I'm really not the number one slacker in Soul Society.

Just as if the television signal had suddenly been cut off, the last few words she uttered became meaningless noise, and she herself stopped moving like a machine that had lost power, and then slowly and upright sat back down.

“Yes, I often get that kind of talk.” Shutaro Ayamaru gave a wry smile. “Having a rare surname isn’t necessarily a good thing.”

"...?!"

Suppressing her shock, Mima calmly asked, "What did you say?"

Shutara Ayamaru looked at him with a puzzled expression and repeated what he had just said.

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Mi Zhen shook her head and corrected, “I meant your upper…”

superior……?

What was it again? Did I... have anything I planned to say?

A look of confusion flashed in Mi Zhen's eyes, and the words she was about to say were left unfinished.

It should be nothing, right? Did I... zone out?

wrong! !

A primal warning emanated from deep within her body, startling Mi Zhen, who immediately erased the past twenty-odd seconds without hesitation.

What happened?! What's going on?!

How could I have forgotten what I wanted to do?!

Mi Zhen swallowed hard, his back instantly soaked with cold sweat. A strong chill clung to his back like a venomous snake, making him feel like he was sitting on pins and needles.

How is this possible? I was hit without even realizing it? What kind of ability is this? Who released it?!

Opposite him, Shutara Ayamaru's expression remained puzzled. She seemed to know nothing, only watching Mima perform a Sichuan opera face-changing act with bewilderment.

Isn't it her?

Mizhen concealed the wavering in her eyes and smiled as usual: "Sorry, I was thinking about some troublesome things."

"Nothing, nothing."

Seemingly taken aback by the fact that the vice-captain had condescended to apologize, Shutora Ayamaru waved her hands frantically, saying, "It's the vice-captain himself who has come to visit; I should feel even more honored..."

"Now that we've joined the team, we're all friends in one big family, so there's no need to be too particular about seniority."

Mizhen continued to exchange pleasantries with her, but inwardly she was filled with unease.

Shutara Ayamaru's expression perfectly matched the image of a newcomer to the workplace, without the slightest flaw, making it impossible for anyone to distinguish between the real and the fake.

Or perhaps... she was also a victim of that mysterious force?

...it's impossible to tell them apart.

I've realized the problem I was facing and have been working to mitigate it over time, but who knows if this impact only happened once?

If Shutara Ayamaru's statement that "the files are fake" is true, it means that the entire Shinigami Academy, and even the entire Seireitei, has been "tampered with" by an unknown force. Just thinking about it sends chills down one's spine.

What method was used...?

Hypnosis? Hallucination? Or something even more terrifying...

Reality distortion?

Oh no, this is really bad.

..........................................

Meanwhile, in hell.

An army of hundreds of hell guards is advancing toward a hill in the deepest part of the land.

These enormous monsters, some tens of meters tall, caused an earth-shaking commotion simply by moving in groups, with billowing smoke and dust spreading in all directions, terrifying the ordinary people who witnessed the scene to the point of near utter despair.

On the surface, this is a very illogical thing.

For true veterans, the Hellguard is only strong and durable; there's nothing else to boast about.

Most of the Asuras initially thought the same way, but without exception, they were all proven wrong.

That's right, a single Hell Guardian isn't actually that strong, but they're invincible, multiply as you fight them, and never give up—truly never give up. For the Hell Guardians, their behavioral logic consists of only two things: "preventing the wicked from leaving Hell" and "killing any wicked they see."

Of course, there is no death in hell, so the actions of the hell guards become nothing more than pure torture.

As the saying goes, water dripping wears away stone. No matter how terrifyingly powerful an opponent is, they will eventually get tired and exhausted. But the Hell Guardians will not. Their actions never stop. They will mechanically kill the wicked again and again without any room for respite.

Therefore, apart from truly insane people, all wicked people are wary of the guardians of hell.

If you can avoid it, then avoid it; if you can't avoid it, then at worst you'll be killed once, but don't fight back. This is the code of conduct for those who commit crimes.

But today, that principle has been broken.

Hundreds of people dressed in black robes stood in formation in front of the hills. Despite their varied expressions, they managed to maintain their line and engaged in a terrifying battle with the approaching Hell Guards.

In an instant, ghostly chants and holy incantations flew together, Cero and Holy Arrows competed for brilliance, and even the figure of a Fullbringer was reflected in them.

In a sense, this can be considered a great unity of forces across the three realms...

However, the number of Hell's guards is infinite, and so is their patience.

The resurrection of the culprit will take time; without a doubt, this is a war destined to be lost.

But the Black-Robed Scourge persisted, preventing any of the hellish guards from entering the depths of the hills.

Because in a cave there, a crucial experiment is taking place.

"The preliminary work... has basically been completed."

The man in the red cloak calmly drew a circular, magic-like shape with his blood, then ordered two tense-looking men in black to go inside. He stood outside and began to speak in a calm tone.

“I’ve already explained the precautions, but to prevent anyone from forgetting them, I’ll repeat them again.” He put his hands behind his back, his voice cold: “Essentially, my method is to ‘deceive Hell,’ allowing you to return to the Three Realms while retaining your identities as culprits. This method will not cause an imbalance of spiritual pressure on either side, and you can continue to enjoy Hell’s immortality.”

Chapter 199: The Hell Incident

"Just as I promised before, after returning to the Three Realms, you can do whatever you want, and there will be no more Hell Guardians to restrict and torture you—but all of this is on the condition that all the Asuras arrive in the Three Realms." The red-cloaked man looked at the two people in the "magic circle." Although they could not see his face, they still instinctively felt a sense of oppression and immediately nodded repeatedly.

"To put it bluntly, you lot are just pawns, probes. If you cause too much of a commotion, get captured alive, and leak the plan, don't blame me for being impolite," he said threateningly. "Understand?"

The two guilty men agreed with considerable fear.

Then, the red-cloaked man softened his tone and directly addressed one of them by name, saying, "Schubert, you can be happy now. After your ordeal in hell, Yhwach can no longer use his holy powers on you. You no longer have to worry about your manhood falling into someone else's hands."

Then he turned to look at the other person and said calmly, "Angato Tensei, I know you want to see your daughter and tear Tsunayoshi Tokinada to pieces, but in any case, if you cause any big commotion before the main force arrives at the Three Realms, I will make you feel a fear greater than being in hell—you should know what I mean."

"I see……"

The middle-aged man in black nodded tremblingly: "I can guarantee that we will not be exposed under any circumstances."

"Good, let's get started."

The man in the red cloak made a hand gesture and then closed his eyes.

The crimson robes billowed under the surge of spiritual pressure, with streaks of light flowing across them like dense scales.

He squatted down, muttering to himself.

"Clouds and mist, water and ripples, reflecting the brilliance of two skies, connect the gates, and let the shadow of my blood become thorns that pierce the world."

The patterns formed by blood shone brightly under the spiritual pressure of the red cloak, then transformed into a straight pillar of light that shot into the sky, shattering large swathes of clouds and then—blasting several cracks in the space itself, like a mirror.

The spatial structure of hell was torn apart in that instant.

In fact, Hell and the Three Realms are mirror images of each other, maintaining a balance with roughly equal spiritual pressure values, like a scale. Once the weight on one side becomes too great or too small, the isolation between the two sides is broken, causing everything to fall apart like toppling dominoes.

Of course, the culprits cannot disrupt this balance, so they can only exploit loopholes in order to escape hell and reach the Three Realms they so desperately desire.

Throughout history, only this red-cloaked figure who suddenly appeared has claimed to possess this technology and has conducted several experiments on people in public—without exception, all the "volunteers" disappeared during the experiments and have never been seen again.

—As everyone knows, there is no death in hell. If a sinner disappears in hell, it can only prove that he is no longer here, but has returned to the Three Realms.

Even if the Red Cloak simply killed them, it might not be such a bad thing—most of the wicked are already thoroughly tired of the torment of hell, and regardless of whether they live or die, they are willing to fight for anything as long as it changes their situation.

This is why the Asuras were willing to follow the red-cloaked figure.

As the experiment progressed, the Hell Guardians seemed to have discovered something and began to stop it at all costs. This made the scum of the Asura Clan increasingly believe in the truth of what the red-cloaked man said—if it couldn't really free the scum from hell, why would the Hell Guardians come to obstruct it on such a large scale?

According to the man in the red cloak, if they conduct a few more experiments in a few months, they can send dozens or even hundreds of people back to the Three Realms at once.

In their fight for freedom, the Sinister people have gone to great lengths to prevent the Hell Guardians from interfering with their experiments, which has led to this great battle.

Soon after, the red light slowly dimmed, and the two men in black within it had completely vanished without a trace.

"It should have been successful."

The red-cloaked figure commented indifferently, "Hopefully he can land in a more comfortable place, like above Seireitei or something."

Behind him, a woman who looked like a guard chimed in, "That's not a funny joke."

"Don't be so demanding of me," the red-cloaked figure replied calmly. "You're not much better yourself, Liuyue."

At that moment, some of the blast from the distant battle blew over here, causing the brim of his hood to flutter slightly, revealing his cold and mature face—

A scar bisected his left cheek, and instead of eyeballs, wisps of black mist floated in his eye sockets, as if something was buried within them.

But you can still tell that it is Watanabe Yama's face.

The woman standing next to him was Liu Yue.

After a brief exchange, they stared at the black ash remaining in the "magic circle" and remained silent for a long time before "Liu Yue" spoke first: "To be honest, it's not too late to get away now. You've already become like this, there's no need to take such a big risk for a 'self' you've never met."

“I’ve already said it.” Red-clad Mi Zhen tugged at her collar and said coldly, “He’s different from me. He still has plenty of opportunities—I can’t change my own life, and I can’t just watch another me end up like that.”

With his movement, a small portion of his skin, hidden beneath the cloak, was revealed—a lifeless, deathly gray, a color even more vibrant than the moon in the sky, almost like…

The initial nothingness.

Liu Yue sighed deeply and lowered her head, her expression somber.

"The landing coordinates have been set." Red-clad Mi Zhen said, looking up at the sky with her hands behind her back, "I hope I'm not so weak in this era that I can't even deal with a few trash like these."

..........................................

In the present world, Mima left Shutara Ayamaru's room with a normal expression.

—Then he immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

It wasn't that he was weak-willed; it was just that the experience he had just gone through was too terrifying.

One's own consciousness has become distorted and alienated without one realizing it, taking something for granted... In every sense, this thing is more absurd than a mirage.