From what Haruki knew, there were currently three Vasto Lorde-level Menos in Las Noches.
The first was naturally Baraggan Louisenbairn, the King of Hueco Mundo. As the future Segunda Espada, his strength was undeniable.
The second was the scientist of Las Noches, Szayelaporro Granz, the future Octava Espada.
Szayelaporro had once been a powerful Vasto Lorde, even stronger than Baraggan. However, his ambition wasn't combat but the pursuit of the perfect life.
Thus, he served as a scientist in Las Noches.
After Aizen formed the Espada, Szayelaporro was initially the Cero Espada.
However, Szayelaporro didn't care about combat power. In fact, he even despised the combat instincts within him.
As a result, he split off his brother, Ilforte Granz, who had been a battle maniac.
Because he had split off a part of his soul, both entities' power levels dropped significantly. Szayelaporro went from being the strongest Cero Espada to a level where he didn't even qualify for the Espada.
Later, Szayelaporro managed to rejoin the Espada and rose to the eighth position, while Ilforte remained as one of Grimmjow's Fracción until his death.
At this point in time, Szayelaporro hadn't yet split himself, meaning he still possessed the terrifying combat power of a Vasto Lorde.
The third Vasto Lorde was Pikaro, the "102" among the Tres Bestias. They were a group of children merged into one entity. Aizen deemed them unsuitable for the Espada and kicked them out, relegating them to the Tres Bestias.
However, no matter how unruly they were, they were still high-level Menos.
So…
How should I put it? In the original story, Aizen actually had many cards up his sleeve, but he chose not to use them.
The Espada were indeed the ten strongest Arrancar under Aizen, but that didn't mean there weren't others who could rival them.
For example…
Luppi, who temporarily replaced Grimmjow.
And besides Luppi, Pikaro was clearly another. As a Vasto Lorde-level Menos, even if they were relegated to the Tres Bestias, they could easily qualify as an Espada.
If Aizen had made better use of the Tres Bestias, they could have significantly alleviated the pressure on the Espada during both the Karakura Town battle and the Las Noches battle.
However, Aizen probably didn't care much about the Espada in the first place. What he cared about most was his own evolution.
If his subordinates had wiped out the Soul Society, how would he have pushed himself to his limits through combat and made the Hōgyoku submit to him?
Starrk followed behind Haruki, accompanying the Shinigami to the Hollows' kingdom and helping them seize the throne from the King of Hueco Mundo. It all seemed a bit strange.
But Starrk felt a glimmer of hope.
There were many powerful spiritual pressures here. Perhaps…
he wouldn't be alone anymore.
"Who goes there?"
Suddenly, a massive figure appeared before them, roaring.
"I am Kakameer, servant of the King of Hueco Mundo—"
Splat
Before he could finish, Tōsen had already sliced him in half with a single strike. The giant Menos was cleaved into two.
In the next moment, the group used Shunpo to enter the palace.
Inside the palace were over a dozen Hollows, seemingly in the middle of a meeting. At the head sat a skeletal Hollow wearing a crown, seated on the throne of Hueco Mundo. Above him hung the dim, crescent moon.
Haruki looked over and saw that Baraggan's soul ability was "Aging."
'Aging: Releases a deathly aura that causes rapid aging.'
Isn't this just Baraggan's ability?
Baraggan's own ability, his soul ability?
How lazy…
This was the first time Haruki had encountered such a soul ability.
Soul abilities were related to the individual's own powers but also incorporated their traits, past, present, and future experiences, and even higher-dimensional impressions and perceptions of them. All these elements combined to form the "soul ability" that Haruki could obtain.
But upon reflection, Baraggan's defining traits were essentially these two.
One was being the King of Hueco Mundo, and the other was his Resurrección, Arrogante.
Sigh, as the Segunda Espada, he barely had any personal storyline.
Haruki inwardly grumbled, though he thought this was fine. After all, the "Aging" ability itself was incredibly powerful.
In any world, abilities related to time were never weak, especially direct offensive ones like this.
If he could obtain this ability, it wouldn't be a bad deal.
However…
Haruki felt that trying to raise Baraggan's favorability to 80 would be harder than trying to raise Yhwach's favorability.
Forget it. Let's not force it. If I can get it, great. If not, no big deal.
Haruki was quite open-minded, and he wasn't completely without options.
Sometimes, due to conflicting stances, it was impossible to raise certain people's favorability.
But if he befriended Starrk, things would be different.
He could use Starrk's "Soul Division" ability to create clones, then use those clones to raise others' favorability.
His own identity was already set, but the clones were different. They could approach people from entirely different perspectives and stances.
For example, with Baraggan, he could create a clone to assist him and gain his favorability…
Hmm, that still seems too difficult.
With someone like Baraggan, you couldn't expect him to have favorability toward anyone.
But this could work with the Quincies!
Once he permanently obtained the Quincy lineage from Sōken Ishida, he could create a Quincy clone to infiltrate the Wandenreich and use it to raise the Quincies' favorability.
This was precisely why he had to appear before Starrk. If he missed this opportunity, he didn't know when he'd get another chance to obtain the "Soul Division" ability.
Lost in thought, Haruki zoned out for a moment. When he snapped back to reality, Aizen had already dealt with Baraggan.
That was fast…
Looking at the disgruntled Baraggan, Haruki almost wanted to laugh.
"Well then…"
Aizen glanced at Haruki, seemingly sensing his mood, and said, "Murakami, you'll stay in Las Noches."
"?"
Haruki was stunned. "What do you mean?"
Aizen smiled. "We still need to return to the Soul Society. Naturally, Las Noches will be under your care."
???
Are you kidding me?
You're leaving me alone in Las Noches?
You just beat up Baraggan. Are you sure he won't turn around and bite me once you're gone?!
...
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