Suddenly, there was hope in life again.
Beltz was in a good mood, even humming a little tune.
However, while he had a general idea now, the specific details still needed to be refined.
For an ordinary person to gain powerful strength, a meticulous and detailed plan was essential.
After thinking in the Empire for a while, he felt that Golden Lion Shiki should have left, so he returned to One Piece.
Returning to the original spot, Golden Lion was indeed gone.
He continued flying toward the Sabaody Archipelago.
At this moment, he needed Vegapunk even more, and his speed involuntarily quickened by a few points.
However, reaching the Sabaody Archipelago in a short time was still impossible; it would take at least a day or two.
He could only make as much progress as possible while there was nothing happening in the Empire.
After all, the Empire had just been attacked, and there was no telling when he might be called to interrogate PePe.
So, after flying for a while, he returned to the Empire again.
After some thought, he left the tower, planning to go see Liltotto.
Regardless, Liltotto used to be his superior. Now that he had been promoted, shouldn't he go bring a gift to his old boss?
Actually, it didn't seem like the Wandenreich needed such formalities, but there was no harm in going over to chat.
When he arrived at Liltotto's home, she was reading a book.
Beltz took a glance and found they were all books related to the Empire's history.
He wasn't surprised; he had previously told Liltotto about Yhwach's true nature.
To confirm whether Yhwach was that kind of person, Liltotto had brought many books home to check.
Of course, the Wandenreich's books certainly wouldn't record all of Yhwach's deeds, but clues could be found within the traces.
When he edited Liltotto's memories, he hadn't removed the memory of her reading, so it wasn't surprising she still had these books.
"You're here?"
Liltotto turned around and, seeing Beltz, said, "How does it feel to become a Sternritter?"
Beltz gave a light chuckle: "It feels... pretty good."
He had indeed become much stronger; otherwise, he wouldn't have tried to challenge Golden Lion Shiki back then.
Even if Golden Lion might not have used his full strength, he wasn't someone an ordinary person could challenge.
At least before becoming a Sternritter, he definitely wouldn't have been able to withstand those few slashes from Golden Lion.
"Don't get complacent."
Liltotto said indifferently, "Becoming a Sternritter is just a starting point. How far you can go next depends on yourself."
There was indeed a gap in strength among the Sternritter.
Weak Sternritter were cut down one after another by Kenpachi like speed bumps, while strong Sternritter could blow Kenpachi away in a few moves.
The difference between them was not just a little bit.
"I know."
Facing the old leader's teaching, Beltz accepted it with humility.
"If PePe dies, won't that leave another Sternritter position vacant?"
Liltotto added casually.
"..."
That was true. In that case, would they have to select another Sternritter?
The Empire had just gone through a selection. Among the eight people chosen, two were planning to leave the Empire. Would one of them become the new Sternritter 'L'?
Of course, that would depend on the Schrift within their own souls.
Even with talent, if it didn't match 'L', they wouldn't get the Schrift.
Actually, the bosses in Bleach all had some degree of obsessive-compulsive disorder. For example, was there really no other Espada-level Hollow in Aizen's Arrancar army?
Clearly not. When Grimmjow in the Espada got into trouble, he could find a Luppi to replace him in the next second.
Setting aside the upper Espada like the top four, Aizen at least had replacements for the lower Espada.
But if nothing happened to the Espada, Aizen wouldn't think of them.
Because each member of the Espada Aizen established represented a form of death.
Luppi and Grimmjow, both of their forms of death represented 'Destruction', so only one of them could enter the Espada.
Therefore, even if there were those with great strength comparable to the Espada, simply because their form of death overlapped with the current Espada, Aizen chose to discard them.
What a waste!
It was equivalent to losing several Captain-level combatants!
Though, these few Captain-level combatants didn't have much impact on Aizen's plan; after all, he could later slice through the Thirteen Court Guard Squads like watermelons by himself.
It can only be said that for top-tier experts like Aizen or Yhwach, they really didn't care much about the number of ordinary Captain-level units.
Losing one or two was nothing.
Perhaps only Quincy of the Schutzstaffel level were worth a second look from Yhwach.
"I just don't know who will be chosen."
Liltotto murmured, "I always feel those five old men are a bit strange."
"Oh?" Beltz said with interest upon hearing this, "They were personally selected by Haschwalth. None of us had seen them before this."
"Could the Empire have some secret unit?"
Liltotto tilted her head back and covered her face with the book again, saying, "Impossible. Those five people..."
She paused but did not continue.
Clearly, Liltotto already had suspicions about the Gorosei's identities, and might have even guessed they were the five fierce beasts that attacked the Empire before.
This wasn't surprising, as the Gorosei's fighting styles were somewhat similar to those five fierce beasts.
Copper heads and iron bones, icy aura, fire-breathing, devouring, and poison.
"What is it?"
Beltz pressed on, feigning ignorance.
Liltotto, still with the book covering her face, replied: "No, it's nothing. I just feel that if someone really can replace PePe, then that person will likely be beyond our expectations."
"Oh...?"
Beltz thought to himself, could the sixth person be another clone?
It seemed that wasn't impossible.
After all, besides the Gorosei, there were also the Knights of God.
He suddenly thought of something else.
That is, Yhwach wanting to execute those few Sternritter, could it be to make room for the Gorosei?
Although the Empire always imposed severe punishment on the defeated, having just experienced an invasion, executing several of his own Admirals before clarifying the situation still felt somewhat unreasonable.
But if it was to make room for the Gorosei in the Sternritter, then it became understandable.
Yhwach had seen through the Gorosei's schrifts from the start, then executed the corresponding Sternritter, and then could openly bestow the schrifts upon them.
Among the Gorosei, Bakotsu is 'Y', Gyuki is 'R', Fengxi is 'K', Itsumade is 'I', and the Sandworm is 'Q'."
Of course, as for what their specific schrifts were, Beltz was not entirely sure.