One day, an unimaginable calamity erupted within the otherwise tranquil sands of Hueco Mundo. A group calling itself the "Peace Squad" emerged—a trio that hunted every Hollow they came across without a shred of mercy.
"Chomp! Chomp! Munch munch munch!"
Ren had never been as happy as he was now, constantly shoveling Hollow essence into his mouth. To be able to eat his fill without having to lift a single finger in the hunt... this feeling was high enough to make him fly!
Little U was also eating a piece of Hollow tissue. Ever since he decided to grow stronger, he had followed Ren's lead and started devouring other Hollows. Lilynette sat beside them, resting her chin on one hand as she watched the two of them. Strangely, her power seemed to grow steadily even without devouring her kind—the underlying principle remained a mystery to Ren.
"Ren, how are you feeling lately? Is it almost time for your Arrancarization?" Lilynette asked.
"I feel like I'm still a bit short. Don't rush me; how long have I even been in the upper levels?" Ren replied nonchalantly. Although time was a nebulous concept in Hueco Mundo, Ren felt he had spent less than a tenth of the time here compared to his grind in the lower levels. He wasn't in a hurry.
Time drifted by. Gradually, Ren lost count of how many of his kind he had consumed. He only knew that after every hunt, a mountain of Hollow corpses—ranging from low-level fodder to Adjuchas—would be piled before them. All he had to do every day was eat.
I'm starting to feel like I'm being kept as a pet, Ren thought with a briefly odd expression before returning to his meal as if nothing had happened.
One day, while the three were resting, a group of "humans" dressed in black robes appeared in their line of sight.
"Shinigami?" Ren's eyes narrowed. He reached out to restrain the restless Lilynette, whispering, "Don't provoke them."
"Why not? They're just Shinigami!" Lilynette asked, confused.
"No reason. Just try not to mess with them if we can help it." Ren shook his head slightly, offering no further explanation.
In his view, the top-tier combat power of the Soul Society far outweighed that of Hueco Mundo. To him, the best course of action was to stay off their radar entirely. Only after the squad of Shinigami vanished from view did Ren let out a sigh of relief. Lilynette, however, looked dissatisfied.
"I'm telling you, Ren, you're way too timid. Those Shinigami were clearly weak; you could have killed them all in an instant. Why be afraid?"
"You're making things too simple, you brat!" Ren snapped. "Shinigami are part of a clear, structured organization. If we kill those guys, stronger Shinigami will come to Hueco Mundo to investigate their deaths. If they find us, we'll have to kill them too, which will lead to even stronger ones coming. It's a cycle. Eventually, we'll attract someone we can't handle and lose our lives. It's better to just not provoke them from the start and let everyone live in peace."
Lilynette rubbed her chin, appearing to try and process Ren's logic. But after a few seconds, she gave up on thinking.
"Don't give me that deep philosophical crap! I don't get it!" Lilynette ruffled her grass-green hair in frustration. "Basically, it's just because we aren't strong enough, right? Once we become super strong, those Shinigami won't dare mess with us!"
"That's the gist of it. But the gap between Hollows and Shinigami is too vast. Relying only on ourselves makes it nearly impossible to surpass them," Ren said.
"Huh? No way! There are way more of us than there are of them!" Lilynette argued, full of her own brand of confidence. Ren gave her a look and went back to eating.
For some reason, he felt that the energy density within the Hollows lately had decreased. It wasn't a glaring drop, but Ren felt it nonetheless. Fortunately, with Lilynette hunting for them, there was more than enough food to go around, so he didn't dwell on the slight loss.
However, he noticed that every time he woke up, the leftover food would be completely gone—taken by Little U. Ren found this baffling.
I never realized Little U was such a glutton, Ren grumbled internally.
After finishing his meal, a sudden wave of drowsiness hit Ren. He informed the other two as his eyelids grew heavy. He leaned back and fell into a deep sleep.
Lilynette sighed and looked over at Little U, who was hanging upside down from a tree. He closed his eyes and began to sleep as well. Previously, Little U never slept; it was a habit he had picked up from watching Ren. At first, he hadn't understood the point, but after trying it once, he had grown to enjoy the sensation.
With Lilynette standing guard, they didn't have to worry about danger.
As the two slept, Lilynette sat on a rock, staring into the distance. Unbeknownst to any of them, the Hollow corpses behind them began to dissolve at a visible rate, turning into pure essence that surged into Lilynette's body, bolstering her power. If a higher-dimensional being were watching, they would see countless maws devouring the corpses until they were all assimilated into her.
But no one saw it, and even Lilynette herself didn't seem to realize what was happening. She simply stared at the horizon, lost in thought.
Ren was sleeping soundly, but his consciousness had arrived in a strange place. It was pitch black with nothing in sight; if he couldn't see his own white body, he would have doubted if light even existed here.
This place again? What is going on? Lately, every time I sleep, I end up in this void, Ren frowned. When he first arrived here, he thought it was his Inner World—that if he called out, he would find his Zanpakuto.
But he quickly realized: I'm a Hollow. Since when do Hollows have Zanpakuto?
He had tried exploring the space, but no matter how far he walked, he never found an end. The space didn't trap him, however; he could return to reality the moment he wished.
"Heeey!! Is anyone here?! Old man mentor? System? Divine artifact?" Ren shouted into the void, but not even an echo returned.
Getting no response, Ren sighed. With a single thought, his consciousness returned to his body.
Hueco Mundo
Ren opened his eyes and looked at the spot where the "Hollow Mountain" of corpses had been. It was gone. He looked up at Little U hanging from the tree and sighed.
"This guy... he can really eat."
As Ren and Little U woke up, the trio's hunt resumed. However, in a place they hadn't noticed, a hidden gaze had quietly fixed upon them.