Chapter 8: A Foundation of Water
Hōkō, 78th District, Southern Rukongai.
Abarai Renji, Rukia, Xingxing, and Wild Dog, under Gilgamesh's instructions, spread out to different locations to disseminate the same message.
"Good news, good news! There's free water in Heiwu Street, limited supply, first come, first served!"
Unbeknownst to them, this message began to spread rapidly throughout Hōkō District.
Although the people of Hōkō had become numb to life and had no hope for the future, they still cared deeply about water, which was essential for survival and extremely scarce.
Soon, those who heard the news began to stir.
"Is this news true or false?"
"It must be false. Heiwu Street is the poorest and most chaotic place in Hōkō; how could there be free water?"
"Believe me, your dad, or believe this news?"
"It's too fake; it's probably another trap someone set."
"Didn't we have similar news before, saying there were water resources in the remote wilderness, and nothing came of it?"
Clearly, most people didn't believe it.
In Hōkō, lies and deception were commonplace, often accompanied by death.
Conversely, kindness was extremely abnormal in Hōkō.
Therefore, an abnormal event must signify something sinister.
However, some people, suffering from extreme water scarcity, clung to their last shred of hope and hurried towards Heiwu Street.
Meanwhile, in Heiwu Street.
Gilgamesh strolled through it alone.
Gilgamesh, with his golden hair, red eyes, and noble demeanor, was a beautiful youth who looked completely out of place in the poor, backward, and foul-smelling Heiwu Street.
This caused the surrounding people to unconsciously turn their gaze towards Gilgamesh.
Despite their numbness, they were still filled with curiosity about Gilgamesh.
In their hearts, Gilgamesh should have been a wealthy young master from a district with a very low number, or even a noble's child.
Some of them remembered seeing Gilgamesh yesterday and wondered why Gilgamesh had come again to this desolate, hell-like Heiwu Street.
Others had already begun to stir, their eyes gleaming with greed, longing, and cruelty.
In their view, Gilgamesh must possess very valuable items, or perhaps Gilgamesh himself was a valuable item.
If they could just abduct him, they could escape this hell.
However, they were unsure if Gilgamesh had bodyguards lurking nearby, so they dared not act rashly.
What they didn't know was that under the illumination of the All-Knowing and Almighty Star, all their thoughts were seen through by Gilgamesh at a glance.
But Gilgamesh didn't care.
Although he wanted to establish a kingdom, not everyone was qualified to become his subject.
Gilgamesh had no need for those who had completely fallen into the abyss of evil and were beyond redemption.
Of course, almost everyone in Hōkō District carried sins.
But this was the general trend; the fault was not theirs, but this world's.
Their ability to come to Soul Society meant they hadn't committed any great evil in the human world; otherwise, they would have been dragged to hell long ago to suffer eternal torment.
It could be said that the chaos, poverty, and backwardness here bred their sins, and their sins, in turn, nourished the chaos, poverty, and backwardness.
This was a vicious cycle.
Though cruel, Gilgamesh happened to need such a vicious cycle.
Heroes emerge in troubled times; this has always been an unchanging truth.
It is only in increasingly chaotic, poor, and backward places that it is easier to establish a kingdom.
Conversely, in stable, prosperous, and happy places, it is more difficult to establish a kingdom.
Unbeknownst to him, Gilgamesh had already subdued twelve people with water.
Of course, these twelve were all chosen by Gilgamesh.
Under the illumination of the All-Knowing and Almighty Star, Gilgamesh could discern their thoughts, knowing that goodness still existed in their hearts, and that they each possessed unique talents.
Afterward, Gilgamesh felt it was time and chose to begin his plan at the end of Heiwu Street, on the open ground connecting to the uninhabited wilderness.
This plan was to use water as capital to win people's hearts.
And to avoid unnecessary trouble, Gilgamesh also needed to create a deterrent.
Gilgamesh opened the exchange shop and found the items he wanted.
[Water (1 cubic meter): 1 point].
[Water Bucket (1 cubic meter): 1 point]
This water was from Soul Society.
Without hesitation, Gilgamesh directly chose to exchange.
The next moment, a giant water bucket appeared out of thin air, to the shock of all present.
One cubic meter of water equals 1000 liters of water, and an average person normally needs about 2 liters of water per day.
This meant Gilgamesh could exchange for a day's worth of water for 500 people with just 1 King's Treasure point.
And Gilgamesh still had 9910 King's Treasure points remaining; if he exchanged all of them, he could exchange for a day's worth of water for approximately 5 million people.
This was Gilgamesh's confidence and capital for establishing a kingdom.
Afterward, Gilgamesh opened his King's Treasure.
Before the crowd could recover from the shock of the giant water bucket appearing out of thin air, they saw a golden ripple emerge in the air behind Gilgamesh.
Immediately, an ancient golden throne, exuding the aura of time, emerged from it and gently settled behind Gilgamesh.
And Gilgamesh sat upon the golden throne, looking at the people before him with a calm yet extremely oppressive gaze, providing a deterrent.
Then, Gilgamesh motioned for the twelve people he had already subdued to begin working.
By this time, more and more people had gathered, their eyes filled with longing and greed as they stared at the giant water bucket.
They wanted to claim it for themselves but were deterred by Gilgamesh's mysterious methods and dared not act.
The work of the twelve proceeded very smoothly.
They divided the tasks according to Gilgamesh's instructions.
Some were responsible for subtly implanting Gilgamesh's identity as King into people's minds by repeatedly emphasizing it.
Others were responsible for informing people that to receive free water, they needed to register their true information and accept unified management; if any deception was found, their future eligibility for water would be revoked.
Furthermore, free water was only available for the first three days; afterward, water could still be obtained, but it would require labor as payment.
No one questioned it.
Although they didn't know Gilgamesh's purpose, it didn't matter.
For them, as long as there was free water to receive, it was enough.
Or rather, if Gilgamesh hadn't distributed free water, who knows how many of them would have died from dehydration.
From this perspective, they even needed to thank Gilgamesh.
Thus, under Gilgamesh's watchful eye, the originally chaotic and disorderly residents of Heiwu Street spontaneously lined up in an orderly fashion, one by one, to receive their free water for the day.
Establishing a kingdom is clearly not something that can be accomplished overnight.
But Gilgamesh was not short on time.
Currently, even the plot of "Shinigami" hasn't begun yet.
Gilgamesh was confident that he could establish his own kingdom before the plot commenced.
Of course, for a kingdom to prosper and endure, besides needing a good King, it also requires talents from all walks of life.
Gilgamesh remembered that at this stage, Hinamori Momo, Tōshirō Hitsugaya, and Kira Iziru were still in Rukongai; these were all rare talents.
Also, the Shiba Family, once one of the Five Great Noble Houses but now fallen, could also be considered.
End of Chapter