Chapter 1495 - 18: Gin

Chapter 1495: Chapter 18: Gin

"What can you gain from cooperating with me?"

Aizen, of course, noticed that Su Xiao showed sincerity in cooperation. In this fish-or-death situation, he wouldn’t immediately tear faces with Su Xiao, and he was very interested in those ’500 purity’ Spirit Particle Balls Su Xiao mentioned.

"Gain what..."

Su Xiao paused for a moment, shaking his head.

"I can’t think of what I might gain for now, but at least I won’t add an enemy I must eliminate. Your goal is to overthrow the current rulers of Jingling Court, while mine is the Zanpakutō. It seems there’s no conflict, quite the opposite. If I assist you, there’s a greater chance to acquire a Zanpakutō. Of course, if you want my help, produce an equivalent amount of Zanpakutō."

"Indeed, our goals don’t conflict; we need not oppose each other."

As things developed to this point, the killing intent in Aizen’s eyes vanished. On the contrary, he found Su Xiao to be a good collaborator.

The first point being Su Xiao’s mysterious origin; Aizen himself was no good character, and to him, a mysterious origin almost kihelded the mark of a ’good person.’

If Su Xiao merely had a mysterious origin and uncovered Aizen’s abnormality, Aizen would have removed Su Xiao with a thunderous force. However, Su Xiao is a researcher. Whether it’s Soul Elixir or Spirit Particle Balls, Aizen saw them as genius inventions.

As a future leader of the rebellion forces, or rather, a great enemy of the Soul Society, Aizen wouldn’t refuse a researcher like Su Xiao but would instead try to rope him in or control him.

Before reaching the 6th Squad Station, Su Xiao and Aizen met by chance, which was intentionally arranged by Aizen. He intended to use Kyoka Suigetsu to control Su Xiao and forcibly bring him into the fold.

Upon realizing Kyoka Suigetsu was ineffective, Aizen’s first thought was to eliminate Su Xiao, as he couldn’t tolerate such an unstable factor. However, after their previous conversation, Aizen hesitated. Though eliminating Su Xiao was the safest method, it was also the method of lowest gain. Aizen has his own pride, one of his rare flaws.

Given the current risks of eliminating Su Xiao, Aizen decided to observe for a while, and now he dismissed the idea of eliminating Su Xiao, as it seemed impossible. After leaving the 6th Squad Station, this feeling became particularly evident.

"This is my blade. Essentially, it is not a Zanpakutō, but it possesses abilities similar to one."

The Dragon Slash appeared in Su Xiao’s hand. Since entering Jingling Court, he no longer carried Dragon Slash on his person.

After displaying the Dragon Slash, Su Xiao brought out a piece of parchment.

"My blade has only one ability, constraint."

"Constraint?"

Aizen didn’t understand the ’ability’ of the Dragon Slash; Su Xiao was too vague.

"That’s right, it will limit me. For example, if I want to gain a portable space, I must pay with the vital energy of my left atrium, like this."

As Su Xiao spoke, the Dragon Slash vanished from his hand.

"Don’t regard this as a magical ability; losing the vital energy of the left atrium causes a plummet in my combat strength. Moreover, the constraint must be related to me. If I demanded power stronger than Yamamoto Genryūsai now, the price I would pay would surely be daunting to anyone — Nen... it’s as far as thoughts reach."

Aizen understood the first half of Su Xiao’s statement, but the phrase ’Nen as far as thoughts reach’ confused him.

This was actually a slip of Su Xiao’s tongue. His mind was working at full capacity, not only to play mind games with Aizen but also to conceive an essentially nonexistent ability. This ability was only a setup, and he had to consider the situation of Jingling Court. That ’Nen’ word was ’Telekinesis Ability,’ which he almost blurted out; constraint X contract is precisely a system of Telekinesis Ability.

As for bringing up a completely nonexistent ability, more things were needed later to fill this lie; it’s the foundation for preparing cooperation with Aizen.

Can talking for a bit suffice to cooperate with Aizen? Don’t be ridiculous. Just look at the outcome of those who cooperated with Aizen, like Kaname Tosen; that’s the fate awaiting Su Xiao.

Even if Aizen now agreed to cooperate with Su Xiao, once they left the Soul Society, Aizen would undoubtedly eliminate Su Xiao at the first opportunity. Someone like Aizen wouldn’t allow uncontrollable factors to exist for long.

What Su Xiao had to do next was dig a massive pit and make Aizen begrudgingly jump into it. If he refused, it would lead to a fight to the death, and Su Xiao would proactively tear faces with Aizen. As for the main task failure, he still had a Main Quest Failure Exemption once, and for the Hunter task, he’d choose to take the punishment head-on, which at worst would have him act as a temporary Ruler in the War World — something he had experience with once.

After hearing Su Xiao describe the ’constraint’ ability, Aizen vaguely felt something was wrong, but by then, they were already entering the area of the 1st Squad Garrison.

"The constraint has virtually no limits from a certain perspective, just like now."

Su Xiao opened the sheepskin parchment in his hand, inscribed with words, seemingly from the World of Bleach — or at least, in Aizen’s perspective, that’s what it was.

"To cooperate, both parties must ensure sincerity, and this represents sincerity."

Su Xiao pressed his thumb on the parchment, leaving a bloody thumbprint.

"Whether or not to sign the constraint is your decision. Sign it, and we’ll cooperate. I can aid you in overthrowing the current ruling class of the Soul Society free of charge. In return, the Zanpakutō will suffice."

Su Xiao tossed the parchment to Aizen. It was a bidirectional contract authenticated by Reincarnation Paradise, signable with plot characters. Su Xiao drew up the clauses, and any violation by Aizen would invoke Reincarnation Paradise’s punishment, which would reduce even a higher-tier plot character to ashes in the blink of an eye.

"..."

After examining the contents on the parchment, Aizen fell silent.

"Decide, either cooperate or try to kill me now."

Su Xiao leaned against the wall, smoking quietly, his demeanor changed from before, reverting to his usual negotiation style.

"Seems I don’t have other options."

Aizen placed his hand on his sword’s hilt, seeming ready to strike at any moment. He finally realized why Su Xiao previously revealed the shortcomings of Soul Elixir and presented the Spirit Particle Balls — there was a huge pit waiting for him.

"The opportunity only comes once; the first strike needs to be precise. The neck is where I’m most accustomed to slash. If the first strike doesn’t kill me, you might not get another chance."

Su Xiao exhaled a puff of blue smoke, flicking away the cigarette butt.

"You were right before, cooperation... requires sincerity."

As Aizen spoke, he pressed his thumb on the sheepskin scroll. With a cracking sound, the scroll shattered, and the contract took effect. It wasn’t a one-sided contract; otherwise, Aizen wouldn’t have signed it. By a twist of fate, the situation evolved to this stage, now it wasn’t just about cooperating; it was a choice between cooperation and tearing each other apart.

Compared to letting a century-prepared plan go up in smoke, cooperating with Su Xiao was within Aizen’s acceptable range.

[Tip: The faction of the Hunter has changed.]

[It has been verified that the Hunter’s main task (first ring) has been completed; faction change in progress. Current faction: Sosuke Aizen faction.] ℴ

[Tip: Sosuke Aizen’s faction is in its initial phase as a hidden force, with no reputation gain channels, no camp shop, and no tasks.]

[Once Sosuke Aizen severs relations with Jingling Court, his faction formally becomes independent.]

...

The tips are simple: Su Xiao’s faction has changed, or rather, he remains openly in the Jingling Court faction. Before the independence of the Sosuke Aizen faction, he can normally gain Jingling Court reputation and purchase items in the Camp Shop.

After signing the contract, Aizen no longer maintained a good-natured appearance, and Su Xiao became more silent.

"Delaying too long will arouse suspicion. First, return to the 1st Squad Station and bring some wine. With our disguised personalities being very compatible, becoming friends is a good option."

Aizen took a step forward.

"Sure," Su Xiao spoke as he turned his head to glance toward a distant corner, continuing, "More crucially, we must deal with any eavesdroppers."

Splat!

Blood appeared out of nowhere, and a ridiculously long knife pierced through the wall, impaling an invisible contractor.

"Isn’t this... Shinsō?"

The contractor, whose heart was pierced, tried to shout, but Su Xiao and Aizen appeared before him simultaneously, at that moment, he was in despair.

A dozen seconds later, the contractor’s body was disposed of.

"Gin, we’ve got a new collaborator," Aizen said, as a man with short, pale purple hair and a smiling face emerged from the corner.

"Does he have a problem seeing me?"

The newcomer was Gin Ichimaru, the captain of Squad 3 of the Guard Court Thirteen Teams.

"Of course, no problem."

"That’s good to know."

Gin Ichimaru spoke with an amused tone, then turned and disappeared around the corner.

"Let’s head to your place for drinks; at least let Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni and Uzohara Retsu witness this."

Aizen sheathed the long knife in his hand as the two walked deeper into the 1st Squad Station.