One Piece: Kaido's adopted son, starts with the Eight Gates Formation.

Aizen's smile vanished.

Instead, a very complex expression appeared—not the embarrassment of being exposed, but a kind of indescribable feeling after having one's inner thoughts read by a three-year-old.

"You're right." Aizen's voice finally lost its perfectly controlled gentleness, carrying a hint of genuine weariness. "I don't want to be a tool. But I don't want to stay here either. If the price is temporary submission, I'm willing."

Lynn took out the lollipop and looked intently at Aizen.

"Let me think about it some more."

He turned around and floated back to sit on Kaido's shoulder.

"Let's go up first."

"Not let him out?" Kaido asked.

"It's not decided yet."

Aizen, standing behind him, smiled again. But this smile was different from before. Before, it was calculated; now—it carried a hint of genuine anticipation.

He watched the group of people leave, his lips moving almost imperceptibly.

"interesting."

The stone gates of Avici Hell closed again, sealing Aizen and his smile within eternal white.

The Palace of the Spirit King.

The golden artificial core slowly rotated in the void, its soft light radiating to every corner of the three realms, maintaining the circulation of spiritual particles and the stability of space.

Hawkeye stood alone at the highest point of the Spirit King's Palace, his dark sword, Night, lying across his lap. After descending from the God-Slaying Island, he had volunteered to guard the artificial core.

It wasn't because he was particularly responsible, but because this was the quietest place.

Everyone else followed Lynn to the Abyss, leaving only some low-ranking members of the Beast Corps and the low-ranking Death Gods who had already submitted on God-Slaying Island.

Hawkeye's eyes were closed, but his Observation Haki was constantly activated, covering an area of ​​several kilometers around the Spirit King's Palace.

There was no sound at all.

It's too quiet.

Hawkeye frowned. He had been the "world's strongest swordsman" for too long, and his intuition told him that this silence was abnormal.

He opened his eyes.

Then he saw it.

Behind the northernmost palace of the Spirit King's Palace, an almost invisible black line appeared at the edge of space.

The black line is expanding.

Hawkeye stood up, gripping the hilt of his knife.

Black lines tore through space, revealing a corridor-like passage. The interior of the passage was pure black, as if light had been swallowed up.

The first person to emerge from the passage was Haschward.

He was dressed in a white military uniform, with shoulder-length blond hair, and held a jet-black longsword in his hand. After coming out, he did not act immediately, but instead glanced around at the situation in the Spirit King Palace.

Then, more white figures poured out of the passage.

Five. Ten. Fifteen.

The last one to emerge was Yhwach.

He changed into a new white robe; the tattered one had been discarded. The weariness on his face was gone, and the black markings had disappeared—but Hawkeye could sense that the power emanating from this man was more concentrated than it had been in the Seireitei.

"He's become even stronger after fighting while recovering," Hawkeye concluded.

Yhwach's gaze swept across the Spirit King's Palace and quickly locked onto the golden core floating in the center of the void.

"That's the one," he said.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Hasward nodded, "a man-made alternative. If we can absorb it—"

"No rush." ​​Yhwach raised his hand, stopping Hasward. "Clear the obstacles first."

His gaze fell on the lone figure standing in the distance.

Sharp eagle eyes, jet-black blade.

"That person is not Death," Yhwach said.

"One of the outsiders." Hasward flipped through the intelligence files. "The world's strongest swordsman, 'Hawkeye' Mihawk. He wields a black sword called 'Night.' He didn't participate in the previous battles, so his strength is unknown."

"His strength is unknown?" Yhwach's lips curled into a slight smile. "Then let's take a look."

He turned to the knights behind him.

"Bazby."

"Here!" The man with a full head of red hair strode out.

"you go."

Bazzby grinned, flames shooting from his fingers. He was one of the most warlike members of the Sternritter, codenamed "H"—Scorching.

"Leave it to me."

Bazzby transformed into a ball of flame and flew toward Eagle Eye, the highest point of the Spirit King's Palace.