"They've arrived…"
Yoshio checked the time.
Based on what Rangiku said while drinking, they should be entering Hueco Mundo around now.
Their arrival meant Yoshio had to act too.
These people were here to deal with Hollow White; Yoshio certainly couldn't let them kill Hollow White.
Because his favorability with Hollow White hadn't reached eighty yet, he hadn't permanently acquired the ["Cocoon Transformation"] ability—so he absolutely couldn't let the Shinigami take it down.
While in Las Noches, he'd been searching for Hollow White's whereabouts.
According to Soul Society intel, Hollow White clashed with the Hueco Mundo Dispatch Team, and the battle attracted more Menos Grande.
Although those Menos were enemies of the Shinigami, they also didn't welcome Hollow White, so it became a three-way melee—pure chaos.
Hollow White's whereabouts were unknown.
Based on past experience, Hollow White would return to Las Noches within a week at most, but seven days had passed this time—implying its condition wasn't great.
So Yoshio had been sending people out to search for Hollow White, and occasionally went himself.
Sensing the arrival of the Dispatch Team, Yoshio left Las Noches again.
Standing under Hueco Mundo's pitch-black sky, on the white reishi sands, Yoshio stretched out his hand to feel the reishi and murmured, "This environment seems to speed up my Hollowfication progress."
Shinigami and Hollows are reishi-based beings; different environments affect them.
Hueco Mundo's reishi concentration is denser than Soul Society's; if a Shinigami adapts to it, they gain power surpassing what they'd have in Soul Society.
But the environment also affects the soul.
Ordinary Shinigami are fine, but because Yoshio had triggered Hollowfication before, his soul had Hollow traits, making him better adapted to Hueco Mundo.
Such an environment would make the Hollow nature in his soul more active.
"This is getting annoying. I'm leaking Hollow spiritual pressure and there's still a bunch of things fixating on me."
Yoshio stopped and looked around.
Several Gillian-class Menos Grande had appeared, eyeing him greedily.
If there were other tiers present, maybe; but if it's just a bunch of lowly 9-stars, he had zero interest in subduing them.
Yoshio raised a finger; a Special Beam Cannon gathered at his fingertip.
Against small fry like this, the best approach was the simplest—wipe them out.
He'd repeated this motion a dozen times.
Couldn't be helped—walking alone in Hueco Mundo really was too dangerous, especially with that strange aura seeping from him.
Shinigami souls attract Hollows more because Shinigami are complete souls; Hollows—those with incomplete hearts—crave to devour the whole, as if that would fill their emptiness.
Yoshio aimed at the Hollows, but before he could fire, they suddenly self-destructed!
As if crushed by immense pressure, they toppled, their bodies warped, and—boom!—they exploded!
…
Seeing this, Yoshio withdrew the Special Beam Cannon and brushed back his hair.
"Your entrances are always so striking, Starrk."
Yes—only Starrk could create such a scene in all Hueco Mundo.
His reishi was too powerful; he could only be alone.
Even Gillian-class Menos Grande were crushed under Starrk.
"If possible…"
With Lilynette at his side, Starrk walked over slowly. "I don't want this ability."
"That's the arrogance of the strong. I can't stand it," Yoshio sighed. "Did you come to me because you found the targets?"
"I did locate some Shinigami, but that's not why I came."
"Oh?" Yoshio grew serious. "So that means…"
"I found White, but… he can't see you right now."
Starrk said quietly, "So I want to ask if you want to go see him. Maybe… you'll be surprised."
"That so…" Yoshio narrowed his eyes slightly and said slowly, "I wouldn't mind seeing something surprising."
Starrk turned and headed south.
Yoshio followed. After several hundred kilometers, they stopped before a peculiar complex of buildings.
"This is… where White is."
Looking at the architecture wholly unlike Las Noches, Yoshio was surprised.
While most of Hueco Mundo was reishi sand, there were occasional landforms.
Adjuchas often nested on rocky hills.
But large structures like Las Noches were rare.
Now, before Yoshio stood something like a palace built by a civilization—but it was dilapidated. Many structures were brick, with proportions and shapes close to human scale.
Seeing such buildings made one wonder if a civilization had once existed in Hueco Mundo—and not an ordinary one—likely a civilization formed by Vasto Lorde.
Only Vasto Lorde would require architecture suited to human-like gaits.
"Negal Ruins?"
Yoshio looked around with interest. "I wonder who used to live here."
"It's been too long; there's not even any point in investigating."
Starrk continued forward; after climbing the final steps, he stopped.
Yoshio followed—and saw Hollow White.
No…
He saw a "cocoon" encasing Hollow White.
It was a spherical cocoon wrapped in some kind of thread, two to three meters in diameter, radiating an especially unique reishi pulse.
"This guy…"
Seeing it, Yoshio thought of Hollow White's Souls Ability, "Cocoon Transformation." Was it undergoing Cocoon Transformation on its own?
Had its battle with the Shinigami reached a certain threshold?
No wonder it hadn't returned to Las Noches—must have found a safe spot nearby to evolve.
What would Hollow White become after evolving?
"Thanks."
Yoshio said to Starrk, "Next time I'll bring you something nice from Soul Society—as payment for this."
Starrk ignored that and simply said, "I don't know what exactly is happening to him, but I know the reishi pulse he's emitting will attract nearby Hollows and Shinigami. Do you need my help?"