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"Hiss—"
At these words, everyone in the tavern who was eavesdropping couldn't help but gasp.
The reason why the Great Evildoers could be called Great Evildoers was precisely because they were the absolute strongest existences in District 80, but now someone was telling them…
The Great Evildoer of West 80th District had fled from his own rampant area. If it wasn't Himura saying this, they wouldn't believe it at all.
Ishikawa Katori ignored the reactions of the people in the tavern. He had completely given up on these useless people providing him with any information. They were clearly in District 79, the closest area to District 80, yet they got no news of the war between South 80 District and West 80th District.
The first to know about the war was the unrelated Rukongai North, which was just absurd!
"Because of South 80 District?"
"Yes." Himura nodded.
"As far as I know, isn't there very little interaction between the various parts of Rukongai?" Ishikawa Katori said, then glanced at Nishijin Ori beside him.
To be honest, the fact that West 80th District had Vice-Captain-level combat power had already changed his initial perception of the Great Evildoers. Now, with someone appearing who could force Nishijin Ori to flee, it undoubtedly refreshed Ishikawa Katori's understanding once again.
It wasn't that he looked down on the Great Evildoers of District 80. After all, both Retsu Unohana and Zaraki Kenpachi were beings who had once held the title of Great Evildoer.
But precisely because of these two, Ishikawa Katori believed that no matter how strong the Great Evildoers of District 80 were, they wouldn't be that strong.
The reason was simple: as far as Ishikawa Katori knew, Retsu Unohana had already killed all the strongest evildoers in Rukongai before becoming the first Kenpachi. And after she became the first Kenpachi, she carried out a major purge of the lower-numbered areas under the guise of 'exterminating evildoers in Rukongai'.
What's more absurd is…
After her, Kenpachi directly killed his way up from a young age. Although it's unknown how many years he spent killing in the lower-numbered areas, the Gotei 13 had already changed 'Kenpachi' nine times, so that time wouldn't be short; it could be said that before becoming the eleventh 'Kenpachi', Kenpachi had also been continuously purging the lower-numbered areas.
If one were to go back further, the Gotei 13 also seemed to have carried out purges in the lower-numbered areas when it was first established.
As a result, even now, the lower-numbered areas still firmly believe that the 'Gotei 13' is the largest and most brutal assassin organization in Soul Society.
Under such repeated ravaging, for strong individuals to still survive in District 80, Ishikawa Katori could only say…
Soul Society truly has a wealth of talent.
"Have you heard of 'Kenpachi'?"
"Huh?"
Ishikawa Katori was slightly taken aback, looking at Himura with a puzzled expression. Did this tomboy have the ability to read minds?
"I suppose you wouldn't know, after all, even I have only heard about him." Himura didn't wait for Ishikawa Katori's answer, continuing on her own: "The Kenpachi I'm talking about isn't the area name 'Kenpachi' of North Borough 80, but a Great Evildoer named 'Kenpachi'."
"No one knows when he appeared, and no one knows why he was so strong, but until about 100 years ago, when Kenpachi joined that assassin organization, the 'Gotei 13', he was the undisputed strongest person in Rukongai. In his era, no one else was qualified to bear the title of Great Evildoer besides him."
At this point, Himura glanced at Nishijin Ori, and seeing that he had no reaction, merely leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, resting, she continued: "Actually, the Great Evildoers in the East, South, West, and North sections now are all people who once lost to Kenpachi and luckily survived."
"These people are not only Kenpachi's defeated foes, but also his admirers. Every Great Evildoer strives with Kenpachi as their ultimate goal, all wanting to become the second Kenpachi."
Himura paused, then continued: "In the entire West 80th District, there are three such people. My Boss is one of them. Although outsiders call them Great Evildoers, they themselves have always considered themselves 'failures'."
"At least until they defeat Kenpachi, that won't change."
Ishikawa Katori chuckled at this. Then these people might be losers for life, after all, that person could be said to be the most talented monster in the entire Soul Society, born with a cheat code!
"Isn't it ironic?"
Himura let out a strange laugh: "Everyone is striving with 'Kenpachi' as their goal, but they can't do anything to each other. Instead, they've coexisted within one area. They constantly fight, and while there have been deaths and injuries, no one has emerged who can sweep through the entire Rukongai like 'Kenpachi'."
"Just recently, this coexistence model in the South ended." Himura changed the subject: "Someone in the South defeated another Great Evildoer in the same area, even subduing the other party, who willingly became his follower."
Taken under his wing?
Ishikawa Katori was startled. If Himura's words were true, then the Great Evildoers of Rukongai's District 80 had been in a state of coexistence for the past century, which meant the power gap between them wasn't large. At the very least, they should be able to escape easily even if they couldn't win.
But now, someone had subdued an individual of the same level. To achieve this, either the subdued Great Evildoer was not as strong as their reputation suggested, or… that person's strength had grown even greater.
"So, after subduing the Great Evildoer in his area, he set his sights on West 80th District?" Ishikawa Katori asked.
"Strictly speaking, he's set his sights on all Great Evildoers. As I said before, all Great Evildoers aim to sweep through Rukongai, and then, with the title of strongest, challenge the Kenpachi who spared their lives in the end, and defeat him!!"
Himura said this, then let out a strange chuckle: "However, we went to South 80 District proactively before he could act, because in my Boss's eyes, no one in the entire Soul Society, except 'Kenpachi', is worthy of having a Great Evildoer as a follower."
"And you know the result." Himura shrugged helplessly: "The person from the South hadn't even made a move, and my Boss and the Great Evildoer who became his follower were already mutually wounded."
"…" Ishikawa Katori's mouth twitched slightly.
So after all that talk, you guys were the ones who provoked them first!!
He had still thought these lunatics were too normal. Ishikawa Katori had thought that person had taken over South 80 District and then targeted West 80th District. But it turned out that these two guys attacked South 80 District because they didn't like them, no wonder Himura suddenly thought of recruiting Oyama and the others a while ago.
Oyama and his group, who were eavesdropping outside, turned pale upon hearing this.
Although they had thought before that submitting to the Great Evildoer of West 80th District might lead to them being used as cannon fodder, they really hadn't expected that Himura, that bitch, would want to take them to attack South 80 District, and the target of the attack was a monster who could make a Great Evildoer willingly become a follower.
This treatment was even worse than cannon fodder!!
"Then this injury…" Ishikawa Katori asked tentatively.
"He came to West 80th District."
"Is he strong?" Ishikawa Katori said in a low voice.
"Very strong!"
It wasn't Himura who answered, but Nishijin Ori, who had opened his eyes at some point. He pointed to his chest: "One strike."
Ishikawa Katori was startled, looking at Himura.
"My Boss means, the opponent only used one strike."
Himura seemed to recall something, her voice somewhat bitter: "The ones who first attacked us were Toguro and his group. He didn't appear at that time, not until my Boss killed Toguro, then he appeared… His spiritual pressure was extremely strong, and it was a strange spiritual pressure I had never felt before."
"If Boss hadn't appeared in time to save my life, I might be dead now."
Himura paused, then emphasized again: "Just one strike nearly cut me in half. Boss was pierced through the chest saving me, and then he took me and fled West 80th District."
"…It's a miracle you guys managed to bring a head out in that situation." Ishikawa Katori said with narrowed eyes, then lifted the curtain and said to Uzuki, who was eavesdropping behind the bar: "Uzuki, close the door."
"Huh?"
"As for you all…"
Ishikawa Katori looked at the group of evildoers in the tavern: "Go back. You all heard what Himura just said, right?"
The evildoers in the tavern looked at each other, understood Ishikawa Katori's meaning, and most of them dispersed in a flash, but a small portion remained.
"Big Bro Ishikawa, we'll stay and help you."
Oyama patted his chest, saying seriously: "If I'm going to die, I'll die with you."
Ishikawa Katori scanned the tavern with narrowed eyes, finding that without exception, all the people who stayed were from District 79, and like Oyama, they all put on a posture of 'swearing to live and die with the tavern'.
"Heh, die with me?" Ishikawa Katori sneered: "Tell me the truth."
Oyama chuckled nervously: "That person… didn't he go to West 80th District… we're a bit scared to go back." While that was true, if they were just afraid of the person who severely injured Nishijin Ori, they could completely disperse and hide in the higher-numbered areas.
The reason they chose to stay was twofold: on one hand, they liked it here. Although not explicitly stated, in their hearts, they had implicitly begun to regard Ishikawa Katori as their new Boss.
Besides, without Ishikawa Katori, they might have already died in South 80 District.
And on the other hand…
And most importantly, they didn't feel it was dangerous to stay with Big Bro Ishikawa, because besides being powerful, Big Bro Ishikawa also had the strongest backing in the entire Rukongai—the Shiba family!!
If even the Shiba family couldn't protect Big Bro Ishikawa, then nowhere they hid would be safe.
So, compared to hiding in stable areas they didn't like, it was better to stay here.
On the other side, Himura was staring blankly at Ishikawa Katori. She never expected that after she had spoken to such an extent, this Big Bro Ishikawa would still be willing to let them stay.
Ishikawa Katori glanced at Oyama and the others, not continuing to drive them away, but instead focusing his attention on the system interface.
[Himura Favorability +1, gained 640 experience points, current Favorability: 42]
[...]
[Himura Favorability +1, gained 1280 experience points, current Favorability: 50]
[...]
[Himura Favorability +1, gained 1280 experience points, current Favorability: 60]
...
Current Experience: 20480
These were all the experience points Himura provided to Ishikawa Katori in that instant, and also the confidence Ishikawa Katori had to accept this request.
A high amount of 20,000 experience points was enough to raise Ishikawa Katori's strength from 'Fifth Stage' to the 'Fourth Stage' equivalent of a Vice-Captain.
He didn't believe the person Himura spoke of had Captain-level strength, otherwise, the two of them wouldn't have been able to escape at all.
Moreover, compared to high-ranking Seated Officers, the combat power gap between Vice-Captains was extremely huge. Even among Vice-Captains, individual Vice-Captains could form an overwhelming advantage over others.
Ishikawa Katori was essentially very similar to Oyama and the others. In a battle with certain death, unless absolutely necessary, he would never proactively provoke the opponent.
But a battle with a narrow chance of survival…
Ishikawa Katori didn't mind taking a chance. Over 20,000 experience points were worth him taking this risk.
Too bad, if the system could farm experience points, that would be great.
Then he would only need to tell Himura 'you guys leave too', and the favorability would probably drop immediately, then say 'I'm just kidding' and it would rise back up…
Unfortunately, Uzuki had already proven that this method wouldn't work.
After dropping, subsequent increases in favorability would not provide him with experience points.
"Um… Mr. Ishikawa Katori." Just then, a somewhat timid voice came.
Ishikawa Katori looked at Hanatarō behind him, startled: "Uh, you're still here."
"…" Hanatarō.
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