Bleach: Starting as a Vasto Lorde

Chapter 285: To the Garganta

Kazuya, the black cat, and the somewhat pissed-off petite assassin set out for their next destination—Mayuri Kurotsuchi’s lab. To reach Hueco Mundo, they required a pathway through Garganta, and while the Shinigami may possess other, more unconventional methods of travel, none were as efficient as those offered by Mayuri, or so Soi Fon explained to him. Since Yamamoto had given an order, the mad scientist wouldn’t make too much fuss about lending a hand.

Soi Fon strode up to the wooden door that was like every other squad in Gotei 13. She jabbed a finger at the communication panel embedded beside it. “Open the door.”

A moment of static crackled before a disembodied voice responded with indifference. “Identify yourself—”

“Stop wasting my time and open this damn door!”

Soi Fon brandished her fist, fully prepared to smash through if the operator asked another question. The operator rolled out the CCTV-like camera from the wall, which stopped on Kazuya.

“I-It’s you!”

Kazuya waved his hand with a nonchalant smile. “I guess I didn’t destroy enough shit last time.”

“N-No, please! I’m opening the door!”

The mechanical hiss of hydraulics echoed as the door slid open. The 12th Squad would be spared from another hefty repair—at least for today.

Soi Fon gave him a sidelong glance, a flicker of curiosity in her eyes. “You’ve some history with them.”

She could only wonder about his history with Mayuri’s squad as now wasn’t the time for such conversation. Noticing his gaze upon her, she let out her typical ‘Hmph’ before moving inside the 12th Squad’s grounds.

Kazuya trailed behind her, smiling. “This little firecracker is a piece of work.”

“I agree,” Yoruichi responded with a purr. “Fon Fon, you better behave in Hueco Mundo, or I’ll ask my friend to feed you to Hollows.”

She kept her voice low enough that only Soi Fon heard her for obvious reasons.

Soi Fon shot a sharp glance over her shoulder, her brows knitted in annoyance. “You best behave yourself, or I’ll start our deathmatch in Hueco Mundo.”

Yoruichi brushed her whiskers. “I’ll just run away.”

Soi Fon looked bitter, almost fed-up with Yoruichi’s smugness, yet she couldn’t argue with Yoruichi in this place. Even though she was a hot-headed lady, most matters regarding Yoruichi had her composed.

Observing their exchange, Kazuya felt a twinge of guilt. This incarnation of Yoruichi—witty, teasing, always skirting the edge of provocation—was, in part, his own creation. His near-unteasable personality had unwittingly spurred her to sharpen her teasing skills to get a reaction out of him. He had influenced her, more than she wanted to admit.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

At least her mischief remained harmless a majority of the time.

Kazuya narrowed his eyes at the figure dashing their way, sending ripples of Reiryoku through the air with their sharp Shunpo movement. To nobody’s surprise, it was the 12th Squad’s Captain’s abused daughter, Nemu Kurotsuchi. Her near-emotionless green eyes regarded Kazuya alone, completely disregarding the two women by his side.

“Target sighted,” Nemu muttered under her breath. “Master has asked me to escort you. Please follow after me.”

Kazuya gestured her to move. “Lead the way.”

Nemu guided them deeper into the base, leading them into a facility marked with ‘Unauthorized personnel will be subjected to torture and experimentation’. It was a different facility from the last one Kazuya visited, a place where people couldn’t distract him as easily. The corridors here stretched on, each one following the same soulless, sterile design, each more devoid of warmth than the last.

When they finally arrived at the main room, Mayuri could be seen standing amidst an array of equipment—glass tubes bubbling with unidentifiable liquids, steel contraptions adorned with spikes and needles, monitors displaying incomprehensible data streams. He turned around to them, holding a beaker of shimmering, viscous fluid. A hint of Reiatsu could be felt from the liquid.

“Huh?” Kazuya narrowed his eyes, sensing a familiar Reiatsu—Loly’s Reiatsu to be precise. The Arrancar he had stomped to death still lived on in some capacity. Knowing Mayuri’s feats, he wouldn’t be surprised to see Mayuri stitch together an army of undead Arrancars.

“Just a useful tool.” Mayuri put the lid on the beaker. “This liquid can extract any being’s Reiatsu signature from a part of their body. This one currently hosts an Arrancar’s Reiatsu. To be precise, it’s one of the samples you helped me collect.”

Kazuya raised a brow. “Where is my compensation then?”

Mayuri raised his chin, his lips curling into a grin that exposed sharp, unnatural teeth. “Consider the fact that you’re not on my dissection table sufficient compensation.”

“You did try that, but failed miserably.” Kazuya shrugged. “Anyways, your compensation would be some poison disguised as life-changing elixir. I’ll be a fool to trust you with anything.”

He had simply no trust in Mayuri, and he wasn’t afraid to say it to the crazy scientist’s face.

Soi Fon looked between the two with a scowl on her face. “Let’s get down to business. Captain Kurotsuchi, I take it you have prepared the means for our transit.”

Mayuri waved a dismissive hand. “Yes, yes. Always in such a rush, aren’t you, Captain Soi Fon?”

“I have to get back as soon as possible.”

Mayuri moved to tinker with a control panel, and a section of the wall slid back, revealing a secret chamber. “Come with me.”

The hidden chamber was dominated by a large, ornate frame standing in the center like a door. Thick cables snaked from the frame to a series of pods lining the walls, each one housing a sleeping Hollow suspended in some viscous medium. While not at Gillian or Adjuchas level, these Hollows were more powerful than fodders who invade the Living World every now and then.

“Behold,” Mayuri proclaimed with a sweep of his arm. “My own pathway to Hueco Mundo. Let’s get it open.”

He tapped a sequence into the control panel, and the pods lurched to life. The Hollows writhed, their screams muffled within the confined pods. The frame vibrated, a burst of spiritual energy weaving together until a dark seam yawned open in the same manner an Arrancar’s Descorrer split open the void. Even the pathway felt a lot more stable than what a lower-level Hollow could manage.

If it was anyone sane, they would’ve hidden the Hollows somewhere. But Mayuri—he openly and proudly displayed the sadistic workings of his technology. Still, Kazuya was a little impressed by Mayuri’s method of achieving the effects of an Arrancar’s Descorrer ability through multiple Hollows’ survival instinct, which were triggered through the torture device in Mayuri’s hands. Kisuke would have come up with a different solution, one that might require more technical knowledge, but Mayuri had no issue with torturing Hollows/Shinigami/Quincy for his goal.

He was simply heartless.

Yoruichi seemed pissed at Mayuri’s method, but she knew better than to open her mouth and ruin everything.

Soi Fon crossed her arms, looking plain disgusted. “You are insane… Is it stable?”

“Of course,” Mayuri said with a knowing grin. “As stable as any pathway through the Garganta can be. But the longer you wait, the more these creatures—abominations suffer.”

“Spare me your bullshit,” Soi Fon snapped before glancing at Kazuya. “Let’s leave. I don’t want to see his face more than I have to.”

Without his response, she dashed inside the Garganta opening. As Kazuya tried to follow Soi Fon, Nemu stepped in his way.

“Kazuya-kun,” she whispered. “Please… meet me after you return…”

Kazuya hesitated for the briefest moment. He knew any request from Nemu was likely planned by Mayuri as she rarely, if ever, went against his instructions. Yet refusing her could bring consequences he wasn’t willing to inflict—mainly being beaten and stomped on the ground by Mayuri.

He glanced at Mayuri, who shrugged and turned his back. “Alright.”

A faint shadow of relief crossed Nemu’s face before she stepped away from his way.

{I expected Partner to free her from Mayuri since you’re a connoisseur of freedom and all.}

Contrary to Nami’s beliefs, he didn’t feel strongly for Nemu’s freedom. He did strongly despise the way Mayuri treated her, however. Someone so pure and loyal didn’t deserve this horrible treatment.

‘I’ll need to convince her to go against her only purpose, which is serving her creator. I don’t have that much time on hand.’

{Understandable. Have a nice day.}

He stepped into the inky darkness of the Garganta. The sensation was disorienting momentarily before everything turned normal.