"Technology Development Bureau?" Mayuri's eyes narrowed.
"The bureau I plan to create will be responsible for developing new technologies and new spiritual tools," Sora explained.
"A division responsible for research and development of new technology..."
It would be a lie to say Mayuri wasn't tempted. He knew very well how powerful the resources of an entire division could be.
This would be a massive benefit to his own research.
If he could join the Technology Development Bureau, he could use its resources to verify some of his own ideas.
"The bureau is still in its early stages and is in great need of research talent like you," Sora saw that Mayuri was tempted and immediately sweetened the deal. "I'm here to invite you to be a Supervisor in the bureau. Oh... you can think of a Supervisor as a seated officer of the 12th Division."
"A mere seated officer..."
Mayuri pouted. A division has many seated officers. If he was just one of them, his work would surely be restricted in the future.
"The Professor is offering you a seated officer position right away, and you're still not satisfied?!"
Yoruichi thought Mayuri was too greedy. This person was being offered a jump from prisoner to seated officer, yet he still looked reluctant.
"The Supervisor of the Technology Development Bureau is equivalent to the 3rd Seat," Sora said with a light laugh. "Your authority in the bureau will be second only to mine and Deputy Director Urahara's. Of course, if you prove to be more skilled than the Deputy Director, that position can also be changed."
"That sounds very tempting..." Mayuri showed a slight smile. "It would seem ungrateful of me to refuse!"
Yoruichi waved her hand, and a nearby guard hurried over to unlock Mayuri's shackles.
"Captain Katori, thanks to you, I can finally walk out of here," Mayuri stretched his limbs and slowly walked out of the cell.
"Welcome to the Technology Development Bureau, Supervisor Mayuri!" Sora nodded slightly. "But before we leave, there's one more person we need to see."
"So there's another Shinigami of the same type locked up here..."
Mayuri knew Sora was here to recruit for his new bureau, so the other person he was looking for was likely also skilled in research.
"Yes. He was originally a technician who got implicated in some trouble and was imprisoned here," Sora said.
Yoruichi led the two to a cell on the left side.
Inside was a short-haired man with several small horns on his forehead.
"Captain..." Akon's pupils shrank when he saw the captain's haori.
His first reaction was the same as Mayuri's. He thought today was his judgment day, that the Onmitsukidō was here to deal with him.
However, when he saw the Shinigami in white clothes following behind the unfamiliar captain, he realized things might not be as he thought.
That Shinigami was undoubtedly also a prisoner here, but he wore no shackles.
"I am Katori Sora, Captain of the 12th Division," Sora said with a light laugh. "Akon, I've heard about your work. Your talents shouldn't be wasted in this sunless place."
"My, my" Mayuri took off the ornament from his right ear and casually cleaned the dust from its crevices. "This line sounds so familiar"
"You mean, I can leave this place?" Akon asked in disbelief.
He was originally a technician serving a noble, but that noble committed a crime and was captured by the Onmitsukidō, leading to his own implication.
The crime was a major one, which meant he was likely to be imprisoned for one or two hundred years.
"Although you previously served the Mizutani family, considering you had only recently joined them and had no contact with their research, you were not imprisoned in the Central Great Underground Prison."
Sora continued, "From now on, you will come to the 12th Division. I plan to transform it into a Technology Development Bureau. Here, you can fully utilize your talents."
The noble who had implicated Akon was Shingo Mizutani, the one who colluded with Tetsuya Miyamoto to replace Shinigami with Reigai and control the Soul Society.
Akon had been working for the Mizutani family. After Sora killed Shingo Mizutani, the family's related enterprises were "cleaned up" by the Onmitsukidō.
Fortunately, Akon was not directly involved in the Reigai incident; otherwise, he would likely be in the Central Great Underground Prison right now.
"Thank you for valuing me, Captain Katori! I will not fail to live up to your expectations!" Akon was overjoyed. He could finally leave this hellhole.
He didn't want to stay here forever. He was naturally extremely grateful to the captain who had pulled him out.
"Let me introduce you. This is the 12th Division's 3rd Seat and Supervisor of the Technology Development Bureau, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, whom I just recruited. You two will be working together from now on," Sora said warmly.
"Supervisor Mayuri, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Akon greeted him.
"Hmph..."
"Uninteresting..." A thought flashed through Mayuri's mind.
Mayuri had been observing Akon but quickly lost interest. This uninteresting man would be no match for him.
Everything went smoothly. After the two retrieved their belongings from the prison storage, Sora led them back to the 12th Division.
"Hoh~ The facilities here are quite impressive..."
Mayuri was somewhat surprised by the equipment in the Technology Development Bureau.
The conditions here were far better than his own "secret bases."
"Is this... a Bakkōtō?! Weren't they all supposed to have been destroyed?"
Akon was also shocked. As a researcher, he had paid attention to the fate of the Bakkōtō.
When he first learned about them, he had really wanted to get one to study.
Unfortunately, he heard they were destroyed after the fall of the Kasumiōji clan, yet here they were.
"A few were kept," Sora said casually. "If you're interested, you can study them later. But right now, the most important thing for the bureau is to establish a training system for researchers and cultivate qualified personnel. Then you'll have research assistants to use."
"I have to teach people?" Mayuri pouted, but considering he did need some assistants, he agreed. "I just hope you don't stick me with a bunch of idiots."
Mayuri's expression shifted as he noticed a distinctly different type of reishi fluctuation.
He picked up a culture dish. Inside a blue solution floated some small red beads.
"What is this?" Mayuri looked puzzled. It was the first time he had sensed this kind of spiritual particle fluctuation. "A strange aura..."
"That is Hell's essence."
Kisuke Urahara, who had been resting on a bench, sat up and said quickly:
"Hey, hey, I had a hard time extracting that! Shaking it like that will make it dissipate easily. Don't mess with it!"
"You two look unfamiliar... could it be..." Urahara scratched his face. "You're the 'helpers' the captain found?"
"Let me introduce you. This is the Lieutenant of the 12th Division and the Deputy Director of the Technology Development Bureau, Kisuke Urahara," Sora said with a smile.
"Oh? So you're the Deputy Director..."
Mayuri looked Urahara up and down with an extremely aggressive gaze.
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