"Cough, cough… just one shot completely drained me?"
Yekawa weakly peered at the massive crater carved by his Cero, a satisfied smile on his pale face. Its power was roughly half that of the mutated Gillian's Cero. As a signature skill of Menos Grande, Cero was something Yekawa had actually learned at the Powerful Hollow stage.
"Am I… a genius?"
He scratched his mask-covered head with his large pale hand, pride lacing his voice. "It seems I'm not very durable, and the charging time is long. At this stage, this move can only be a trump card."
Feeling his spiritual pressure nearly depleted, Yekawa lashed his tail against the desert and burrowed entirely beneath the sand. Immediately, his body vanished beneath the dunes.
Hueco Mundo was composed entirely of high-density spiritual particles, so he needed only to remain within it to recover. To prevent being discovered by other Hollows while weakened, he activated Camo, hiding beneath the sand as he let his energy regenerate.
Several hours later, his spiritual pressure largely restored, Yekawa finally emerged.
After half a month of exploration, he had a clear sense of Hollow distribution in the desert. Pushing further risked encounters with Gillian packs or Adjuchas, so he chose to return along his previous path. His plan was simple: feed on numerous Freshman Hollows in the outer regions first, advance to Giant Hollow status, then explore deeper.
He moved silently through the sand. Nearly eight meters tall, Camo rendered him practically undetectable.
Boom. Boom. Rumble.
Sand trembled around him, and loud crashing noises erupted ahead.
"There's a fight ahead… and it's intense!"
Trusting Camo, Yekawa cautiously swam toward the source of the noise.
What he saw shocked him profoundly.
"This is… Hundred Hollow Cannibalism!"
Hundred Hollow Cannibalism occurred when over a hundred Giant Hollows, due to some unusual circumstance, became entangled and devoured each other. The last one standing would evolve into a Gillian.
"Unexpected gain," Yekawa murmured, remaining fully hidden beneath the sand, pushing Camo to its limits and waiting.
Every Hollow in the fray was a Giant Hollow, one rank above Yekawa. With Camo, he moved freely among them; none detected his presence.
"This Camo really is useful."
He watched intently, eyes following the battlefield, searching for scraps.
An octopus-shaped Giant Hollow caught his attention at the front-left, retreating under assault from two nearly identical, black, hyena-like Giant Hollows. The two coordinated, the only difference in their teeth length, a sign of their slightly higher intelligence.
The short-toothed hyena lured the octopus Hollow into entanglement, tangling its eight massive tentacles, while the long-toothed hyena struck from behind.
Pfft!
Two sharp fangs pierced the back of the octopus Hollow's head. It howled in agony, tentacles flailing wildly, bubbles spewing from its gaping mouth. The bubbles burst upon contact with the hyenas, creating a grisly, painful explosion.
"It seems this octopus has some brains, but not much. Even if it could escape, it'd rather injure itself than break free. In Hundred Hollow Cannibalism, any misstep could be fatal."
From beneath the sand, Yekawa observed with fascination.
Awooo!
The long-toothed hyena, scorched and cracked from the blast, bled crimson from its massive body. With a furious howl, it raised its right paw, claws extending like steel knives, tearing into the Giant Octopus Hollow.
Splash!
Four deep slashes ran across the octopus Hollow's back, dark green blood spouting like fountains. The bone mask atop its head shattered. A half-broken mask fell, crashing onto a dune.
The short-toothed hyena, freed from the tentacles, rushed to claim it—but the sand vibrated violently.
From beneath the dunes, a Hollow with a humanoid upper body and centipede-like lower half burst out, snatching the half-broken mask, as large as itself, and burrowed back.
Awooo!
The short-toothed hyena hesitated, then howled defiantly toward the sky, unable to sense the small insect-like thief.
The long-toothed hyena, still entangled with the octopus, had no choice but to continue dealing with its remaining prey.
"Phew, nothing ventured, nothing gained."
Several miles away, Yekawa examined the massive white mask, almost half his own size, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
"This is a huge profit."
To avoid pursuit from the hyena Hollows, Yekawa swam the opposite direction for two hours before pausing. Camo made the chances of detection negligible, but caution was necessary.
He surfaced, confirmed no Hollows were near, then dove ten meters beneath the sand to devour the octopus Hollow's half-mask.
Crunch, crunch.
"Tastes good… like seaweed-flavored soda crackers!"
The mask contained spiritual particles far exceeding those of the Giant Earthworm Hollow's severed limb. Though both were body material from Giant Hollows, the mask's spiritual density was unmatched—the previous limb was discarded by a mutated Gillian as worthless.