One Piece: The Living Devil

Chapter 774: A Reason Impossible to Refuse

News that the Thirteenth Division had resisted to the bitter end and was ultimately purged completely swept through the entire Seireitei like a piercing cold wind carrying the stench of blood.

More than a thousand Soul Reapers died in this battle alone.

In the thousands of years since the Gotei Thirteen was founded, there had never been casualties on such a scale.

In the past, a single division at full strength might not even have had that many members, let alone such brutal slaughter between comrades.

The shock caused by these casualties far surpassed any previous upheaval.

Even though the Seventh and Ninth Divisions had listed Kurosaki Ichigo's unforgivable crimes, and even though the captains and seated officers of each division were doing their best to calm and mediate the situation, the bloody scent lingering in the air still left countless Soul Reapers unable to let it go.

What chilled people the most was the cause of the disaster.

Clearly, it was Kurosaki Ichigo who had committed the crime, and he himself had already used the chaos to escape. Yet the members of the Thirteenth Division who remained behind suffered complete annihilation.

In the entire Seireitei, only three people knew that the seated officer who had been the first to draw his blade against the Seventh Division during the confrontation was actually a hidden pawn Ichimaru Gin had planted long ago.

But in the eyes of ordinary Soul Reapers, all they saw was the cold truth.

The Thirteenth Division had been violently massacred by the Seventh and Ninth Divisions simply because their captain had made a mistake.

With certain people secretly fueling the flames, a horrifying idea quickly took root in the darker corners of the Seireitei.

If a captain committed a crime, the division members would share the punishment.

At first, it was just groundless panic and fearful rambling. But as time passed, the rumors became more detailed and convincing, even developing entire theories about how the purges would happen.

The First Division took the brunt of it.

Its captain, Sasakibe Chojiro, was fanatically loyal to the former Head Captain. He was rigid and conservative, and rumors claimed the new Head Captain would definitely use him as the first example.

The Second Division was not much better off.

Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro was seen as Rosse's absolute confidant. He had often treated other captains coldly in the past, and the battle-crazed lunatics of the Eleventh Division occasionally caused trouble for the Second Division. The members under him had suffered plenty because of it.

As for the Third Division, fear was rampant there as well.

That fake smile always hanging on Ichimaru Gin's face made him look dangerous no matter how anyone saw it. He constantly clashed with the other captains. Back when Kurosaki Ichigo was still around, the Thirteenth Division had repeatedly come into conflict with the Third Division. Though no one had died, heavily injured division members were far from uncommon.

Almost every captain had been written into some inevitable death scenario by the rumors.

For a time, everyone in the Seireitei felt threatened, as though the air itself held a taut string ready to snap at any moment.

The captains and vice-captains of the divisions were already poor at management to begin with. Now, just calming the emotions of the lower-ranking Soul Reapers had consumed all their energy.

They had no time to deal with the unrest in the Rukongai, much less spare manpower to hunt down Kurosaki Ichigo.

Fortunately, Kurosaki Ichigo and Kurotsuchi Mayuri also seemed to have no intention of further expanding the Hollowfication. The situation in the Seireitei had strangely fallen into a tense balance.

But everyone knew this was only the calm before the storm.

The slightest spark would completely ignite this massive powder keg.

And in the end, the one who lit the fuse was the Kuchiki Clan itself.

Three days later, the former head of the Kuchiki Clan, Kuchiki Ginrei, publicly released a statement.

Swearing on the honor of the Kuchiki Clan, he revealed a shocking truth to the entire Soul Society.

Rosse was not even from this world.

He was not even a Hollow.

Not only that, the statement cruelly exposed the current reality.

Hueco Mundo had already been completely severed from the Three Worlds, and the World of the Living was also on the verge of collapse.

Everyone knew that the stability of the Three Worlds depended on mutual balance and coexistence.

Now that two worlds were missing, the Soul Society's reishi cycle had been completely broken, and the entire world was teetering on the edge of destruction.

The Kuchiki Clan even gave a despair-inducing countdown. At the fastest pace, the collapse would take less than two months.

Two months later, Soul Society would erase itself.

The moment this theory came out, the entire Gotei Thirteen exploded into chaos.

Panic was no longer whispered behind closed doors. It had become open hysteria.

Once people thought deeper about it, despair spread through every Soul Reaper's heart like a plague.

In stark contrast to the chaos outside, the captain's office of the Tenth Division was filled with a lazy, comfortable fragrance.

"Captain, aren't you going out to say something at a time like this?"

Matsumoto Rangiku sat behind Rosse on her knees, letting the man comfortably rest his head against her ample chest.

Her slender fingers, lightly coated with essential oil, gently massaged his shoulders and neck.

At this point, the safest places in the entire Seireitei were actually the Tenth and Twelfth Divisions.

Every member of the Tenth Division had been personally selected and promoted by Matsumoto Rangiku herself.

Almost all of them had been discreetly informed of part of the truth long ago.

Now that the sky was falling, they were no longer anxious. They firmly believed that following Rosse could never lead to a dead end.

As for the Twelfth Division, they simply had no time to panic.

Every single one of them had been locked into the laboratory like gears meshing together by Hikifune Kirio and Kurotsuchi Mayuri, working day and night on experiments involving the fusion of matter particles and spirit particles.

As long as they touched the core of the experiment, they naturally understood that this was the ark that could save them. Aside from desperately working, they had no time for fear.

"The people who should believe me won't care whether I go out and say a few words right now. And the people who shouldn't believe me won't change their minds no matter what I say," Rosse leisurely enjoyed the pressure of her fingertips without even opening his eyes.

"But while you're not in a hurry, someone outside is practically losing his mind," Matsumoto Rangiku chuckled softly, her beautiful eyes turning toward the paper door.

She did not completely accept everything Rosse had done without reservation, but overall, she agreed with him.

She had once tried viewing everything from Rosse's perspective and realized that the current situation might already be the best possible outcome.

If they were destined to never walk the same path, then there was indeed no reason to save them.

Her childhood years struggling through the Rukongai had left her with little affection for this seemingly glorious but rotten world.

Back then, she had only struggled upward for work and survival.

If she had a choice, this rotten world should restart as soon as possible.

During those years in the Rukongai, she had seen too many tragedies where people killed each other over a tiny bit of water, too much despair from souls whose spirit particles were exhausted and could only wait for death.

Instead of endlessly patching things up, it would be better to merge everything into a new world and welcome a new cycle.

"I thought he would've come a long time ago. But since he's only arriving now, it's not too late. Rare for him to hold back this long," Rosse chuckled softly and finally opened his eyes, looking toward the door.

"Come in, Toshiro."

Just as Hitsugaya Toshiro reached the doorway, his body stiffened the moment he heard Rosse's voice.

But he gritted his teeth and still pushed the door open, striding inside.

"Head Captain! Matsumoto!"

Hitsugaya kept a cold expression, forcing himself to ignore the intimate position between the two. He simply gave a stiff nod in greeting.

"Hm? Toshiro, it's one thing if you don't want to use my title anymore, but now you won't even call me Rangiku-nee?"

Matsumoto Rangiku stopped moving and glared at him with fake hurt.

"Who cares about you? I'm a captain now, okay?", Hitsugaya rolled his eyes.

"You are the captain of the Second Division, but I'm currently the Vice-Captain of the Head Division! And don't forget, you came out of our Tenth Division. Don't forget seniority."

Matsumoto Rangiku puffed her cheeks and planted her hands on her hips, deliberately pushing out her chest. The movement let Rosse naturally adjust into an even more comfortable position against her.

"Tch! You're not my vice-captain, and I stopped being the Tenth Division's Third Seat a long time ago. Why would I bother with you?", Hitsugaya turned his head aside.

"What if I told you I'll also be part of the upper ranks of the Hollow King Palace?", Matsumoto Rangiku suddenly dropped the joking expression, her tone turning playful.

"Hah? Don't make me laugh," Hitsugaya sneered.

"At best, you're only a tiny bit stronger than me. Upper ranks of the Hollow King Palace? How could someone like you qualify?"

"Then I guess I should formally introduce myself."

Matsumoto Rangiku brushed aside the hair by her ear and smiled softly.

"I, Matsumoto Rangiku, currently hold the position of assistant to the Hollow King. And once we enter the new world, I'll be promoted to Deputy Officer of Hell."

"You're serious?"

The mockery instantly vanished from Hitsugaya's face. His expression turned grave as he stared at the woman before him.

He had come here today under immense pressure precisely to question these former friends and superiors face-to-face. What side had they chosen? What exactly were they trying to do?

He had expected Rosse to brush him off with some unfathomable explanation. He never expected the usually carefree Matsumoto Rangiku to lay everything out so directly.

Deputy Officer of Hell.

A title like that definitely did not sound like some insignificant role.

"Head Captain... what exactly are you trying to do?"

Hitsugaya finally turned toward the man who had been resting with his eyes closed the entire time. His voice carried bitterness and pain.

Honestly, his feelings toward these two people were just too complicated.

Matsumoto Rangiku was the benefactor who discovered his talent.

If she had not noticed the uncontrollable ice and snow power within him back then, the grandmother he depended on in the Rukongai would likely have been frozen to death by the spiritual pressure he unconsciously released.

To protect his grandmother and repay that kindness, he had joined the Tenth Division.

During the decades he spent there, his impression of the former captain, Shiba Isshin, was actually not that deep.

Instead, he admired Rosse.

Rosse had been willing to personally take time to guide him, teach him how to control Bankai, how to become a qualified captain, how to properly manage a division, and how to protect himself amid the tangled political struggles within the Gotei 13.

It could be said that Rosse deserved enormous credit for how someone with such little seniority as him managed to firmly establish himself in the Second Division and even secure the captain's seat.

In his heart, although they had never formally become master and disciple, that bond had long surpassed such a relationship.

But why?

Why did it have to be these two people, the people most important to him, who became the culprits behind the chaos in Soul Society and the collapse of the world?

"Toshiro."

Rosse looked at the pain in the boy's eyes, a faint smile curling at his lips.

"After souls enter Soul Society, even if they avoid accidents, they can only live for less than a hundred years. Even though they've already cast off their mortal flesh and become pure souls, they still suffer from the flaws of lifespan and still have to face aging and death. Don't you think the rules of this world are fundamentally wrong?"

It was just a light, vague question.

Yet it struck Hitsugaya's chest like a sledgehammer.

His entire body froze.

Putting aside the past kindness that made it impossible for him to raise his blade against them, how could he even refute those words alone?

His grandmother in the Rukongai had already entered old age as a spirit body. She only had a few years left.

"Head Captain, you know me. I don't want to hurt other people."

Hitsugaya shut his eyes painfully.

Slowly bending one knee, he knelt before the luxurious desk.

Though he never explicitly said the words "I agree," the bowed head he lowered at that moment already said everything.

"In my new world, souls will no longer suffer the curse of birth, aging, sickness, and death," The smile on Rosse's face spread even more.

"Under my rules, as long as you continue climbing to higher positions, everyone will be able to protect the people important to them and grant them eternal life."

The world itself would be under his control, so lifespan would naturally be decided by his word alone.

Besides, once freed from the restraints of a material body, pure spirit-particle beings should never have been bound by the aging laws of carbon-based lifeforms in the first place.

If they lacked energy, then replenish it. If something was missing, then restore it.

As long as he, the creator god, did not fall and the world did not perish, the souls under his protection would naturally obtain true eternity.

"Toshiro, the captain already said it."

Matsumoto Rangiku smiled as she broke the heavy silence.

"If you become a Deputy Officer of Hell, you get three exclusive absolutely-immortal slots."

"Wait... this Deputy Officer of Hell position was prepared for me?"

Hitsugaya suddenly raised his head and blankly pointed at himself.

"Obviously, idiot!"

Matsumoto Rangiku rolled her eyes without mercy.

"I finally worked my way up to where I am today. Of course I'm going to live comfortably in the Heavenly Palace Sanctuary as some carefree noble lady. Why would I go to a place like Hell and work like cheap labor?"

"Hah?"

Hitsugaya pointed at Matsumoto Rangiku with a trembling finger, so angry he could not speak for a long time. Deputy Officer of Hell sounded like some awe-inspiring position where you dominated battlefields and slaughtered enemies. How had it become cheap labor in this woman's mouth?

"The position of Deputy Officer of Hell is equal in status to the Ten Esapada of Hell, meaning the current Ten Esapada of the Hollow King Palace. Within this system, there are only three deputy officer positions. I'll choose them from among the Soul Reaper captains willing to follow me."

Rosse smiled as he added the explanation.

"Only three positions? Then what if more than four captains want to join? How do we decide?"

Hitsugaya frowned, immediately noticing the flaw.

'What about the others?'

'What are the others supposed to do?'

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