The Alchemist in Bleach

The old dog knew perfectly well what this meant: wealth, status, and... even greater risks...

What do you want to use it for?

"It's just medicine, nothing dangerous, is it really that big of a deal?"

"Others are fine, but do you think someone who concocts poison using ten common foods has the right to say such things?"

“Alright, then I’ll lay my cards on the table.” Ichiro took out the armband of the third seat of the fourth division, put it on, tugged at the three characters on it, and said, “I am the third seat of the fourth division. I am currently in charge of expanding the wartime drug supply chain. Of course, if the supply and quality are stable, the word ‘wartime’ can be removed later.”

Old Dog stared at Ichiro in shock. Goodness! It's only been a little over ten years, right? You've already become the Third Seat? Is it that easy to get by among the Shinigami?

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Chapter 147 An Opportunity for a Small Person

Old Dog knew that someone like Ichiro would definitely make a name for himself after going to Seireitei, but in his opinion, that should be at least several decades later. But who knew that he would get to this point in just over ten years!

It's important to know that before Ichiro entered the Seireitei, his spiritual pressure wasn't strong; even the old dog's spiritual pressure could overwhelm him by several levels. This...

After a moment of silence, and having processed his shock, Old Dog understood that, just as Ichiro had said, this was an opportunity! An opportunity to make his assets even bigger!

In the Soul Society, the nobles ultimately call the shots. He knew very well that his small business was nothing more than petty squabbles in the eyes of the nobles in the city; they wouldn't care. But if he continued to expand, the consequences wouldn't be so pleasant...

Perhaps soon, that old dog will be reincarnated.

So over the years, he's always maintained a balance. He's seen many opportunities to make money, but he can only watch them slip away, afraid to seize them, because the opportunities are too murky and he can't handle them...

It was this caution, this self-awareness, that brought him to where he is today. And it was this caution that prevented him from being blinded by profit, allowing him to calmly ask, "Is the counterparty you, the Seireitei, or the Fourth Division?"

This is very important. If it's a deal with Ichiro, it can only be a one-off transaction because Ichiro is a genius, and geniuses almost always offend people. Such offenses are not something you can control with your own will.

Some superiors feel that your talent might threaten their interests in the future, which is equivalent to offending them and thus being targeted in advance. They have done this before.

If it's a deal with the Seireitei, then it will be a short-term transaction. Once the battle is over, he will have to terminate the deal, otherwise someone will come and buy his property at a very low price, something he has done before.

Because the channels connecting to the Seireitei already exist in Rukongai, or rather, the channels in Rukongai have always been connected to the Seireitei. It's just that they need to be redistributed after entering the Seireitei. And what's the difference between this path and making it big on his own?

Therefore, what he values ​​most is the last one. If it's a direct trade with the Fourth Division, the situation will be different, because in terms of drug transactions, the Fourth Division will become his background.

Anyone who wants to touch his channels will have to ask the Fourth Division for permission first. After all, the Third Seat of the Fourth Division personally found these channels. Why would he choose him out of so many underground merchants?

Now we have the background information.

He also believed that Ichiro would protect him.

Ichiro smiled with satisfaction and said, "Naturally, we will directly connect with the Fourth Division."

"Isn't this against the rules?"

“Special cases require special handling. There are current rules, which is why I said that if your abilities can keep up, the word ‘wartime’ can be removed. It depends on your abilities. If you are strong enough, I can get the higher-ups to keep you here and supply medicines specifically for our Fourth Division.”

"Does your Fourth Division need so many medicinal herbs?" Old Dog asked, a hint of doubt on his face.

As a stable and huge piece of meat in Rukongai, he couldn't possibly have been unaware of it. What if he ended up getting involved in the future?

Therefore, he was well aware of how enormous that amount was. Even if it was divided after entering, as a squad mainly responsible for healing, they would definitely receive the lion's share. In addition to their own other channels, how could they possibly need any additional channels?

"We don't need it now, but that might not be the case in the future, and it might not just be medicine. That's all I can tell you for now. You probably don't want to know more. These are the medicines we need right now. See which ones you can collect."

As he spoke, Ichiro handed the old dog a list, and then started to daydream while he was looking at it. It had already been almost two thousand words, and he hadn't even offered him a cup of tea. How stingy.

After a brief internal monologue, Ichiro began to plan what supplies, besides medicine, he should ask Old Dog to provide after this was over. After all, his research would resume once this matter was resolved.

Of course, the laboratory also needs an upgrade; the one in the Fourth Division is no longer sufficient. However, these matters require further consideration...

'Hmm? There are people up there? This... such strong spiritual pressure!' Ichiro glanced at the ceiling, frowned, but didn't say anything. He planned to ask later. Judging from the nature of the spiritual pressure, it should be two children, but the spiritual pressure was ridiculously strong.

Yes, that is, the legendary genius...

This was something he needed to figure out, because he could ignore the old dog's shady dealings, even murder and arson, but if it was human trafficking, that was a different story...

Yes, there is also a human trafficking business in the Soul Society, but most of those trafficked are spirits with spiritual power. Some of the nobles' assassins come from this business.

So if Lao Gou really is involved in human trafficking, then he will have no choice but to abandon this line of work. However, based on his understanding of Lao Gou, he probably won't.

Otherwise, his grocery store would definitely be much bigger!

Because spirits, especially spirits with spiritual power, are only bought by nobles. Food with spiritual power is a scarce resource in Rukongai, and there isn't enough for even the nobles themselves, so how could they possibly buy food for themselves?

Therefore, Ichiro waited quietly for the old dog to think it over, while also organizing his next plan. Finding a channel was only the first step; the subsequent transportation was the real problem.

Why did the channels in Rukongai have problems?

The risk was too high because Hollows started appearing in large numbers in Rukongai. This was the case for the first fifty Rukongai districts. Hollows would open from time to time and then wreak havoc.

This is also the problem that the Twelfth Division is currently working on to solve. The sudden exposure of Hueco Mundo to their eyes caused the reconnaissance system to collapse, turning the human world and Rukongai into a huge sieve.

This is the root cause of the Rukongai's disruption of its supply lines. In the past, with the Twelfth Division monitoring the area, whether in the human world or Rukongai, nearby Shinigami would arrive immediately whenever a Hollow showed signs of activity, preventing significant damage.

This mechanism is why Hollows mostly travel to the human world. To reach Soul Society, they can only use the Hollow Chamber, which only Hollows can open. The disturbance caused by a Hollow's appearance...

Basically, the moment you show your face, you'll encounter a group of Grim Reapers!

This is precisely why Rukongai lacks corresponding evacuation measures, resulting in heavy losses when disturbances occur. However, these problems should, no, will inevitably be resolved after this incident!

At least from now on, Hollows will no longer be able to swagger into Soul Society.

After a while, the old dog put down the list, looked at Ichiro and said, "These can basically be found, but what about transportation? There are quite a few medicines with spiritual power in this place. With so much spiritual power gathered, it's easy to attract the Void."

"You don't need to worry about that. For the time being, I'll find someone to take over these medications personally. If you need anything, I can even arrange a few small teams for you. Do you need that?"

Old Dog shook his head, rejecting Ichiro's suggestion: "That won't be necessary. Those guys will send it over themselves. I can handle most of the Void, as long as there aren't too many piling up."

Ichiro nodded. Although the old dog's strength was nothing in Ichiro's eyes, ordinary Hollows were indeed no match for him.

"Don't worry about that, we're even more anxious than you are. Okay, that's settled then. It's getting late, I'll go back now. You can organize the documents here, and someone should come to discuss things with you in more detail tomorrow or the day after."

"I understand. By the way, do me a favor."

"Hmm?" Ichiro looked at the old dog in surprise, swallowing back the words he was about to say about the two children upstairs. It was very rare for the old dog to ask for help. "What is it?"

“It’s related to the two kids upstairs~” Shaking his head, the old dog called upstairs, “Gin, Rangiku, come down for a moment.”

"Huh?! Gin? Rangiku? Could it be them?" Ichiro looked at the second-floor stairwell in surprise. If it was the two of them, then this trip would have been totally worth it!

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Chapter 148 Gin Ichimaru!

At the sound of the old dog's bark, two little guys emerged from the stairwell. Looking at the little boy's light purple hair and fox-like eyes, and the little girl with long, wavy blonde hair beside him, Ichiro smiled. It really was them.

What great luck...

Gin Ichimaru, Aizen's right-hand man, is a tragic character in the original work. He and Rangiku Matsumoto are childhood friends. After witnessing Aizen remove a certain substance from Rangiku's body, causing her soul to be damaged, he vowed to join Aizen's team to find that substance for Rangiku and avenge her.

A pitiful person whose mind has been consumed by revenge...

Without Aizen, Gin's talent would definitely have made him a valuable asset to the 13th Division!

Unfortunately... the ending wasn't good. In the original work, regardless of whether his assassination attempt on Aizen succeeded, the outcome was basically already predetermined. In order to gain Aizen's trust, he had already dirtied his own hands, and under such circumstances, Soul Society would not allow him to live.

Unless the captain protects him.

However, that's the Gin from the original story. The current Gin hasn't done anything. You can't punish someone just because they might make a mistake in the future. That's wrong. The correct approach is, since you know they will make a mistake in the future, you should guide them or prevent them from doing so in the future.

Ichiro had originally planned to do the same, and one of his ideas for cooperating with the old dog was to use his intelligence network to help find Gin Ichimaru and Rangiku Matsumoto.

Yes, the main thing is to find Gin Ichimaru; Rangiku Matsumoto is just a side job.

Gin Ichimaru, a super genius who graduated from the Shinigami Academy in just one year!

This achievement is something even Ichiro and Urahara couldn't reach. They only qualified for graduation on their second attempt, which was also related to their interest in researching other things.

But no matter what, his talent is undeniable, and it would be a shame to just watch him go astray.

However, to Ichiro's surprise, he actually ran into something... It seems the butterfly effect he caused has begun to spread widely...

The old dog, oblivious to Ichiro's surprise, looked at Gin Ichimaru and Rangiku Matsumoto as they slowly descended the stairs and said with a hint of pity, "These two kids are quite pitiful. They were chased by a Hollow to this area, and if they hadn't happened to run into me, they might be dead by now."

Originally, I planned to keep them by my side and personally train them. After all, you know, people in our line of work are quite suspicious, and I wasn't comfortable letting them go directly to become Grim Reapers. But I think if you take them, there shouldn't be any problems, right?

Ichiro turned to look at the old dog, his face full of surprise: "Of course not! No one would dare to bully them, and not to discourage you, but you're not qualified to teach them..."

After hesitating for a moment, he still included Matsumoto Rangiku in the calculations. After all, she was a future vice-captain, wasn't she? And if her soul wasn't damaged, she might very well reach the level of captain.

The old dog paused for a moment, offering no rebuttal, because it was indeed the truth...

He shook his head helplessly, walked over to the two children, squatted down, and wore a kind smile. Yes, kind, if it weren't for that scar, he could probably be considered kind.

However, it was clear that this wasn't the first time they had seen Old Dog with this expression, so neither of them showed any fear.

"Children, it's time to part ways. This isn't a good place. His name is Tenshin Ichiro. He's not a good person, but he's trustworthy. You should follow him to become Shinigami. It's better than staying in Rukongai."

Gin and Rangiku didn't say anything, they just pressed themselves a little closer together. To put it bluntly, they didn't completely trust Old Dog. The reason they came in was twofold: first, they couldn't find a place to stay, and second, they couldn't beat Old Dog.

The situation is the same now; they still have no choice. This is the tragedy of the weak, so they just quietly watch the old dog.

Old Dog sighed inwardly. He understood their thoughts, but despite his understanding, he was still somewhat disappointed. After all, this was one of the few times he had shown genuine sincerity...

"Gin, the Seireitei is a place full of deceit and treachery, so as your older brother, you must protect your younger sister Rangiku, understand?"

Yin nodded, but because he always squinted, no one knew what he was thinking.

"Well~" At this moment, Ichiro stretched out his hand from behind to show his presence, "I'm doing pretty well in Team 13. Nobody dares to bully them, so you can rest assured. Besides, with their talent, it's not certain who will bully whom."

"Alright, it's really getting late, we need to go back." With that, Ichiro turned and walked towards the door.

Old Dog and the two men looked at each other silently for a while, and finally sighed. Oh well, how many people in his line of work are qualified to have these things?

Perhaps this is the retribution for doing too many bad things.

He patted the two on the shoulder and led them toward the door. Actions speak louder than words. He knew very well that no matter how much he said now, he couldn't gain their trust. He would have done the same thing if he were in their shoes. He would understand once they arrived.

Stepping out of the room and looking at the completely darkened street, the old dog turned to Ichiro and asked with a smile, "Are you sure you want to go back now? Nights in Rukongai are dangerous too."

"I have to go back. I still have work to finish, and I'll be very busy lately. I can't afford to be delayed." With that, he drew his Zanpakuto, Demon Dragon, from his waist and softly chanted, "Rule the world, Demon Dragon!"

"Roar~~~~"

To the astonishment of the three, a colossal, crimson creature stood tall on the street!

"This is...your Zanpakuto?"

It turns out that small creatures always have a natural fear of large creatures. Even this fancy form of the dragon still made Old Dog take it seriously, even though he could knock the dragon down with a single punch.