One Piece: Kaido's adopted son, starts with the Eight Gates Formation.

He served as the "Guardian of True Names" for over a million years, the creator of the "names" of all things. His brush was a treasure bestowed upon him by the Spirit King, the source of his power, and one of the cornerstones of the entire Soul Society's order.

Now it's turned into a strawberry-flavored lollipop.

He could sense that this was not an illusion, not the way of ghosts, not any means he could understand.

Things have really changed.

Essentially, conceptually, and at the very root of existence—his calligraphy brush is now a lollipop.

"You…" he began hoarsely, "You're not a Shinigami, not a Hollow, not a Quincy, not human… what are you?"

Lynn blinked. "I already told you, I'm his son."

He pointed to Kaido, who was munching on a mint lollipop in the distance.

Hyosube Ichibei remained silent for a long time, so long that the four Zero Squad members behind him began to exchange uneasy glances.

Ultimately, this oldest death god, who had lived for millions of years, did something that no one expected.

He put the lollipop to his mouth.

I licked it.

"...It really is strawberry flavored," he said.

Then his knees bent.

"Excuse me, are you going to the Spirit King's Palace?"

The expressions of the other four members of Squad Zero changed instantly.

"Monk! What are you doing!" Daoshen Nimaiya Wangyue drew his sword and roared angrily.

"Shut up." Hyosube Ichibei didn't turn his head, but his voice regained its calm. "Didn't you feel it? If he wants to go to the Spirit King's Palace, even the five of us combined can't stop him. Rather than throwing our lives away, we might as well—"

"Why don't you lead the way for him?" Lynn chimed in, nodding in satisfaction. "Hmm, you're very clever, much smarter than that old man."

He glanced back at Yamamoto, who was kneeling on the ground in the distance, wiping the Barragán sculpture.

"Then it's settled." Lynn floated back onto the throne, swinging her legs. "You lead the way, I'm going to see that toy."

Nimaiya Oetsu gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, his face ashen.

Yizhou Tongsheng was pale and his lips were trembling.

Shutara Senjumaru kept his head down, so his expression was not visible.

Kirinji Tenjiro sighed and wrung out the towel on his shoulder.

"Let's go." Hyōsuke Ichibei stood up, still holding his lollipop, his tone as calm as if he were commenting on the nice weather. "I'll lead the way to the Spirit King's Palace."

Nimaiya Oetsu did not kneel down like Hyoninbe Ichibei.

He can't.

He is the God of Swords. The creator of all Zanpakuto. He personally forged Ryujin Jakka and crafted Senbonzakura. His pride, like his sword, is unyielding.

"Wang Yue." Hyosube Ichibei called him in a low voice.

"I heard you." Oetsu Nimaiya gripped his knife, his knuckles cracking. "But monk, no matter how strong he is, the Spirit King's Palace isn't a place just anyone can enter. It's the Spirit King's domain, the core of the Three Realms. You're going to let an outsider in—"

"Do you have any way to stop him?" Hyosube Ichibei asked.

Nimaiya Wang Yue remained silent for a second.

Then he drew his sword.

"At least give it a try!"

His sword is called "Sheath," a short sword that looks unremarkable. But as the origin of all Zanpakuto, this sword contains a "sharpness" concept that even Yamamoto's Ryujin Jakka cannot match.

Nimaiya Oetsu vanished, his speed surpassing Soi Fon's and Hibiki's, even reaching a certain pinnacle in the realm of Shunpo. He appeared directly above Lynn's head, his short sword pointing downwards, and thrust it out.

This strike had no spiritual pressure fluctuations, no sound, and no warning whatsoever.

Pure "slash".

The "cut" is purely conceptual.

"Not bad," Lynn's voice came from below.

He didn't even look up.

The tip of Nimaiya Wang Yue's knife stopped one centimeter above Lynn's head, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't advance it any further.