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

The middle-aged man's expression twisted; he was extremely dissatisfied with the answer, but after a while, he didn't say anything about wanting to fight Hasward.

"By what right do you place yourself above everyone else, and by what standing do you govern us?"

Haschwald fell silent for a moment, and all the Quincy present turned their gazes to the throne. The meanings revealed in their various eyes were very complicated, but without exception, they all showed fear.

They could all sense a certain power gradually reviving, and they couldn't wait to see the truth:

That could be the return of a king, or it could be the birth of a "new king".

They were naturally aware of the prophecies in the hymns—in terms of intelligence alone, they were in no way inferior to the Seireitei.

However, no one knows in what form the King will return. And no one knows what state the King will be in after waking up, or even if it will be the same consciousness…

Will it affect memory and personality? What is your attitude towards the current "Invisible Empire"?

Everything was unknown, and the king's power was too awe-inspiring... Everyone present both anticipated and resisted his return!

At that time, the entire Three Realms will undergo a tremendous transformation, won't they?

To protect oneself in this turmoil, the best option for a Quincy is undoubtedly to gain the favor of the King or the new King... The simplest way is to become a "gravekeeper"!

What could be a better demonstration of loyalty than this?

Furthermore, the Quincy were indeed very curious about Yhwach's current situation...

What's infuriating is that Hasward refused to let anyone get close; only he was allowed to touch the coffin and even the remains!

"Our race must remain hidden in the darkness, accumulating strength and awaiting the opportune moment until the King returns to the Three Realms. Until then, all you must do is hone yourselves and provide our King with sharper blades."

As the commander of the Knights, this is my order. Do not attempt to disobey unless you are prepared to die!

"You are not a member of the original Knights... Although you are the Knight Commander, your seniority is not that high; it's just that the King favors you..."

In my opinion, Lord Rijebarrow is far more suited to lead the Quincy than you are!

"..."

Hasward squinted.

Rijebal was no ordinary man; he was the Quincy who was originally granted the power of the Holy Script by Yhwach, and he called himself Yhwach's greatest masterpiece and the man closest to God.

In short, he is the first member of the Sternritter, the most senior among the current Quincy, with impeccable strength and prestige, and extremely loyal to Yhwach!

This choice certainly left Hasward speechless, but...

"What did you just say? Hasward is not fit to be the commander?"

A cold voice came from the shadows, and to everyone's astonishment, a dark-skinned Quincy with his left eye closed stepped out and stood with Haschwald.

"Lord Barrow...what's wrong!"

Do you really understand what you're saying?

Lijiebarrow stared at the man with an indifferent tone, almost murderous intent: "Hasward is the king's chosen one, and his favoritism stems from the king's will... Are you questioning the king's decision?!"

"Well!"

The man was pale, and the other Quincy trembled in fear. Among them were many pure-blooded descendants, but they were powerless against the combined might of these two.

"Please forgive me! I... I was just... worried about the King's condition!"

"The dawn has already appeared on the ping line of the Shadow Realm."

Haschward then spoke up, “Our souls are connected with His Majesty’s. You can feel it too, right? That primal pulse is becoming clearer and clearer… It’s a resonance that only those of pure blood can experience. The annihilating power dormant within our bloodline is yearning to return to His Majesty’s embrace…”

If we wait patiently, he will eventually return to us, sit on this throne, and continue to lead us forward.

……

"Thank you, Your Excellency Rijcibaro."

"It's nothing, just a bunch of small fry making a fuss."

Lijbaro showed no respect to the blond youth, and even though Hasward was nominally of higher status, he spoke with an arrogant tone.

This is not to look down on Haschwald; to be precise, he looks down on everyone, because Litzerbarrow considers himself "made by Yhwach (God) in his own image," thus representing a part of God's majesty and not allowing himself to bow down to others!

“For the past thousand years, they have become accustomed to living without a king… and have become too lax.”

Lijiebarrow's tone was rather unfriendly: "Perhaps it's time to clean things up and restore their fear and worship of the king!"

"It's best to avoid any major moves at this crucial moment."

Hasward shook his head: "The recent 'fetal movements' are becoming more and more frequent, and it may be about to give birth soon. Until then, we must ensure the stability of the Empire."

—Because nobody knows what will happen!

Hasward was also a little unsure of himself. Lijiebarrow glanced at him and scoffed.

"Are you afraid?"

"..."

Hasward remained silent.

As the "gravekeeper," he knew more than ordinary Quincy, and at the same time, he felt more uneasy.

Because those people's doubts are actually correct!

Yhwach's coffin is indeed undergoing unpredictable changes, and as for resurrection... assuming it really is possible, the awakened Yhwach might not look like anything.

"What stage of development are we at now? Take me to see it."

Lijerbarro made the request, and Hasward did not refuse. The two climbed the steps to the ornate coffin.

Hasward ran his hand across the surface, and starlight and crosses radiated light. One after another, azure spirit spikes slowly rose up, and with a "pop," the barrier shattered.

As the coffin lid was moved aside, Litzerbaro peered inside, and even with his unwavering loyalty to Yhwach, his pupils constricted sharply.

"This……"

Inside was a corpse wrapped in layers of shrouds, its features obscured, and even its gender indistinguishable.

But beneath this corpse, there was a black substance that writhed slowly like liquid, as if the shadow had come to life. From certain angles, it could be reminiscent of some kind of soft-bodied creature.

huh... huh...

A peculiar fleshy cocoon clung to the corpse, its end connected to roots that disappeared into the shroud, like a baby being expelled from its mother's womb, and it was even slowly rising and falling... as if breathing.

But it doesn't have the outline of a human baby; instead, it looks like... a clenched fist?

"This is probably..."

"That's right, it was this that made His Majesty close his eyes and forced him to retreat from the Spirit King Palace."

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Lijiebarrow's face: "Did His Majesty successfully cut it out... or did it mistake His Majesty for a placenta?"

"But in any case, the Quincy will eventually have their own king."

Haschwalth believed that Yhwach would not be parasitized by such a thing, after all, the Quincy King had the power to control the future.

But soon, his expression turned extremely serious: "What really worries me is that the 'saint's remains' have not changed much in the past thousand years, but in recent years it seems like some kind of switch has been turned on, especially recently, there are changes almost every day."

That prophecy might not be accurate in terms of timing…

"Can't you deduce it?"

Lijiebarrow said with a hint of jealousy, "You are the king's 'half-body'."

"...Perhaps it needs some kind of opportunity, or perhaps it lacks the necessary resources."

Hassward hesitated for a moment: "It's like... waiting for someone to arrive."

Chapter 417 Mayuri Kurotsuchi, out in the sun!

"...Captain? Captain Aizen?"

"Ok?"

Iori snapped out of her daze and looked closely to see Senko Hibiki staring at her with a puzzled expression.

"Ah, sorry, I was a little distracted... Am I tired?"

"These days, the team leader has hardly rested because of manpower allocation, so it's only natural that he feels exhausted."

On the other side, Fengqiao, Komamura, and the others looked at the person in the main seat with concern, but Iori just smiled slightly and told them not to worry.

"I won't act recklessly, you don't need to worry. Let's continue the meeting. What's next?"

"It's a communication from Hueco Mundo, jointly signed by Commander Hyori (Esdeath) and Squad Leaders Amagai and Tosen. It states that they have reached an agreement with Las Noches and successfully made contact with the spy lurking in Tokinada's lair at Yashiro Yasutsuna."

After reading the intelligence, Fengqiao Loujulang exclaimed, "Lady Bingli is truly swift! The battle plan was only released a few days ago, and she has already achieved results. It's as if she had it all planned in advance..."

"What an outstanding talent! Captain, your ability to recruit such a wise and brave warrior from Rukongai shows just how discerning you are!"

“Bingli is certainly a rare talent, otherwise I wouldn’t have let her take over the expeditionary force instead of the more senior Tianbei. With her here, there’s no need to worry about the preparations beforehand; we just need to speed things up.”

"Yes, Captain!"

Iori showed no surprise at the contents of the communication, and her confident demeanor earned everyone's admiration.

The Third Division is a "support team," essentially a firefighter unit. They had never been deployed as the "main force" of the commander-in-chief before, and with no experience, coordinating the entire army should have been chaotic.

After all, Komamura, Tosen, and others were all rising stars promoted by Iori, and the only one who was somewhat presentable was Rojuro Ootori.

However, during this period of time, Captain Aizen Iori has shown the entire Gotei 13, including them, what it means to be "meticulous and thorough in every detail".

Whether it's troop deployment, logistical reserves, or communication, rewards and demotions, a massive amount of information flows across his desk without any disorder. He handles everything, big or small, easy or difficult, in an orderly manner.

He is not as rigid as a precision machine. During the office process, he even has the leisure to accept consultations from his subordinates and can give just the right advice. He looks relaxed and even has a smile on his face, and you can't feel any pressure at all!

Thanks to his extraordinary performance, the officers and members of the Third Division quickly adapted to their current roles. Everyone knew what they were supposed to do and began to handle various tasks, which greatly reduced Iori's workload.

The shockwaves this has caused within Seireitei are no less than those of a captain-level duel. Many Shinigami have been impressed by Iori's brilliant mind, and some have even begun to revere her as the "Dragon of Documents"!

Correspondingly, her adoptive sister Aizen Souyuki also performed similarly in the 13th Division, and was also famous in the court, known as the "Woman of Benzai," which was the name of the goddess Benzai from mythology.

Yuuki's calligraphy is even better than Iori's; even when handling everyday documents, every stroke is like a model of calligraphy, pleasing to the eye.

Of course, if a comparison must be made, Iori's performance was more amazing, simply because his work involved the entire Gotei 13, while Yuuki was limited to just one team. The different stages brought about a completely different sense of awe.

"The Eleventh Division and the Kido Clan have completed their preparations as requested and are ready to depart at any time."

The Second Division has sent a reply, granting your request to retrieve the prisoner from the [Maggot's Nest].

Captain Zhu Shiba of the Fifth Division believed that the task allocation could be completed in three days at most, and that elite forces could be drawn from various positions.

Squad Seven..."

Iori processed each message one by one, and the officers in the dormitory couldn't help but puff out their chests as they listened to their vice-captain's report. Although these matters were not of great concern to them, the Third Division was serving as the "headquarters" this time, which theoretically put them in a higher rank than the other divisions.

Iori's assembling of the expeditionary army was not met with resistance, thanks to the support of Yamamoto and the 46 Chambers. The biggest problem was how to minimize its size... He didn't need too many people.

Ultimately, this army was formed by the Third Division, the Tenth Division, and the Eleventh Division as the main body, supplemented by elites drawn from the Fourth Division, the Fifth Division, and the Seventh Division, plus the Kido Clan and the Expeditionary Force.

Although it wasn't as large as the campaign against the Quincy, it was still quite impressive in scale, making it practically the main force of the Gotei 13. And this enormous power was all in Iori's hands, yet no one in the Gotei 13 objected... This was enough to prove his status in everyone's eyes.

At such a young age, Iori was already burdened with the overall situation and held a large army in his hands. Naturally, he was trembling with fear and walking on thin ice—but in fact, he wasn't.

No matter how grand the scale, conquering Hueco Mundo would be like fighting two birds with one stone for him, and the difficulty wouldn't even be as great as fighting against a machine.

He won't fail; the only thing he needs to worry about is how to bring it to a perfect close!

"Oh, the Second Division has already replied... Hmm."

Iori smiled slightly and looked at Senko Hibiki on her left: "Come with me to the [Maggot's Nest] to meet someone later."

"Okay, Captain."

Xianghe responded accordingly.

……

"Greetings, Captain Aizen. I am Kisuke Urahara, the commander of the 3rd Division (Supervisor) of the 2nd Division, responsible for managing all matters related to the [Mushroom Nest]."

A young man with slightly messy hair and a sparse beard, who gave off a lazy and dejected feeling, bowed to Iori.

He was originally good-looking, but he looked like he had been staying up too late and had no energy. He was still very young, but he was already in the same state as Kyoraku Shunsui.

A flicker of surprise flashed in Qian Zixianghe's eyes, but he quickly concealed it.

The Second Division has always been known as a highly efficient and disciplined force, with its members as taut as clockwork, rarely showing such a relaxed attitude... Hmm, could it be the influence of the new captain?

But Yoruichi Shihouin has only been in power for a few days.

“Third Seat Urahara, I’ve heard of you. Captain Yoruichi even recommended you to me… Speaking of which, today’s events are also related to that. I’m sorry.”