The Alchemist in Bleach

Were we just completely outplayed? We were, weren't we?! (Showing off, not shooting, those with dirty minds, step aside.)

"Alright, stop showing off. Call the world over here, we'll go together later." Seeing that Ichiro wasn't going to stop, the captain couldn't stand it anymore and said irritably.

"Uh, what do you mean by showing off? I'm guiding them, okay? To prevent them from going astray! I saw some idiot in the team researching the art of sacrificial spirits before. I don't know where he heard that the more ancient the technique, the more powerful it is. He's been researching the art of sacrificial spirits for several years. If I hadn't discovered it early, he would have ruined it! Times are changing, and he doesn't even understand such a simple principle!"

"Fine, fine, let's stop now." The captain waved his hand impatiently.

Unfortunately, she didn't want to listen, but Yongyin, unable to resist her curiosity, glanced timidly at the captain and finally mustered up the courage to ask, "I've heard about this too, and it seems to make some sense. You see, didn't the Captain-Commander experience that era? And that's how it's written in the stories. Most importantly, Ichiro, aren't you learning from that too?"

Seeing that Yuon had asked him a question, Ichiro glanced at the captain with a smug look, and then patiently answered while communicating with the world through telepathy: "I will answer them one by one. First of all, the Captain-Commander's strength has nothing to do with what kind of Kido he uses or what Kido he learns. It's because he himself is very strong, and he mainly uses the current Kido now, not the ritual Kido. I even suspect that he may only have a little bit of an impression of it."

"Secondly, the stories are all fake. The ancient technologies in them are powerful, and the more reasonable ones are because there was a technological gap in the past, so they are stronger. The ones that are mindlessly powerful in ancient times are all nonsense. Finally, I studied the way of sacrificial ghosts purely because I couldn't learn as fast as what was taught in school at the time, and I had nothing else to do. I wasn't so sharp-tongued back then."

"Yane, are you going to learn the Kido ritual? It's a trap, you absolutely mustn't fall into it." Having just entered the barrier world, she overheard this topic and immediately looked at Yaon seriously, advising her. At the same time, she also looked at Ichiro reproachfully, "I told you, Lord Ichiro, to seal away or destroy those Kido rituals, but you just wouldn't listen."

"That's knowledge, how can you treat it so casually?" Ichiro rolled his eyes at the world, then asked, "Why are you here too?"

"That's what I wanted to ask, what brings you all here?" Sekai glanced at the four of them, her gaze lingering on Mob's best friend for a moment. Yongyin noticed this and, recalling Mob's best friend's strange behavior earlier, she had some guesses in her mind. Could it be...?

But wait, aren't she and Linglan best friends?

Yongyin had some doubts, but she knew it wasn't the right time to talk about it, and besides, she wasn't a gossipy person.

"The captain received an invitation, so we came. I almost got stabbed!"

"Anyway, I won't die, so I might as well cut him down."

Ichiro: "???"

Ignoring Ichiro's bewildered expression, the world looked apologetically at the captain: "I'm sorry, Captain, I didn't think things through this time and it has delayed your work."

"Wait a minute!" Before the captain could answer, Ichiro looked at Sekai with a puzzled expression and said incredulously, "You started this association? You have this kind of self-proclaimed hobby?"

"...Lord Ichiro, do you think it's possible?"

"...That's true, you're not that kind of person, so why did you apologize to the captain?"

The captain also looked at the world with curiosity, which was also what she wanted to ask.

"Because the captain received this invitation because I interfered with Zhi's teleportation... Waaah~~"

He had only spoken half of the story when Ichiro covered his mouth from the side!

"You dare to do something like this? Do you know how much trouble those old men will cause if they find out?" After reprimanding Sekai, Ichiro looked sternly at Isane and Mob's best friend and said, "Just pretend you didn't hear what Sekai just said!"

"Yes!" Yongyin and her best friend, who was also a minor character, exchanged a glance and immediately replied seriously. They could distinguish the importance and urgency of the matter. If Ichiro was so serious, it must be something serious.

"What?! I know what I'm doing. I just interfered with Zhi's spiritual pressure recognition system, causing a simple bug that caused it to send out one or two wrong invitations."

"Do you think those old men would understand these things? Or would they actively try to learn about them to understand you? You're overthinking it. They'll just take a one-size-fits-all approach to these kinds of things!"

"World, you were indeed wrong this time. No matter how anxious you are, there are some things you can't do. You've given them a signal that if you can interfere in this, you might interfere in others. Nobody knows. This matter ends here and will not be repeated!"

"This... I know I was wrong, I'm sorry."

------------

Chapter 294: Male... Male?

"Sigh~" Ichiro sighed and said to the world, "I know it's hard for you to stay calm in this kind of situation, but I still want to tell you that you must stay calm no matter what. We are different now than before. Every move we make will involve many people. We can't act recklessly anymore."

"I understand, Lord Ichiro. It was my fault this time." Having calmed down, Sekai realized his mistake and bowed slightly to Ichiro.

Seeing this, the captain beside him showed a look of satisfaction. Nothing could be better than witnessing his disciple's growth firsthand. Of course, it would be even better if he himself could be as composed as he said, avoiding impulsiveness...

"Let's talk about it later, Zhi is here."

"Huh? Tomo is here?" Upon hearing the captain's words, Ichiro immediately turned his head in confusion and saw Tomo walking towards the house specified on the invitation. Before him, nearly a hundred people had already gone in. His purpose in going in at this time was self-evident.

only......

Watching Zhi push open the door and go inside, Ichiro sighed and said, "Let's go in too, we've been exposed."

With that, Ichiro released the barrier amidst the puzzled looks of the crowd and strode toward the house.

"Exposed? How could we be exposed? Ichiro, isn't your barrier supposed to evade Tomo's surveillance?" The extra's best friend was secretly delighted, but still pretended to be puzzled and asked.

“The life form of Zhi is quite special. He doesn’t need to come to this kind of gathering in person at all; that would only increase the risk. So, the fact that he came in person means that we’ve been exposed.” World gave her best friend, who was playing a minor role, a deep look before explaining to this formidable enemy.

“Moreover… we may all be wrong. The mastermind behind this may not be Zhi…” Ichiro sighed, said nothing more, and led the four of them through the door.

"Squeak~"

Ichiro flung open the door to the house, and the sudden burst of bright light drew everyone's attention. They stared at Ichiro in surprise, and gradually, as if coming to their senses, a blush crept onto their cheeks.

Ichiro: "......"

Looking at the beautiful women below, Ichiro fell silent. He couldn't utter a single word of what he had prepared before entering. He had roughly counted how many people there were before coming in, so he was quite prepared for the number.

In addition, he has held a high position in recent years, so theoretically speaking, Ichiro could remain calm even if there were a thousand women, let alone a hundred.

However, what he didn't understand was...

Why are there men here?

And there were more than a dozen of them!!!

Among a group of women, the dozen or so male Shinigami were as dazzling as the sun in the night, immediately attracting the attention of Yuu-on and the captain. The two gave Ichiro, whose lips were twitching, a strange look.

"You're... quite charming..."

"Get out of here!" Ichiro shouted angrily at the crowd, his face dark.

The others, sensing the awkwardness, glanced at him awkwardly, then lowered their heads and quickly walked around Ichiro and his group of five, leaving quickly. After all, same-sex relationships were best left to fiction; in reality...

Anyone would be furious!

Especially those male Grim Reapers, who dared not say anything and quietly walked out.

Of course, this wasn't what angered Ichiro; after all, he had no right to control other people's feelings. What angered him was that they weren't genuinely attracted to the same sex. They probably joined because of other interests, like girls...

Or perhaps something else.

Ichiro was very self-aware. No matter how outstanding he was, the maximum number of people who liked him would not exceed twenty, since he already had a girlfriend.

Therefore, the reason this association has grown so large is definitely because Zhi and his team have invested other resources into it. Only mutual benefit can ensure the stable maintenance of a group.

But their actions undoubtedly damaged Ichiro's reputation!

At the very least, the way the captain and Yuune are looking at each other right now is very uncomfortable...

"Zhi...please explain..."

"I'm sorry, Father, it's all my fault..."

"That's not what I'm asking you." Ichiro looked at Satoshi with a deep gaze. "Who told you to do this?"

"Um, Father, I don't understand what you mean..."

"Sigh..." Ichiro sighed deeply. To be honest, he didn't want to do this unless absolutely necessary, but this matter clearly required an explanation to the world and the captain. So many people...

Ichiro straightened his expression and asked, "Who founded this association?"

"It's Yue Ling!" Zhi blurted out without thinking. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he froze, instantly covering his mouth in disbelief. "Why?"

"You couldn't possibly be lying to me, could you have forgotten? Your emotional abilities aren't even fully developed yet, and you're already trying to deceive me. What were you thinking, Yue Ling?" As he spoke, Ichiro turned to look at the corner where Yue Ling was hiding.

Even He couldn't hide Himself when Ichiro's senses were fully activated.

Amidst the incredulous gazes of the crowd, Yue Ling, expressionless, emerged from behind a pillar.

Of the group, the most surprised was Shijie. She never expected that it would be Yueling who betrayed her!

Just a month ago, she had discussed with Yue Ling about exposing this association...

No wonder. She was wondering why the clues suddenly became much harder to find after that conversation. So, the information was leaked from her?

"Moon Spirit, why?" World stared blankly at Moon Spirit.

In this incident, the world suffered the most psychological trauma. If it were the Association for Intellectual Development, it would be easier to understand, as it could be said that it was for the purpose of improving emotional abilities. Although they felt very uncomfortable, it was understandable.

It's not surprising that Zhi's logical operations would produce anything, but if it's Yue Ling, it means that her world has been negated...

Because no matter how you look at it, Yue Ling's motive for doing this stems from dissatisfaction with her...

There is nothing worse than this for the world...

"Don't overthink it, I didn't mean to be dissatisfied with you." Seeing the dejected look on Shijie's face, Yueling knew exactly what she was thinking, so she explained, "I did this simply because of my father's instructions."

Ichiro: "???"

Feeling the sudden intense gazes around him, Ichiro was filled with questions. Pointing at himself, he asked, "Me? When did I tell you to do that?"

“Father, you didn’t directly ask me to do this, but you often told me that you hoped I would do things that I wanted to do, to have the ability to think independently, and not to act solely according to your will.”

"Yes, I did say those things, but I don't recall asking you to form this association, did I? You'd better explain yourself! Captain, please put your knife away first; there's definitely a misunderstanding here!"

The captain glanced at Yue Ling, then at the flustered Ichiro, narrowed his eyes, and stopped drawing his sword. Of course, he didn't sheath it either. If Yue Ling's explanation didn't satisfy him, the sword would eventually be used to strike Ichiro!

"Phew~" Ichiro wiped away his cold sweat, then looked at Yue Ling, that "troublesome thing".

"Father, you've said a lot to me, but putting aside all those complicated words, what you really meant was that you wanted me to become an independent person, or rather, the Grim Reaper, right?"

"More or less, but what does that have to do with you forming this association?"

"Because I want to understand emotions."

Ichiro paused for a moment, a flash of inspiration crossing his mind. He suddenly reached out to interrupt Yue Ling and lowered his head to ponder.

"Emotions... Does the Moon Spirit have no emotions? Then I understand... This isn't familial affection, it's just a simple instinctive reaction to the Creator. The behavior she exhibits towards others is merely imitation of my commands. So, does the Moon Spirit actually have no emotions? Could this be the missing part? She must have emotions, at least compassion, otherwise she wouldn't have specifically protected humanity in the first place... So..."

Amidst the puzzled looks of the crowd, Ichiro muttered to himself for a while, then suddenly looked up, stared seriously at Yue Ling, and asked, "Yue Ling, are you sure you don't have any emotional abilities?"

"Yes, everything I have shown so far is just an imitation of Zhi's emotional module, only it is more advanced and closer to emotion than his."

wisdom:"???"

Just get to the point, why do you have to kick me while I'm down?

“So, I’m doing all this just to fulfill my father’s orders, to collect data, to find the factors that cause my lack of emotional abilities, and then to fill them in.” After a pause, Yue Ling continued, “Of course, my most fundamental wish is actually to disapprove of your relationship with the world, because her existence is similar to ours.”

world:"......"

Why stab her in the back when we can just get to the point?

"That's not important." Ichiro waved his hand dismissively; he was never the type to care about what others thought.