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

Chapter Nineteen: Horror Stories and Preparations for the Next Book

The Gotei 13 is not the kind of organization where members harbor ulterior motives... at least most of them don't, so the selection process was completed quickly.

"Count me in as the main attacker."

Kensei, with foresight, covered Kunan's mouth and then raised his hand.

"I'll take on the other main attacker role."

Lisa glanced at Mima and calmly raised her hand to volunteer.

"Since I'm the only researcher here... I'll do it."

Finally, Urahara raised his hand with a smile, filling the personnel gap for this next operation.

Chunshui then made the final decision: "Very good, everyone is very enthusiastic. So the exploration team has been decided. The specific commission documents will be sent to you later. Please have the members of the exploration team prepare. No one can say for sure what dangers this operation may bring."

After the official statement was finished, the meeting room became lively again.

Hiyori and Heiwako started grabbing Urahara and telling him something. Kunan Shiro finally broke free from Kensei's control and complained to him about things like "Why didn't you include me in this fun activity?" before storming off. Kyoraku and Ukitake started discussing how to write a report, while Lisa reached out and patted Mima's shoulder with a worried look in her eyes.

In her eyes, Mi Zhen was still the junior she had personally promoted. Although his strength had increased rapidly in the past few years, he still lacked practical experience. In addition, he had just "died" a few days ago. If he went into battle again like this, it was inevitable that something would go wrong...

"Ya-Zhen, just leave your main body in the barracks. The captain will take care of you."

"Okay, I'll go back and find a comfortable position to lie down."

He concealed the unnaturalness in his tone, and thankfully Lisa didn't notice.

Meanwhile, on a riverbank in Rukongai, Mima, who was fishing while wearing the Ryugetsu skin, chuckled awkwardly twice.

I'm so sorry, Lisa...

I would never tell anyone about this...

Later, Shunsui and Ukitake announced the meeting was adjourned and asked the exploration team to meet in the East 79th Ward of Rukongai in an hour.

And so, some went back to continue working, while others went back to retrieve their equipment, and the conference room gradually became empty.

Mima and Lisa returned to the Eighth Division barracks together. Before leaving, he glanced at a seemingly empty corner of the room out of the corner of his eye.

Why don't we have him tell a scary story to the Gotei 13?

—Aizen Sousuke followed Kensei Muguruma in and had been listening in since the meeting began.

But no one noticed this except for Mima.

Of course, like the other members of the Gotei 13, Yama had also seen the liberation of Kyoka Suigetsu.

But he wasn't Yhwach who had devoured the Soul King's body, so naturally he couldn't break through the illusion of a mirage with brute force.

To be honest, this is a somewhat awkward issue of ability compatibility.

The prerequisite for Kyoka Suigetsu to create an illusion is "watching Aizen unleash his Zanpakuto." So, after being invited to watch Aizen's unleashing, Yama immediately used Ryugetsu to erase that period of time.

Since the fact of "seeing liberation" was removed from the timeline, the subsequent illusions of the mirage could not affect Mima, and he was able to continue to see the real world.

In fact, it was precisely because of the need to ignore Aizen's acting over the years that Mima's acting skills have made a qualitative leap.

This could be considered a different kind of funding...

After the meeting room was empty, Aizen left thoughtfully.

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

One hour later, in the 1th ward of Rukongai East.

The exploration team, fully prepared, had assembled. Kensei and Lisa, both combat-type fighters, didn't have any special attire, but Urahara and Yama, both technical fighters, were quite different: the former carried a huge, bulging backpack, while the latter had a flashy headscarf tied around his head.

Given Urahara's nature, that bag must contain all sorts of vicious weapons, and his imagined enemies are spread throughout the three realms—this is no exaggeration, Mima is completely convinced that this guy can single-handedly tear this so-called Spirit King's Ruins to shreds.

As for Mi Zhen's headscarf, it is said to be a talisman that can increase confidence. In reality, it is a magic-type equipment called "Crown of the Wise" that he obtained from the system many years ago. It can amplify the power of the Ghost Path to a certain extent. Not only that, it also contains enough spiritual power to replenish half of Mi Zhen's mana bar. Except for having no defensive capabilities, it is practically perfect.

The destination was a meadow, where several members of the Tsunayo family had been waiting for a long time. Upon seeing the exploration team arrive, they immediately came to greet them.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I am Tsunayoshi Tsunayoshi, a member of the Tsunayoshi family."

The middle-aged man at the head of the group gave a brief self-introduction, but he seemed unwilling to engage in further pleasantries. He immediately led the four to a large, clearly newly dug pit and began to explain: "Please see, this is the entrance to one of Lord Spirit King's residences."

The group followed Tsunayoshi Yoki into the pit, and after a few steps they reached the end—a smooth stone door stood at the end of the cave. The stone door was grayish-black and polished to a mirror shine. Several lines of strange characters were carved on the four corners, and white light flowed in the grooves of the characters.

"As you all know, Lord Spirit King once created many small worlds in the gaps between the Three Realms—such as the Broken Realm and the Black Cavity. This door also leads to a world in the gaps between the Three Realms. According to the documents that were recently found in my home, it was a place where Lord Spirit King used to live."

Before Tsunayoshi could finish speaking, Urahara had already pulled out a small camera-like device from his backpack, snapped a few pictures of the stone gate, and then retreated to the back of the line to ponder it, occasionally making comments such as "What amazing readings."

Kisuke Urahara exuded a terrifying atmosphere while he was conducting research, and no one dared to disturb him. So, Tsunayoshi continued to introduce the place to them: "Our ancestor once had the honor of visiting this place and left a record in the documents that 'this is where Lord Rei-ou studied,' but you will have to go in and explore to find out more."

This is getting more and more terrifying...

Mima looked at the stone gate—but more importantly, he secretly glanced at the other guy beside him out of the corner of his eye.

Indigo dyeing.

Aizen, who had clearly arrived earlier than them, was flipping through an ancient thread-bound book, carefully comparing the characters on the four corners of the stone gate, nodding in agreement from time to time, also caught up in the fervor unique to researchers.

Ignore it, ignore it...

As long as Aizen doesn't come up with ideas like "Why don't I kill Watanabe Yama and take his place?", they'll keep to themselves and let him do whatever he wants. After all, I'm just a tool here to carry out orders.

However, in order to find out what the Tsunayo family and the 46th Chamber were planning, he had already manipulated the clone of the Ryugetsu skin to come to the vicinity, preparing to carry out a two-pronged operation, like the mantis stalking the cicada unaware of the oriole behind.

"Are there any other records of the ancestors of the Tsunayo family?"

Faced with Mima's question, Tsunayoshi frowned somewhat awkwardly: "I'm really sorry, we only recently learned of this place's existence, and we really don't have any more information..."

"Is exploration the only way..." He sighed, then changed the subject, "How do we get in?"

Chapter Twenty: The Spirit King's Legacy

Since Mima graduated from the Shinigami Academy and joined the Gotei 13, thirteen years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Over the years, although his main job was... cough, clerical work, he also experienced many field missions. These missions each had their own complexities, but they could be summarized into three main issues—

Where to go? Who to kill? What to kill?

As the most notorious violent group in the Three Realms, the Gotei 13 has always operated in this manner.

This time will likely be no exception.

"The method is very simple."

Tsunayoshi smiled, placed her palm on the stone door, and explained to the exploration team, "Our ancestors recorded in the documents that you should touch the door like this and then output your spiritual pressure to enter the small world that Lord Spirit King once created. Of course, the door only serves as a teleportation device. Lord Spirit King's residence is not actually behind here. If you want to come back, just find the stone door 'over there' and output your spiritual pressure to it."

It's simple and convenient.

"Then let's set off."

As he spoke, Urahara finished his analysis, put the props back into his backpack, and his usually lazy face became completely excited, just like a child who had seen a long-desired toy in front of him, just waiting to play with it to his heart's content.

...Oh right, he's also a researcher, so it's not surprising that he has this side to him.

Kensei sighed beside him and added, "The mission description mentions 'potential danger.' Since your ancestors knew how to get in and out of here, didn't they record anything else?"

"I'm so sorry... our ancestor was vague about this..."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that."

Seeing the troubled look on his face, Mi Zhen knew that he wouldn't be able to get any more information out of him, so he took the lead and walked to the stone door, raising his hand to touch it: "Everyone, I'm a scout, so let me go first."

Everyone else nodded, but Lisa frowned, stepped forward and grabbed Mima's wrist, saying reproachfully, "No, I can't... let a teammate who isn't good at swordsmanship face unknown dangers alone. If I'm here, at least I can look after him."

Looking at the mask on Lisa's face that bore the word "fairness," Mima hesitated, wanting to say something but holding back.

This can probably be considered a case of reaping what you sow. When demonstrating the "severance" to others, in order to leave the impression that "this person is weak and helpless," he deliberately described the death of his clone, which would not have any consequences, as "although the actual loss is only spiritual power, the shock of death will put a great burden on my mind," and later proved this point several times with his acting skills.

Now everyone believes it...

"Uh, well..."

Despite his rugged appearance, Kensei displayed remarkable emotional intelligence at this moment. He grabbed Urahara and made the four of them stand side by side in front of the door: "Gotei 13 soldiers advance and retreat together... right? If we're going in, we'll go in together."

"Captain Kensei is right."

Urahara also smoothed things over. After a complicated exchange of glances among the four, they placed their hands on the door frame together. After Yuma exchanged a few polite words with Tsunayoshi, four kinds of spiritual pressure surged into the stone door at the same time.

Then, a great light shone forth.

They vanished from the spot at the same time.

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

A strong shaking sensation spread through my mind.

After being engulfed by the light emanating from the stone gate, Mi Zhen first felt a bright light before her eyes, and then she fell into a cold, pitch-black space. Then, a color scheme dominated by blue and white spread out from the end of her vision, spinning like a kaleidoscope.

Soon, the vibrant colors that had filled the entire field of vision began to find their place, each defining its own outline, forming an orderly landscape.

It was a spacious and enormous grotto, with countless crystals emitting blue or white light adorning the walls and the ceiling, providing illumination.

Then, the focus shifted to a closer look.

A square stone platform about half a person's height was placed in the center of the cave. A refined man in white with slicked-back hair was standing there, using amazing hammer and chisel skills to refine a long strip of crystal on the platform, crafting the blade, hilt, guard, and parry bit by bit.

That man's eyes... have four pupils?

He is... the Spirit King?!

After the long process of crafting was completed, the Spirit King placed the sharpened crystal sword on the stone platform and smiled with satisfaction.

Then he turned around and walked step by step into the darkness in the distance of the cave.

Then, the scene shattered like a broken mirror.

Mi Zhen's breath caught in her throat!

It was as if he had been shoved into a cannon barrel and launched. A severe sense of dizziness caused by the stall almost made him lose consciousness. He didn't know how far he had been pushed away before his speed gradually slowed down and then stopped.

A few drops of cold sweat kept seeping from my forehead, and the solid feeling under my feet almost felt like a dream.

Beside him, Lisa knelt down uncomfortably, her face pale and panting heavily. Urahara and Kensei also showed some motion sickness symptoms. The exploration team had just set off when they were given a rude awakening by the Soul King's lingering phantom, and it took them more than ten seconds to recover.

"That was just now..."

Lisa rubbed her temples and asked the question as if talking to herself.

“The Spirit King.” Urahara, surveying his surroundings, replied solemnly, “His appearance is exactly the same as the portrait in the ancient texts…”