Page 88
In Gu Shi’s previous life, he often saw people joking online, “There is a kind of cold called your grandma thinks you are cold, and there is a kind of hunger called your grandma thinks you are hungry.” Although due to his special family relationship, he has never truly experienced this feeling, he can more or less imagine that scene.
But Gu Shi never thought that the scene he had once imagined would now be frequently staged in a shabby place like Xuqun.
"Jill, you're back! Are you hurt? Are you full? Why don't you eat a little more? I'll tell you a story while you eat!"
Looking at Nnoitra, who had just returned from hunting, being surrounded by Nilu and looked at with concern, with a gloomy face that seemed to want to explode but couldn't, Gu Shi wanted to laugh from the bottom of his heart.
However, too much is as bad as too little. Although Nnoitra is still just a little Xu and has low strength, he is a cruel mantis after all. If Nyelu is allowed to continue her outburst of maternal love, Nnoitra might "backstab my old mother" again in the future.
"Ahem, Nilu, it's Jill's class time now. Please don't disturb the normal order of the class, otherwise I will ask you to stay away."
Gu Shi interrupted Ni Lu's words with a serious face. Ni Lu pursed her lips in grievance, but still obediently let the poor little mantis go.
She also felt that it was necessary for Jill to learn more knowledge.
Noitra, who was let go by Nilu, hurriedly trotted to Gu Shi, and his eyes were full of gratitude when he looked at Gu Shi.
Yes, although it is unreasonable, under Nilu's strong maternal love, the one whose relationship with Noitra has grown the fastest is Gu Shi, who has rescued him time and time again.
How should I put it? It's like a rebellious elementary school student who comes home from school every day and is always scolded by his mother, and every time his father changes the subject and saves the situation in time, it fully enhances the feeling of the father-son relationship.
The poor child didn't even consider that this nagging mother was chosen for him by his father. Noitra also seemed to have forgotten that it was Gu Shi who invited Nilu to join the team.
In short, the cute little mantis first attended Gu Shi's ideology and morality class, and then immediately went to find teacher Ulquiorra to learn mathematics after class. After completing teacher Ulquiorra's homework, he immediately ran to find teacher Jiro to learn martial arts, without leaving himself any rest time in between.
The original Nnoitra was very hardworking, and now he even regarded attending classes as an important means to escape Nello's care. He was grateful for every minute in class when he was not disturbed by Nello, and his learning efficiency had been significantly improved.
The three teachers were all happy to see this happen, so although they would go to class in time to rescue the little mantis, no one went to talk to Nilu and asked her to stop bothering Nnoitra too much.
Finally, with Neutra's reluctance, today's class time was over, and it was time for everyone to listen to stories together.
However, recently, the one telling the story is not Gu Shi, but Ni Lu, the new member of the team.
As a veteran Achucas, Nilu has rich experience. Her understanding of Hueco Mundo far exceeds that of Gu Shi and others. Moreover, she is also happy to share her experiences in the daily story segment.
Yesterday, Nel said that there is a very special Hollow in the east of Hueco Mundo. It is usually very small, only a little over two meters long, and can be considered thin. But once the battle begins, its size will continue to increase as the battle lasts.
Last time, Nilu watched the battle of the Hollow from afar. She witnessed with her own eyes how the Hollow grew from two meters to the size of a mountain, and finally crushed all the enemies around it to death with ease.
"Come on, Jill, come to me, it's story time."
Hearing Nilu's cheerful greeting, Noitra moved to Nilu's side with heavy steps. Then, the poor little mantis was like a pillow, being encircled by the antelope's two front legs, and the antelope's chin was resting on his head and rubbing it comfortably, making the arrogant little mantis feel like he had become a pet again, and his face turned black with anger.
Now, Noitra only hated himself for not working hard enough and not being talented enough to evolve into Killian quickly. If he were Killian now and his body grew to thirty meters, this annoying senior would definitely not be able to use him as a pillow.
So, in a peaceful and cheerful atmosphere, Nilu cleared her throat and prepared to start speaking.
"Everyone, you must have seen a lot of creatures since you grew up. Flying in the sky, running on the ground, swimming in the soil, these are not rare. So, have you ever seen a creature that grows in the soil? I saw one once a few years ago."
After telling the story several times, Nilu has gained some experience. She starts by throwing out a suspense to arouse everyone's curiosity and make everyone more focused on her story. She is now familiar with this method.
Nel's strategy was quite effective. After hearing her opening, Gu Shi, who was originally lazily lying on the side and just about to get some Coke and potato chips, slowly sat up straight. Jiro, who was pretending to be asleep with his eyes closed, immediately widened his eyes. Even Ulquiorra, who was preparing tomorrow's homework for Nnoitra while listening to the story, stopped what he was doing.
Having achieved such good results for the first time, Nilu was greatly encouraged and continued speaking with greater enthusiasm.
"That's right! You guessed it right! It was a plant-shaped Hollow. I don't know what went wrong when it was evolving into a Killian. It took root on the spot while evolving and lost the ability to move. It was almost eaten by other Killians. I happened to be nearby and saved him. By the way, I protected him for a while at his request!"
"Let me tell you, the plant-shaped Daxu is very interesting. He..."
"Wait a minute, Nilu, I want to confirm first, is that plant-shaped Hollow still alive?"
Ni Lu was not angry when being interrupted by Gu Shi, and nodded slightly.
"He should still be alive. When we separated, I helped him transplant his roots and the soil under his feet to a hidden place. As long as he is not too unlucky, he should not be discovered by other great hollows."
Hearing this, Gu Shi, Jiro, and Ulquiorra all stood up.
"Well, Nilu, could you please show us the way and take us to see the great hollow?"
Seeing the reactions of the three people, Nilu realized belatedly that something was wrong and shrank her neck nervously.
"Well, he is important?"
"Yes, very important."
Chapter 197 Important Meaning
The existence of plant-shaped Hollows in the Hueco Mundo was something that Gu Shi had already determined. In the plot of "Bleach", the Hueco Mundo system under Aizen not only had the Ten Espada who were comparable to the captains of the Gotei 13, but also had the Funeral Squad who were comparable to the Criminal Army, responsible for clearing out and recycling those unstable and unnecessary Arrancars within the system.
As for the leader of the Funeral Squad, Gu Shi could no longer remember his name, but he remembered his ability to Return to Blade clearly. This Arrancar with a skull bull head mask could transform himself into a huge dead tree after Returning to Blade, and produce skull fruits on the branches. After these fruits fell to the ground, they would turn into small-time Arrancar wearing skull masks.
What's interesting is that these small fry Arrancars look exactly like the small fry in the Funeral Squad under this Arrancar. Considering that Aizen always likes to go for the high-quality route, he is too lazy to create small fry and also looks down on the weak's behavior of banding together. Apart from equipping the Ten Espada with a few subordinate officers, he is too lazy to create more weak subordinates for them.
Therefore, this so-called Funeral Suppression Team may have only had one person in the entire team from beginning to end, and those so-called team members were all transformed from the fruit of this Arrancar.
Gu Shi, who knew the plot by heart, had the foresight to determine the possibility of the existence of plant-type hollows. In addition, partners like Erlang and Tianpeng, who had been with Gu Shi for a long time, had long been reminded by him that if they encountered a plant-type hollow, they must protect it well and bring it back.
If it wasn't for the fact that Nilu had only joined the team not long ago, it would not be a good idea to assign tasks to her directly. Gu Shi would definitely have reminded her about this issue several times and would not have waited until she mentioned it in her story before telling her about his need for the plant vulture.
"Oh, I see. I understand. That's what I was saying. Gu Shi, you're such a good person. You definitely wouldn't exclude me on purpose. I saw that you two were so in sync with each other, and I was the only one who didn't know anything. I was really a little sad."
Nilu nodded vigorously and happily, her steps became faster, and she even hummed a few tunes she had just learned. Then she belatedly remembered the question that she should have asked at the beginning.
"By the way, Gu Shi, you are looking for the plant-shaped Daxu. Is there something important?"
Gu Shi was silent for a moment and shook his head slightly.
"It's hard to say right now. We need to first go and see how much that Great Void actually looks like a plant."
How much like a plant?
A small question mark seemed to appear above Nilu's head, and she was somewhat unable to understand the meaning of this sentence.
It was Jilang, on the other hand, although he was fascinated by martial arts stories and had little interest in other things, but after all, when Gu Shi and Urahara Kisuke were discussing various issues, he had heard some words from the side, so he could roughly understand what Gu Shi meant and took the initiative to help explain.
"Gu Shi's intention is to see whether the plant-type Great Hollow is like an ordinary Great Hollow and must eat souls to maintain life, or is he like a plant and can survive by relying on the nourishment of the earth."
Seeing that Nilu still didn't seem to understand, Erlang continued to explain patiently.
"If he is more like a plant and does not need to devour souls, then as long as Gu Shi can analyze his life characteristics and find a way to create more plant-based Hollows, and then plant them all over the Hollow Circle, perhaps the Hollows will no longer have to fight each other for food. Everyone can just eat the fruits and branches of these plants to satisfy their need for spiritual power."
After hearing this, Ni Lu finally understood why Gu Shi attached so much importance to the plant Daxu. She became very excited, her eyes became extremely bright, and she turned to look at Gu Shi in disbelief and expectation.
A Hueco Mundo where people no longer fight each other? A more peaceful and secure Hueco Mundo? Is such a future really possible?
Being stared at by Ni Lu with hidden fanaticism, Gu Shi nodded slightly, confirming Ji Lang's explanation.
"If he's plant-like enough, it's possible."
Jiro's explanation is actually not comprehensive enough. If one can really create plants that can produce fruits containing spiritual energy by analyzing the plant-type Hollows, then these plants can not only be planted in the Hueco Mundo, but most importantly, they can be planted in the real world.
The reason why the soul attacks humans after it becomes virtual is not only because of the cannibalistic impulse in the virtual species' instinct, but also because the soul, which has just completed the virtualization, urgently needs to replenish spiritual power to stabilize its body, and the soul is the only source of spiritual power.
But if the world was full of fruits containing spiritual power, the newly-born Xiaoxu would not have to waste time chasing and hunting mortals. They could replenish the much-needed spiritual power through the spiritual fruits that can be found everywhere. Then, the incidents of newly-born Xiaoxu attacking people would most likely drop drastically.
For Gu Shi himself, the cultivation of spiritual plants has another meaning, which is logistical reserve. After all, Daxu and the God of Death also need to eat.
It is still unknown whether there is enough spiritual power in space for everyone to consume. If they don't prepare enough food and rashly drag a group of people into space, they may starve and return home in a few days.
In this situation, a plant that can convert matter (instruments) into spiritual power (spirituals) becomes very important to Gu Shi. As long as he can produce such a plant and carry enough seeds, Gu Shi will not have to worry about having no food to eat in space.
In addition to spiritual crops, the device that can transform the physical body into a spiritual body used by Urahara Kisuke when he first sent Kurosaki Ichigo and others into Soul Society in the plot of "Bleach" is also one of Gu Shi's alternative plans.
However, that thing made quite a noise when it was activated, and it looked like it consumed a lot of energy. It was very likely that the spiritual power consumed when it was working was several times or even dozens of times the spiritual power converted. If you want to use it to transform matter into food, it needs further improvement to reduce energy consumption.
In short, Gu Shi actually had several similar alternative plans prepared in his mind, but spiritual crops were undoubtedly one of the best options. That's why he seemed so excited when he heard Ni Lu talking about the plant void.
However, even if all the alternative plans failed, it didn't matter. In his heart, Gu Shi had always had a crazy idea that he had never mentioned to anyone:
"If there is really no other way, we can organize a grand alchemy ceremony before we set off. We can use the underground space where the Great Void Forest is located as an alchemy furnace and refine all the Killians into elixirs in one go to serve as food reserves for the journey."
This idea was too crazy. When Gu Shi first thought of it, he was shocked by himself and didn't dare to think about it any further.
In short, cultivating real spiritual crops that can transform matter into spiritual power through the plant-shaped Great Void must have extraordinary significance, which is worth affirming.
Even if Gu Shi did not explain the significance of spiritual plants to the present world and to herself, Nilu was already completely excited. Just by imagining a Hueco Mundo where there was no more fighting, and a future where everyone could live in peace, she felt so happy that she wanted to shout, sing, and jump high.
"Gu Shi, you really are a really nice person! Here, here, walk a little further in this direction and you'll see the plant Daxu!"
Chapter 198 Ukitake Jushiro's Worries
"Shishilang, the weather is so nice, do you want to find a place with a nice view to drink together?"
A frivolous voice came from outside the window. Ukitake Jushiro, who was correcting documents, rubbed his temples in distress and looked up.
Sure enough, his friend, classmate and colleague of several hundred years, the captain of the entire Seireitei who was best at slacking off - Kyoraku Shunsui, had sat down on the windowsill of his office at some point, shaking a small wine jug and smiling at him.
"Shun Shui, when Vice Captain Yamaru comes to arrest you this time, I will not cover for you anymore."
Yamamaru Lisa is Shunsui's vice-captain, a very serious and earnest girl. She is the only person in the entire Seireitei who can suppress Shunsui. Apart from her, even if their teacher, Captain Yamamoto, teaches Shunsui a lesson, Shunsui will not take it to heart at all.
Ukitake Jushiro hoped to use the name of Vice Captain Yashimaru to intimidate his old friend a little. He was dragged out for drinks three times in five days, and he couldn't finish dealing with the official documents in his team.
"Hey, Shishilang, I'm not here alone today, look who this is."
Kyoraku Shunsui smiled complacently and raised the hand holding the wine jug behind him. A young woman with long black pigtails and a seemingly cold expression walked out from behind him and bowed to Ukitake Jushiro.
"Good morning, Captain Ukitake. Captain Kyōraku caused you trouble yesterday."
Ukitake Jushiro looked at the black-haired girl in astonishment, a feeling of despair welling up in his heart. Oh no, the only person in Jinglingting who could stop Shunsui from slacking off had also been assimilated by Shunsui.
No, no, no! It's too early to give up now!
Ukitake Jushiro covered his mouth and coughed gently a few times, then forced out a cordial smile with a bit of luck.
"Vice Captain Yamaru, you don't have to be so polite. Why are you here this time?"
"I think that in the past five days, my work intensity and workload have far exceeded what I should have done, so when the captain came back drunk yesterday, I took it upon myself to sign my leave application with the captain's hand. Today is my day off."
Miss Lisa Yamamaru, the last hope of Seireitei, was as serious as ever. She frankly and seriously gave a seemingly inappropriate explanation, successfully shattering Ukitake Jushiro's last hope.
Looking at his old friend's distressed expression, Kyoraku Shunsui raised the corners of his mouth with a bit of gloating, jumped into the house and patted Ukitake Jushiro on the shoulder.
"I've already told you that Lisa and I are of the same kind, Shishilang, you still don't believe it."
"Captain, please do not slander the character of your teammates at will. This undermines your dignity as captain."
Outside the window, the serious vice-captain protested to his captain very respectfully, and then saluted Ukitake Jushiro again seriously.
"Well, Captain Kyoraku, thank you for your help. I hope you guys enjoy your weekday morning. I'm going to enjoy my day off as well."
After saying that, the serious deputy captain turned and left. After taking a step, she seemed to remember something and turned around to add a sentence.
"Please don't worry about the affairs of the Eighth Division. I have already processed all the documents and arranged all the work tasks in advance for today's vacation. So, goodbye."