— — — — — —
The moment Yamamoto finished speaking, the entire conference room fell into a brief silence.
Changes in Hell? That was definitely a big deal.
But also, such a pain.
Not a single Captain in the room was eager to get involved in this mess.
Well—Except one.
"Hell, huh?"
Kenpachi Zaraki leaned back with his arms spread wide, a wild grin on his face.
"There's gotta be some fun guys to cut down in there, right?"
"Old man Yamamoto, let me handle it!"
Yamamoto just glanced at him… then ignored him completely.
"Anyone else interested?" he asked.
Zaraki: "…"
He slapped the ground, annoyed. "Oi, didn't you hear me?! I said let ME go!"
Of course, everyone just ignored him.
Kurotsuchi Mayuri let out a creepy laugh. "You're not seriously thinking of sending someone like me—a scientist—for this kind of thing, are you?"
Yamamoto clearly wasn't expecting anything from him either. Instead, he turned to look at Kyōraku Shunsui.
Caught slacking off, Shunsui immediately tensed up. He scratched his head lazily and muttered, "Wouldn't this be more suited to the Second Division?"
Honestly, no one knew what exactly had gone wrong in Hell. It made way more sense to send in the stealth experts first to investigate.
Of course, all these "reasons" were just excuses to avoid the job.
Soifon: "…"
Being the new captain really came with zero privileges.
Actually, scratch that—It's worse being stuck in this awkward middle ground.
Not a veteran like the old captains. More experienced than the rookies. Basically, a born workhorse.
She sighed quietly, then said seriously, "Then I'll take the mission."
Yamamoto gave Shunsui a look, then after a short pause, finally nodded. "Very well. It's yours."
With that, things moved quickly.
The Second Division went into action with their usual efficiency.
— — —
At the Gates of Hell
Soifon and her team arrived near the entrance.
As she saw the miasma seeping out, she frowned instinctively. "Open the gate."
Clank
A few seconds later, the massive gate to Hell creaked open.
Whoosh—
Without hesitation, Soifon stepped into Hell.
— — —
Meanwhile, on the Fifth Layer of Hell
Lynn finished suppressing his overwhelming Reiatsu.
Now, he focused on using it to connect with Hell itself.
Before long—He sensed a faint, hazy consciousness.
Lynn tried communicating with it.
But… No response.
Lynn: "…"
So this was Hell's consciousness?
Didn't seem very developed.
Which meant— Everything that's been happening, was it all just instinct?
Did it acknowledge him as "Enma" purely on instinct, sensing that he might help Hell grow?
Lynn chuckled quietly to himself.
Isn't this basically letting the enemy in?
Without hesitation, he forcefully invaded Hell's consciousness.
Buzz~
The entire realm started shaking violently as if Hell had just realized it was being taken over.
Saito: "?"
"What's going on?!"
Her expression turned serious.
Lynn had already pulled back his Reiatsu …Why was Hell reacting more violently now?
...
Hell's consciousness began to resist instinctively.
But Lynn fed it a single, powerful thought: "You don't want Hell to stay crammed in a corner of the world, feeding on scraps, do you?"
Hell: ". . ."
Everything went quiet. It stopped struggling.
Lynn: "Ha?"
Was it… really that easy?
He almost felt bad for how gullible it was.
Almost.
But nah—he wasn't about to pass up this opportunity.
Even if Hell's consciousness was a little too "pure" for its own good, Lynn didn't go easy on it.
He grabbed control of Hell, just like that.
"...It actually locked itself?"
Lynn was a little surprised.
He now had control over Hell, but not full ownership.
Turns out, Hell's consciousness wasn't that stupid; it had made a deal with him.
It was willing to hand everything over—but only if Lynn could prove he could develop it.
Hell genuinely cared about its own growth more than anything else. It was so earnest that even Lynn felt a little ashamed.
Still just a little, though.
After that friendly little "chat," Lynn opened his eyes again, only to find Saito leaning in close, eyes wide with curiosity.
As soon as Lynn looked up, she blurted out, "You just did something, didn't you?"
Lynn nodded. "Yeah. Just made a deal with Hell."
Saito: "???"
Deal with Hell?
"You're kidding, right?"
She was extremely suspicious.
She'd been stuck in Hell for who knows how long. If you could make deals with it, why hadn't she ever heard of that?
Lynn gave her a weird look and said, "Maybe you just didn't qualify?"
Saito: "…"
Her eye twitched. "So what you're saying is… I'm not worthy?"
Lynn nodded without hesitation.
"Haaah."
She took a deep breath.
Not worthy, huh?
Well… maybe he had a point.
Considering that terrifying Reiatsu he gave off earlier—stronger than even old man Yamamoto—she had to admit he wasn't bluffing.
"You're… stronger than I thought," she muttered, a little stunned.
Now she was super curious about the "deal" Lynn made with Hell.
Hell wasn't some place you could just mess with. Even the Captains or the Royal Guard couldn't interfere with it.
And yet… this guy had a deal with it?
Her adrenaline started to spike.
Something big was coming.
She didn't even bother hiding her curiosity anymore. "So? What kind of deal did you make?"
"Nothing special," Lynn replied calmly. "I help develop Hell, and in exchange… it becomes mine."
Saito: "???"
Wait, what?!
Develop Hell, and then it belongs to him?
How is that a DEAL?
That sounds like a one-sided win!
Once Hell belongs to him, any development is just benefitting HIS hell anyway, right?
"And Hell actually agreed to this?"
Lynn shrugged.
Saito's expression grew more complicated.
Why did it feel like… Hell wasn't very smart?
Still—Even if it was dumb, it had still managed to keep her trapped for this long.
That thought made her sigh.
She pulled herself together and asked curiously, "So… what's your next move?"
Developing Hell—That sounded way too fun to miss out on.
"First step?" Lynn said with a smirk. "Call in some backup."
Saito: "???"
Before she could ask what he meant, Lynn waved his hand—And a dimensional gate opened out of nowhere.
He set the coordinates and locked onto the version of Hell located in the Japan region of the main world.
In moments—
A stunning field of red spider lilies appeared inside the portal.
In the middle of that sea of flowers stood a small, humble thatched hut—quiet and distinct.
"…What is this? A gate to the Soul Society?" Saito narrowed her eyes, her heartbeat quickening.
No matter how she looked at it, her understanding was still too shallow.
This wasn't just a portal connecting two locations.
It was—A connection to Hell from another world.
Of course, Lynn didn't bother explaining that to her.
— — —
In the Main World – Japan Region's Hell
Enma Ai sensed something strange.
She stared at the portal blooming in the middle of the red spider lily area, a huge question mark popped into her mind.
Before she could even react, she saw a familiar figure stepping through.
"Ha? Lord Lynn?"
.
.
.