12 Chapter 12

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- Hmm ... - I rubbed the torn scar on my stomach, but it didn't disappear from it. When I returned or rather crawled out of Garganta, I could hardly move my limbs, so I did not risk it and just used Resurreccion to heal. I don't think Quincy has eyes in Hueco Mundo, and even if they do, all they get is the look of my Resurreccion, which doesn't matter at all.

But be that as it may, the Quincy is still far away, but my idiocy is too close. I cannot name myself in another way. No, on the one hand, this time I could not avoid a fight, but this time I surpassed myself: why the hell did I even get into Soul Society just a couple of days after I almost killed one of the captains ?!

- Objection, Your Honor! I had the perfect disguise! - I mimicked myself.

You moron! Who do you think you are dealing with? With shinigami! With creatures that have exterminated more than a thousand years, such as you! And you seriously thought they couldn't find a way to track you down? This is when they did not know about your existence, you could wander wherever you want and whenever you want, but you have been identified! And it doesn't matter that they found you by accident, the main thing is that they know about you and they will actively look for you. It doesn't matter how it is now, what matters is that I flood into the Society! Who pulled me there? No, I wanted to get a shiny new zanpakuto and for that I needed Hina. Go, damn me, and take it! And at the same time, give your life for the benefit of the "prosperous" Soul Society. And since when is charity included in my merits?

- The jury, in my face, found me guilty of losing my last brains ... - I said sadly and looked around: there was no one around who could punish me for such idiocy, so I had to go to the nearest rock and with all the foolishness to move your head on it. Without using Hierro. - Ouch! - Yes, it hurts, but what did I want? Stepped on the same rake twice, so don't complain! Once again, head on the rock! - A-o-o-o-o ... - One more time! And stop whining! Pain perfectly clears the head of all sorts of shit! Which, as it turned out, my head is full! Again!

Stopping, when my eyes began to double, I lay down on the sand and thought. With idiocy sorted out, let's move on to other topics. First, how was I found? I will never believe in coincidence, which means that they found me. How? Hmm ... Well, at a glance, there are three options: firstly, they could trace the opening of Garganta, because my Garganta is different from the usual Hollow. Regular Hollow reveals the "personal" Garganta, seemingly trickling out between dimensions, while I create a full gap in space. Secondly and thirdly, they could figure out me either by reiatsu or by reishi. During the fight with Kensei, I used my reiatsu, and was seriously injured, so they could take samples of both my reiatsu and blood, that is, reishi, and presumably, with Kido's help, determine my location. That is, as soon as I appear in the Society, an alarm sounds in Seireitei, and an interception team is sent to me. Considering that I almost killed Kensei, then most likely two or three captains. Yoruichi, as the fastest, most likely simply had to detain me until the others arrived and keep me from leaving for Garganta.

However, how it works from the side of the shinigami is not so important. The road to the Society must be closed to me. If not forever, then for a very long time. It's unpleasant, very unpleasant: I liked it there, everything was better than this desert ... But stop whining, you can't, you can't, it's my fault! It's lousy that I won't be able to keep my promise to Hina anymore, but she hasn't been in that house for years, and survival will be more important than a promise. I think that Hina will understand. If he noticed my absence at all. Yes, I am not giving up my idea of ​​getting Hina out of Society, but this time it will have to be done carefully and carefully, and not jump into Garganta and hope for the best.

The next question on the agenda is what were the cat's strings? At first, I took them for ordinary metal threads, and on the spot, I did not immediately pay attention to one detail. Yoruichi was running her reiatsu on them! Normal metal doesn't do reiatsu! Yes, no ordinary matter, be it ordinary or spiritual, conducts reiatsu! Except for the zanpakuto. No, I don't think those threads were the girl's shik, but the fact that they were not ordinary threads is understandable. The whole question is in their functions: where they needed only for my immobilization? To be on the safe side, I carefully scanned my body but found nothing unusual. You will have to take care of yourself for some time: all of a sudden the strings were laced with a slow-acting poison, or some other surprise.

Moving on to the last question: the battle with the captain. Did I do something wrong? Hmm ... I ran our battle over in my head ... No, technically, I didn't seem to make any mistakes. Well, except when I was distracted by looking at Shunko and missed her attack. And here we come to the main problem of the day. "Tiger Flash".

- Ha-ah ... - I exhaled, wiping the blood off my face. I didn't want to ... I still don't want to admit it, but ... Flash is useless. No, it may not be completely useless, but still useless. "Technique with flaws"? No, rather, a technique that has one single drawback that will cause my death. Mobility. Or rather its absence. In the world where I learned Nen, strength, and toughness were in the first place, for most people had about the same ability in terms of mobility. And I wanted, very much wanted, that "Flash" was a "higher" technique here too. I managed to master the sledgehammer. Yes, I was able to pierce Kensei's hands, protected by Bankai, with one blow of not the most powerful "Flash" technique, but a sledgehammer for that and a sledgehammer that breaks through concrete walls. But I found myself in a world where opponents are not concrete walls, but rather a swarm of bees. Do I use a sledgehammer against the bees a lot? That's it ... Yes-ah ... After all the work and effort, after all the time spent on adapting "Flash" for reiatsu ... It turned out to be more harmful than useful. It's a shame, it's a shame ... And nevertheless, if I don't take control of my stubbornness, next time I may not be lucky and I will go to the next world.

But now what? If I don't use Flash and don't use Resurreccion, what is left for me? Basic skills only: Hierro, Sonido, Bola, and Cero. Honestly, quite a good set for myself: at least with Sonido, I will not be a sitting target for techniques like Shunko. In general, her technique was to some extent similar to "Flash". In the sense that she also manipulated reiatsu at the finest level. In particular, Yoruichi drove a huge amount of reiatsu into her arms and legs and manipulated it inside her body. It's as if I created a couple of dozen Céros and absorbed them into my hands and feet. In particular, when she struck "Flash", the girl gathered all her reiatsu in her fingertips, and the blow worked in the same way as the stiletto works: when applying tremendous pressure on one point - the tip of the blade, the stiletto can pierce metal armor, and Yoruichi accumulated all her reiatsu at one point and "Flash" was not stronger for her than cardboard. And this is just one application of Shunko: even now I can think of a dozen others.

No matter how you look, but Shunko is a better technique than "Flash". Much better. It is a pity that it is not available to me, just as Kido is not available. Stop! I created an analog of Kido! The spell that divided my soul and made me an Arrancar. Analog, analog ... I sat up abruptly, which made my head hurt again, but I did not even notice it. Shunko ... Why did I surrender to Shunko? No, I don't need Shunko, I can come up with my technique! No, I'm not going to give up good ideas. Maybe I can't use Shunko directly, but I liked some of the solutions for simplifying control over reiatsu that Yoruichi used. Not everything is so bad with "Flash" either: no, the technique itself must be forgotten, but its parts may be useful to me ... I looked around, tore off a branch from the nearest bush, and frantically began to draw on the sand those schemes that could come in handy, offhand tossed what Yoruichi used in writing, then figured out their compatibility, deleted a couple of incompatible blocks ...

- Hmmm, I would have a paper and a pen ... - I held out after an indefinite period when I caught myself jumping between formulas and diagrams, trying to find in which side of the world I wrote down the schedule I needed. Looking around, I could not find the edges of my calculations ... - Ha-ah ... I didn't care about formulas and diagrams, I sat on the sand: I won't forget what I wrote, so in principle, you can erase everything. And yet something began to emerge for me. So, the shadow of the skeleton of technology, but there are certainly prospects. We need calculations. Lots of calculations, lots of experiments, and lots, lots of practice. What I create will require more than just good control over reiatsu, this technique, if I can create it at all, will test the limits of my control. But this is my peculiarity, right? And this is so, or not, I will know when I test this technique in practice.

But what now? First, no impulsive actions. Secondly, not a foot in the Society! At least until I'm sure of my safety. Plan zanpakuto and Hina can wait. I was waiting for her for the devil knows how long, every month coming to the appointed place? Now it will wait, it won't break. And I need this from this ... I again examined the scribbled surroundings ... Blind something functional. And when I get blind, when the shinigami calm down a bit after my invasion, then it will be possible to think about how to get Hina out of the Society. The plan is outlined, it's time to carry it out!

- And yet I am not against paper and pen ... - I held out, but unfortunately, I could not get either one or the other; in the world of the living, everything is made of matter, not spiritual particles, so I can't get overstocked there, and the way to Soul Society is closed to me. Well, we'll have to make do with sand ... Or maybe skin some unlucky Adjuchas? Can the skin serve as a substitute for paper? Or maybe their masks? No, the masks are too small, but you can try them with skins.

- Long time no see. - I smiled all the same low Moon, as always. Hmmm, it has been a long time since I appeared on the surface of Hueco Mundo. How many do not know exactly, because I was not going to go into the world of the living just to find out the date? Yes, and I did not think about it, carried away by work. In general, this is one of my shortcomings, which I could not get rid of: when I am carried away by something, I forget about everything: food, sleep, social or family responsibilities ... Fortunately, none of this was here, so I could succumb to my weakness without thinking about the consequences.

All this time I spent in the Forest of Menos, not only developing my own, as yet unnamed technique, but also dealing with other "problems". Why the Forest of Menos? It's just that when I tried to write on the skins of the killed Adjuchas, I realized that it is much easier to catch simple Hollow than these, sometimes very fast creatures, and when I went down, I could only shake my head sadly: in contrast to the surface, below almost everything was stone, and with a minimum concentration on this stone it was possible to burn whatever I wanted without any problems. Of course, you can't make sheets of stone, but I didn't want to bother with signs, so I densely covered about three dozen column trees and the rocks closest to them in the same language I know. Or rather, in languages: I did not pay attention to exactly how I write, so most often I wrote in the language in which I was thinking at that moment, but I thought in the language of the world where I learned the information that I was operating in the data moment. As a result, only I can understand what is written there, so I didn't even think about destroying the records: let them try to decipher it.

- Hmm-hmm-hmm ... - I hummed to myself a funny tune that suits my mood: a lot of work, a lot of dreary, similar, but exciting work, but in the end, I managed to do what I had planned. No, to the full, working technique, as far as that Moon: it seems to be close, but try to get it! And nevertheless, I took the most important step, created the core, the base, the skeleton, the engine of technology, and if it passes the test, then all that remains is to increase the meat on it, and this is only a matter of time and diligence. The main thing is that the basis, the very principle of operation, functions as it should, and the rest is little things. That's why I came to the surface: to test my invention. No, at the moment it is useless in battle, it does not give me any new skills or abilities, but this is not necessary. The main thing is that this core does not disintegrate in a combat situation when I am pumping a huge amount of reiatsu through myself. No, during the trial "launch" everything worked as it should, but tests and tests represent a real combat situation and not a safe range.

And I was not only doing my development down there: while developing the "skeleton" one quality was the main thing for me - versatility. And for my technique to work with all the techniques of the Arrancar, I had to perfectly understand what I was dealing with. And then I opened the chest of gold. The techniques used by the Arrancar intuitively, and at first glance are simple, even a little primitive, in fact, turned out to be not only much more complicated than they seem but also incredibly effective! Take Hierro, for example. At first glance, an elementary technique that strengthens the skin of Arrancar Simple to perform, and at first glance, not too impressive. Hierro essentially creates an invisible barrier around the skin, which catches a certain part of the spiritual pressure of Arrancar and seals it, creating a barrier of compacted reiatsu. Doesn't sound very impressive, and I thought the "Flash" shell was many times better ... Until I fought with two captains.

The thing is that in the vast majority of worlds where I lived, one rule worked: in close combat, physical damage is the most dangerous. It's simple: when the enemy is right in front of you, it is much easier and faster to hit him in the face with your fist than to cast any spell. And here my memory and experience played a cruel joke on me: I believed that the same rule works here: if a shinigami gets close to you and slashes the zanpakuto down your throat, then you are a corpse, right? At least it's logical. And here I was fundamentally wrong. Shinigami fights, Hollow fights, fights between them, even at the closest distance, are not fights of physical strength, but fights of reiatsu. When I was hit in the face in other words, about one hundred percent of the damage was done by the kinetic force of the fist hitting me in the face. Here, when they hit me in the face, about ninety-nine percent of the damage comes from the reiatsu, who pumped this very fist! And that is why I did not notice Hierro: the compacted reiatsu does not work very effectively against physical objects, for example, it will not stop a bullet. But the situation with reiatsu is the opposite: the dense spiritual pressure, which is also in constant motion, perfectly rejects any reiatsu that does not belong to the user of Hierro, so if the same fist hits my face, closed by Hierro, then part of the reiatsu that is pumped up this fist will scatter, and if my Hierro is dense and powerful enough, it will completely knock out the whole reiatsu, turning the blow into a friendly pat.

And this is just one example. Cero, on closer inspection, has almost limitless possibilities of modification and change, Sonido is tightly tied to both the control of reiatsu and the physical condition of Arrancar, giving this technique almost limitless opportunities for improvement. And all this I have almost ignored until now, considering these techniques "basic" and "primitive". Although if you do not get hung up on yourself, and look at the situation as a whole, then everything is correct: empty thousands of years devour each other, and in such an environment only those techniques will be used that will give Hollow the highest chances of survival. It was these techniques that were chosen by natural selection, and to ignore them is to deliberately reduce your chances of survival.

Errors, mistakes, mistakes ... There are worlds in which knowledge and experience will help to achieve a lot, if not everything, but there are worlds in which knowledge and experience only obscure the mind and interfere with a sane view of the situation. Fortunately, in my case, the mistakes made were not fatal, so a lesson can be learned from them, and not made again.

- Volunteers, volunteers, where are you, my volunteers? - The mood was excellent, and I did not want to be silent. And volunteers, although I needed experimental rats more than ever: I couldn't wait to test my invention for strength, and then move on to a plan to "rescue" Hina from the clutches of insidious shinigami. Yes, the plan had already been drawn up, but it will take some time to complete, so I wanted to finish one thing first and then start the next. - And here are the volunteers! - I smiled when, leaving the next Sonido, I felt three Adjuchases on my radar at once. Hmm? Judging by the bursts of reiatsu, they are fighting.

Hiding my reiatsu, I used Sonido and ended up on a cliff near the battlefield. So, what have we got here? Two insects are fighting a humanoid Adjuchas, which has four arms instead of hands ... What is this anyway? Trunks like an elephant? A second later, I realized why he needed such limbs: they served him like flamethrowers, spitting out powerful streams of flame towards their opponents. And the opponents were much weaker: one Hollow looked like a centipede with powerful stings, and the second looked like a scorpion ... Which had no tail left and judging by the burnt stump, it was clear that it was to blame. Yes, and the reiatsu was too unbalanced: the level of insects, even taken together, did not reach the "proboscis", who was now just playing with his prey: as soon as his opponents tried to run away somewhere, he forced them to return with streams of fire. Does he seem to be telling them something?

- Dance, dance, small creatures, I like it when my food also entertains me ... - I managed to hear. Shrugging indifferently, I left Sonido about ten meters behind him.

- Hello! - In response, a dense stream of fire flew into my face. Good reflexes! Hit first, then ask questions ... That's right. I didn't do anything, I just watched Hierro's work closely. Oh, how did I not notice this treasure: such a terrible-looking fire, in contact with Hierro, simply disintegrated into harmless reiatsu, which in turn dissolved in the environment.

- What? You are alive? - Adjuchas hummed, having stopped pouring fire on me.

- Hmm? What? Should not?

- Gray! - Wow, this is something new! Instead of the usual Cero, this type brought their trunks together, and each of them began to create according to Cero, which merged, creating something very serious. I didn't have enough spirit to test my Hierro against such a spirit, so I just used Sonido to get close to Hollow, and then chopped off one of his trunks with my zanpakuto. But I didn't expect the reaction that followed ... It turned out that this super Cero was extremely unstable in the process of creation, so this damn thing exploded right in my face!

- Ha-ah ... - I held out, looking at the moon and relaxing on the sand.

There was a good gasp. Hierro struck, so my face and chest were on fire now, and I didn't even want to think about how I looked. And yet ... Burns, albeit serious, is a very small price to pay for what were essentially four Ceros, shot at me point-blank. No, Hierro must be developed by all means ... As well as Sonido ... As well as Cero ... As well as my technique, the "skeleton" of which has passed the test with dignity. And I also didn't give up the plan to get an analog of a real zanpakuto ... So many plans, and only twenty-four hours in a day ... Okay, stop wallowing, we need to see how the insects are doing there. No, I immediately noticed that when I appeared, both Hollows rushed away, and judging by the fact that I still feel them, which cannot be said about the trunk-hand, they are still alive. You can of course not give a damn about them, but they saw me as Arrancar, so it is better that they shut up. Forever and ever. So, just in case.

- Hello! - I waved my hand to them, leaving the Sonido in front of their noses. - What's up? - There was no answer, instead, the centipede rushed at me with lightning speed, and tightly wrapped its body around me, diligently trying to bite off my head. I just stood there and waited for her to understand the futility of her attempts. Hmmm, now I'm playing with my prey ...

"Menoly, run away from here, I'll hold him as far as I can! - The centipede hissed, continuing to gnaw at my neck and pouring like poison, which just flowed to the ground, without causing me the slightest harm. But I was faced with an interesting problem: if the centipede called the scorpion "Menoly", is Loly hugging me now? It turns out so. So what should I do? Execute, or pardon? On the one hand, slaves can come in handy for me, mainly as guinea pigs: I wanted to see if I could Arrancarize other Hollow. Although later it can also come in handy, because I'm going to move to Las Noches when it is rebuilt, and there the servants will not be superfluous. Although now the servants will also not interfere: if the Society tracks me by my reiatsu or reishi, then the girls will be able to go there without the risk of being discovered, which means they will be able to bring essential items from there, like paper and pencil. On the other hand, why the hell should I bother with them? I did without them, and I will manage further. But then again, Loly and Menoly are very interesting people who, with their antics, can pretty much amuse me, and I value my fun very much. What am I to do with them?

- Stop hugging me already! - I was indignant, trying to pull off this centipede. I nevertheless decided not to kill them, because I get nothing from this, but with this solution came my problems: having only two human hands, pulling off a centipede of three or four meters long without causing serious harm to it was problematic.

- Fuck you! - Great answer! Okay, even if I remember her a little, the Adjuchas are tough creatures, I think they will not die. - Guh! Ugh! - Loly only betrayed in response to punches and elbows, but stubbornly did not let go of me. Having slightly increased the force of the blows, I made her grip lose a little and immediately went into Sonido. Appearing next to the fleeing Menoly, I grabbed her by the claw, and jumping back, threw her at Loly, who had not even had time to understand where I had disappeared. Note: With the load, my Sonido's speed dropped dramatically. It will be necessary to better investigate this point: what exactly causes the decrease in speed, can we fight it?

- Ha! Loly rushed at me again, but this time I wasn't going to let her wrap her arms around me. Sonido was perfect for this situation, and I just moved around the girls, and when Menoly tried to escape, I just grabbed her claw and threw her back.

- Loly, enough already! - After twenty minutes of playing cat and mouse, Loly barely wiggled her countless limbs, but continued to try to kill me. No, she no longer tried to catch up with me, now she was spitting poison. Which looked more like acid, but it's little things.

- Shut up! Loly snapped furiously. - You offer to surrender and wait for us to be eaten? Can't wait! - And another portion of acid. All this time I was silent, watching with interest the actions of the girls. And I must say, I liked Loly much more than Menoly. Well, I like lively people. It doesn't matter if you are weak or strong if you don't give up, if you are ready to fight no matter what, you deserve my respect. Hina, who did not hesitate to accept Hollow's offer, giving her a chance to change and become stronger, Loly, with her last bit of strength trying to kill me, knowing full well that she has no shadow of a chance ... Menoly was different. Quiet, calm, passive. The girl followed Loly's orders but did not show many initiatives.

- I don't want to sound rude, but I'm not fond of exotic dishes: instead of scorpions and centipedes, I would eat beef ...

- Who the hell are you? Loly asked, aiming for another spit.

- Your new master.

- What? "She didn't understand what I was using Sonido for, and, appearing to her point-blank, took it by the head, pressed it to the sand, and then created Cero in the second hand and thrust it between Loly's stings.

- Do we want to live?

"... Yes ..." she said quietly, making sure that her mandibles did not touch the crimson ball about to shoot Cero.

- And you? - I raised my head to the frozen Menoly a couple of meters away.

- Y-d-yes! - She answered slightly stammering.

- Perfectly! Then if you want to live long, you will do what I tell you.

- ... - They are silent.

- Ferstein?

- What?

- Got it?

- D ... - Menoly was about to agree, but she was interrupted.

- Why do you need it? What do you want with people like us? Are you saving food for later? - Oh, yes, they are not Arrancar, and Hollow has only one goal - to eat and not be eaten.

- I look like an ordinary Hollow, which needs to eat others in order not to degrade?

- I already asked who you are, idiot! Instead of answering you mhm-mhmhm-mhmh !! I buried her head in the sand to keep her quiet. Lively, however!

- Yes, yes, I remember something like that, and now you also remember what happened to the curious cat. So shut up and do what they say. - I let go of Loly, and walking back a couple of meters, watched what she would do.

- Blegh! The girl shook her head, spitting out a portion of poison-laced sand. - Now what? Can I bring you slippers?

- A good idea! Let me just make slippers out of your friend's claws. Just kidding. - I smiled, noticing the bloodthirsty gleam in Loly's eyes. - Follow me.

- Are you okay? - When I turned away, Menoly immediately jumped to her friend.

- I will live. How are you?

- Hmm? I'm fine.

- Oh, yes, I wanted to ask: did that guy take a bite from you?

- Isn't it noticeable? Loly snapped, referring to Menoly's tail.

- I mean he ate something, or just incinerated?

- Why do you care?

- If I ask, then there is a difference.

- No, he didn't eat anything. - answered Menoly. - Um ...

- What?

- How can we contact you?

- Cheshire. What's your name? Or should I come up with names for you? After all, you belong to me now.

- ... - The perfectly audible grinding of Loly's stings was my answer.

"My name is Menoly and hers is Loly.

- Very nice to meet you. Hope it's mutual. - I smiled.

- I'll bite your throat in a dream! - Loly promised. And I like her more and more! No, she will create a lot of problems for me, but I will not be bored.

- I like you very much too!

- What is it? - Loly asked suspiciously, looking at the corpse of Adjuchas in front of her nose.

- It? Hollow. Adjuchas. Humanoid.

- I'm not blind! She snapped. - Why did you bring him here?

- Your breakfast. - I just said, sitting down on a rock nearby.

- ... - Loly suspiciously walked around the corpse, then looked at me with the same suspicion. - Did you mix something into it?

- Sure! Aphrodisiac canister. True, this canister is invisible, but I carry it in my pocket. See? - I nodded at the rags, which hardly hid the most indecent. - The pocket is also invisible, so you have to take my word for it.

- Everything seems to be in order. - Said Menoly, who managed to bite off a couple of pieces while I was explaining to Loly about the canister ...

- You fool! What if he's poisoned ?!

- Why would he poison us? - Asked the scorpion, swallowing another piece of Hollow.

- Then why doesn't he eat himself? Isn't that suspicious?

- What, enviable? - I grinned. - As I already said, I do not need to eat others, in principle I cannot degrade.

- It's impossible!

"I don't care what you think, but if you don't want to degrade, then shut up and eat.

- Grrrr !! - And yet she did not starve.