This virtual experiment had actually succeeded.
"As expected of something created by Aizen—definitely a masterpiece!"
"Roar!"
Shun, having lost his mind due to the imperfections in his transformation, charged at Ren like a wild beast. His eyes were frenzied as he swung his sword with reckless abandon.
At this moment, he had lost all sense of reason. Like an out-of-control animal, he bared his fangs at Ren, attacking with nothing but primal instinct.
"There's a noticeable increase in spiritual pressure, speed, and power… but he's lost the most important thing—his rationality. What remains is only the instinct of a wild beast."
Ren did not bother drawing his sword. Instead, he used his bare hand as a blade to parry Shun's relentless strikes.
With his current strength as a lieutenant, it was difficult for Ren to be an equal match.
Thus, he merely defended himself, biding his time. Soon, his resistance faltered.
A dark-gold thunderclad hand sliced through the air like a steel blade, piercing into Shun's left shoulder.
"Roar!"
The wound only seemed to make Shun more feral. He howled madly, thrashing at Ren with renewed frenzy.
Ren, however, simply shook his head in disappointment as blood dripped from Shun's pierced shoulder.
"You don't even have high-speed regeneration?"
It seemed that, while the Hollowfication was successful, its strength was nowhere near the level of Ichigo Kurosaki's—or even Aizen's. At best, it was on par with the Masked Legion.
After toying with Shun for a while, Ren quickly lost interest.
"Click!"
With a snap of his fingers, the thunderball embedded inside Shun's body surged outward, locking him in place.
Ren stepped forward and, with a swift motion, shattered the Hollow mask on Shun's face.
Instantly, the crazed Hollowfication dissolved—the fiery-red spikes on his limbs dissipating along with the void hole in his chest.
"Bang!"
Now back in his human form, Shun collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.
It wasn't until half a day later that he finally stirred awake.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw a blade flying toward him—one that resembled a steel fork. Instinctively, he reached out and caught it.
"I'll let you hold onto the Tarasuka sword for now," Ren's voice rang out. "Train hard. If you wish to serve under me, you'll need at least the strength of a captain."
With those words, Ren disappeared without a trace.
Only a tattered piece of cloth fluttered in the air as Shun remained kneeling on the ground, stunned.
He looked at the Tarasuka sword in his hands—retrieved and returned once more. He could still recall the exhilarating surge of power from when he was Hollowfied.
"So this is… Hollowfication."
Shun's eyes gleamed with excitement. He now understood that Ren had not deceived him—he had truly granted him the power to transcend the limits of a Shinigami.
"Hahaha!"
"With this power, I can definitely…"
"I must…!"
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the Hueco Mundo desert, Ren casually sliced open a black cavity.
Ito Makoto, glancing at the corpse beside him, leaped into the portal without hesitation.
Ren's death clone had originally been assigned to guard the Human World, providing the perfect opportunity for him to infiltrate Hueco Mundo. Now, he had spent nearly a month here.
With Halibel subdued, the Tarakusa sword recovered, and even his own Hollowfication process slightly advanced, his mission was complete. It was time to return to the Human World.
Though the Command Spirit Device had not detected any irregularities—meaning the Soul Society had yet to notice his unauthorized departure—Ren knew better than to be complacent. His assignment lasted only three months, and he had already spent one-third of that time in Hueco Mundo.
Having sent off his death clone, Ren resumed his journey to recruit new subordinates.
As night descended, the pale moon cast an eerie glow over the land.
In the desolate jungle, twisted shadows intertwined beneath the moonlight. From a distance, the darkened forest resembled the gaping maw of the underworld, poised to devour everything in sight.
Deep within the woods, a grotesque sight unfolded—hills of Hollow corpses piled atop one another, forming a true mountain of the dead.
At the base of the grisly mound sat two figures, cross-legged and silent, exuding an air of solitude.
One was a tall man with short dark brown hair, blue eyes, and a light beard that gave him an almost harmless appearance.
However, unlike ordinary men, a fragment of a Hollow mask hung around his jawbone like a necklace, and a circular void hole gaped in the center of his chest.
The other was a petite girl with short, light-blue hair. A purple flame-shaped marking adorned her left eye, and a broken Hollow mask covered half of her face.
Clearly, both were Arrancar.
The tranquil night was soon disturbed.
Under the moonlight, a towering Hollow emerged—a monstrous figure clad in centipede-like armor.
The rustling of its many legs shattered the silence as it advanced toward them…
Who else could it be, if not Ren?
After parting ways with Shun, Ren wandered through Hueco Mundo and eventually arrived at this place by chance. The overwhelming spiritual pressure lingering in the air, coupled with the ghastly sight of a sea of corpses and blood, painted a grim picture.
"No wonder this entire region is deserted for miles… so this is the reason."
The two figures before him were none other than Coyote Starrk—the Primera Espada of the original Espada—and his counterpart, Lilynette Gingerbuck.
Coyote Starrk was the first Hollow in Hueco Mundo to evolve into an Arrancar on his own. However, his spiritual pressure was so immense that weaker Hollows perished merely by approaching him. Burdened by solitude, he had spent his existence searching for a companion strong enough to stand by his side.
Lilynette, on the other hand, was born from Starrk's loneliness—created when he split his soul in two. Though they shared the same soul, they possessed separate consciousnesses.
To Ren, this method of soul-splitting seemed crude, causing a significant decline in combat power. It was far inferior to his own cloning ability, which maintained strength without sacrificing his potential.
"Aren't you two just going to sit there forever?"
Ren spoke as he approached Starrk, settling down beside him with casual ease.
Starrk turned his head slightly, his expression betraying mild surprise.
"You… are… fine?"
His voice was slow, the words dragging as though he hadn't spoken in ages. His speech was slightly slurred, as if unused to conversation.
Hearing this, Ren responded by unleashing a powerful surge of spiritual pressure, causing the surrounding corpses to tremble.
Lilynette gasped at the sudden burst of energy, clearly shaken by the overwhelming force. She didn't recover until Starrk placed a hand on her shoulder, silently grounding her.
"I see… I misunderstood."
Starrk's eyes flickered with realization as he observed Ren.
"So, you're a Vasto Lorde… You've already begun your journey to becoming an Arrancar."
His demeanor shifted in an instant.
A wave of intense spiritual pressure erupted from Starrk, pressing down on Ren like an invisible force of nature.
Ren, unfazed, responded in kind—his own spiritual energy clashing fiercely against Starrk's.
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