The streets of the Edo period were bustling and chaotic, overflowing with the clamor of the crowd.
The thoroughfare was lined with all sorts of stalls—street performers, medicine peddlers, snack vendors—selling everything under the sun. The tide of humanity flowed through the streets and alleys, people brushing shoulders in a scene of familiar, vibrant life.
The vendors shouted their wares, their voices rising and falling in an endless chorus. Paper lanterns swayed gently in the breeze, illuminating the faces of the pedestrians and casting a warm, bright glow over the lively scene.
BOOM—!
A catastrophic explosion violently shattered the peaceful tableau. The crowd erupted into terrified screams, scattering in all directions, convinced a massive earthquake had just struck.
But from a perspective completely invisible to ordinary humans, a towering, skyscraper-sized black silhouette was currently violently rampaging down the street. And the individuals sprinting alongside the terrified civilians, wearing black shihakusho and carrying swords at their hips, were running just as fast as the mortals.
Sprinting frantically, Lu Li glanced back over his shoulder at the colossal monstrosity actively hunting them. How the hell did it come to this?!
Sosuke's cursed mouth is way too damn accurate!
The creature currently chasing him and the other Soul Reapers was a Gillian. Born from the amalgamation of over a hundred Hollows cannibalizing each other in a vortex of agonizing resentment, it was a colossal entity classified as a lower-class Menos Grande.
In the original anime, aside from their debut where their sheer size and lore intimidated the audience, Gillians eventually just became massive cannon fodder—the kind of mobs Ichigo Kurosaki could instantly vaporize by the dozen.
But in the actual lore, a Menos Grande was a catastrophic threat that required a Lieutenant-class Soul Reaper to dispatch safely. At the absolute minimum, it took a high-ranking Seated Officer to even hold one off. A Gillian's baseline Reiatsu was estimated to be Class 10 or higher.
Today was Lu Li's very first trip to the World of the Living. He had deployed on a routine mission with a few other fresh graduates assigned to the Fifth Division. He had genuinely treated this as a sightseeing tour. Yet, by some cosmic joke, they had actually run into a Menos Grande!
CRASH—!
The Gillian's gargantuan body effortlessly plowed through rows of wooden houses, reducing them to splinters. It was the lowest class of Menos and possessed practically zero intelligence, but its overwhelming Reiatsu and catastrophic physical mass were painfully real. Lu Li currently possessed absolutely no effective means of inflicting fatal damage on something that massive.
"Mama—!"
Amidst the violently shaking earth, a little girl tripped and fell onto the dirt, reaching her hand out toward her equally terrified mother.
The street had devolved into pure anarchy. The wails and agonizing screams merged into a horrifying symphony, transforming the town into a living hell.
The two other Soul Reapers assigned to Lu Li's squad were absolutely paralyzed with fear. They had never witnessed a genuine bloodbath like this inside the safety of the Shin'o Academy. They had desperately fired off the Hado spells they had learned, but the blasts hit the Gillian's iron skin like a gentle breeze.
Lu Li looked at the fleeing crowd ahead. These people had absolutely no idea what was destroying their homes; they only knew pure, suffocating despair. They had woken up this morning expecting an ordinary day, entirely unaware that the apocalypse was waiting for them.
As the ground violently convulsed, husbands shielded their wives, and wives desperately shielded their children, as if the embrace alone could grant them the courage to face death. Yet, their violently contorted faces betrayed their absolute, primal terror.
Lu Li glanced at the countdown timer for his mandated extraction.
He violently drew his blade, spinning around. "Evacuate the civilians to the east! I'll act as the rearguard and draw its aggro!"
Under the utterly shell-shocked gazes of his two Soul Reaper colleagues, Lu Li unleashed his Shikai and charged directly at the Menos Grande. Utilizing his hyper-speed Shunpo, he literally sprinted up the giant Hollow's leg, his pitch-black blade flashing as he carved a series of deep, bleeding trenches into its flesh.
Lu Li carved a bloody path all the way up to the Gillian's head, aggressively kiting the towering beast away from the town boundaries.
"Damn it! How did we run into a Menos?! Lu Li... he's a dead man..." one of the Soul Reapers panted heavily, stopping to watch Lu Li and the Gillian draw further and further away. His heart was filled with lingering terror and deep regret.
In his eyes, no matter how much of an unprecedented genius Lu Li was, his current Reiatsu was simply too low. Engaging a Menos Grande in close-quarters combat was a guaranteed death sentence.
"No! Look! He's still fighting! He scaled all the way to its head!" The other Soul Reaper clenched his fists, his face flushed with adrenaline. "He's actually hurting it!"
But his excitement barely lasted two seconds before his expression warped into absolute horror. His voice trembled violently. "A Garganta... Oh god, a Garganta is opening! The Menos is retreating... but Lu Li is still standing on it!"
Under their horrified gazes, Lu Li looked like a feral, blood-crazed god of war, violently hacking at the Gillian's mask. But ultimately, he was helplessly dragged into the pitch-black void of the Garganta along with the retreating beast.
Once a Menos crossed the threshold and returned to Hueco Mundo, a low-ranking Soul Reaper was absolutely, unequivocally dead!
As the Soul Reaper watched with hot tears welling in his eyes, the Garganta violently snapped shut. Lu Li's figure vanished completely alongside the Hollow.
He slammed his fist furiously into the dirt, consumed by bitter resentment. "Damn it! It's because we were too weak! He had to sacrifice himself to cover our retreat!"
Meanwhile...
Exactly one microsecond before the Garganta fully sealed shut around him, Lu Li's mission timer officially hit zero.
The very instant the countdown ended, all physical weight vanished from his body. His vision was entirely swallowed by a blinding white light, and he felt as though he were violently shooting through a warm, ethereal tunnel.
When his vision finally cleared, he found himself standing in the exact center of a perfectly cubic, blank white room. The mechanical voice of the Terminus Space echoed in his mind.
[Detected that the Explorer possesses no critical injuries or severe negative status effects, and has successfully survived the Trial World. Initiate Settlement Sequence?]
Lu Li rolled his shoulders and stretched his limbs, marveling at the absolute, infallible authority of the Terminus Space. When it said it would extract him on the dot, it didn't delay by a single millisecond.
When his master had taught him martial arts, he had imparted a specific philosophy: The strong have no inherent obligation to protect the weak. But the strong absolutely possess the right to choose to protect them.
When he was a child, that concept had felt incredibly abstract. It still felt a bit abstract now, but he finally understood a fraction of what his master had felt when he said it.
He sought only for his martial heart to remain perfectly clear and unburdened.
Having his own "family" utterly destroyed by the "Company" in his previous life, he understood the agonizing bitterness of being an orphan better than anyone. So, if a casual swing of his blade could save a few families from being shattered, he was more than happy to take the swing.
But more importantly... getting chased out of town by a giant Hollow had genuinely pissed him off. Leaving this world without at least testing the sharpness of his newly forged Shikai on its hide would have been a massive letdown.
And the Terminus Space hadn't disappointed him. Exactly as advertised, it perfectly bypassed the spatial laws of Hueco Mundo and violently yanked him back to reality.
"So this is the Terminus Space?" Lu Li muttered, observing his surroundings. This is way too small. Is this entire 4x4x4 meter box really it?
[This is the personal room of Official Explorer 404040404. Unauthorized entities cannot enter without explicit permission. It is an absolutely safe, private sanctuary. You may customize the layout to your personal preferences. Expanding the dimensions or purchasing special architectural assets requires Terminus Coins. Standard, non-magical furniture is provided free of charge.]
Lu Li understood. This was merely his private hub. Following the system prompts, he quickly navigated the interface and overhauled the room, completely transforming the blank cube into a perfect replica of his old martial arts dojo from his previous life.
"What's the actual difference between an Official Explorer and my previous status?" Lu Li asked, dropping onto a leather sofa he had just manifested.
[The Terminus Space will now unlock the Explorer's Mark for all Official Explorers. The Mark serves as your absolute proof of identity and provides a Spatial Inventory. The volume of the inventory scales directly with your Explorer Tier.]
[Official Explorers are granted access to highly detailed System Auxiliary Functions to better facilitate mission execution across various worlds. For a comprehensive breakdown of your new administrative privileges, please consult the Official Explorer Handbook.]
Lu Li glanced down at his wrist. A pale green, intricate vine-like tattoo had securely wrapped itself around his skin.
Focusing his mind, he realized he could easily establish a mental resonance with the Mark. Inside was a localized pocket dimension where he could instantly store and retrieve items.
"Terminus. Calculate Settlement," Lu Li commanded, having fully confirmed his absolute safety and current status. He was highly eager to see the payout for this Trial World.
[Initiating Settlement for Derivative World...]
Derivative World: Bleach
Difficulty: Lv.3 ~ ??? (Hard ~ Certain Death)
World Exploration Rate: 13.6%
[Calculating Mission Performance for Explorer 404040404...]
[All Main Missions successfully completed. Awarding 3,500 Terminus Coins and Asauchi x1 (Already converted to Qiu Mo).]
Main Mission completed with Outstanding Performance. Comprehensive World Rating significantly elevated.
Initiating Comprehensive Scoring for the Explorer's Trial World...
[Notice: Detected that the Explorer's Mark Level was catastrophically lower than the World's Comprehensive Difficulty Tier. Extreme Level Disparity Bonus applied. Final Score Elevated. Explorer EXP Elevated.]
Comprehensive Rating: S- (Note: The Rating Scale ranges from E- to S+. The Comprehensive Rating is primarily calculated based on the World Exploration Rate and Mission Completion Quality, heavily modified by the disparity between the Explorer's Level and the World's Base Difficulty.)
Reward: S- Rank Medal of Honor x1 (This Medal can be utilized to exchange for Special System Privileges.)
Explorer Level Up: Upgraded to Lv.3
[Based on the Explorer's Comprehensive Rating, you may select THREE of the following SIX rewards:]
A. 5 Free Attribute Points
B. 10,000 Terminus Coins
C. Rare-Tier Random Equipment Chest
D. Rare-Tier Random Item Chest
E. Inheritance Crystal (Small) x3 (Note: Inheritance Crystals can be utilized to forcibly upgrade Skills, Bloodlines, or Mastery Proficiencies.)
F. Title: [The Fearless]
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