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The Death Girl watched all this silently. She only spoke again when the devouring of Gu Shi was almost complete, leaving only a huge, solid carapace that was too hard to bite and a pale mask.
"Big guy, do you know that the mask is the most important part of a Hollow? Once the mask is eaten by other Hollows, even if the Hollow survives by chance, its evolution will stop completely and it will no longer have the chance to become a higher-level Hollow."
Gu Shi had seen this setting in comics a long time ago. Knowing the special nature of the mask, he specifically put the mask until last to eat. He wanted to carefully experience whether there would be any different feelings after swallowing the mask, but the Grim Reaper girl suddenly mentioned this, which made him a little confused.
[What does this mean? Remind me to protect my mask? ]
The Grim Reaper girl had no intention of letting Gu Shi guess slowly. She smiled and pointed at the mask in his hand, and then at the empty hole in his chest.
"Have you ever thought about putting the mask in there and giving it a try? You have a special physique, maybe you'll get something unexpected."
After hearing what the Death Girl said, Gu Shi remembered the changes that happened when he put the Chain of Karma into the Void Cave, and he couldn't help but think about it.
Taking the most special causal lock from "Zheng" can strengthen his "human" side and let him regain the lost emotions.
So, what effect would the most special mask taken from Xu have? Would it amplify his "hollow" side and make him more "pure"?
When he thought of this possibility, Gu Shi immediately gave up the idea of trying it and quickly threw the mask aside.
Even after taking off the mask, Gu Shi still felt unsafe.
What if, when I fight with a Hollow in the future, my opponent's blood and broken bones spurt out and fall into my Hollow hole?
After thinking for a moment, Gu Shi picked up a piece of stone that looked hard enough from the ground, trimmed it to a similar size with his claws, and then decisively inserted the stone plug directly into the empty hole in his chest.
He grabbed the head of the plug and shook it left and right to make sure it was the right size and was securely inserted. Only then did Gu Shi breathe a sigh of relief.
Although it feels uncomfortable to have something stuffed in my chest, to be on the safe side, I just have to endure this little discomfort. If I have a chance in the future, I will see if I can find a human blacksmith to help me make a safer iron plug.
Unfortunately, with the current level of technology, it is still impossible to process screws. Otherwise, we could just find a pair of large screws and nuts and screw them on our chest. That would be the real insurance.
The girl of death looked at Gu Shi's operation and was stunned at first, then she couldn't help laughing out loud. After all, the sight of Gu Shi with a stone stuffed in his chest did look funny enough.
After laughing for a long while, the Death Girl finally stopped laughing. She took instant steps and appeared in front of Gu Shi in an instant. The spiritual power on her fingertips condensed into a sharp and thin blade, which helped Gu Shi to smooth the surface of the ugly-looking stone, making it look more pleasing to the eye.
After taking a look at the stone plug which had become much more beautiful, the Death Girl nodded with satisfaction. Just as she was about to disperse the spiritual blade on her fingertips, an idea suddenly flashed in her mind. Her fingertips moved quickly and she carved a rather funny smiling face on the surface of the stone plug.
Shaking off the stone chips on her hands, the Death Girl took a few steps back and looked at Gu Shi, whose entire body was covered in pale bone armor, except for a large green stone embedded in his chest. There was a smiley face painted on the stone, and she couldn't help laughing out loud again.
Gu Shi looked down at the smiling face on his chest, feeling helpless at first, and then he started laughing.
Having such a funny thing on you may not be a bad thing. If you meet an ordinary person who can see souls, you can effectively eliminate his fear. If you meet an enemy, you may be able to launch a sneak attack while he is dazed or laughing.
There are many benefits, not bad!
Chapter 20 Genius
With a stone plug stuck in his chest, Gu Shi strolled in the wilderness, continuing his journey of searching for prey. At the same time, his mouth was not idle either, as he would occasionally pick up a large shell and take a bite.
The carapace of the Glyptodon was too thick and hard to be bitten through in a short time, but it was better to leave it there. It would be a pity to throw away this commemorative first hunting result, so Gu Shi simply took it with him as a snack to grind his teeth.
Beside Gu Shi, Erlang was running around happily, holding a fist-sized piece of white bone in his mouth. He would stop from time to time to chew on his teeth. It was one of the mask fragments of the Glyptodont Xu, which was given to Erlang by Gu Shi as a reward to recognize its contribution in discovering the prey first.
As an ordinary dog, not to mention whether Jilang can walk through the soul burial passage, even if the Death Girl presides over the soul burial for it and sends it to Soul Society, it is likely that within a few days, it will be killed and eaten by those wandering souls with spiritual powers. Going to Soul Society is no different from committing suicide.
Since he cannot go to Soul Society, if Jiro does not want to gradually become weaker over time and eventually disappear completely, the only way out is to become a Hollow.
According to the Death Girl, if an ordinary soul is exposed to the spiritual power of the Void for a long time, or even further, directly consumes the spiritual power of the Void, it will greatly increase the possibility of becoming a Void. Therefore, Gu Shi rewarded Erlang with the mask to help it complete the transformation as soon as possible.
As for the problems like a large amount of memory will be lost after becoming virtual, human nature will disappear, animal nature will increase significantly, and the desire to eat man will be strengthened, these are not a big deal for Erlang, who is a beast himself.
Besides, Erlang was a wild dog before he met Gu Shi. It was Gu Shi who subdued him with brute force and tamed him. The worst result would be that he would be tamed again.
Therefore, Gu Shi felt no burden at all in helping Erlang become virtual.
Gu Shi and Erlang both had food in their mouths, but the Death Girl was sitting on Gu Shi's shoulder, feeling bored. She simply picked some fruits from the trees and tasted them one by one in order to fit in with the group.
However, although it is near the end of summer, most of the fruits are still far from ripe. They are all green and astringent, and the taste is extremely sour when you eat them.
However, no one knew what the Death Girl was thinking. Although her facial features would be distorted by the stimulation every time she took a bite, she still continued to torture herself with pleasure, leaving behind a lot of fruits that she had only taken a bite of along the way.
On the surface, the atmosphere of this three-person team seems to be exceptionally harmonious and warm.
However, the fact that a Grim Reaper, a Hollow and a dog's soul could create a harmonious atmosphere was already very abnormal. Any Grim Reaper who saw this picture would probably wonder if there was something wrong with his eyes.
But that was the fact, although the Death Girl and Gu Shi were both making their own plans in mind, with their deliberate maintenance, this strange team had never had a dull moment along the way, and they always found topics to chat about.
At this time, the same is true.
"Come to think of it, you are a Shinigami, so shouldn't you specialize in sword fighting? How come you know so much about Hollow's fighting style of getting on all fours? When you were instructing me before, you were able to hit the vital points every time. It's incredible."
After talking about the taste and seasoning of barbecue, Gu Shi took the opportunity to start a new topic and turned to talk about the previous battle.
The expression of the Death Girl twisted into a ball again. She threw away the fruit she had taken a bite of. Then she closed her eyes, stiffened her neck, and forced herself to swallow the sour fruit flesh in her mouth. She wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and then she raised her head proudly to answer Gu Shi's question.
"Your question is very low-level. I'm a genius, so isn't it natural that I know everything? Even if I've only learned the fighting techniques of the Shinigami, I can still deduce the most appropriate way for the Hollow to fight with just a little thought."
"Wow, is genius so outrageous?"
Gu Shi did a good job of supporting the comic, and the Death Girl was happy to delve deeper into the topic. She continued to hold her head high and act like a proud genius, then waved her hand as a matter of course.
"Of course, talented people can easily master something, but ordinary people may not be able to learn it even if they practice hard for decades. Geniuses are unreasonable."
Gu Shi narrowed his eyes slightly and began to spy on the information he wanted.
"Tsk tsk, that's really an exaggeration. A genius like you should be very famous in Soul Society, right? I think there should be quite a few Shinigami who hope to get your guidance. It's a pity that in the end, this honor fell on a Hollow like me."
"Hehe, it's really interesting when you think about it this way. But who says that if you have talent, you must make use of it? I only studied fighting skills seriously for a period of time when I was young. After I grew up a little, I never worked hard in this area again. There are only a few people in Soul Society who know about my talent."
"...Oh? Why is that? Because you said before that the power of all the gods of death comes from the sharing of the Soul King. Once the Soul King takes back his gift, then no matter how much you practice as a god of death, it will be meaningless?"
"It has nothing to do with that. When I gave up my combat training, I hadn't discovered the Soul King's secret yet. The reason I gave up was simple. A genius who was more talented than me appeared in Soul Society."
The Death Girl spoke in a relaxed manner, but her eyes were obviously gloomier. In order to vent her emotions, she picked up a fruit and took a big bite.
Gu Shi could clearly smell the sour taste of the unripe fruit, but this time the Death Girl seemed to have lost her sense of taste. Her expression did not waver at all. She chewed the fruit in her mouth hard, as if she was chewing someone's flesh and blood.
After she had finished eating the whole fruit and vented her anger, the Death Girl slowly breathed a sigh of relief, a frivolous smile returned to her face, and she continued.
"I am a genius. I know that as long as I want, I can do very well, far better than ordinary people. However, since there is a genius who is more talented than me, I am destined to never be the best one. So, instead of becoming a foil to highlight her talent in the future, I might as well give up from the beginning and live a relaxed and happy life."
[…What kind of crazy logic is this? In order not to highlight others, you simply give up yourself? You would rather harm yourself than not benefit others? ]
Perhaps Gu Shi's doubts were too obvious, the Death Girl easily saw through his thoughts, smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and explained.
"Big guy, you are not a genius, so it's normal that you don't understand this idea. If your talent is so good that you have the hope of becoming the best in a certain field, the feeling of hope is within reach will make you unconsciously start to push yourself, force yourself to work harder, and push yourself to work harder.
"But no matter how hard you try, no matter how hard you work, the talent gap is still there. The first place seems to be within reach, but you just can't touch it. Geniuses who are more talented than you will always be ahead of you.
"After a long time, you will inevitably drive yourself crazy. That feeling is too uncomfortable, so it is better to give up early to avoid becoming a madman in the future."
[…Now that you say that, are you no longer a lunatic? ]
Chapter 21: Spiritual Network
"Come to think of it, there are really few Voids in the world. After so many days, I only encountered one Glyptodon Void."
After knowing that the Death Girl was not very famous in Soul Society and did not have many fans, Gu Shi was unwilling to continue the stomach-churning topic of genius and changed the topic a little stiffly.
The Death Girl had no interest in talking about the past incessantly, so even though she saw Gu Shi's purpose, she did not point it out and just nodded in agreement with what he said.
“There are indeed not many Xu in the world, but you have only encountered one so far. The main reason is that you always take the initiative to go into the mountains and forests. In order to eat people, Xu usually move around in densely populated places, such as villages and towns, and cities. It is of course difficult to find Xu in the wilderness.
Of course, the reason why there are so few Voids here is partly because this area is within my garrison area. Normally, if a Void dares to come in, I will kill them immediately, so they cannot form a large group, let alone a Void group. "
Gu Shi could not refute the first reason, but the second reason sounded ridiculous to him. How could this madman who killed people without any scruples actively perform his duties?
The fact that she did not actively feed Xu and instead admired the way Xu devoured people was already a huge improvement in her moral standards.
Seeing Gu Shi’s distrust, the Death Girl slapped him angrily and glared at him unhappily.
"Big guy, don't you believe me? Think about it yourself, how did you and I meet? Did you just kill those ronin warriors in the morning, and I found you in the evening?"
Gu Shi couldn't help but be stunned, then he reacted. It was just as the Death Girl said. He had only traveled through time and space for less than a day and two nights when the other party came to his door accurately. If he hadn't shown enough specialness, he would have been eliminated that night. In terms of efficiency, it was extremely high.
...Could it be that this madman is really a good god of death who is dedicated to his duties?
It shouldn’t be!
It doesn’t look like it!
The strange feeling of dislocation made Gu Shi feel extremely conflicted. He just couldn't imagine in his mind how this madman would actively hunt for the virtual in order to protect ordinary people.
At this time, the smiling voice of the Death Girl once again sounded in his ears, answering his doubts.
"You haven't reacted yet? I've said it before, I've been looking for a way to turn myself into a Hollow. To me, every Hollow is a precious research material. How can I just watch them running around in front of me and do nothing? Of course I have to catch them immediately."
After hearing this, Gu Shi finally sorted out his logic and eliminated the contradictions in his thinking.
The Death Girl looked at another mountain not far away with a rather smug smile on her face.
"Once you cross that mountain, you will leave my area of responsibility. On the other side of the mountain, I remember there should be a bearded man in charge of his area. When you get to that big guy, you will understand what the normal state of this world is like.
"I know that you may be a little dissatisfied with my killing, but when you see the scenery on the other side of the mountain, you will know that I have saved many more people than those I killed."
Hearing what the Death Girl said, Gu Shi understood after a moment's thought. Most likely, the number of Hollows in the areas covered by other Death Gods far exceeded that here. Either the Death God who was supposed to be responsible neglected his duty, or the Death God over there was too weak. Faced with a large number of Hollows, even if he wanted to fulfill his duties, he simply did not have the ability to do so.
[…So, in this era, the death gods stationed in the human world are just competing with each other to see who is worse? Even if one's performance is bad, there will always be colleagues who are worse than oneself to back them up? ]
[It's rotten, but how can you be so proud of it? By the way, the shinigami sent to the human world from Soul Society won't always be like this, right? Looking back at the beginning of the manga, Rukia, as the shinigami stationed in the human world, didn't seem to be very competent. ]
[After Ichigo gained the power of the god of death, he went to kill hollows almost every day. It can be seen that Rukia did not clean up the hollows in the city before. Is she incompetent? Or is she irresponsible? ]
[I guess, I don’t have the ability, right? ]
Shaking his head speechlessly, Gu Shi called out to Erlang who was running away, and quickened his pace to run in the direction pointed by the Death Girl.
He is not a savior, nor does he have any noble sentiments to save others from danger. However, since he has to hunt Voids anyway, he might as well speed up a bit. Maybe if he kills a Void earlier, he can fill his stomach and accidentally prevent the death of an ordinary person.
Gu Shi moved forward at full speed. It didn't take him much time to climb over the not-so-high mountain. He soon crossed the dividing line mentioned by the Death Girl and came to the area under the jurisdiction of another Death God.
At the beginning, Gu Shi didn't feel anything special. There was still a dense forest in front of him, and he couldn't see any people or anything. But not long after going deeper into this new area, Gu Shi stopped unconsciously.
He actually smelled the remnants of Xu's spiritual power in the air! ?
Is the Xu here so unscrupulous?
The girl of death grinned on Gu Shi's shoulder, and seemed very satisfied with Gu Shi's reaction. She stretched out her hand and grabbed in the air, and suddenly, a large number of things like ribbons appeared in the air.
"This is the Spiritual Vein. It is one of the methods used by the Shinigami to track their targets. It can materialize the spiritual energy remaining in the air. In Soul Society, because the concentration of spiritual energy in the air is too high, it is basically impossible to use it normally. It is a small trick that can only be used in the real world.
"Look, big guy, this white spiritual vein represents the spiritual power of ordinary people's souls, this red spiritual vein represents the spiritual power of the god of death, and as for this black spiritual vein, it naturally represents emptiness."
As she spoke, the Death Girl grabbed the black ribbon, sensed it for a moment, and let out a sneer from the corner of her mouth.