Chapter 428: The Hunter Association's Hunter Classification and the Highest Authority
"Is that the Gluttony Tree?"
"This ominous feeling is quite intriguing..."
At that moment, after Aizen stepped onto the island, he gazed at the enormous tree that seemed to cover the sky and sun at the center of the crater.
A curious smile began to form on his face.
This time, his interest in the gluttonous species of this world had drawn him here, driven by a desire to study them closely.
In his view, the power of the demons belonged to the spiritual realm.
If it could be reversed into a spirit particle state and transformed into something virtual, the changes brought by such a process would surely be fascinating and worth exploring.
Da da!
He stepped onto the spirit channel and walked step by step toward the Gluttony Tree in mid-air.
The Gluttony Tree, in turn, began to sense this uninvited guest.
Countless branches, teeming with demons, started to thrash wildly.
They surged toward Aizen.
He could feel the giant tree's gaze-like perception locking onto him.
He smiled and drew the Zanpakutō from his waist.
"Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu," he said.
One day later, shocking news spread across the world.
The Gluttony Tree, one of the five major gluttony disasters, had been defeated, and Aizen Sōsuke, a new gem-level hunter of the Hunter Association, had been promoted.
A powerful figure, previously unknown, had suddenly emerged.
People began to discuss this news.
However, the addition of a gem-level hunter was a positive development for the world.
The Hunter Association now played a significant role in stabilizing the world.
Naturally, the more high-ranking hunters it had registered, the better.
With many such hunters, pirates would not dare to act too arrogantly.
After all, they risked being targeted by a hunter and becoming a bounty.
This was especially true since the new recruit was a gem-level hunter.
Gem-level hunters were legendary figures.
Within the Hunter Association, hunter levels were divided into bronze, silver, gold, diamond, gem, and crown levels.
Except for the crown level, each level was further divided into three stars.
Among them, hunters registered at the bronze level made up more than 99% of the total.
After all, anyone brave enough to venture out could take a weapon and attempt to register as a hunter.
As a result, the number of bronze-level hunters was unimaginably large, with a significant gap compared to the number of silver-level hunters.
As for gem-level hunters, only three non-official gem-level hunters existed among the public so far.
One was a monster, originally hidden among the people, who rapidly rose to gem-level hunter status after registering.
Another was a highly skilled individual who, not long ago, relied on the more detailed and effective cultivation methods passed down from the Great Material Arts Era to grow stronger.
This allowed them to advance from diamond-level to gem-level hunter.
The last one was even more formidable.
Soralin, the disciple of the Ice Goddess Esdeath, had an exceptionally strong background.
She held the title of Queen of Ice Flame.
More than a year ago, she left the Marines to establish the Sisters Sword Club and served as its president.
Another founder of this group, Sword Master Scarlet, who inherited her master's title, was a crown-level hunter.
A crown-level hunter was a combat power indicator recognized by the Great Sea, representing demigod-level strength.
Demigod-level combat power referred to superpowers whose strength was clearly extraordinary compared to the peak combat power of the Great Sea.
By this standard, in normal times, it would likely be impossible to find even a single demigod-level combatant across the entire sea.
But this era was different.
The Golden Lion, one of the Four Emperors on the pirate side, now possessed demigod-level combat power and was widely regarded as the strongest among the Four Emperors.
The Seven Apostles of the Demon Clan had become more terrifying than before and were also considered to have demigod-level combat power.
Sword Master Scarlet became a crown-level hunter because she had defeated one of the Seven Apostles of the Demon Clan.
Within the Hunter Association, crown-level hunters were extremely rare.
Even the colossal World Government did not have a single crown-level hunter in the Hunter Association, which was quite embarrassing.
As for gem-level hunters, they had three.
However, gem-level hunters were still exceptionally rare.
The emergence of a new gem-level hunter was a significant event for the senior leaders of the Hunter Association.
Amid heated discussions across the sea, in the Grand Line, Wamy Islands, Kingdom of Corti, located on one of the islands in the archipelago, a large, ornate, and somewhat dimly lit room hosted a meeting.
The Holy Hunt Council, the highest authority of the Hunter Association, held a Holy Hunt Council in this room.
The Holy Hunt Council was the supreme authority formed by the major forces that established the Hunter Association.
The powerful individuals who comprised this organization were called Holy Hunter Councilors, with a total of eleven seats.
Among them, the Kingdom of Corti, as the proposed founder of the Hunter Association, held one seat.
The World Government held two seats.
The Realm of Chaos held two seats.
The Dark Curtain held two seats.
Morgans, the president of the World Economic Newspaper, along with his cooperating underground organizations, occupied one seat.
The Kingdom of Giants, Elbaf, held one seat.
At that moment, in the room, through the Video Den Den Mushi, the top leaders of the major forces, elected as members of the Holy Hunt Council, appeared for a brief period.
"It looks like everyone is here," Omi said and declared, "So, this Holy Hunt meeting has officially begun."
Inside the room, Omi, the chairman of the Holy Hunter Council, who was present in person, announced the start of the meeting under the watchful eyes of many Holy Hunter members.
Omi, one of the twelve holy knights of the Corti Kingdom, was responsible for administration.
He was the second Holy Knight to join the Kingdom of Corti in its early days.
He appeared as an older man with ordinary brown hair.
He had once served as a minister of a certain kingdom but was later demoted to a commoner by its king.
Now, he has been appointed as the chairman of the Holy Hunt Council.
"The main topic of this Holy Hunt meeting is the matter of the new gem-level hunter, Sōsuke Aizen," Omi said and added, "Everyone, if you have any opinions, please feel free to discuss them."
After hearing Omi's words, the other members of the Holy Hunt Council began to think.
Immediately, a loud voice spoke first.
"Guhahahaha, Sōsuke Aizen, this is a super newcomer who appeared out of nowhere. According to the current information, he is still acting alone," Morgans said while laughing heartily.
"He is powerful, but he doesn't belong to any faction yet." he continued.
"I think the Five Elders will be more interested!" He added.
"After all, your manpower seems to be..." He trailed off.
In the conference room, Morgans, who owned the World Economic Newspaper, known as Big News, spoke up.
As the intelligence chief who helped to form the Hunter Association, he naturally held a position as a Holy Hunter Councilor, the highest authority in the Hunter Association.
Now, he could even jest with the two Five Elders, who were also members of the Holy Hunt Council and nominally the most powerful figures in the world.
To think, before he became a Holy Hunter Councilor, he was still being pursued by World Government agents!
For him, this was incredibly satisfying, a position of great prestige.
"Hmph! Morgans, you don't need to remind us about this," a projection in the room responded and then he added, "Compared to us, your so-called big news experts are even more pitiful. They're all just trash."
He was one of the Five Elders, the highest authority in the World Government, the bearded Five Elder, Saint Marcus Mars.
The World Government held two seats for Holy Hunter Councilors.
The Five Elders did not trust others to fill these two spots.
Thus, they directly selected two of their own to represent them.
The candidates were none other than the long-bearded Five Elder, Warrior God of Environment Saint Marcus Mars, and the mustached Five Elder, Warrior God of Justice Saint Topman Warcury.
( End of this Chapter )