One Piece: Burning the Prison Clothes in the Setting Sun, Mihawk is dumbfounded.

Dunn did not respond to Aizen's question.

He simply closed his eyes, then gently lifted his leg and stepped down.

The already melted ground trembled slightly, and the ripples spread into the distance.

Under the influence of this fluctuation, the power of the flames extended into the distance, but in Dunn's perception, a being hidden beneath the Soul Society had already been affected by this power.

This time, however, Dunn did not hold back.

The violent power instantly engulfed everything, but the Soul Society on the surface slowly disappeared under the influence of Dunn's power.

After doing all this, Dunn opened his eyes.

"It's almost time."

Dunn began to speak, then looked at Ichigo behind Aizen.

"Aren't you going to make a move? Maybe you can try and defeat me."

Dunn's words made Aizen's expression change, and he turned to look at Ichigo.

"Forget it, it's already come to this. Even when I was still alive, I couldn't have done it, let alone now..."

A figure appeared behind Ichigo.

A man with an ordinary face, but whose body seemed somewhat ethereal.

"The Spirit King".

Aizen immediately revealed the man's identity.

After all, the power of the Hogyoku came from the Soul King, and when this figure appeared, he sensed the fluctuations of the Hogyoku.

"Well, I was hoping you could find a new path, but it seems there's not much of a chance this time."

Aizen had been looking at the Soul King with some confusion, but his expression changed as soon as the Soul King said those words.

"Isn't it obvious?"

Dunn smiled.

"Everything you do, or rather everything in this world, is being pushed behind the scenes by certain people. Those people thought they had the power of the Spirit King and wanted to push you to gain control of higher-dimensional power."

But they were unaware that everything around them was being driven by another entity.

"But I meant no harm."

Upon hearing this, the Spirit King looked at Aizen with a gentle expression.

"I used to think you were the most promising, but now, I see this kid as the better option."

As he spoke, the Soul King's gaze fell on Ichigo, who looked completely bewildered.

"You think you're so strong? Why aren't you stopping this guy? He's killed so many people and he's going to destroy the world."

Ichigo didn't understand what was said earlier, but he remembered the current situation and immediately started tattling.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that. I've already said that."

Upon hearing this, the Soul King shook his head, but upon seeing Ichigo's gaze, he turned to look at Dunn.

"If I hand over what you want, will you stop?"

"Do you know what I'm looking for?"

Upon hearing this, Dunn asked in return.

"It's nothing more than a spatial passage. You came to this world through it. Now that I'm telling you about this passage, can you stop now?"

King Ling asked again.

"And then, when I leave, will you destroy that place or take the whole world with you?"

Dunn asked.

"Possibly."

Upon hearing this, King Ling nodded, not denying that he would make such a choice.

"Compared to your previous world, this world is just an incomplete one. It is still growing, and it would be a pity to destroy it now."

"But what does that have to do with me?"

Dunn shook his head upon hearing this.

The power within him suddenly receded, and the intense heat began to subside.

However, the sense of danger emanating from Dunn was many times more terrifying than before.

The sheer explosive power, even just seeing it, made my eyes sting and my consciousness scream in alarm.

"After all, this wasn't really a real world to begin with, and I need this spatial passage to figure some things out."

"Aren't you afraid I'll destroy it right now?"

Upon hearing this, King Ling's expression became serious.

"If you could do it, why wait until now? Aren't you a parasite too?"

Dunn looked at the Spirit King, and suddenly his smile became radiant, like the brilliant sun.

"Wait for it to cycle on its own, and then slowly grow. Eventually, when it grows to a certain extent, you might be able to completely control this world."

Dunn shared his guess.

The Spirit King remained silent.

As for Aizen, his expression at this moment was quite interesting; he seemed to want to laugh, but couldn't manage it.

He even now hopes that Dunn will just destroy the world.

"Your world has no master yet, and you can only occupy one world. To you, this world is at most just a vassal."

After a moment of silence, King Ling suddenly looked up.

"I don't plan to stay in one world forever, wouldn't that be too boring?"

Dunn shook his head, then looked up at the sky.

"You should have felt it by now."

"You still have a chance to back down."

King Ling's tone became somewhat anxious upon hearing Dunn's words.

"Weren't you saying you didn't care just now?"

Even Ichigo noticed the change in the Soul King's tone.

"That's because he thought that even if Dunn destroyed the world, he could still put it back into the cycle, but the current situation doesn't seem to be what he expected."

Or rather, there is no place for him in the future world cycle.

Aizen began to explain.

"So, this Spirit King, like you, is an outsider?"

After he finished speaking, he looked at Dunn with a curious glint in his eyes.

"What? You're thinking of seeing the outside world too?"

"curious."

Aizen did not hide his emotions.

"Oh." Dunn nodded, then shook his head. "It might have been possible before, but now it's too late."

As Dunn finished speaking, the whole world trembled.

The light dimmed in an instant.

Meanwhile, flames were burning in the sky.

The flames, almost invisible, were burning fiercely, spreading from the outside towards the Soul Society.

In the distance, after the flames had burned out, all that remained was nothingness.

"Let me go."

The speaker was none other than King Ling.

He looked genuinely panicked; he was a completely different person compared to his composure just moments before.

"I'm just a high school student. If you let me go, I'll give you anything."

The Spirit King suddenly shouted at Dunn, looking somewhat distraught.

However, after he shouted this, Aizen's expression became somewhat uneasy.

As the one being pushed along, Aizen cared a lot about this matter.

And this so-called Spirit King, the one who truly orchestrated everything behind the scenes, is actually this kind of person.

If it were just now, Aizen might have felt a little better.

But now, he wanted to draw his sword and kill the guy.

Even Ichigo's gaze towards the Soul King was filled with disgust.

They actually begged for mercy in front of a formidable enemy.

Of course, Ichigo had no intention of giving up, and he turned his gaze back to Dunn.

"If I cut you down, all of this would probably stop, wouldn't it?"

Upon hearing this, Dunn's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

I hate these brainless yet hot-blooded protagonists the most.