You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Nel was even more speechless: "Of course not... You may be very noble in Soul Society, but how could you possibly become a Shinigami—uh!"

The antelope rider suddenly froze, an incredulous expression appearing beneath his helmet.

"That's... no... how could that be..."

Are you surprised to see this?

Iori raised her right hand, and white bone material gathered continuously, slowly shaping it like quicksand. In the end, it formed a skull mask with two intertwined fire patterns on the forehead that looked like vertical pupils, and a lightning-like brand on the left half. The mask was white with black patterns.

"I am the King of Hueco Mundo!"

~~~~~

Chapter 308 I, Nilu, swear to defend my king to the death! (5.5K)

"Ouch~~"

The wolf-shaped Hollow stood atop a high hill and howled to the sky. The sound waves seemed to bring the entire desert to life, creating small dunes, and then all sorts of Hollows emerged from the ground.

"It's the king!"

"The King is back!"

"king!"

"And Your Majesty!"

These Voids vary in strength, with most being mixed Voids and a small number being extremely special Kyrians that have awakened their own consciousness and can evolve into Adjuchas at any time.

Even looking at the entire Hueco Mundo, it would be hard to find a place with a higher density of Hollows than this. There is no distinction between strong and weak, male and female. Generally speaking, the Hollows are clearly hierarchical, and they often engage in vicious battles with each other.

However, this status was quite different. When the Void beings gathered together, there was no obvious difference in status. There was some chaos, but the atmosphere was relatively peaceful. At most, they clashed with each other, but no one directly revealed their claws.

They greeted Iori and Esdeath with utmost respect as they returned from outside. It was clear they had not received any professional training; some knelt, some bowed, and the scene was chaotic, but their respect and fear were genuine.

The object they were greeting was dressed in a white trench coat, looking completely different from the demons and monsters that were illusory.

Iori merely glanced at the group of spectators, paying no particular attention to his "subjects," while the antelope knights following behind him were greatly surprised.

"Such a large number... even the legendary Las Noches couldn't compare to this, could it?"

"This is Hueco Mundo, although it's still on the outskirts."

Esdeath said coldly, "As you can see, the one who defeated you is the new master of Las Noches, and the king who rules over all the Hollows in this land."

"The new master of Hueco Mundo..."

The Antelope Knight was greatly shocked: "Then what about the Skeleton Emperor?"

"You'll see him in a little while."

Iori turned and glanced at her, then smiled and said, "Besides that, there are many other things I want you to see."

The Antelope Knight remained silent. She was puzzled that Iori, as a Grim Reaper, could produce a Hollow mask. The fact that one person could possess two completely opposite powers at the same time completely overturned her common sense, and she instinctively felt that she had been dragged into some troublesome matter.

But she couldn't resist. With Iori's strength, killing her would be a piece of cake. Now, they were only letting her go to Hueco Mundo with them. Instead of using force to suppress her, they were trying to persuade her by showing something. This was already considered exceptionally lenient.

Along the way, the three of them would observe the Hollows' lives without them noticing, which broadened Nel's horizons and also sparked some curiosity:

"Among those Hollows outside, many are the weakest at the bottom, as powerless as newborn babies. Logically speaking, such individuals cannot survive for long in Hueco Mundo; if they are discovered after birth, they will become food."

Even within a group, such individuals are not protected and can only rely on themselves to avoid those powerful members of their own kind... But strangely, the Hollows here seem to feel very safe, and they don't even feel afraid when they are with the Kylian.

Why is that?

The Antelope Knight found this quite unbelievable, because she was already a relatively peace-loving leader who always advocated for harmonious coexistence among her kind and tried to avoid fighting each other... but bloodshed still occurred in her territory.

The reason is simple: this is a virtual way of life!

Unlike the Grim Reaper, the only way for the Vision Knight to become powerful is to devour its own kind, which is a matter of course. The Antelope Knight is an exception; it will protect the weak and never actively cause killing during its growth process, but only passively confronts the enemy.

Even the weak and vulnerable creatures she protected didn't really understand her.

Honestly, if Nellyl hadn't been exceptionally talented, given her personality, she would never have been able to survive in Hueco Mundo for so long...

The Antelope Knight was curious about what methods Yu Yizhi had used to make those inherently ferocious void energies behave so well.

"It can't be just a simple threat, right?"

"The oppression of power is the simplest way to rule. Absolute violence can guarantee absolute authority—but that is merely 'rule'."

If you want your will to permeate every corner of the organization, to convince everyone and make them willing to act for you, then you cannot simply resort to violence.

Iori spoke calmly and deliberately, like a teacher giving a lesson to his students. He did not hide anything from the Antelope Knight, whom he had just met.

"Not all Hollows are battle maniacs. Many Hollows are limited by their strength and talent and have no hope of advancing. They will not actively seek out their own kind to fight. Instead, they hope to find a place to live peacefully, and my Las Noches territory can take them in."

All the Hollows around here are under the jurisdiction of Las Noches. They are allowed to go out hunting, but they are not permitted to kill indiscriminately within this land—these Hollows are all my 'property,' they don't have the guts."

"Does no one have any objections to this rule?"

"Of course, a batch was killed, but it wasn't much compared to the total number. After all, there are few who are as fearless as you. And for those who harbor ambitions and yearn to evolve into Adjuchas and Vastod, only by obeying my orders can they have a chance to advance further."

"Evolution? You can grant them even greater power?"

"It's a very simple thing."

Generally speaking, it is extremely difficult for a Hollow to evolve. Some Adjuchas may even devour thousands of powerful enemies of the same level, but still cannot become Vastodes. Talent is something that no one can say for sure, not even they themselves are sure.

But as the saying goes, the onlooker sees most of the game. Within the Las Noches Palace, there is a machine that can perfectly analyze the bodies of Hollows, collecting and calculating data on spiritual pressure, attribute preferences, soul strength, the upper limit of power that can be contained, the scale of spiritual particles and corresponding wavebands required to break through this limit, and so on.

The path of evolution is full of chance, and even nature itself has many inexplicable miracles. My method cannot guarantee 100% success, but at least it will provide a clear path, which is much better than the blind men and the elephant.

At the very least, they will know how many more of their kind they need to devour, what attributes those others possess, and how to break free of their own 'container' during metamorphosis.

"...I can't believe such a thing exists in the world."

The Antelope Knight felt his worldview was being shaken.

"Doesn't that mean we can mass-produce Adjuchas and Vastodes?!"

"not that simple."

Iori smiled and shook her head.

This evolutionary approach essentially involves collecting a large amount of data and then constructing a reasonable and self-consistent computational model; in simple terms, it's a high-tech version of "empiricism."

It is effective for most virtual things, but it is not a revolution in productivity; rather, it greatly improves "productivity".

To give an example, previously, a Killian needed to devour five hundred Hollows of the same level to evolve into an Adjuchas, with a certain probability of failure and abnormal mutations. But now, according to this system, it only needs to devour two hundred in a targeted manner, and the probability of failure is extremely low, and there will be no strange aftereffects after the transformation.

On a grand scale, it is indeed possible to "mass produce" Adjuchas, but Vastod is absolutely not an option.

Because there are so few Vastodes, each one is an independent individual and cannot form a group at all, so there is no pattern to be found... and there is no way to analyze them.

"Even if you can't create Vastod, that's still amazing."

Antelope Knight took a deep breath. As a top-level Hollow herself, she knew very well that Vastods were mainly about talent and could not be cultivated by technology alone.

Besides that, Iori has already completed the evolutionary path of "Void - Gillian - Adjuchas", which is simply amazing!

"If you can do that, you truly deserve the title of 'King of Hueco Mundo'."

Nelielu was completely convinced by those words!

"but,"

She quickly changed the subject again, "Even so, those phantoms that want to evolve will still cause killing... This world of survival of the fittest remains unchanged."

She didn't mean to be demanding of Iori, but her tone was filled with sorrow, a deep disappointment with the world itself...

Why should we change?

Iori countered, "Has Hueco Mundo always been like this?"

As they spoke, the three of them had already passed through the outer perimeter and arrived at the former site of Hueco Mundo.

The reason it's called "original" is because the Las Noches at this time is quite different from what it was before:

Towering, pure white walls stand tall, and buildings combining Gothic and ancient Roman styles sit in the boundless desert, resembling pilgrimage temples or royal palaces, exuding a sense of majesty, sanctity, and inviolability.

The central tower, in particular, gives the illusion of piercing the sky, with a huge, clear blue gemstone at its very top, like the eye of a god gazing down upon this desolate land.

"Well!"

The scene before her eyes stunned the Antelope Knight. She had never seen such a scene in Hueco Mundo since her birth. Everything in this world was filled with a sense of decay and decline, but this palace alone showed a unique vitality.

"This is truly amazing... um, what is that?"

Before the Antelope Knight could even utter a sigh, her sharp eyes had already noticed the small black dots flying around on a strangely shaped building, and she could also faintly sense the constantly rising spiritual pressure fluctuations in the atmosphere.

Moving closer, she discovered that the black dots were actually Adjuchas!

The building looks like a giant cone with spiral staircases on its surface. Each spiral extends outward with several long poles, ending at a wide circular platform. There are probably hundreds of spirals in total, making it look like a large tree laden with fruit.

Each of these platforms is numbered, and about a third of them are glowing red, seemingly indicating they are in use. Occasionally, people will come from a distance, climb onto the platforms, and then form pairs.

A head-to-head battle!

Among them, the weakest is still a Killian with independent will, and most of them are beast-shaped Adjuchas!

"What's going on? Isn't fighting prohibited within the territory?"

The Antelope Knight asked in surprise.

"It's not a complete ban, but rather a requirement to obtain a license."

The one who answered was Esdeath, the Ice Queen, who looked at the spiraling colosseum with a satisfied smile.

"Within the territory of Las Noches, Hollows who dislike fighting and do not wish to evolve further can enjoy a peaceful and stable life as long as they follow the rules."

Correspondingly, for those ambitious, determined individuals who yearn to climb to higher realms, we have also provided them with the best training ground, where they can enjoy endless battles on the 'Stairway to Godhood'..."

After Esdeath's explanation, the Antelope Knight gradually understood the rule:

【Ascending the Divine Stairs】is a competitive game similar to a challenge mode. Participants must be prepared to be killed in order to be allowed to enter. They can then freely choose to challenge the champion of a certain level. As long as they win, they will automatically become the new champion.

The reason it is called the "Ascending the Divine Stairs" is because it is said that as long as one can climb to the top and defend the position for more than a month, one can become a direct subordinate of the "King".

To the Achukas, reaching the top means the door to Vastod is opened... It's just a pity that the competition is so fierce that no one has been able to successfully defend their title at the top yet.

Even so, the [Ascension to Godhood] is still very popular because each arena automatically records the attributes and spiritual pressure of the arena owner. For Hollows who want to evolve upwards, this is like a guiding light. They just need to choose a suitable opponent to challenge.

Even if you can't reach the top, you can still devour enemies to strengthen yourself!

(The reigning champion is at a disadvantage in terms of information disclosure, which is the price to pay for achieving "Godhood." Of course, only basic information is revealed; combat strength and compatibility are uncertain, so the loss isn't actually that significant.)

"What...isn't this encouraging them to kill each other?"

The Antelope Knight's mood instantly soured: "Are you enjoying these ugly battles?"

"No, I am just fulfilling my duty—the duty of being a 'king'."

Iori spoke calmly, seemingly not finding anything wrong with it.

"king?"

The Antelope Knight frowned, but Iori's next words left her bewildered.

"What power do you think a king should bestow upon his subjects?"

"This……"

Neliel was speechless for a moment, then thought for a moment and said firmly, "It's the right to live!"

"That's only part of the story."

Iori smiled. "But there is also the right to die."

"what?"

The Antelope Rider found it utterly absurd.

“Not all virtual beings regard ‘living’ as their ultimate goal. Many pursue what they want with the awareness of dying… I respect this idea, so I gave them freedom.”

"free……"

"Yes."

Iori declared proudly, "Under my control, they can choose how to live, and they can choose how to die. Isn't that the greatest freedom?!"

The Antelope Knight looked enlightened, unsure how to refute it... or rather, she had already acknowledged Iori's correctness in her heart.

That's what a virtual circle looks like!

That's what emptiness is!