Las Noches.
High above, atop the dome.
Endless night stretched overhead. This was the very place where, in the original story, Ichigo and Ulquiorra had fought their decisive battle.
Sitting on the dome, Cole could even see the reconstruction work going on below.
He watched for a while, then complained,
"As the king of Hueco Mundo, even my own palace has to be rebuilt from scratch… that's just miserable."
The progress of Las Noches' reconstruction could only be described as tragic.
Even with several Arrancar Hollows directing the work, the Gillians were still clumsy as hell, making the rebuilding painfully slow.
Every now and then, they would even stomp a section of wall into rubble.
Seeing this, Cole finally understood why Las Noches' architecture was so rough.
He had originally thought it was just a "Hueco Mundo aesthetic."
But now it was obvious that the lower Hollows were simply useless at building.
Even if commanded, they couldn't put up anything decent.
"At this rate, it'll still take a few more days. Once it's done, I can finally set up the barrier…"
Cole muttered as he drew his gaze back.
He had not taken over Hueco Mundo for fun.
He had done it for the inexhaustible spiritual power that existed here.
Once Las Noches was rebuilt, he planned to set up a colossal barrier to absorb the spiritual power of all Hueco Mundo.
And the efficiency of this barrier—
Would be hundreds of times greater than his previous one.
With that in place, even if the Wandenreich invaded in the future, he would be able to handle them with ease.
While Cole was lost in thought, a soft body suddenly threw itself into his arms.
Unohana's delicate frame pressed against his chest, her gaze hazy as she looked up at him.
"Cole, how much longer are you going to toy with me?"
After all the stimulation she had just endured, her body was already at its limit.
This body craved pleasure.
Craved pain.
Craved that extreme kind of stimulation.
Cole could not help but chuckle. He poked Unohana's cheek lightly.
"Hana-nee, you're such a zaku, but you're always the one being so proactive. From here on out, even if you beg for mercy, I'm not letting you off, you know."
Heat flared in Unohana's eyes. Her pale arms snaked around Cole's neck.
"Come. Let me feel the pain."
Cole laughed, then flipped her over and pinned her down on the dome.
Time flashed by. Five days passed.
In those five days, Las Noches had been rebuilt.
It still had no roof, remaining as open to the sky as before.
But at its center now stood a golden pillar that seemed to pierce the heavens.
Aside from that, it was almost identical to the old Las Noches.
Cole could not help complaining that the architecture here really lacked any creativity.
Still, he could understand.
Most of these Arrancar Hollows had never even been to the World of the Living.
Asking them to design buildings was honestly a bit too much.
While Cole was thinking this, he took a step back on the training ground, dodging several incoming ceros.
"Starrk, can you take this seriously?"
Opposite him, Starrk held the gun that Lilynette had transformed into.
He halted, looking helpless.
"Lord Cole, you're asking too much. Even if you insist on sparring with me, how am I supposed to be a match for you?"
He still had no idea what had gotten into Cole, to suddenly decide they had to "spar."
And he even had a righteous-sounding reason for it.
It was "to strengthen his subordinates."
Over the past few days, Starrk had practically been beaten half to death.
"I just think Hueco Mundo should have someone strong enough to hold the fort. That way, when I'm away, nothing unexpected will happen."
Cole spoke casually as he extended his index finger.
"Ōkoku no Senkō (King's Hollow Flash)!"
Black-red light shot out like a meteor.
Starrk sucked in a sharp breath and snapped his gun up, pulling the trigger repeatedly.
"Mugen Sero (Unlimited Cero)!"
In an instant, it was as if a rain of blue meteors streaked across the sky.
Thousands of ceros slammed into the black-red Hollow flash all at once.
Boom!!!
The deafening explosion echoed through Las Noches.
Huge swathes of floor tiles shattered in an instant, dust surging outward like a storm.
The Arrancar Hollows living here had already grown numb to these sounds.
They stared toward the far-off training grounds with exasperation.
"Are they still at it?"
"Did Starrk do something to piss him off or what?"
"I heard it's not just Starrk. Even Nnoitra and Grimmjow got dragged off by Lord Cole."
"Yeah, yeah. Something about 'sparring' to make them stronger or whatever."
"Then why isn't Lord Yammy over there?"
"Him? I heard Lord Cole sent him off to build something. Something about setting up a barrier."
"What about Lady Harribel?"
"I think he gave her some kind of position… something like commander of the women or… whatever…"
"…"
"Lord Cole, are you trying to kill me and Starrk?"
A voice came from Starrk's gun—it was Lilynette. She quivered angrily in her gun form as her voice came through.
"We were almost hit just now!"
For a single Hollow flash from Cole, she and Starrk had to fire several thousand ceros just to barely block it.
The gap between them was obvious.
Cole yawned lazily.
"But you did block it, didn't you? I'm only doing this to boost your strength."
He looked at Starrk with a rather helpless expression.
"Honestly, if you hadn't split your soul back then, your power would be at least twice as strong as it is now, maybe several times."
In the original story, Starrk barely had any screen time—
He had even less presence than Barraggan.
But his strength was unquestionable.
Even after splitting part of his soul off to create Lilynette, he could still casually suppress Barraggan.
That alone showed just how terrifying his potential was.
If he had never split his soul, he might well have been able to wrestle with members of the Royal Guard.
Starrk scratched his hair, looking embarrassed.
"I couldn't help it. At the time, Hueco Mundo was just too boring. If I hadn't found someone to talk to, I probably would've gone crazy."
Cole did understand that.
But understanding was one thing.
He still had to make Starrk stronger.
Otherwise, if he left Hueco Mundo someday, the Wandenreich might just show up to raid the place.
With that in mind, Cole rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he looked at Starrk and Lilynette.
"Starrk, what do you think would happen if I repaired the damage to your souls? Would your power improve?"
Starrk and the gun in his hand—Lilynette—both froze.
Repair damage at the level of the soul?
That went beyond mere "healing."
"Fine, I'll bring someone to give you two some treatment another day. That way, your strength should rise quite a bit."
Cole cheerfully made the decision, then looked over at Nnoitra and Grimmjow.
"You two, get over here as well. Don't hold back. I'm going to fight you three properly today and help you get stronger."
In the Thousand-Year Blood War of the original story, Hueco Mundo's performance had been downright pitiful.
The few top Arrancar they had were cut down like fodder by the Sternritter before they could even show their true power.
Especially Harribel—she had almost been captured by the Wandenreich and turned into their plaything.
Still, it was hard to blame Hueco Mundo.
After all, in the battle of Karakura Town, most of their top fighters had been taken out by the Shinigami.
Right now, though, nearly all of Hueco Mundo's top combat power was still alive.
That meant that when the Wandenreich invaded in the future, things were going to be very interesting.
Starrk, Nnoitra, Yammy—none of them were weaklings.
Nnoitra and Grimmjow exchanged a look, then clenched their teeth and stepped onto the training ground.
They both let out a roar.
At almost exactly the same time, they activated their Resurrección.
"Inori nasai, Sei Eikabura (Pray, Holy Mantis Roach)!!!"
"Kuzure ro, Pantera (Grind, Panther King)!!!"
Their shouts shook the air, filled with their unwillingness and their hunger for victory.
The former took on a Hollow form with six arms, a monstrous figure wielding gigantic twin scythes.
With a casual sweep, the blades carved six deep trenches into the ground.
The latter assumed his Panther King form, blue panther claws extending to two meters, the eyes of a predator gleaming coldly.
With a single step, the two shot forward at extreme speed.
Steel and panther claws came crashing down from both sides toward Cole.
Starrk took a few steps back, leveled his gun at Cole, and squeezed the trigger in a frenzy.
"Mugen Sero (Unlimited Cero)!"
In just one second, over eight thousand ceros rained down like a meteor shower—
And that number was still climbing rapidly.
The combined attacks of all three—
Formed a perfect 360-degree cage around Cole, with no dead angles.
Seeing this, Cole licked his lips, excitement flashing in his eyes.
Still in his Hollowfied state, he charged straight in.
Boom boom boom!!!
Boom boom boom!!!
Boom boom boom!!!
The thunder of battle shook the sky.
Ceros, panther claws, massive twin scythes—
All kinds of battle forms flashed again and again.
The three were punched and kicked by Cole over and over.
They were beaten so badly it was almost tragic.
More than ten minutes passed like that.
Then a column of black-red light engulfed the entire training ground.
With a single earth-shaking boom,
The entire training ground was blown apart.
Starrk, Grimmjow, and Nnoitra were all blasted away, smashing into the distant walls of Las Noches.
Blood trickled from the corners of their mouths.
Their white uniforms were torn to shreds.
All of them were badly injured to varying degrees.
Nnoitra had suffered the most.
Even with all six arms braced against the ground, he could not stand up again any time soon.
From within the fading black-red glow, Cole walked out, stretching lazily.
"That's enough for today. Rest up, all of you. Same time tomorrow—we'll keep sparring."
With that, his figure vanished from where he stood.
Rage flared in Grimmjow's eyes.
He slammed a fist into the ground, shouting,
"How can there be such a huge gap?!"
They were all supposed to be top-tier Hollows—
Yet Cole's combat power was on an entirely different level.
Nnoitra gritted his teeth.
"His hierro is ridiculous. When my blade hits him, it feels like the sword itself is about to break."
Starrk gave a bitter smile.
"Maybe you didn't notice, but he's been getting even stronger over the last few days."
As the Primera Espada, the strongest of the Arrancar Hollows, he could faintly sense the changes in Cole.
Before, Cole's strength had been straightforwardly overwhelming.
Now, it had become elusive, like a reflection in rippling water.
It felt as if they were no longer even on the same dimension.
Hearing that, Lilynette's gun form trembled. She returned to her human form, complaining,
"If you're that unhappy about it, why do you keep showing up every day? Aren't you just trying to get stronger?"
Nnoitra and Grimmjow both twitched at the corners of their mouths, feeling a strange sense of shame.
It was true.
Even though they were getting beaten to a pulp every time,
Their strength had skyrocketed over the past few days compared to before.
At the same time—
Cole arrived at the very center of Las Noches.
Before him lay a pool of blue liquid, a tranquil lake of condensed spirit power.
At its center stood the Ruyi Jingu Bang, the golden staff rising toward the heavens.
Seeing it, a smile tugged at Cole's lips.
"So it's already gathered this much spiritual power!!"
(End of Chapter)
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