'Lilynette, you really did betray me!'
A flash of heartache crossed Starrk's eyes. He felt as though a tragic, thick barrier had formed between him and Lilynette.
Though, under Aizen's scrutinizing gaze, he also really wanted to hide behind Naraku Sora.
Regarding this Soul Reaper who had just appeared in Las Noches, although he wasn't entirely sure of his identity, judging by his Hollow instincts...
The man was absolutely absurdly strong.
The unprecedented pressure he emitted was not the slightest bit inferior to Naraku Sora beside him.
"Just like Arturo, a Vasto Lorde who achieved Arrancarification through his own power. Furthermore, analyzing your spiritual signatures, it seems you two originally belonged to the same entity."
Aizen's expression was calm as he spoke with an indifferent tone, "I see."
"To forcibly split your soul yet still maintain the state of a Vasto Lorde, and even achieve a more perfect Arrancarification... your research value is quite high."
"I am somewhat curious. Exactly how did you manage to do it?"
Starrk cast a pleading gaze toward Lilynette, who was behind Naraku Sora.
However, he found the green-haired girl hiding her head behind the man's back, decisively choosing to escape reality.
Left with no other choice, Starrk could only recount their origins.
There was nothing else he could do. He couldn't win in a fight, and he couldn't run away.
Before the other party showed any strong malicious intent, it was best to obediently comply.
"Unlike the vast majority of Hollows in Hueco Mundo, we were already a Vasto Lorde from the moment we were born. Originally, we were just one person."
Starrk frowned. Those past memories could hardly be called pleasant.
The extreme loneliness was enough to drive anyone to madness.
"Because our Reiatsu was too powerful, any weak Hollows that entered its range would have their souls ground away until they died."
"Those who were slightly stronger chose to stay away out of fear."
"Over the long years, we felt an unprecedented loneliness. To escape this agony, we ultimately chose to split our soul."
"Thus, Lilynette and I were born."
"Although doing so caused our strength to drop significantly, we do not regret it. After all, the taste of loneliness is unbearable."
Aizen looked thoughtful. "A strong emotional need, is it?"
As an expert in Hollow research, although he lacked relevant data, he still immediately analyzed the true reason behind Starrk and Lilynette's soul division.
"It indeed holds great research value, and Szayelaporro will be very interested as well."
During his recent research in Las Noches, Aizen had dealt with the sole scientist of Hueco Mundo quite a bit.
Starrk and Lilynette's condition almost perfectly aligned with Szayelaporro's long-standing pursuit.
"Should we dissect them?"
Someone chimed in from the side. "I can help you hold this guy's head down."
'?' Starrk thought, utterly bewildered.
'Lord Naraku, why must it come to this!'
'Aren't we on the same side?'
He suddenly felt that this place was incredibly cold, as if a piercing chill was drilling through his pores straight into his internal organs, causing his body to tremble uncontrollably.
"There's no need," Aizen shook his head. "Their physical structures are largely the same as others. We have already collected enough samples previously; dissecting them wouldn't yield any practical significance."
Hearing this, Starrk finally breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could even relax...
Aizen's voice rang out once more:
"What truly matters is the soul."
"We could try extracting both of their souls entirely, then place them into a Reishi centrifuge and blend them together to see if they can be restructured and fused through this method."
"The resulting data would be extremely important for our research."
Starrk and Lilynette's pupils quaked.
They looked at Aizen as if they were staring at a demon.
Compared to Naraku Sora's threat of sheer force, the man before them was more like an evil spirit crawling out of hell, the absolute epitome of the world's malice.
To casually suggest extracting their souls...
He could no longer be called human.
Subconsciously, the two of them huddled closer to Naraku Sora.
In this dangerous and frigid Las Noches, only by this man's side could they feel the slightest trace of warmth.
Naraku Sora shook his head, wearing an expression of disappointment as he sighed.
"Sōsuke, I suspect you're being a bit too extreme."
"They only have one soul. Forcibly extracting it will just cause the two of them to die on the spot."
"If you don't produce any results on the first try, wouldn't that be a waste of two precious materials?"
Aizen frowned. "Then what do you suggest?"
"By slicing them up, of course."
Naraku Sora grinned, speaking with absolute confidence.
"As the saying goes, the first step is always the hardest."
"Since they already have the experience of splitting their soul once, they can absolutely do it a second or third time."
"Once their souls finish regenerating, we can continuously slice and divide them. That way, we'll have an endless, inexhaustible supply of experimental materials."
"Sōsuke, draining the pond to catch all the fish is ill-advised."
Hearing this, Aizen couldn't help but fall silent.
'Does this guy have some sort of misunderstanding about the word extreme?'
As for Lilynette, who was clinging to Sora's leg, tears were welling up in her eyes, her small face written with pure despair.
According to Naraku Sora's words, wouldn't she have to spend the rest of her life constantly having her soul sliced apart?
'I don't want that!'
Out of some semblance of sympathy, Aizen ultimately decided against this "conservative" yet radical proposal.
Compared to their research value, Starrk and Lilynette's combat prowess was what Las Noches truly needed.
Despite Starrk being beaten black and blue by Naraku Sora without any ability to fight back...
...if he were to face other Menos Grandes, the outcome would be completely devoid of suspense.
Even the former King of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan, was no match for Starrk.
An instant barrage of a thousand Gran Rey Ceros could completely obliterate Baraggan's power of senescence.
Coupled with the significant gap in their Reiatsu, Starrk was undeniably the strongest in Las Noches, second only to Aizen and Naraku Sora.
As for Szayelaporro...
He was merely a researcher, a scientist of Hueco Mundo, lacking the raw power of the others.
The rest hadn't even achieved Arrancarification yet.
Facing a Vasto Lorde like Starrk who had become an Arrancar on his own, they would have even less ability to resist.
They might not even be able to withstand a simple release of his Reiatsu.
Whether one was an Arrancar or not was still incredibly important for a Menos Grande.
It represented a gap in strength of at least several times over.
Aizen's return to Hueco Mundo this time, aside from preventing a certain someone from causing trouble, was for another extremely important matter.
The project he had been researching all this time had finally made new progress due to a chance occurrence.
Inside the laboratory, two figures leaned close to a giant container, watching the magnificent changes within with serious expressions.
Dozens of souls were gathered inside, fluttering up and down like butterflies, scattering countless fine specks of dust.
Then, under the influence of a speck of light resembling dust, they were forcibly merged together, giving birth to millions of intricate transformations.
Burning, ascending, annihilating, evolving, decomposing...
Finally, they formed an irregularly shaped, translucent gemstone that emitted a faint glow.
Seeing this, an imperceptible flash of fanaticism crossed Aizen's eyes, and his suspended heart finally settled.
The direction of his research was correct.
Although it wasn't a complete success yet, the current phase of the experiment could be brought to a close.
Wrapping the gemstone in Reiatsu, he cast a Kidō to seal it. A series of complex incantations cascaded over it, thoroughly sealing away the gemstone's power.
After finishing this, Aizen looked at the head leaning in beside him.
"Did you understand what you just saw?"
Naraku Sora shook his head. "Not a clue."
Although he said that, he could still guess a few things from Aizen's expression.
If nothing unexpected happened, that gemstone just now should be the prototype of the Hōgyoku.
To think that even with his interference, Aizen still walked down this path. For a moment, Naraku Sora's feelings were inevitably somewhat complicated.
Furthermore, looking at the timeline, it seemed to have happened a bit earlier than expected.
'Where exactly did things deviate?'
Naraku Sora couldn't help but fall deep into thought.
"The preliminary research is a great success. I have named this creation the 'Hōgyoku'. Although it is not yet fully complete, judging from the observed data, it harbors infinite potential."
"Of course, its current applications are relatively limited."
Aizen looked at Naraku Sora and spoke in a deep voice, "Sora, it is just about time to attempt the Arrancarification experiments."
Hearing this, Naraku Sora's eyes lit up.
'Is the golden age of Las Noches finally arriving?'
Tier Harribel had been extremely troubled lately.
As the initiator of the plan to collapse Las Noches, she was well aware of her original goal.
That was to kill the Soul Reaper named Naraku Sora, return Hueco Mundo to a state of freedom, and ensure that the Hollow race would no longer suffer from the rule and persecution of Soul Reapers.
However, after she arrived at Las Noches as a captive, she discovered—
The so-called "rule" was completely different from what she had imagined.
The crude palaces had been entirely torn down and rebuilt. Brand-new structures rose from the ground one after another, and even the earth, which was originally nothing but silvery-white sand, had been replaced by sturdy stone bricks.
Solid roads crisscrossed between the buildings, connecting them to one another.
Although the style remained minimalist, the extremely simple lines gave off a unique aesthetic appeal.
Ever since she arrived at Las Noches, the place had been taking on a new look every single day.
Moreover, the ones completing the palace renovations were none other than the Menos Grandes who were supposedly enslaved.
What Harribel completely failed to understand was...
These Adjuchas, immersed in their construction work, not only showed zero resistance, but their faces were filled all day with smiles that couldn't be seen anywhere else in Hueco Mundo.
Even the inherent brutality of their Hollow nature had diminished significantly.
If she hadn't been told beforehand, she would have thought this place was some sort of zoo in the World of the Living.
'Do these guys even look the slightest bit like Hollows anymore?'
Most importantly, ever since she became a captive, the Soul Reaper hadn't restricted her freedom at all, even granting her the authority to roam freely throughout Las Noches.
This inevitably left Harribel deeply confused.
'What exactly is the purpose of that Soul Reaper named Naraku Sora doing all this?'
'It can't possibly be what he said during our battle... keeping me around to act as some sort of personal plaything, right?'
Thinking of this, Harribel subconsciously looked down at her body, which had just begun to take on a human form, and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.