12th Division, former laboratory of Kirio Hikifune.
"Captain, this is our lab's latest research project."
The dark circles under Kisuke Urahara's eyes were getting deeper.
He had collected a large amount of Hell reishi from the Tsunayashiro clan some time ago, which had piqued his interest. He had been studying it ever since.
Sora was now the captain of the 12th Division and was preparing to take over what Kirio Hikifune had left behind.
"These things..." Sora looked at the jars and containers where Hell reishi had formed into various symbols. "Are these the symbols of Kidō formulas?"
These symbols were common in reishi barriers and sealing formulas, but these were made of Hell reishi.
"We are trying to develop applications for Hell reishi," Urahara explained. "The captain personally experienced the incident with the returning captain from Hell. You should be well aware that he could also use Kidō, right?"
"That's right. The captain used Kidō when he fought Head Captain Yamamoto," Sora nodded.
"We collected the residual reishi from the scene at the time. The reishi left behind by the captain was Hell reishi, containing the aura of Hell. Therefore, we believe that Hell reishi also has some of the properties of normal reishi," Urahara said. "So we are trying to use Hell reishi to cast Kidō formulas. If we succeed, it might be possible for Shinigami to stay in Hell for longer periods."
The environment of Hell is very disadvantageous for Shinigami; their abilities are considerably suppressed.
Even casting Kidō in Hell is much weaker than in the three realms.
If Shinigami could find a way to use Hell reishi, it would be a great help in exploring Hell.
"This direction is worth in-depth research," Sora nodded, indicating that the project should be continued.
The Lord of Hell was eyeing the three realms covetously. The Shinigami needed to prepare early.
Urahara and several researchers led Sora forward.
"Captain, this is the project I'm in charge of."
A scrawny Shinigami stepped forward, eagerly introducing his project. "The captain should have eaten the food made by Captain Hikifune using 'Temporary Soul' technology. My project was inspired by that."
"Captain Hikifune can infuse spiritual pressure from a 'Temporary Soul' into food, but that's an ability she developed based on her own Zanpakutō. So, if we want to increase spiritual pressure this way, we need to develop a new method."
In the culture medium were tiny pellets of reishi, looking somewhat like a bowl of glowing blue caviar.
"Oh? Are these reishi pellets made using 'Temporary Soul' technology?" Sora became interested.
Kirio Hikifune's 'Temporary Soul' technology had countless uses, and it was foreseeable that there were many more research directions to explore.
She herself was promoted to the Royal Guard precisely because of the merit of inventing this technology.
If these reishi pellets were made with 'Temporary Soul' technology, then this would undoubtedly be another groundbreaking invention!
"Uh... not exactly. These reishi pellets were extracted from my own spiritual body!" The scrawny Shinigami rolled up his sleeve to show the captain his arm, which was full of needle marks. "These pellets can also increase spiritual pressure!"
"..." Sora looked at the Shinigami's emaciated frame and frowned slightly. "Is there no rejection reaction?"
This crude method of extracting reishi would result in the reishi carrying the host's characteristics. Injecting it into another soul would be no different from directly transferring spiritual pressure.
"The rejection reaction hasn't been solved yet..." the scrawny Shinigami said anxiously. "Captain, just give me some more time. One year... no, half a year, and I can definitely solve it!"
"Cut this project," Sora confirmed it was a project designed to scam funding and continued walking forward.
The scrawny Shinigami's face turned ashen.
Kirio Hikifune's management of the lab was relatively lax. Apart from the projects she assigned herself, the researchers were free to do as they pleased.
Therefore, not all projects in the lab were useful.
Sora was now going to cut some of the useless ones.
The group arrived in front of a culture tank filled with nutrient solution.
Inside was a spiritual body. Sora sensed it and realized it was actually a corpse.
Such a spiritual corpse would normally dissipate into reishi before long. The reason it could exist for so long was due to the special nutrient solution in the tank, which maintained its form.
"Captain, this is the project I'm in charge of."
The green-haired Shinigami, Yushima Ōko, introduced it. "This project was left by Captain Hikifune and is now my responsibility.
She previously proposed the concept of a 'Gikon'—placing a 'Temporary Soul' inside a spiritual body.
Captain Hikifune's method of making food with 'Temporary Souls' is also an application of the 'Gikon' concept."
"I've discussed 'Gikon' with Ms. Hikifune, but what does it have to do with this corpse?" Sora nodded and asked.
"Before Captain Hikifune left, we developed this..." Yushima Ōko picked up a smooth, round pearl from the table. "This is what we created, the 'Gikon-gan'. It's made from reishi extracted from this corpse."
"'Gikon-gan'..." Sora took the pearl. The name was very familiar to him.
Gikon-gan, or Soul Candy, were pills that could forcibly separate a soul from its body. At the same time, they were also souls with their own consciousness.
In the future, when Shinigami were on missions in the human world, they would wear Gigai to move around in human society.
The Gikon-gan could help a Shinigami leave their Gigai and also help them control the Gigai to act as a human.
However, Sora had influenced Kirio Hikifune's research progress.
The Gikon-gan was originally supposed to be created after Kirio left the 12th Division.
Because Sora would occasionally come to the 12th Division to exchange cooking and reishi technology knowledge with Kirio, she was inevitably influenced by him.
"If we use the 'Gikon-gan' on souls that have died but are unwilling to leave their bodies, we can forcibly make them leave," Yushima Ōko continued to explain. "The 'Gikon-gan' has self-awareness and can also use a human body to help us communicate with humans who have no spiritual affinity."
Humans without spiritual affinity cannot see souls or Shinigami.
Since the Shinigami had not yet invented Gigai, Yushima and the others had not thought of the other uses for the 'Gikon-gan'.
"Very good," Sora nodded. "But it would be much more convenient to communicate with humans if Shinigami could have physical bodies made of kishi."
"Are you talking about the 'Nikutai Ningyō', Captain?" Urahara scratched his face. "But that kind of Tenzen Heisō is extremely expensive to produce. It's very difficult..."
Sora had previously found a 'Nikutai Ningyō' in the Tsunayashiro clan's treasury that had a similar function to a Gigai, allowing a Shinigami to have a physical body. But it was an expensive Tenzen Heisō. Even the Tsunayashiro clan only had one in their collection, so it couldn't be mass-produced for all Shinigami.
"Then we'll find a way. We can already create 'Temporary Souls', so a more convenient and user-friendly physical body made of kishi should be no problem," Sora patted Urahara's shoulder. "Kisuke, I'm leaving this project to you and Yushima-kun. If this is done well, it could benefit all Shinigami!"
"The captain trusts me so much, I will definitely complete it with dedication!" Yushima Ōko was very excited to be entrusted with such an important task.
Urahara was much calmer. He just felt like he didn't have enough time.
The researchers continued to introduce other projects to Sora.
Sora saw several swords of various shapes that looked very familiar.
"Captain, these are the Bakkōtō that were confiscated from the Kasumiōji clan's laboratory," said Saie.
Saie was the only female researcher in the lab, with long, wavy purple hair and a pretty face, though she looked somewhat listless.
"Weren't all the Bakkōtō confiscated that time destroyed?" Sora asked, surprised.
Sora was directly involved in the Bakkōtō incident and had followed up on it.
After the case was closed, the public information stated that all the Bakkōtō created by the Kasumiōji clan had been destroyed.
Now, it seemed that was not the case.
At least, these Bakkōtō in front of him had not been destroyed.
"Most of the Bakkōtō were destroyed," Saie explained. "These were ordered by the Central 46 to be preserved and given to Captain Hikifune for research."
"The ones that were left are the ones with the best abilities, even better than many Shinigami's Zanpakutō. The Central 46 couldn't bear to destroy them," Urahara chuckled. "They want us to find a way to solve the side effects."
"Anyway, the Central 46 is providing the funding, so Captain Hikifune took on the task," Saie added. "But there hasn't been much progress. It still requires a host to provide spiritual pressure to feed the core."
"It seems those 'big shots' are still eyeing these powers," Sora stroked his chin. "Since the Central 46 is funding it, let's keep it for now."
Sora had no intention of cutting a project that he could get free funding for from the Central 46.
If something was successfully researched, he, as the captain of the 12th Division, would have the final say on how it was handled.
"Captain, my 'Kikanshinki' project has many applications."
A bald Shinigami held out a square box. "When Shinigami are on missions in the human world, they inevitably affect humans and attract their attention. This 'Kikanshinki' can be used to erase human memories."
"Oh? A device that can erase human memories?"
Sora took the square box. A device with such a function would be very useful in the modern era; every Shinigami stationed in the human world would need one.
Information spreads quickly in modern society, and once it's out, it's hard to erase. With a memory-erasing device, they could handle any humans who were affected.
"Yes, the reishi waves it emits can affect the human brain, thus achieving the effect of erasing memories," the bald Shinigami nodded.
"So, is this 'Kikanshinki' fully developed?" Sora asked.
"Not yet... Currently, it can't erase memories precisely. It can only erase a large chunk of memory, which has a significant impact on humans. It still needs improvement," the bald Shinigami said seriously. "Please give me some more time, Captain. I'm very confident I can perfect this function!"
"The 'Kikanshinki' is very useful. This project will be continued," Sora nodded.
"Captain, come look at my project... I'm researching the secrets of a Zanpakutō's Bankai... Here's my idea..."
"Your direction is wrong. Cut this project."
"Captain, the project I'm in charge of is how to revert 'Temporary Souls' back into ordinary reishi..."
"I can do that with a Hadō. Cut this project."
"Captain..."
"Cut."
After leaving the laboratory, Sora took Urahara to his office.
"Captain, you seem to have a lot of opinions about the lab?" Urahara picked up a pastry from the table and ate it. "Hmm... this is better than the pastries from Ippin-bō!"
"There are too few capable people..." Sora sighed slightly. "Ms. Hikifune was just making the best of a bad situation."
After inspecting the lab, he found that the quality of the projects was very uneven.
He had cut half of them in one go.
It couldn't be helped. These researchers were all self-taught.
To put it simply, they were all amateur scientists!
Without systematic training, their results depended entirely on their own talent!
"A training system for researchers needs to be established as soon as possible," Sora said. "Kisuke, I'll have to trouble you with this!"
"Huh? I already have too much on my plate! How about giving it to Ms. Saie or Yushima-kun?" Urahara's face immediately fell.
"This matter is very important for the future of the 12th Division. I'll only be at ease if I entrust it to you," Sora said with a smile.
"Thank you for your trust... but I really can't handle any more!" Urahara slumped into his chair, looking like he was about to give up.
"Hmm... perhaps I can find you a few helpers." Sora stroked his chin.
He suddenly remembered that there were two other research-oriented talents he could use.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Akon!
According to the original timeline, the 12th Division would be taken over by Urahara, and the captain after him would be Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
And Akon would be Mayuri's lieutenant.
Those two should both be locked up in the 2nd Division's prison, the 'Maggot's Nest', right now.
They were both imprisoned for violating prohibitions.
Sora had been keeping an eye on Mayuri and Akon for a while now. He had asked Yoruichi about their whereabouts.
Mayuri was imprisoned for researching Quincy.
During the Quincy extermination campaign in the human world, many Quincy corpses were left behind.
Mayuri had secretly gone to the human world, wanting to bring the Quincy corpses back to the Soul Society for research.
But his actions were discovered by the Onmitsukidō.
Researching Quincy was forbidden, so he was immediately thrown into the 'Maggot's Nest'.
He had been locked up ever since.
As for Akon, he was originally a retainer of a minor noble. When that noble committed a crime, he was implicated and also thrown into the 'Maggot's Nest' by the Onmitsukidō.
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