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The location of the Fourth Division barracks was much quieter compared to the Second Division, with not many buildings around.
Led by Isane, Ishikawa Katori walked for about half an hour before arriving at a three-story building with a distinct architectural style, different from the surrounding structures. Its walls were pristine white, the roof had eaves, and it was surrounded by a fence.
Entering through the gate marked 'Comprehensive Relief Station', the path was flanked by lush trees and gardens, which looked faintly warm and inviting under the moonlight.
According to Isane, the Comprehensive Relief Station's rear connected to the Fourth Division barracks. However, due to the late hour, it was not convenient to take Ishikawa Katori for a tour now.
"This is the Comprehensive Relief Station that our Fourth Division is responsible for. Its main purpose is to provide emergency treatment and daily medical care for the members of the Gotei 13."
"Daily medical care?"
"Yes."
Kotetsu Isane nodded, "Although humans become spiritual bodies and come to Soul Society after death, it doesn't mean they won't get sick. Spiritual bodies are actually quite similar to humans in the Human World; they feel cold in severe winters and can catch colds, and they feel hot in extreme heat and can suffer from heatstroke."
"Of course, these minor ailments are not really a big deal. Once a person's Spirit Core reaches a certain level of power, they can completely avoid these illnesses, so they are not common… Hmm, you can't say they're not common. The Captain of my sister's Squad often catches colds."
"However, among the patients we treat at the Fourth Division, the most common ailment is actually due to Spirit Energy Stagnation."
"Spirit Energy Stagnation?"
Ishikawa Katori wasn't surprised that spiritual bodies could catch colds, as he had seen many such cases in Rukongai; he had even seen people freeze to death in winter… Although the term 'freeze to death' sounds a bit strange when describing spiritual bodies…
But Ishikawa Katori had truly never encountered an illness like Spirit Energy Stagnation.
"This can be said to be a unique illness within Seireitei, because the Reishi within Seireitei is extremely dense. People living in Seireitei will absorb Reishi into their bodies with every breath, which can enhance a Shinigami's spiritual power."
Isane paused, then continued:
"But for some weaker individuals, or even ordinary people who are Shinigami family members, this absorption has a chance to put pressure on their Spirit Core, Soul Binding, and even Soul Sleep."
"Leading to illnesses like Reishi Stagnation, such as abnormal Soul Binding, disordered Soul Sleep… In short, various illnesses that only spiritual bodies can contract."
"And the most serious among them is undoubtedly problems with the Spirit Core. Those who have problems with their Spirit Core are usually ordinary people among Shinigami relatives."
Isane sighed slightly, as if thinking of something, and said, "Once the Spirit Core has a problem, one must seek medical attention immediately and absolutely not delay… otherwise, death is certain."
Ishikawa Katori nodded, understanding what Spirit Energy Stagnation meant.
Soul Binding and Soul Sleep are the points where spiritual bodies generate spiritual power, and they are also vital points for spiritual bodies. Although problems with these two points are serious, if they are not damaged by an attack, they are not fatal and can be adjusted through various means.
But the Spirit Core is different; it is the core of the Spirit Body, and also the energy source that sustains the Spirit Body's life. If the Spirit Core leaves the Spirit Body, that Spirit Body will die on the spot. It can be understood as the human heart.
"It's not easy for you either."
Ishikawa Katori sighed sincerely. He had originally thought that, apart from wars in Seireitei, the Fourth Division's work wasn't very busy, but now it seemed… even in non-war times, the Fourth Division's work was not light.
As they spoke, the two had already arrived in front of the Comprehensive Relief Station building.
But before they could enter, they heard a rush of footsteps behind them. Turning around, they saw hundreds of people dressed in shinigami uniforms, carrying stretchers, rushing in from outside; without exception, the people on those stretchers were covered in blood and groaning continuously.
"Move aside… Everyone, quickly move aside!!"
"Bastard, don't block the way."
"Are you looking for death!?"
"…"
From a distance, a series of irritable voices could be heard. Ishikawa Katori stepped aside from the entrance, frowning as he looked at the people on the stretchers.
What's going on?
Has someone invaded Seireitei?
Ishikawa Katori looked at Isane, hoping to see what had happened on her face, but Isane remained very calm, only showing a hint of dissatisfaction.
"Here they come again!"
Isane sighed and explained to a bewildered Ishikawa Katori, "Don't be surprised, these are all members of the Eleventh Division."
Eleventh Division?
Ishikawa Katori was slightly stunned, then his mouth twitched. Hearing that Squad name, he somewhat understood why Isane was so calm.
Sure enough.
Isane said with a look of disgust, "The Eleventh Division is the combat Squad among the Gotei 13, so most of its members uphold martial virtues. Even in regular sparring, they fight as if their lives depend on it. Almost every day, Eleventh Division members are sent to the Comprehensive Relief Station."
"However, it's relatively rare to have so many come at once like today. They're probably having an internal practice battle on the martial arts arena again."
Despite her disgusted expression, Isane quickly followed behind the group from the Eleventh Division.
As soon as they entered the main hall, Isane asked the nurse who came to greet them at the entrance, "Which relief Squad is on duty tonight?"
"It's the Seventh Upper Relief Squad and the Twenty-fourth Intermediate Relief Squad."
"We're a bit short-staffed. Send someone to the barracks to call for people. Have the 14th Upper Relief Squad, who are scheduled for tomorrow, start work a day early. Also, call two junior and one intermediate relief Squads over."
"Yes."
Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.
Ishikawa Katori did not step forward to disturb them, merely following quietly behind Isane, constantly observing the interior of the Comprehensive Relief Station.
Although…
Most of his gaze was focused on the female nurses dressed in pristine white nurse uniforms.
Shinigami everywhere, and most of them were female nurses.
This trip was truly not in vain.
"Mr. Ishikawa Katori?"
A nurse recognized Ishikawa Katori and asked with a hint of surprise in her voice, "Have you joined our Fourth Division?"
The one who spoke was a young girl with long black hair.
Yugu, Favorability 24, a newcomer who joined less than a year ago, was among the first group of Fourth Division members who learned Kido from Ishikawa Katori. However, she wasn't introduced by Isane, but by Nao, who was her contemporary and roommate.
Information about the other party quickly surfaced in Ishikawa Katori's mind. To befriend these Fourth Division members, he had memorized the preferences, strength, personality, and physical characteristics of every member he had interacted with.
"I haven't joined. I'm just here to visit."
Ishikawa Katori glanced at the busy Isane ahead and asked Yugu, "Is there anything I can help with?"
Upon hearing that Ishikawa Katori had not joined the Fourth Division, Yugu was visibly disappointed, but when she heard Ishikawa Katori's next words, her expression brightened, "You can?"
"If needed, please don't hesitate. After all, strictly speaking, I am also a doctor."
"Yugu, hurry over, we're short-staffed here."
Before Yugu could reply, a call came from afar. Yugu almost instinctively ran towards it, but then remembered Ishikawa Katori beside her and quickly said, "Mr. Ishikawa Katori, if you're willing, please come along too."
"Okay."
Ishikawa Katori nodded and followed behind.
The two quickly arrived at an extremely spacious treatment room. It was a very empty hall, with the words 'Examination Hall' written outside, and inside, it was filled with hospital beds. The surrounding walls had various passages, inscribed with words like 'Spirit Image Room', 'Hospital Ward', 'Operating Room', 'Medicine Room'… and so on.
It seemed to be a kind of transfer station, where doctors would conduct initial examinations of patients and then send them to different areas based on their injuries.
It's truly comprehensive.
Ishikawa Katori's expression was a bit strange; looking around here, and then thinking about his small clinic at the Everything Store, in comparison, his Everything Store's small clinic was like a black market clinic... No, it was already a black market clinic.
That's fine then...
The patients who were sent in were all carried onto hospital beds, including Kotetsu Isane; many familiar faces to Ishikawa Katori were using Kaido to treat the severely injured patients, while those who were not particularly serious were handled by the lower-level treatment Squad for wound cleaning and bandaging.
The hall was filled with wails, mixed with the shouts of doctors and nurses.
"Where's the pharmacy Squad? Why aren't they here yet!!"
"Bandages, we're out of bandages here."
"This person's arm bone is broken; they need surgery."
"Where's the medicine? This person needs an IV."
"..."
Ishikawa Katori stood at the entrance of the hall, looking at the bustling atmosphere, and felt uncomfortable all over; he always felt a strange sense of guilt standing there doing nothing...
"Here, here, my Kaido can't stop the bleeding, someone quickly come and help me."
Ishikawa Katori turned his head to look in the direction of the call, and after realizing it was a male nurse, he decisively withdrew his gaze.
To be honest...
He actually didn't quite understand why these people were so nervous; he had roughly checked earlier, and none of the people here had life-threatening injuries, even the one with unstoppable bleeding was just relatively serious.
If it were those villains from the Everything Store... they would basically just tear up their clothes, wrap themselves up, then pass out and wake up fine.
From this perspective, those villains truly had tenacious vitality.
Ishikawa Katori looked left and right, finally settling on a female nurse nearest to him, who looked twenty or thirty years old and rather ordinary; at this moment, she was visibly anxious, Reishi surging in her hands, constantly using Kaido to treat the patient on the bed.
However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop the bleeding, and instead, her hands were stained red by the gushing blood.
This situation made her even more nervous; her hands, operating Kaido, kept pressing down, and in her tension, those hands even pressed into the patient's chest wound.
"Ah ah~ Bastard, what are you... hiss... doing?"
"Ah, I... I'm sorry..."
"..." Ishikawa Katori.
Are you trying to kill him or save him?
Shaking his head, Ishikawa Katori came up to the female nurse and said, "Let me treat him."
The words in their ears made both the female nurse and the patient let out a sigh of relief, but when they saw Ishikawa Katori, both were momentarily stunned.
Unlike the surrounding Fourth Division members wearing shinigami uniforms and medical attire, Ishikawa Katori was dressed in a black work uniform, covered in dust, with faint dark red, strange marks still clinging to it, and made somewhat ragged by battle; he looked entirely like a beggar.
"Don't... touch me!!"
"Why are you dressed like that? Get up, what if the patient's wound gets infected?"
Ishikawa Katori ignored their reactions, simply placing his right hand over the patient's wound and beginning to use Kaido.
Seeing this, the female nurse quickly reached out to grab Ishikawa Katori's hand covering the patient, but before she could grasp it, her hand was pulled away.
The female nurse turned her head, and when she saw who was holding her, she paused and asked, "Nao? Why are you stopping me? Stop him."
The person who arrived was indeed Nao, who had come with the 14th Upper Relief Squad. After giving Ishikawa Katori a somewhat strange look, she smiled at the nurse beside her and said, "Don't worry, it's fine to leave it to Mr. Ishikawa Katori."
"Mr. Ishikawa Katori?"
The female nurse paused, suddenly feeling that the name sounded familiar, as if teammates often mentioned it to her.
"Who cut you?"
"Uh, our Captain."
Just then, a conversation was heard. The female nurse turned her head in confusion, and the sight that met her eyes left her stunned.
The patient, who had been pale and on the verge of death just moments before, was now sitting up on the hospital bed; the wound on his chest was no longer bleeding, and new granulation tissue had even grown, beginning to scab over.
"No wonder..."
Ishikawa Katori nodded in understanding. While treating him just now, he discovered that the patient's wound still had an incredibly dense Spirit Core remaining, constantly damaging the wound. This was the fundamental reason why the previous female nurse couldn't stop the bleeding.
Generally speaking, Reishi residue dissipates very quickly. This was the first time Ishikawa Katori had encountered a situation where the lingering Reishi not only didn't dissipate but also resisted his treatment when he used Kaido.
When he heard that he was cut by their Captain, Ishikawa Katori suddenly understood. Given that person's Reishi intensity, it was perfectly normal for him to be able to do this.
"Captain? Could it be Kenpachi Zaraki?" Nao asked with surprise.
"Mm..."
The burly man sitting on the hospital bed twitched his cheek slightly: "I don't know the specifics, but the Captain, who had been missing for a day, suddenly gathered us for practical training... and well, it ended up like this."
"I heard the Vice-Captain say it was because the Captain went to find someone to fight but couldn't find anyone, so he vented his accumulated combat desire from the day on us."
"...Then you guys are really unlucky," Ishikawa Katori said with a hint of pity in his tone.
But they deserved it...
Out of all the people to follow, they chose that lunatic.
He wondered who was so unlucky as to be targeted by that monster.
Ishikawa Katori shook his head and didn't ask further; as long as it wasn't him who was unlucky, that was fine. Although he enjoyed the feeling of fighting, it depended on the opponent... With his current strength, without activating Shunko, he probably couldn't even withstand the opponent's Reishi, let alone fight him.
One wrong move and he could really get cut to death.
"Right, if I find out who that guy is who avoided our Captain, I'll definitely cut him to death," the burly man cursed with a ferocious expression.
"I support you."
Ishikawa Katori chuckled, then turned to the female nurse and said, "Apply some wound medicine to him, then bandage it up. For now, don't let him make too many movements to prevent the wound from tearing open again."
"Huh? Ah... Yes..."
The female nurse came back to her senses, looked at Ishikawa Katori, who had a gentle smile on his face, and her pretty face flushed: "I... I'm sorry, I..."
"Don't worry, your reaction is a normal one; it shows that you care deeply about the patient's safety," Ishikawa Katori comforted her gently.
Ishikawa Katori's gentle voice and smiling face made the female nurse feel an incredibly warm aura washing over her; her face instantly became even redder, and she said in a voice as soft as a mosquito's hum, "Thank you."
[Sugishita Hanami's favorability +5, gained 120 experience points.]
Ishikawa Katori nodded contentedly; this was indeed a good place to grind experience points, having gained so much just by arriving.
"Oh, right."
Ishikawa Katori reached behind him, pulled out a small card, and handed it to the patient on the bed, saying, "If you need anything, you can come find me here. I can help you find that bastard you mentioned, or even help you teach him a lesson directly."
"Everything Store?"
The patient took the card, looking at its contents with a slight pause: "Aren't you a member of the Fourth Division?"
"Everything Store!?"
Sugishita Hanami's eyes lit up beside him: "I remember now, are you Mr. Ishikawa Katori, the owner who runs the Everything Store and teaches Kaido?"
"Strictly speaking, it's not running the Everything Store to teach Kaido; teaching Kaido is just one of the services at the Everything Store. We accept all kinds of requests at the Everything Store, you know."
Ishikawa Katori said as he handed over another small card, then added, "You go ahead and apply the medicine to him; I'll go see if anyone else needs help."
"Mm... Sorry."
Sugishita Hanami's face flushed; she then remembered that there was still a patient to treat beside her and that it wasn't the time for chatting.
Ishikawa Katori smiled, turned, and walked towards his next target.
Indeed...
The members of the Fourth Division are more or less socially awkward.
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