"This time Yhwach's targets aren't pureblood Quincy. If I remember right, the Ishida family only has a few mixed-blood Quincy," Rosse looked at Kurosaki Masaki, speaking slowly and steadily.
He hadn't paid any attention to what was happening with the Ishida family, simply letting things there develop as they would.
Those people had never been within the scope of his concerns from beginning to end.
"What? Then Kanae and Uryu are both going to lose their lives, aren't they?", Kurosaki Masaki said anxiously.
"That has nothing to do with me. You can't even preserve your own life, and you still have the mood to worry about other people?", Rosse looked at Kurosaki Masaki with interest as he asked.
"Because you helped me. Now that I'm out of danger, of course I'd hope everyone is safe and sound."
Kurosaki Masaki was an optimist, laughing bitterly through her suffering, though her smile was somewhat forced.
She might still be alive right now, but she wasn't all that different from being dead.
She couldn't control her own freedom or even her own body. How was that any different from dying?
"Right!", Kurosaki Masaki suddenly thought of something, "Aren't I also a pureblood Quincy? If Yhwach is taking his power back, why would he come for me?"
"You probably haven't noticed. You have Hollow power inside you," Rosse said with a faint smile.
"What? Hollow? When did that happen?"
This time Kurosaki Masaki was genuinely frightened.
'When did I got mixed up with a Hollow?'
She understood very well that Hollows and Quincies were complete opposites.
"Who knows. And the Hollow power in you now is just a tiny seed. Most of it has already gone into that boy named Ichigo," Rosse said with a smile.
"What? Ichigo?"
Kurosaki Masaki's heart tightened.
She had just gone back over her memories and basically guessed when it must have happened.
She didn't have many experiences fighting Hollows, and the times she was injured were even fewer.
If nothing unexpected happened, it must have been the time she met Kurosaki Isshin for the first time.
But she never would have expected that not only did that Hollow enter her body, it was even inherited by Ichigo.
No wonder the people from Hueco Mundo had come for her.
So that was where the problem lay.
"That Hollow was one of yours?", Kurosaki Masaki asked instinctively.
"It was someone else's experiment, not one of ours. You were just unlucky enough to wander into the experiment site," Rosse laughed lightly. The Hollow White inside Kurosaki Ichigo's body was something Aizen had created by coincidence.
It was only because Kurosaki Masaki wandered into the site that the monster known as Kurosaki Ichigo had been born.
"Then how can we take that Hollow out of Ichigo?", Kurosaki Masaki pressed her lips together as she asked.
"Why take it out? If you did, could he have survived this time when Yhwach carried out the Auswahlen?", Rosse asked with a smile.
"That's right. Ichigo and the others are mixed-blood too. Why are they fine?", Kurosaki Masaki's heart tightened again, and she suddenly became aware of the problem.
She herself was a pureblood Quincy, but the children she had with Kurosaki Isshin were all mixed-blood Quincy.
Unlike Yuzu and Karin, the two girls never awakened any spiritual power and had no Quincy power in their bodies.
Ichigo was completely different. Very early on, he could already see wandering Pluses, which was a sign that his spiritual power had awakened.
And since he had awakened spiritual power, Yhwach's Quincy power would have awakened in him as well.
In theory, the Auswahlen should have taken Ichigo's power too.
"Because he's very special. He carries Shinigami, Hollow, and Quincy powers all within one body, making him a unique existence unlike anything before," Rosse revealed Ichigo's essence, then looked at Kurosaki Masaki with a faintly amused expression.
They were all adults. With a little thought, certain things were easy to understand.
Since that Hollow hadn't been his experiment, Kurosaki Ichigo was certainly not very safe.
"I'm begging you, please help protect Ichigo," Kurosaki Masaki pressed her lips together and voiced her request.
Hearing everything up to this point, how could she not understand? Their family must have been under someone's watch for a long time.
She had been targeted by Rosse, and Ichigo was someone else's pawn.
But right now, she didn't even have the ability to protect herself, let alone protect Ichigo.
"I can help protect Ichigo. I can even let you secretly protect him yourself. But what will you pay?", Rosse gently stroked Kurosaki Masaki's cheek, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his lips.
He enjoyed watching people struggle, especially when it involved their bottom line.
'What is more important: you, or your cherished ones?'
"I... I...", Kurosaki Masaki opened her mouth, but every time she tried to speak, no words came out.
She wasn't young anymore. She had three children. How could she not understand Rosse's undertone?
But saying it out loud was extremely difficult.
Even though her body had already been seen completely by Rosse, every inch tasted and examined, and she wasn't wearing anything now, some words were still hard to force out.
"Think it over carefully. I can give you plenty of time. Before that, stay in this room."
Rosse laughed softly, stroked Kurosaki Masaki's long hair for a moment, kissed her forehead, then slowly stood up and left the room.
The door slowly closed. Kurosaki Masaki hugged herself, buried her head into her knees, her eyes full of helpless confusion.
She didn't know what she should do.
Should she compromise and willingly become Rosse's pet, or should she refuse even to death, ignoring anything Rosse tried?
She truly didn't know.
She was very grateful to Rosse for saving her life. She could forget what had just happened.
But asking her to forget her whole past and devote herself wholeheartedly to serving Rosse? No matter how she thought, she couldn't do that.
But if she didn't do it, how was she supposed to protect Ichigo and the others?
'So what exactly should I do?'
———
[Las Noches]
"Lord Rosse!"
Rosse had barely stepped out of the room when Lilynette came running over excitedly.
"How did the battle feel?", Rosse looked at her and couldn't help smiling as he asked.
"Very satisfying. I still have to thank Lord Rosse for granting me this power," Lilynette grinned. Even though the battle had ended several days ago, she was still savoring the memory.
Before, even though her spiritual pressure wasn't low, she was the weaker half, so her power couldn't compare to Starrk's.
Even during normal Resurreccion, it was always centered on Starrk.
But the fruit Rosse had granted her changed that situation completely.
Only after losing one's power and then regaining it could someone truly feel that rush.
"As long as it feels good to use. Did you bring back what I wanted?"
"I did. I still don't know why Lord Rosse wants to collect their spirit bodies, but I went ahead and cut off parts of their flesh and placed them in the preservation room," Lilynette giggled.
"That's fine."
Rosse smiled slightly and walked off with peace of mind.
He wanted the Visored's spirit bodies in order to study the changes from combining Hollow power with Shinigami power.
By observing the spirit bodies of those who succeeded, he could roughly understand what kind of fusion counted as successful.
The Arrancar under him had only undergone special Arrancar transformation through Devil Fruits so far. If they added Shinigami power on top of that, they could be strengthened once again.
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