Moonlight, like water, poured onto the land.
Although Hueco Mundo was completely silent, it had a serene beauty under the illumination of the bright moonlight.
However, a Senkaimon suddenly appeared in mid-air, and a large group of Shinigami rushed out of it.
The one leading them was none other than the Gotei 13 Captain-Commander, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto.
Behind him were the Captains of various squads.
"Am I here at a bad time?" Ōban Danjirō asked somewhat awkwardly.
"You're here at exactly the right time," Chika Shihōin joked, patting his shoulder.
Yamamoto said in a deep voice, "Stop joking around. I'm distributing tasks now. Each two people will form a group to search for Yamabuki's whereabouts. After finding him, do not act rashly. Send a message immediately and wait for everyone to arrive before doing anything else."
The Captains nodded.
Ōban Danjirō raised his hand awkwardly, "I'm not a formal member yet... so can I not participate in this operation?"
"Then from now on, you are a formal member. You and Fourth Squad will be a group. Go," the Captain-Commander said in a deep voice.
Even if Ōban Danjirō wanted to refute, it was too late; he had already boarded the pirate ship.
Saitō Furōfushi looked impatient, "This guy is really something, always increasing our workload. When we find him, I'll definitely make him treat me to a big meal! Unohana, let's be a group."
"Mhm," Unohana nodded.
And so, with the Captain-Commander at the core, the remaining Captains, in pairs, advanced in all directions, searching for Yamabuki's whereabouts.
As mentioned before, after the Quincy arrived in Hueco Mundo, they immediately used the intelligence network constructed from the lower-level Hollows. They could basically know every little stir and movement clearly.
And at this moment, the Gotei 13 came out in full force.
When Isaac Mardon, the leader of the Sternritter, received this news, his first reaction was, "Holy crap! They're attacking!"
He immediately gathered all the Sternritter members.
He had been severely wounded by Shijima Chigiri's stab before, but thanks to their complete medical system, although his wound had not fully healed, he was not without the strength to fight if it came down to it.
"Everyone, the Shinigami have come out in full force. Do you remember the two Shinigami who infiltrated Silbern before? According to the intelligence provided by the Hollows, at least ten spiritual pressures of the same level as those two Shinigami have been detected," Mardon said with a grim expression.
As soon as he said this, everyone present looked extremely grim. Yamabuki and Saitō Furōfushi had left them with psychological trauma, completely shattering their impression of Shinigami.
Before that incident, all Quincy believed that Shinigami were about as strong as rabbits, and they could fight and torment them however they wished.
However, Yamabuki's arrival completely shattered this illusion.
It could be said with certainty that in a one-on-one situation, Sternritter members were no match for a Captain.
Even two-on-one, their chances of winning were not high.
They originally thought that such masters were rare throughout Soul Society, but now ten of them had suddenly arrived!
"His Majesty has not yet awakened, and the Royal Guard's duty is to protect His Majesty, so they cannot be deployed. Plus, we've already lost five Sternritter members, so the remaining dozen or so Knights probably aren't a match for the enemy! What do you all think? Either we defend to the death, using our lives and blood to defend His Majesty's dignity. Or we awaken His Majesty early; with His Majesty leading us, we will surely be able to easily crush the enemy. But the cost of awakening His Majesty early..." Mardon said, looking around.
The expressions of the Sternritter members present were all very somber as they recalled their Majesty's ferocity.
If His Majesty were to blame them, he would surely kill people at will, and who died would be entirely up to luck.
"The duty for which our Sternritter was established is to protect His Majesty. I believe, besides a decisive battle and awakening His Majesty, there is a third path. Our accumulated energy can still perform one transfer. Why don't we run!" a Knight suggested.
"Retreat without a fight? Disturbing our morale?" Mardon raised an eyebrow and immediately slapped a big label on him.
The Knight was so scared that he immediately dared not speak again.
"But what you said isn't entirely without reason. Knowing you can't defeat the enemy yet charging in headlong is no different from seeking death. Summon back all Quincy patrolling outside. We will begin the transfer," Mardon said.
We definitely can't win, so if we can't win, we run! It's not shameful!
It's not that our Quincy power is inferior to Shinigami; it's just that His Majesty is still asleep, and we Quincy cannot exert our true strength.
Actually, it was just an excuse for himself to escape.
"How long will the transfer take?" Mardon asked.
The Sternritter members were calculating and, after a moment, said, "We can transfer two thousand kilometers away, and it will take a total of forty minutes to prepare."
"Alright, start preparing now."
This order was quickly sent down, and large numbers of Quincy scattered throughout Hueco Mundo rushed back, not knowing what had happened.
At this point, someone reported.
"Commander, several groups of Quincy have lost contact. We don't know what happened."
Mardon thought for a moment and unhesitatingly decided to abandon these Quincy.
The birth of Wandenreich was to serve His Majesty.
Do you think our transfer is because we are afraid of death?
Actually, we are thinking about His Majesty's safety.
For His Majesty, isn't it normal to abandon these few pawns?
"Commander, please listen to me first. I feel there's something strange about this. Look at this map." A Sternritter Knight opened the map in his hand and then pointed to a path with his finger: "Commander, those missing patrol groups all disappeared from this path. I suspect something might be hunting our soldiers."
Mardon frowned tightly, "Is it Shinigami?"
"No, only Hollow spiritual pressure was detected on this path."
"Then that's it. This is Hueco Mundo. Isn't it normal to encounter Hollows? Don't bother me with such small matters anymore. Get out," Mardon said.
Mardon had been in a very bad mood lately. First, he was stabbed and poisoned, almost dying.
Then his sister died inexplicably at the hands of a Shinigami, leaving him heartbroken.
Working while sick and pushing aside bereavement leave, Mardon was undeniably very dedicated to his job.
But precisely because of this, he lost his judgment.
...
Trist, as a mid-level Quincy officer, was now frantically burying herself in the desert.
She had seen a ghost.
Trist was patrolling with four Quincy when suddenly her four subordinates' heads were gone.
When she looked back again, the bodies had inexplicably disappeared. Silbern was not far ahead, and she believed that as long as she returned to the palace, she could deal with any enemy!
....
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