Chapter 395 BSUS Chapter 398: The Cage in Las Noches

With humans being used as the power source for Las Noches’s barriers, Hiroe’s group had no choice but to split into six separate teams to respond.

Aside from Apacci, who had arrived first, two other Arrancars named Sung-Sun and Mila Rose joined their ranks. To balance their combat strength and ensure mutual supervision, Hiroe appointed Ichigo, Kaien, Renji, Ginjō, and Tsukishima as squad leaders, excluding himself.

Team 1: Kurosaki Ichigo, Arrancar Apacci, Dokugamine Riruka.

Team 2: Abarai Renji, Arrancar Mila Rose, Yukio Hans Vorarlberna.

Team 3: Shiba Kaien, Arrancar Sung-Sun, Jackie Tristan.

Team 4: Ginjō Kūgo, Sado Yasutora, Inoue Orihime, Kutsuzawa Giriko.

Team 5: Tsukishima Shūkurō, Ishida Uryū, Kuchiki Rukia.

Team 4 appeared to have one extra member, but their overall combat strength was roughly on par with the other squads. Meanwhile, the details of these teams were already known to a certain someone inside Las Noches.

Szayelaporro sat squarely in the center of his room. The screens lining the walls displayed footage from the various outposts outside Las Noches. The screen directly in front of him showed the portraits of everyone, including Hiroe, with columns of constantly shifting numbers arranged to the right of each face.

He had long since planted Recording Insects at the outposts Hiroe’s group was bound to visit, as well as on the guards stationed there, to gather combat data on the incoming enemies.

However, the data derived solely from those pieces of trash outside wasn’t accurate enough. As for the humans Hiroe had brought along, there was little data on them aside from visual footage. Of course, based on the limited intelligence available, these humans didn’t seem worth paying attention to.

But just as Aizen had said, since these humans were brought by Hiroe, they couldn’t be underestimated. Naturally, there was no need to pay them excessive attention either.

Szayelaporro’s eyes flickered as Hiroe’s combat data instantly filled the entire screen. This man was the one most likely to create miracles. Even with data collected over a long period, whether it truly represented Hiroe’s capabilities remained an unknown.

No, it absolutely couldn’t represent him. Perhaps not even Aizen knew where Hiroe’s limits lay. Even as the man stepped right into the traps Aizen had laid, he might turn the tables in an instant—Szayelaporro had profound personal experience with this.

It was just that this “Lord” who had once taught him such a profound lesson seemed to have started caring about many useless things compared to before. To think he would actually halt his steps for mere humans—it was truly unexpected.

*If he keeps this up, Aizen will play him for a fool.*

Szayelaporro wasn’t the only one monitoring the movements of Hiroe’s group. Elsewhere, Tōsen and Gin were also keeping a close eye on the situation outside the Las Noches outposts, though the information they could see was far less detailed than Szayelaporro’s.

“The barriers have been opened, and it took unexpectedly long. At this rate, you won’t be able to advance very far into Las Noches,” Gin remarked, expressing faux concern for the enemies on the screen while his smile brimmed with schadenfreude.

Tōsen was blind, so he couldn’t see much, nor did he need to. He only needed to know that Hiroe’s group had split up as expected and had already rescued the humans in the outposts.

“Commence the next step.”

“Mr. Chōzuka is definitely going to hate this feeling.” Gin tilted his head, but he still pressed the button in front of him without hesitation.

At that moment, Ichigo could finally breathe a sigh of relief inside the outpost. According to Mr. Chōzuka’s pre-departure arrangements, each squad was to signal with a green flare after securing their target outpost. Finally, Hiroe would contact the squad leaders using Bakudō: Tenteikūra and simultaneously destroy the barriers within the outposts.

Now, the barrier on his end had been destroyed, and the people inside were safe and sound. He just didn’t know if things had gone smoothly for the others.

Ichigo didn’t have to wait long before Jackie, who had been outside, walked into the hall, bringing good news. “A second green flare has been fired from all directions. Everything went smoothly.”

It was expected, but having it truly confirmed allowed the heavy stone in his heart to finally drop. Ichigo let out a long sigh; all that was left was to relocate the humans here.

Apacci understood the look Ichigo gave her. Tearing at the empty air with her right hand, a Garganta instantly ripped open.

Although this Garganta didn’t lead directly to their hideout, there were already people waiting inside to receive them. They would first gather the rescued humans in a temporary small dimension, then transfer them through the Garganta to a relatively safe location, and finally settle them together in the hideout Ashido had carved out.

“If anything happens to them, I’ll never let you off the hook.”

“Hmph, if it weren’t for Ashido, I would’ve torn your mouth off by now!” Apacci shot back just as bluntly.

“You bastard!”

“What, you wanna go?!”

The two hot-tempered individuals postured as if they were about to fight, but right then, a sudden anomaly occurred in the already secured outpost. A distinct tremor rippled through the ground beneath their feet.

Ichigo and Apacci were bickering, but in a split second, they displayed an inexplicable synergy. One rushed to the subdued guard to check if he had woken up and tried to destroy the outpost, while the other moved to the rescued crowd, swiftly ushering them into the open Garganta.

The subdued guard hadn’t woken up, and the tremors beneath their feet didn’t intensify. Instead, a stone pedestal slowly rose from the center of the hall. Shimmering with radiant light, it projected an image into the air.

A towering, massive white door slowly opened—it was the previously tightly shut gate of Las Noches. The perspective rapidly pushed inward, the flickering torches on both sides of the corridor connecting into two lines, forming a path of nothingness.

A bright, square hall supported by stone pillars lay at the end of the path. Every corner of it was unabashedly displayed before the squad members currently stationed in different directions.

Hiroe sat with his legs crossed atop a massive Arrancar that resembled a yak. His right foot, which had been leisurely tapping against the creature’s skull, stopped moving as the image froze. His expression was far from pleasant.

In the center of the hall shown in the projection sat a circular cage. On one side of it was a seemingly ravenous Hollow, and on the other were humans collapsed on the ground. Between them stood a wall emitting a faint yellow glow, though the light upon it seemed to be gradually dimming.

“Do you see that hourglass, Chōzuka?”

“It should take about an hour to run out completely. By then, that wall will probably be as fragile as a piece of paper.”

“When that happens, those humans will…” Ashido gritted his teeth. Even if he didn’t finish the sentence, Hiroe and everyone else watching the projection could figure it out. Once the wall was broken, those humans would be eaten alive by the Hollow.

Hiroe wasn’t as furious as Ashido. His tone was calm. “The more you refuse to give up, the greater the price you pay. From the moment we saved the first batch of humans, we should have been mentally prepared for this, Ashido.”

“Damn it!”

“Guests must adapt to their host. This is the choice we made. Even if there is a way back, now is not the time.”

Hiroe leaped down, swiping his right hand to blast the stone pedestal in front of him into powder. He was indeed mentally prepared, but he truly despised this feeling of having his hands tied.