Chapter 332

I stared at the calculations that were flashing across the magical screen.

Mirage was stabbed into the ground, the Eye of Magnus acting as the supercomputer I intended. It was projecting the necessary Calculations around the room. The obscene amount of variables that it was flying through were enough to even give me a headache.

Could I do it myself? Undoubtedly, but it would take me….days, maybe weeks to accomplish with certainty.

I knew that this world had three major realms interconnected. Hueco Mundo – where Hollows apparently live. The Living world where the main axis of existence gathers. And an 'afterlife' namely – Soul Society. That being said, there are plenty of minor realms and spaces all interconnected and woven into this world's fabric of reality.

Like all worlds, there are these types of things, whether they have significance or not is something I would have to investigate for myself. But for the moment, they were irrelevant and merely acting as annoyances that I had to plot around.

And to be honest, it was more difficult to find a place like this than to find a 'world'. A place like this wasn't meant to be easy to find or just walk into with a little bit of effort. The relationship between life and death made it something that the living technically shouldn't be a part of.

I wouldn't quite call it a Taboo, but it's essentially frowned upon for living beings to interfere in a thing like this as it isn't really their place. Sure, I've dipped down to Yomi plenty of times, but the circumstances around that were much different.

And the Soul Cairn was not a proper 'afterlife' ; it didn't facilitate the cycle of reincarnation that was intrinsic to the world's continued management.

I didn't plan on disturbing the world's cycle, nor causing any huge commotion, so I was prepared to step over there and take a look.

Maybe I can barter with someone and get what I want without resorting to…..other means.

Regardless, it was a thought for later. At the moment, I focused on my Aura as it pulsed out, grabbing hold of the ambient Reishi and reeling it back in so I could process it.

My soul was filling up little by little. Unfortunately, it was slow going for now, maybe I should redesign this Ritual Circle, I had a little bit of understanding of Reishi at this point, I think I could finagle a means to pull in more.

Perhaps Tessai wouldn't mind giving me some pointers in that regard?

…but then I would have to reveal some stuff.

While I was mulling that over, my Aura pulsed out again, but I didn't drag the Reishi back to myself this time. I reached over, placing my hand on the True Longinus that was next to me.

It was critical to the whole process that I was using to findSoul Society's location.

That wisp of Divine Power dissipated by itself – as intended – but it could…..remember the location after it settled down.

The Presence was weak within the spear, but it was enough that it was helping me this much.

In return, I sent Reishi into it.

The Spear seemed to quite like it, and I could theorize it had a good nourishing effect for the remnant consciousness, similar to those souls that it took in back in the Soul Cairn. Maybe less powerful when equated to the same vague ratio, but Reishi was much more abundant and easily accessible.

I saw it grab hold of the Reishi itself at one point, perhaps to give me a little 'clue' to its new desire. But I've taken over the reins since then. The less effort and power it spent, the better. Not to mention that He did come to my rescue and gave me a moment of respite that I could escape that blow from the Demon before.

I owed him at least this much and I didn't mind sharing my gains.

It was amusing, at this moment, I sorta felt like a Daoist from legends. I obviously took some inspiration from them for a few things, but It wasn't like I tried to be like one of them. Now that I think about it, there should still be a bunch back in my birth world. Sun Wukong is an obvious example of that whole group, even if he became a Buddha later in life.

Right, he did mention the Jade Emperor, something I should look into when I get back.

I wonder how hard it could be to get my hands on a better Peach? I still want to make mine into a Wine at some point. I'll probably see if Venelana can help me with that since she's experienced.

My idle thoughts came to a halt as I looked up and saw my Calculations were completed.

Weeks' worth of calculations done in a few hours.

I more or less had the trajectory that girl's soul took when it left the mortal plane. Backtracking the wisp of Divine Power, I could follow that path nearly exactly and open a portal to this Soul Society. However, I wasn't ignorant of how bad that could go, so I had to tweak it slightly.

I didn't want to just jump out right in the middle of something going on.

Once I found the entrance point, I could more or less test the boundaries of that sub dimension and pick a place more on the outskirts.

I was still sort of winging it, but with much less risk involved.

I withdrew Mirage from the ground, the Calculations stored within. I picked up the True Longinus and put it back into my ring. Lastly, I double checked my Bounded Fields to make sure I accounted for this form of Energy. I didn't want a certain Black Cat to sniff around if something happened.

Well, there was no point in hesitating. I took all practical precautions, so I wasn't really scared.

I stabbed Mirage into the air and slashed downwards, splitting time and space.

Fascinating, I merely saw a rocky plateau and nothing else besides some foliage. However, I felt something strange when I looked forward. I reached out and my hand was met with a barrier of energy taking a blue shimmer.

I gently put my hand on this strange blue barrier. It didn't budge an inch even when I started putting more force on it.

Should I use some other method? Would I cause a problem if I got more…physical. I don't even know what this 'barrier' was.

Except…It kind of felt like Reishi?

Maybe much more compact and consolidated, but Reishi all the same.

I slammed my foot onto the ground, cracking the concrete. Picking up a small piece, I tossed it at the portal. I watched as it bounced against the strange barrier again.

I held my finger out and condensed a small lightning bolt and fired it off. It slammed into the barrier and made the barrier vibrate and shudder, but it showed no signs of penetrating or dissipating.

Still holding my finger up, I decided to cast something else. "Hadō #1 Shō." I intoned, watching the invisible force fire off like a bullet.

My eyes widened as I saw it go through the barrier without any noticeable resistance whatsoever.

"Reishi is Spiritual, everything I've done so far beyond the Kidō contained the opposite – Physical matter." I muttered to myself.

Even my Lightning bolt contained magical Energy. I did think it was strange that even my Magical Energy was rejected…but I didn't have enough data right now to make a conclusion.

Perhaps…..there is literally nothing there butReishi?

That just seemed so strange to me. Every realm I've been to, it contained many different elements and factors. But if this place was made entirely – down to the smallest denomination – of Reishi….could it simply reject any attempt at foreign matter from entering?

It wasn't some kind of conceptual or metaphysical barrier in the sense that it required a certain key or permission to enter. No, it was literally a wall that didn't allow physical matter to pass through…..

Like a massive wall around the realm, nothing living should be able to get in without being a Spiritual being. That is to say, Souls and the like were the only things that could pass through a solid wall of Reishi without problems.

It made sense if I further thought about it. It required someone with sufficient Reiatsu to even see a Ghost in the first place. It's clear that this part of the world is kept separate from the other.

But…..why did this seem intelligently designed rather than natural?

Thinking about this, I flared my Aura up until it covered me completely and I let my Reiatsu flow out.

Once more, I pressed my hand against the little 'barrier' and it gave way. My hand reached through without any of the noticeable resistance that I saw before.

How interesting.

Aura was never my most powerful ability, it's certainly been a benefit and helpful in nearly every situation. But it seems like it's showing its true prowess in a world ruled by spiritual power.

[What's the game plan?]

"Investigate, look for an opportunity." I replied. "If I can't find anything good or make any opportunities, I'll leave and try again some other time. I think the important thing here is to just get my bearings first."

[Sounds like a plan. I'm a little interested in this place. We don't' have this Reishi or whatever back home, it feels kind of strange.]

"Oh, you can feel it in the Boosted Gear?"

[I am just a soul at this point, it's not that weird.] Ddraig replied. [ But I can't really do anything with it.]

"That's not surprising, Dragons are basically just giant clumps of Mana. I don't doubt you could probably force your way inside even with the resistance we've seen, but you're not an existence that's regulated for digesting this kind of Energy."

Which begs the question on how the Spear is doing so. I was just chalking it up to his nature as a Divine being behind objectively higher in status than both Magical Energy and Spiritual Energy. Thus, he can treat it differently than Ddraig who is just a big clump of Magical Energy given form.

I had a feeling I could force through many obstacles if I relied upon my own Divinity here, but in the longer term that wouldn't be beneficial for me. I needed to figure it out without resorting to the equivalent of taking a hammer to the problem.

I took a breath, flaring my Aura again. "Let's go." I walked through the portal.

[***]

I landed softly onto the dirt ground; sand kicked up at my weight finally touching down.

There were many immediate things that made my senses confused. My body felt heavy here and it gave a strange sense of vertigo.

Just taking a few steps forward, it felt like I was wafting through a body of water. It would take some getting used to. However, it looked like my Reiatsu could offset the feeling once it was released slightly.

In addition, it seems like my hypothesis was correct, I didn't sense one iota of Magical Energy in the surroundings.

This place was completely and utterly made up of Reishi.

That means I'll unfortunately have to rely on pulling Magical Energy from other places to supply any spells I need.

If I didn't have Access to the Kaleidoscope, I would only be able to rely on my own Od.

Then again, I wouldn't have been able to get here without the Kaleidoscope, so…..I guess it isn't that big of a deal.

As an experiment, I tried releasing some Magical Energy into the air.

The 'world' or rather the realm didn't reject the notion of Magical Energy rather….the Magical Energy seemed to be snuffed out after a few moments. Not an inherent defensive mechanism of this place, it was like….a flame that didn't have access to oxygen, it simply couldn't sustain itself and dissipated.

How curious.

I admit to being very intrigued by this phenomenon that I wanted to test several things. Maybe I was being a little hasty, but I didn't feel any overt danger in doing this little experiment. I held up my arm, and rescinded my aura over a small bit of skin.

I hummed as I pulled back my Aura slowly over my entire body.

There were no overt reactions, no weird laws slamming down on me for being a living being existing within this spiritual realm.

Hmm, perhaps it was only important to actually pass through the dimensional barriers? But actually existing here isn't really the main problem….

My body still felt very heavy and sluggish though, a side effect I suppose.

Circulating my Reiatsu did alleviate it still, so I wasn't too worried.

However, I did keep it at a minimum. It wasn't hard to find out that these spiritual beings could sense Reiatsu at an extremely sensitive level. I did my best to keep the significant amount of my Reiatsu sealed away from notice.

[Is this really the afterlife here?]

"What do you mean?" I asked.

[I mean….why does it seem exactly like we're still on Earth…but with just this Reishi everywhere?]

"A good question." I acknowledge, reaching down and scooping up a handful of dirt. "Feels exactly like dirt." I muttered, letting it fall out of my palm as the wind took it and it drifted away. "Acts exactly like sand. The air is dry, I feel wind on my face, and everything is acting how it 'should' be…."

[Is this place supposed to act as a mirror to Earth or….was it created this way?]

"Did you have that same thought too?" I furrowed my brow in thought. "This feels kind of artificial in a way. Much different than Yomi or even the Land of Shadows, that's more of an extension of the greater world in a sense."

[This Is strange.] Ddraig fully agreed. [Go head towards the buildings in the distance.]

I looked over to where Ddraig was referring to. There were indeed some buildings I could see a little further away.

"May as well." I nodded, trotting along towards them.

My Calculations were on point, because I appeared in an area without any people but close enough in walking distance. The more I walked the more I saw just how massive some of the structures in the distance were.

On the horizon, I could see some towering white buildings and a huge rock formation that protrude outwards.

Reinforcing my eyesight, I could vaguely see the people walking around.

It did make me come to a stop to really look at what I was seeing.

….why did it feel like I was in a period drama?

The people, the clothes, the architecture and the whole ambience. It felt like I was back in Feudal Japan.

I was going to stick out like a sore thumb if I got closer like this.

With reluctance, I weaved an Illusion around myself. While it didn't actually change what I was wearing, I despised looking bad. It was one of my biggest peeves even if it wasn't something wholly detrimental.

To try and match what I saw, I sort of donned a weathered and plain looking Yukata.

It was annoying how I had to keep the Illusion up with a sustained amount of Magical Energy because it kept wanting to fizzle out by itself.

Thankfully, as I got closer, no one really gave me any strange looks. I don't really stand out besides my Red Hair, but considering some of the differences I noticed with Tessai's physical features, I was guessing it wasn't that big of a deal.

I took a moment to take in my surroundings. Wooden buildings all around me, people in similar outfits walking around. A woman with a basket full of clothes she carried on her head while she held a small child's hand.

Another man walked down the street holding what looked like a stick of bamboo with a few fish hanging off of it.

A larger man walked out of a shop with a pipe in hand, looking disdainfully at everyone that walked by.

Was I seriously in some kind of period drama?

Weird.

And still further off, I could see bigger buildings much farther away. I had yet to even scrape the surface of everything here, this place was massive.

However, the sounds of hammering drew my attention as I peered to the side.

A smithery?

I wasn't really here for anything specific other than my vague goals, I didn't mind taking a look.

It was just about what I would expect a smithy of this perceived technology level to look like. Walking around the side, I could see the Smith at work hammering away with a forge made of bricks next to him.

He was hammering on an anvil, some kind of metal that looked like iron.

Which begged the question…..was it actually iron? If it was made of Reishi, what did this even matter? Couldn't they shape Reishi differently, why is he going through the whole forging process?

The more I looked, the more confused I got.

"What, who're you, brat?" The Smith turned around, looking at me while I was lost in my own thoughts. "Got something you need? If not, scram, I'm busy."

"Sorry was just drawn by the sounds of you hammering. Just wanted to take a look." I sheepishly apologized.

"Hmph." He snorted, setting his hammer down. "Hand me the basket of coal next to you."

I looked down to see what he was referring to. I shrugged, picking up the basket, bringing it to him. "Here you go."

He grunted, picking some up, tossing it into the fire that was going on under his forge. "Got any experience working a forge, brat? You here looking for a job?"

"Uh…maybe?" I scratched my head. Did what I have before count as experience? I knew what to do, and I helped with Mirage, but I wouldn't call myself an expert. I basically worked the bellows and controlled the flames last time.

"I'll tell ya the same thing I told them other kids. I aint no charity case, if you don't got the experience, I aint gonna waste the time to train some brat that's just looking for some coin."

Coin? Do they use a monetary system here?

Interesting.

I was about to turn around and leave with an apology, but he grabbed my hand. He stared at it, then looked at my other hand before giving me an inquisitive look. "Damn those fools. Tell me, brat, how long have you been dead for?"

"Pardon?" I blinked in confusion.

"Too pale and delicate to be one of the folks around here. And a Noble worth a damn wouldn't be seen in what you're wearing or come around these parts. Only explanation is that you're a newcomer but there shouldn't be any newcomers in this place."

….was I discovered already?

"Bah." He grunted, pushing himself up from where he was seated. "Of course you wouldn't know what I'm talking about." He grumbled again. "Did you just die, son? How long has it been since you've come to Soul Society?"

Oh…was he confusing me for a recently deceased? That makes things much easier. "Probably about an hour."

He looked at me and face palmed. "What're those damn Shinigami doing." He threw his hands up. "Can't do nothin right but cause problems round here. I heard that sometimes someone pops up on the edge of towns, didn't think nothin of it before but rumors. Damn lucky a Hollow wasn't attracted and came and munched you up."

"Sorry, did I do something wrong?" I may as well play the part.

"Nothin your fault. You should have landed with the others, then they woulda sorted you to a district somewhere. This aint a place that newcomers usually come."

"Oh…am I going to be in trouble for coming here?"

He looked at me and sighed. "Let me explain properly, I forgot you're new. There are something like 300 districts around here that make up the Rukongai. The Rukongai is where us normal folk live waiting for our souls to run out of juice then we pop back through reincarnation proper. At the center of everything, you got the Seireitei where the Nobles and the Shinigami live."

He paused, as if waiting for me to respond. "Alright, I got it so far."

"Good, not a dunce like some of the ones who first pop up here. They start screaming about how they can't be dead and causing a mess. You look like you got a good head on your shoulders."

"Is whining and screaming going to make someone not dead?"

He snorted with a chuckle. "Right, a good head. Maybe you'll end up somewhere good. Since ya new around here, I'll tell ya the basics. You won't be getting hungry, which is the only good thing bout this place. Unless you got a bunch of Reiatsu, in that case, your best bet is to find the sign ups for the Shinigami Academy and hope you get accepted."

"Really? People don't get hungry here?" I questioned, noticing that foodstuffs were seen.

"Unless you got enough power, brat. Listen to what I'm saying. That means you got the Nobles and the Shinigami needing to eat along with whatever scraps of people that don't fall into them groups. This place here isn't really a district, sorta an inbetween." He scratched his head. "This place is for the families working the farms and everything that needs. See here –" He waved his arm. "I make most of the farm tools."

"Alright, I'm still following." And digesting all this new information, even if it was a little strange.

"Aint much more than that. The lower numbered districts are better. Usually, the higher the number, the poorer the folks. And the lower ones are closer to the center where the big wigs stay. We're at the end, which would normally be the poorest lot, but we needa be closer to the farms, you get it?"

I nodded along and he grunted in acknowledgement. "Don't mind you staying around, brat. Just don't be causing a commotion, otherwise the Shinigami that come around gonna kick you out cause this place mostly for the experienced. I was probably a smith when I was livin, holding a hammer felt familiar the first time I picked one up here. Did a good job, got sent over here to keep working under better conditions. Same with some others, and some just got lucky and got grabbed. Most of the folks in the districts know not to mess with us even if they starving or living badly. Shinigami don't want their luxuries messed with by us common folk, they won't be asking any questions. Their blades are sharp and their hearts cold. Best remember that, don't think Shinigami are here to help you if you see any. Duck your head and hope you don't catch their eye."

…so far, this place doesn't paint a very good picture of Shinigami or Soul Society in general. This was supposed to be the afterlife, something better than what the living had. So….why did it feel like such squalor?

The way he described some of the 'poor' districts….what the hell?

"Did you say I should go and try to join the Shinigami Academy?" I looked at him.

"Hmph, better you be one of them than not. All of us with even the barest bit of Reiatsu tried to apply, brat. Best opportunity that anyone around these parts can find. Aint no way no noble gonna sweep us up out of this place, so we gotta work with what we got."

"Thanks for helping me, I really appreciate it. Never did introduce myself, you can call me Wilhelm." I didn't mind giving him my real name, he was being very kind to me.

His expression softened. "Ah, don't mention it. All of us were confused when we first got here. Folks round here call me Old Lin." He smiled rather warmly, making me think he was just a big softie at heart. "Tell you what –" He stopped and his eyes widened.

"Hey, Old man, you better be back there!" A shout was heard from out front.

"Get into the tool shed, brat." He said in a low voice.

I blinked, looking around and noticed what he was talking about. He probably had a good reason for telling me that, so I followed his instructions. It was a little weathered and battered, but the inside was a bit clean and contained exactly what you would assume. All manner of tools and farming instruments filled this little storehouse.

There was a small hole that I could peer through by kneeling down.

I could see Old Lin tense up and two people walk around the side, their garbs a match for the ones that Ichigo wore so I could put two and two together.

One of them had his blade drawn, and hung over his shoulder like a thug. The other had his sleeves together with a slimy look on his face.

"Old Lin, you know what day it is." The slimy looking one said in an annoying tone. "Make it easier this time.

"I aint got no extra money, brat." The Old man growled, walking to the side of his work bench with a small bag. "I'm payin the agreed amount, not a single Kan more!"

'Kan'? Is that the currency they use here?

"Come on, old man, you know the rules. When you take a loan you gotta pay interest."

"I'm already paying interest! I paid damn near twice what I was lent, take this and don't come back!" He grabbed his hammer and held it up with a snarl.

"We already told you how much you would owe us each week. No one forced you to take a loan out with the boss." The slimy Shinigami kept that same smile of his. "Pay what you owe, Old Lin, and we'll be out of your hair."

"I don't got no more. You think it's easy to sell my stuff round these parts?"

"Then we might have to take a different method of repayment. I'm sure we could sell those tools of your for a nice little sum somewhere else."

"Go ahead. When the Shinigami responsible for picking up this batch asks me where my quota is, I'll tell him to go find you!"

Damn, balls on this old man. I really like him, not taking crap at all.

The smile on the Shinigami's face twitched, clearly annoyed. "Careful, commoner, don't threaten a Shinigami. You might lose a body part if you say the wrong thing." For emphasis the thug with his sword drawn licked his blade.

Ew.

But it wasn't an idle threat I could imagine.

"Hmph." Old Lin tossed the bag of what sounded like coins to the Shinigami. "Got some extra iron bars, take'em and leave me alone."

The slimy one's expression looked a bit more relaxed. "Why didn't you just say that from the beginning? I'll have some people come by and pick them up, still have some rounds to do with our other business associates."

He didn't wait for pleasantries or goodbye, the two Shinigami immediately left and Old Lin slumped in his seat.

"What was that?" I walked out of the shed.

"Normal crap we gotta deal with around here, kid. I told you before, don't be tryin to meddle with Shinigami stuff, they don't care about us." He sighed, getting up and walking towards me. He grabbed my hand, pushing something metal into my palm. "Here take this, try your luck with the Academy. I don't got much talent myself, but when I touched ya earlier, I felt like you had more than me and I barely didn't make the cut when I tried."

I looked at my palm to see some coins in my hand. They were circular with holes in the middle, very similar to older currency. "What are you –"

"Bah, just get goin. I'll tell you where the nearest recruitment place is. Give them that and they'll give you a better chance." He grumbled again. "Ya probably don't know the way, lemme fetch something to give you some directions."

He shuffled into his little house and I could vaguely hear him start rummaging through some things.

I looked at the few coins in my hand and squeezed them.

I was always a sucker for unsolicited good will. He barely even knew me and gave me something like this after getting some apparent loan sharks – in the afterlife – shaking him down.

I am many things, but unappreciation is not one of them.

Looking to the side, I saw a stack of bricks that looked exactly like the ones used to make his furnace. I picked one up, feeling its weight, and giving it a little swing back and forth. "Yeah, that'll work."

"You say something?" Old Lin poked his head out, a piece of parchment in his hands.

"Nothing." I smiled towards him, depositing the brick into my ring.

He grunted, walking over, basically pushing it into my arms. "There, now get!"

I unfolded the parchment and it was a map – maybe somewhat poorly drawn, but decipherable.

"I marked it down, now get going and I better not hear from you until you graduate."

I looked at him again. "Thanks."

"Yeah, now get going." He huffed, going back to get his hammer he set down previously.

"Thank you for the kindness."

He looked at me one more time. "Hmph, this place could use some more niceties from other people. It's already shitty enough here."

Barely a couple hours here and I already didn't like this place.

Walking out of Old Lin's area, I took the brick back out and tossed it up, catching it as it came down. "Where did those two Shinigami go?"

[***]

I hummed to myself, holding up the black Kimono that was the uniform of Shinigami. "This should be about my size, right Ddraig?"

[Eh, you can make it work.]

I looked at it again, nodding as well. "Yeah, I think you're right."

Thankfully, I knew how to properly put on this kind of outfit.

I looked down at the two bodies of the Shinigami I had politely asked for their uniforms from. Granted, it took a little persuasion from my brick, but a few lumps on their heads, and a few smashes of their faces, and they were more than willing to hand them over.

Well, silence implied consent.

I don't think they'll be waking up anytime soon.

I didn't actually know what repercussions killing two Shinigami would have….so they get to live for now. At the very least, I didn't want to implicate the old man by accident. Who knew if more Shinigami would swarm the place afterwards and just cause more harm.

So….good news for them, they get to live. Bad news for them, they're going to have to explain to whatever superiors they have about their mission uniforms and Zanpakutō.

Oh, and I stole all the money they had. I would be making a little trip back to Old Lin and sneaking this somewhere he could find it.

Repay kindness with kindness.

Was I fortunate or unfortunate that these two Shinigami seem to be the absolute bottom of the barrel? I'm talking, they feel weaker than even the supposed 'Substitute Shinigami' that the orange haired brat.

I looked at the Zanpakutō in my hand, I tried to push some of my Aura into it, but it gave a similar feeling to the other Zanpakutō I experienced. It didn't really seem to like me all that much so I suppose I still had to get my hands on one of those Asauchi.

"W-who are you…..?"

I paused in my idle thoughts, looking down at the idiot who just woke up, looking right at me. His worlds were trembling, and it was a little funny to see some of his missing teeth.

Luckily I hadn't been seen with Old Lin.

I held my brick up that was only mildly covered in blood. "My name is Kurosaki Ichigo." I smiled before slapping it across his face again.

His body collapsed again and I continued onwards.

[You are a petty asshole.]

"Yes, yes I am." I fully acknowledged.

I was still pissed that Hollow died.

I quickly changed out of my normal clothes and into this black Kimono, strapping the Zanpakutō to my side before putting everything else into my ring. I basically stripped them of anything of value and left them in this deserted corner. There weren't any prying eyes around, I made sure of that. Not that it seemed people wanted to mingle with Shinigami, I noticed that when trying to track these two idiots down.

The people scattered quickly upon seeing a Shinigami it seems.

Oh well, it works out for me.

I can't really attend the Shinigami Academy, I'm sure I'd be found out fairly quickly. So as an apology Old Lin, I got your money back and taught them a lesson.

First to drop it off….

I turned to look at the large buildings in the far distance.

Then I'll go check to see what that's all about.

[***]

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