, Shikatori Hakunsai is significantly superior to Ryugetsu, so this action makes them look like an older sister and a younger sister, giving Mima a strange sense of being suppressed.

Mima sighed, "Of course."

“Very good, I like someone as decisive as you.” Shikaku Hakunsai affectionately rubbed his cheek against Mima’s head twice, then led him into the familiar mountain cabin.

Although he didn't think she would fight him, Shikatori Hakunsai's spiritual pressure was still everywhere, just like before... as if it had merged with the world.

It could be Bankai, or it could be some other special ability.

But the sheer power that overwhelmed Shihouin Hyakugetsu was undeniable.

Consider this common reason for becoming a prisoner of incarceration: committing a heinous crime but being unable to kill.

It's terrifying to think about, truly terrifying...

At the same time, a familiar voice echoed in his heart.

"What did you throw here?!"

It was Liu Yue's voice.

The call conveyed five parts fear, three parts confusion, and two parts anger, revealing a message that something terrible had happened.

Mi Zhen was startled by her and immediately ordered the clone in the cave to release the divine sword and use the mental beacon to rush into her mental space.

Although the clones are in different places, there is only one mental space, so it's the same no matter where you enter.

"What happened... huh?!"

Before she could finish her sentence, Mima was stunned.

A magical piece of furniture appeared in his mental space.

Should it be called a culture chamber or a specimen container?

In short, a huge, transparent cylinder, three meters tall, stood in the center of the room, filled with a pale green liquid of unknown composition.

Of course, if it's just a jar, it doesn't matter; the important thing is what's soaking inside.

Those were five tiny figures... calling them figures isn't quite accurate, because they weren't all people.

These five figures were all only about 30 centimeters tall. They were a young girl wearing skull armor, a strong red man who was half human and half dragon, a yellow crystal carved into the shape of a child, a set of silver armor that no one was wearing, and a slender woman wearing a gorgeous kimono.

A dark-skinned little girl wearing skull armor floated above the jar, with four umbilical cords extending from her navel, connecting her to the four creatures below.

The elements were so obvious that Mima could tell where they came from at a glance.

The dark-skinned little girl is exactly like Shihouin Hyakugetsu when she was a child, and the faces of the three below are also the original owners of Kurogetsu Nanako, Reisha Chisei, and Akuryu Hyakuzan, respectively.

Why not mention the Bone-Swallowing Armor?

Because the original owner of the Bone-Eating Demon Armor was a disfigured ronin, what was soaking in the jar was just an empty suit of armor.

How did these things end up here?

Mizhen paused for a moment, then exchanged a look with Liuyue, who was equally bewildered. They both took a breath and noticed a detail on the jar.

At the very top of the jar is a hexagonal "black star emblem".

It was the one that he had absorbed into his body.

So...did he also absorb the power of Shihouin Hyakugetsu along with it?

"Wait... let me catch my breath."

Mi Zhen felt a sharp pain in his head, and no amount of rubbing his temples could relieve it. So he could only sigh and walk over to tap the jar.

The five little ones inside didn't move at all...

Upon closer inspection, they weren't breathing or anything like that; they didn't seem to be alive at all.

"Do you have any clues?" Mima looked at Ryugetsu, who had also come to the jar. "We can't just watch these inexplicable things grow inside our bodies, can we?"

"you ask me?"

Liu Yue took a breath, seemingly wanting to say something rather strong, but ultimately held back: "You're the one who ate it, how could I..."

"Boom boom boom——"

Just then, there was a knock on the door behind me.

Mima: "?"

Holy crap! This is a ghost story!

Isn't this my mental space? Where did this third person come from?

He instinctively took a step back, swallowed hard, and then turned his gaze to Liu Yue, who was more familiar with the place, only to find that she…

Acting more afraid than him?

No, it wasn't just fear, this girl was already trembling! And trembling wasn't enough, she even darted behind the computer desk, crouched down with her hands on her head in a defensive posture, shaking like a leaf.

Confused, Mima stroked his chin, placed his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist, and cautiously walked step by step toward the door.

No matter what's outside, whether it's hostile or not, we'll just have to fight it out.

"Don't open the door! Aaaaaaah!" Liu Yue let out a comical wail. "We absolutely can't let her in!!"

"Huh?" Mima immediately realized the problem. "What do you mean? Do you know who's outside?"

Liu Yue shook her head desperately—if the room hadn't only had wooden floors, Mi Zhen even suspected she would have dug a hole and buried herself in it.

But this attitude clearly indicates that they know who's outside.

What...what's going on?

It didn't sound like a terrible enemy, otherwise Liu Yue would have been screaming instead of wailing, and wouldn't have adopted such a ridiculous attitude.

It's just like... a student caught using their phone by their homeroom teacher?

As Mima was thrown into confusion, the door was knocked on again, accompanied by a cold female voice.

"Don't make me say it twice, open the door now."

"what?"

Mizhen glanced at Liuyue, then at the door.

Isn't that Liu Yue's own voice?

“What…” Mi Zhen blinked. “What’s going on?”

After the woman's voice rang out, Liuyue's trembling gradually subsided.

It wasn't because she wasn't afraid anymore; quite the opposite... At this moment, she was ashen-faced, like a prisoner who knew his sentence was nearing its end, having fallen into a kind of sage mode.

She stood up, sighed, and walked toward the door with her head down, saying to Mizhen as she went, "There is indeed a third person here, there always has been."

"Huh?" Mima slowly typed out a question mark: "Who is it?"

"Is there even a question?" She glanced resentfully at the Zanpakuto at Mima's waist.

Then he turned the doorknob and slowly opened the wooden door that had been closed.

Liu Yue shrank back and gave an unexpected but reasonable answer.

"Of course it's Bankai."

Then, the wooden door slowly opened, revealing the outside world.

Mizhen used to think that the outside world might be a chaotic mess, but he was wrong; the outside world was still a familiar landscape.

It was the corridor of the apartment building where he lived in his previous life.

A familiar yet unfamiliar figure stood outside the door.

—Another fleeting moon.

She was wearing the same white shirt and slim-fitting trousers as Ryugetsu in the room, and her hairstyle was exactly the same, but Mima could tell the difference between the two at a glance.