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

We're all sensible people, so there's no need to spell things out too clearly.

After calming down, Mima also realized that although Urahara Ryoka knew that Watanabe could travel through time, they were all working for the Soul King. They were all on the same side, so what was there to be afraid of?

Judging from Kisuke Urahara's attitude, he definitely didn't tell the whole story and didn't know his role in this series of events. Even if we think about the worst-case scenario, it doesn't really matter since he already knows my background. The fact that he didn't bring it up in the open means there's still room for maneuver. I just need to continue acting the way I have so far.

Upon closer reflection, Kisuke Urahara's words revealed a subtle message from beginning to end.

—There are probably bad people among the crowd in Seireitei.

But the selection criteria are probably not what Kisuke Urahara said—what do you mean by "cannot be told to people of Yamamoto's faction"? I, Watanabe, am a confidant of Shunsui Kyoraku. Who in Soul Society doesn't know that Shunsui Kyoraku and Yamamoto are of the same ilk? That's practically the same as me being part of Yamamoto's faction, and yet you two found me first? Is that reasonable?

But there's no need to investigate. Kisuke Urahara is a trustworthy person. Since he won't bring it up, he must have a reason for not saying it outright. I just need to be a heartless tool.

Mima nodded casually, then chuckled, "Since Mr. Urahara says so, then I won't ask any more questions—let's get down to business, what exactly do you two plan to do?"

"The specific steps are complicated, but they can be summarized as very simple."

Kisuke Urahara readily agreed, "I want to add something to the Soul-Sealing Membrane."

"Just by listening to it, you can tell it's an outrageously large project..."

Mi Zhen's eyebrows twitched slightly: "Although I don't quite understand, it certainly can't be something that can be done simply, right? What exactly needs to be added? What is its purpose?"

"A local specialty of the Urahara family."

Kisuke Urahara looked out the window at the sky and smiled, saying, "Vice Captain Watanabe may not know this, but the architectural layout of the Urahara family is very similar to that of Seireitei. Both are circular city-states—the difference lies in the protective measures. Seireitei's Soul-Shielding Membrane focuses on defense, while the Urahara family's 'walls' focus on filtration."

“Filtering…” Mima raised an eyebrow: “Needless to say, the things it filters must be hellish specialties like karmic debtors, right?”

“That’s right. The Urahara family was originally built around a super-large gate to hell. The so-called ‘wall’ is actually more like a ‘cover’, designed to prevent anything from hell from flowing out to other places.” Urahara Kisuke nodded. “My plan is to add some spells to the Soul-Sheltering Membrane to isolate culprits, thereby comprehensively enhancing the Seireitei’s defensive capabilities in the upcoming war—but this spell is very troublesome. It requires a long time to set up and someone to maintain it. Even if it is successfully released, the shelf life is only six months… It’s really beyond my and Yoruichi’s capabilities.”

"Simple and easy to understand."

Mizhen nodded in agreement: "Okay, I'll join."

“Then thank you very much, Vice Captain Watanabe.” Kisuke Urahara breathed a sigh of relief as if he had been granted a pardon. “Given the current situation… we don’t have many people we can trust, and even fewer who can contact the various factions in Seireitei. Your help would be most appreciated.”

"So... the first step of the plan is actually to recruit people?" Mi Zhen said, stroking his chin. "In that case, I have a suggestion."

Kisuke Urahara nodded in agreement, then asked, "How so?"

Then Mima looked at Yoruichi with a subtle expression.

“I’m afraid this matter will have to be handled by Miss Yoruichi.” He mimicked Aizen’s gesture by lightly pushing his nose against the bridge of his nose and said in a deep voice, “When you left, the situation was urgent, and it was the right choice to try to involve as few other people as possible. But things are different now. The entire Seireitei is facing a crisis. Rather than leaving her out of the picture, it would be better to bring her into the plan. This would protect her to the greatest extent possible.”

"Soi Fon...?"

Yoruichi, who instantly understood who Mima was referring to, sighed while rubbing her forehead: "That's true... If it were her, she could definitely do a great job..."

"She's a big shot now, rising directly from the head of the Criminal Investigation Division to the position of captain. Her strength has also increased dramatically. Miss Yoruichi might not even recognize her," Mima said with a smile. "And..."

After all that, Yoruichi and Soi Fon's meeting was basically confirmed, which also relieved Misaki of a knot in her heart.

Although he readily agreed to take Soi Fon to find Yoruichi, it was somewhat of a pie in the sky... After all, Soi Fon wasn't as idle as he was (though she wasn't exactly idle either). Because she had only recently taken office, her tasks were extremely demanding, making it difficult for her to squeeze out even a little bit of free time, let alone disappear for an entire day to go to the human world.

It wasn't that Mi Zhen was unwilling to do it, it was just that arranging it was really troublesome, and after two months, she still hadn't found a single opportunity.

Now that Yoruichi has come by herself, it's really convenient...

"...So this is how it was going to happen." Yoruichi sighed. "Alright, it is indeed my fault... Kisuke, I'll find an opportunity to talk to Soi Fon. You and Watanabe can do that thing together."

Chapter 225: Going to the Job Market to Buy Goods

Mima asked curiously, "That matter?"

Kisuke Urahara replied, "Ah... since we've brought it up, let's not delay. Vice-Captain Watanabe, how much more rest time do you have?"

"There should be about three hours left... Is there anything I can help you with?"

“Of course.” Kisuke Urahara rummaged in his pouch, pulled out a gleaming silver bracelet, pushed it in front of Mima, and said, “Vice Captain Watanabe, let’s go to the Abyss.”

"what?"

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

At that moment, Mima, who was operating on two fronts, was listening to Kisuke Urahara tell stories while mining in Hueco Mundo.

Mining in the physical sense.

After obtaining the Ghost Path called "False Fire" from his other self during the day, he studied it briefly and discovered that it was a technique with an effect similar to "extracting a substance," and its engineering was ridiculously precise.

If the precision of a normal eighty-fold demonic path is 1, then the precision of this thing is almost 15, or even 20. Even a master like Mishin, who is highly skilled in demonic paths, spent several hours figuring out how to release it.

But it doesn't seem like his own work.

Without a doubt, this is a ghost technique created independently by an individual. Many details can prove this point. Although Mi Zhen doesn't know what kind of personality his other self has, that guy's personality should be the same as his own, so it's unlikely that he would create something like this.

To be honest, this Kido style is actually a bit like Aizen's...

And then there's that thing in the video that looks like a fragment of the Hogyoku... What exactly did my future self go through...?

After putting aside these pointless sentiments, Mima went to Anise's underground factory to order a batch of transport vehicles and several handling robots. He then rushed to Hueco Mundo, dug up more than ten tons of sand, hauled it back to the human world, found a place to build a furnace, and started refining!

According to his other self, he needs to gather 100 grams of ancient fragments and Aizen's Bankai—the latter is currently completely out of the question so he can put it aside for the time being, only the former can be worked out first.

The ancient fragments extracted from An Cang Yu Shou's body still weigh a little over twelve grams, which is clearly not enough, and they need to be replenished by mining.

After some casual preparation, Mima sculpted a steel furnace out of clay, poured in some sand collected from Hueco Mundo, and then activated the Hollowfire according to the instructions.

It was a kind of...colorless "flame".

It wasn't about transparency or anything like that; it was more like space itself twisting into flames. The white sand placed in the steel furnace melted as quickly as ice lying in the palm of your hand, and then disappeared as quickly as it evaporated.

Only a few wisps of white smoke drifted out...

Mi Zhen quickly used a Mountain-Reversing Crystal to contain it. After examining it carefully, he realized that the white smoke was actually composed of extremely tiny, pure white particles—how tiny? Compared to them, dust was like a colossal mountain.

Mizhen did a quick calculation and then fell into a long silence.

At this rate, even if he started releasing the illusory fire non-stop from now on, it would probably take him more than ten years to collect 100 grams of ancient illusory fragments... Besides, this thing consumes a lot of energy, and even he can only turn it on and off alternately.

In the end... we can't even collect one gram in a year. By the time we reach the target amount, the main storyline will probably have already begun...

This is truly a long and daunting project...

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

"Infernal...?" Mima stared at Urahara Kisuke, speechless. "You're not kidding?"

“No.” Kisuke Urahara nodded firmly.

"What are you going to Avici for... Don't you think Hell is troublesome enough already?"

Yama showed the caution expected of a member of the Gotei 13: "In the end... the beginning of this riot was when the first captain, Shikatori Hakunsai, escaped from the Abyss. Mr. Urahara, are you sure you really want to go to that place?"

"Although we'll challenge your common sense, that's part of our plan."

Yoruichi, having finished her worries, interjected, "There's someone in the Impermanence who can single-handedly maintain the defenses of the entire Seireitei. We need to persuade him to join the plan."

"..."

Although she immediately realized who they were talking about, Mima maintained her level of knowledge and asked doubtfully, "Is that so? Who is so powerful?"

"The eighth Kenpachi, Azajo," Kisuke Urahara said directly. "You should have heard some of the related legends."

"I don't know much..."

Mima scratched his head and said, "The captain and I have talked about the seventh Kenpachi a few times, including the cause of his death... In addition to some miscellaneous rumors, I should have a pretty deep impression of Kenpachi, but I don't know his specific personality and life story."

—The impression was indeed deep. Because of someone like Mochijou hiding in the Abyss, Mima never dared to change his appearance in the Seireitei, nor did he dare to show too much strength that exceeded other people's impressions. Although he was slightly exposed a few times due to expediency, it didn't have much impact overall. To this day, Mochijou's impression of him should only be "a cunning person who has hidden a few tricks up his sleeve".

However, judging from Urahara Kisuke's intentions, it seems he wants to recruit Azajo Kenpachi into his group...

That's a feasible plan... After all, although that guy has an extreme personality, his thoughts are generally positive. He wouldn't be a heartless person who lets the Three Realms be slaughtered by wicked people. As long as the explanation is reasonable, getting him to join shouldn't be a problem.

Or rather... that guy is probably listening to their conversation right now...

It was fortunate that Shikaku Hakunsai and Shihōin Hyakugetsu's escape attempt did not break the seal of the Infernal Realm, otherwise he might have already been released.

"Shall we go to the Abyss to release the Eighth Kenpachi...?"

Mima sighed and joked, "Another outrageous act... After this is over, I'll have to find a way to distance myself from you guys, otherwise I'll probably have to flee to Karakura City for refuge."

"You flatter me..." Kisuke Urahara smiled awkwardly. "Aside from the mission to the Underworld, Vice Captain Watanabe only needs to do some liaison work in his spare time. There won't be any trouble."

"In short... what do you need me to do?"

Mi Zhen sat up straight, her tone becoming serious: "If you're asking me to participate in this operation, you must have some special need—like you're interested in one of my special skills, or you need someone to risk their life for you."

Chapter 226: Infiltration

“The former,” Kisuke Urahara replied. “I need Vice-Captain Watanabe’s Kido technique… We don’t have many people right now, and infiltrating the Underworld requires several people to use a rather complex Kido technique simultaneously—Mr. Tsukasa has other tasks, and Ms. Yoruichi is quite specialized in Kido… She’s good at deciphering Kido formulas, not releasing them, so she can’t help. I can only ask you for help.”

“No problem.” Mima nodded. “I’ll set off in clone form while leaving my real body on the bed. Even if someone comes in and sees me, they’ll just think I’m too tired to stay awake.”

“Then let’s not delay, let’s set off.” Kisuke Urahara stood up. “Three hours isn’t a long time, and you need to report to the headquarters before dawn, right? Don’t be late.”

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

A few minutes later, in an alley near the First Division.

Mima donned the black cloak handed to him by Kisuke Urahara. After the latter unleashed several Kido spells, the two of them became transparent, their vision and spiritual pressure completely obscured. Unless the guards of the Infinite Realm had a dog's nose, they would not be able to detect them.

Urahara A-Meng, you're so powerful!

The two walked as if they were in an empty place to a side hall of the First Division, bypassed several guards, and soon arrived at the front of the dark and cold cave.

Go down to Arkham, the largest asylum in the three worlds, the Shinigami Underground Prison.

Their destination was the lowest level of the prison, the ultimate cage established by the ancestors of Shihouin to imprison those incorrigible, high-ranking criminals—

Avici!

To be honest, this is Mima's first time here.

In terms of the legal system, the various treaties of the Seireitei were actually quite brutal. Offenders would either be given a verbal warning and have their wages reduced, or they would be dragged off and beheaded. The "mitigation zone" between these two extremes was very small.

In layman's terms, it means that you don't even deserve to go to prison if you don't have some ability.

Under this legal mindset, the image of the Shinigami Underground Prison gradually became demonized through word of mouth. Although it was and only a place to imprison people, it couldn't resist the imagination of the common people and even some Shinigami. In the end, thousands of years after its construction, it finally became the birthplace of most horror stories in Soul Society (although it's strange for a group of ghosts to talk about this), reaching the point where it could stop children from crying at night.

Of course, Mi doesn't believe in this.

But he didn't see any need to make a special trip to this place.