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

"Then it's up to you." Mima lowered her eyes.

"Looks like... the busy season is almost here."

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

With Aizen's situation temporarily resolved, let's turn our attention back to the Seireitei.

There are a total of 6,254 Shinigami in the Seireitei, plus their various subordinate organizations, and even the people in Rukongai, totaling more than 50,000 people of all kinds, who have been mobilized under the joint orders issued by the Gotei 13 and the 46 Chambers.

The first challenge... is naturally the capability of the command structure.

Chapter 207: This wave is called returning to one's original job

This situation is different from the search two months ago. Nearly half of the members of the 46th Chamber died in an extremely bloody manner. The enemy even issued a challenge in front of the Captain-Commander and then retreated unscathed. Without a doubt, this was a double slap in the face to Seireitei.

Therefore, the mobilization of personnel was carried out on a scale fully prepared for wartime.

But the problem is... the Soul Society hasn't faced such a serious problem in almost a thousand years.

Even in the small-scale Quincy war more than 80 years ago, only a small number of elites were deployed. Most of the rookies could only watch and applaud, and were not qualified to participate. This resulted in most Shinigami having only a joking impression of crisis plans in the atmosphere of daily training. Once they started playing for real, they made a lot of mistakes.

In just one morning, hundreds of problems and conflicts have arisen in the personnel transfer!

So the question is, who will bear these burdens?

It definitely wasn't the 46th Chamber; those bigwigs wouldn't care about such trivial matters. Nor was it Old Man Shan; if he had to manage these minor details, he would have been exhausted to death before the enemy even arrived.

Therefore, all these minor issues piled up on the shoulders of the 5th, 8th, and 10th Divisions.

There's no way around it; the Fifth Division is the rescue team, the Eighth Division is the intelligence team, and the Tenth Division is the special forces team. These matters are naturally within their responsibilities.

Looking at the ever-growing pile of incident reports on the table, Mima could only stare speechlessly at the heavens.

He never expected that the preliminary work for the deputy commander of the intelligence agency would be dealing with neighborhood committee aunties... a whole host of issues similar to neighborhood disputes.

This is probably what they mean by "making trouble is fun for a while, but it leads to disaster later."

"Disobedient, unable to understand instructions, late, following the wrong group..."

He sighed deeply: "Can't you ask some decent questions? This is too basic."

"sure."

Chunshui poked his head over from the side and handed over a report: "The large-scale operation of the Shinigami has caused some forces in Rukongai to start a riot. Just now, a gang clashed with a squad of the Third Division because the Shinigami wanted to investigate their hideout."

"What's going on..." Mi Zhen rolled her eyes. "Why are we suddenly acting out a bandit-suppression drama?"

“This is the time to wipe them out.” Shunsui shook the report in his hand. “This was even an order personally given by the old man of the mountain. You should know that some forces in Rukongai have always been very unruly. The Gotei 13 has wanted to wipe them out for a long time, but their intelligence is very good, and they can always move their positions before the Seireitei sends people out.”

Mima raised an eyebrow: "So...?"

“So, this is an opportunity,” Chunshui said with a smile. “When almost all the Grim Reapers come out in full force, those bandits will have no way to hide no matter how hard they try. It’s the perfect opportunity to wipe them out in one fell swoop.”

That's true... but what does it have to do with me?

Mima immediately sensed something was wrong and said warily, "Captain, you wouldn't be thinking of...?"

“It’s that ‘Could it be’ thing.” Chunshui stepped forward and patted Mizhen on the shoulder. “The Covert Forces have roughly confirmed the bandits’ base, so it’s your turn to move out.”

The implication was clear: Mijin was to be the vanguard.

This kind of thing has happened many times. Ever since Yama "revealed" his abilities, anyone who goes on field missions, except for the brutes of the Eleventh Division, would have the thought of "why not ask Watanabe Yama to give it a try, since he won't die anyway" when faced with a dangerous situation that he couldn't control.

More than a decade has passed, and it's almost become a fixed mindset.

Although he could earn a lot of money as a foreign player, this kind of truly instrumental career still made him feel somewhat uneasy...

"So even though I've been promoted to vice captain, I'm still just a minefield cleanup crew..."

He sighed softly, "Alright, I'll go—where? When?"

"Go to District 59 of East Rukongai now. The Secret Service is already waiting there." Shunsui handed Mima a map, then put his hands in his pockets and said, "Those bandits are very strong. The former vice-captain of the Ninth Division died at the hands of their leader, but we couldn't get any useful information. This time we finally located them, so we have to deal with them as soon as possible—that's why the Second Division specifically requested your assistance."

"Hmm? Squad Two?" Mima frowned, sensing something was amiss. "Who's leading this?"

Chunshui smiled and gave an unexpected answer: "It's Captain Soi Fon."

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

The tedious journey is not worth describing. In short, after Mima placed his "main body" in the Eighth Division's barracks, he immediately set off and finally arrived at the meeting point designated by the Second Division after more than an hour of travel.

Come to think of it, it's been a while since I've done this kind of thing, and I kind of miss it.

As soon as I arrived there, I saw Soi Fon standing on the treetop, and countless bald men dressed in black lined up like crows in the woods.

LOL, it's not secret at all.

Mima's lips twitched a few times. He sighed and walked forward. After showing his vice-captain's armband to the bald man in black who was on guard duty on the perimeter, he jumped up to the treetop in a few swift movements and started talking to Soi Fon.

"I am coming."

He looked at the place being watched by numerous members of the Covert Forces—a dilapidated but very spacious courtyard—and shrugged, saying, "So, what exactly is going on?"

"Watanabe Mi... Vice Captain."

Soi Fon's attention seemed to be entirely focused on the courtyard in the distance, and she only gave a perfunctory reply to Yama's greeting. She only became serious when she began to explain the whole story: "In short, according to the Second Division's observation, this gang leader seems to possess some kind of power related to hell."

Mima: "?"

"Wait, wait, wait, I can't believe I heard that right, can I?"

Miumi Zhen rubbed his temples a few times: "A bandit leader from the outskirts of the city has power connected to hell?"

“I know this sounds strange.”

Soi Fon sighed with a sense of empathy: "You should know how this happened. The Third Division clashed with a group of these bandits' subordinates. After their intimidation failed, they killed them all and then followed the trail to their hideout—because their leader had a record of killing a lieutenant, so the Third Division didn't dare to be careless and sent a request for help to you and the Onmitsukido."

“That’s what it says in the report, I’ve read it.” Mima nodded. “How does this relate to hell again?”

"These are the autopsy results." Soi Fon stuffed a few sheets of paper into Mima's hand. "The Third Division took the bandit's body to the Fourth Division for a look, and they found... hellish miasma inside."

"what?"

Mima quickly glanced at the newly written autopsy reports in her hand, and the result... was indeed as Soi Fon had said.

The autopsy report was sent out by the Fourth Division after he set off. What was originally just dealing with a gang leader quickly became serious after the Fourth Division discovered the miasma. Following an emergency decision by the Seireitei, Soi Fon and almost the entire Execution Squad were dispatched to ensure the safety of the operation.

What...what are you doing...?

Although Shubert and Anhedo Tenjin weren't particularly strong, they at least possessed genuine third-level spiritual power, making them slightly weaker captains. If their immortality and unique abilities were taken into account, their rating would be even higher. The fact that such individuals were sent out as an advance force was quite frightening, fully demonstrating the abundance of martial virtue among the Shura Clan.

But the bandit leader in Rukongai...

Regardless of whether he has any connection with the Asura Clan, just in terms of style, this guy has completely dragged down the level of Hell!

According to the report submitted by the Third Division, the gang he is about to face is called "Shindou Group," and the leader is called "Shindou Ryuga." His abilities are unknown. He is over 400 years old and is a strongman who fought his way up in the 76th ward of East Rukongai in his early years. He has strength no less than that of the vice-captain. After killing a passing Shinigami on patrol, he obtained an asaka-katana—which is roughly equivalent to a beggar version of Kenpachi Zaraki. Unfortunately, his strength is not very good. His peak achievement was killing the then vice-captain of the Ninth Division about a hundred years ago.

Because of Shindou Ryuga's eccentric and bloodthirsty nature, his name was always on the Seireitei's wanted list. Especially after he killed the then vice-captain, even Kensei's former captain personally came out to hunt him down. However, this man was extremely cunning and always managed to escape capture, continuing to cause trouble in Rukongai, making the Shinigami, especially the Shinigami of the 9th Division, hate him to the core.

After reviewing his resume, even a fool could tell that this guy was definitely involved in some dirty deal with some bigwig in the Seireitei, or was simply someone's black glove. Otherwise, he could never have repeatedly escaped capture with his almost prophetic methods. It was only this time that the old man was really angry and wanted to crush some guys he didn't like but couldn't kill while investigating the forces of Hell. Otherwise, Shindou Ryuga probably wouldn't have found himself surrounded by his headquarters on the very first day of the investigation.

That being said, this guy doesn't seem like the kind of person who could be associated with hell at all...

However, the Fourth Division did indeed find hellish miasma in the corpses of the Shindou Group members.

This is just ridiculous...

"Those overly complex matters need to be investigated further. In short..."

Mima thought for a moment, then said, "The current arrangement is... I'll go in first to scout things out, lure out Shindou Ryuga, and ideally find out his background, then Captain Soi Fon, you can come up and deal with him, right?"

Chapter 208: Your Majesty, a hairy-faced, thunder-mouthed fellow is coming to kill us!

"Although the explanation is a bit brief, that's roughly it..."

Soi Fon nodded: "Actually, I was urgently summoned here after the Fourth Division obtained the autopsy results—just like the Captain-Commander said, in the current situation where the situation is unclear, we must be extremely cautious about any actions taken by the Hell forces."

As she said, in yesterday's meeting, the old man gave a strict order, instructing all team members, including the captains, that "if any trace of the forces of hell is discovered, they must be on high alert and must not act rashly." If any serious consequences result from rash actions, they will be punished severely.

That's probably why Soi Fon, whose tone still carried a hint of disdain, patiently waited for Yama to arrive, instead of just carrying a missile up and blowing him up...

In any case, when dealing with a bandit leader whose best achievement was barely killing a deputy captain who was more inclined to clerical work and then seriously wounding him before fleeing, the combination of a captain and a deputy captain was already the most cautious one.

"Okay, I understand."

Mima rubbed her temples, took a few deep breaths, and then jumped down from the tree branch: "In short, you can confirm that Shindou Ryu is inside, right?"

Soi Fon nodded: "That's right."

“Then I’ll go.” Mima swung his arms as a warm-up. “Although you should be able to see it, let’s agree on how to call for help beforehand, shall we? For example, if I shoot a Blue Fire Drop into the sky, it means the situation is already very serious. How about Captain Soi Fon shoots a Bankai directly into the courtyard?”

"..."

Soi Fon paused for a moment, her eyes showing a hint of "I really want to complain, but that would damage my image, so I'll hold back," before sighing, "You should know the common hand signals, just use those..."

"Yes, ma'am." Mi Zhen shrugged and walked into the courtyard with his hands in his pockets.

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

In short, now that he has been promoted to vice-captain, there is no need for him to continue to painstakingly cultivate the image of a weak fifth seat. In the past two months, Mi Zhen has subtly made those around him believe that he has undergone very hard training after suffering a huge blow, which has greatly increased his strength, at least to the level worthy of the vice-captain position.

Therefore, he doesn't need to deliberately chant a spell every time he releases something as trivial as Twin Lotus Azure Fire Drop or Thunder Roar Cannon.

Furthermore, one can act a bit more arrogantly; after all, a master should have the demeanor of a master.

Like now.

After barging into the gate of the abandoned courtyard as if no one else was there, Mi Zhen ignored the two gazes coming from the shadows under the eaves. Instead, she crossed her arms and shouted in a very confident voice, "Listen up, you people inside! You're surrounded! If you know what's good for you, come out and surrender! You might be spared, otherwise, you'll all lose your heads!"

...This line seems to exude a strange, sycophantic air, is it just my imagination?

After all, he sensed several not-so-weak spiritual pressure auras as he approached the courtyard—three seated officers and one vice-captain. People of that strength couldn't possibly not realize that he was surrounded by death. It would be better for him to openly display his power from the beginning, which would actually create a certain deterrent effect.

To be honest, Mi Zhen wasn't really interested in acting out this kind of thing. If he were the only one on the mission, he would definitely just blindfold himself, swiftly turn all the bandits into human stumps, and then slowly interrogate them. Whether he could get any information out of them or not, he would just burn them to ashes. After all, they were all vicious criminals with clear criminal records, so killing them wouldn't cause him any psychological burden.

But one should fulfill their responsibilities in their position...

Just consider this trip a chance to hone your acting skills; he's done similar things many times before anyway.

A few seconds after he finished speaking, a commotion broke out in the courtyard.

Standing at this distance, Mima could even feel the few decent spiritual pressures inside suddenly become turbulent—they were probably enraged.

Come to think of it, if a bandit could tolerate someone defecating on his head in front of him, could he still be called a bandit?