On a sand dune not far from Las Noches, five white-robed figures were waiting. If Yamabuki were here, he would immediately recognize that these five were all members of the Sternritter.
There were also some familiar faces among them.
There was the pirated Hulk, Chaziel Eugene, and the chain-loving sister, Alexander Momo, as well as the sandstorm man, Arenas Bard.
There was also a scrawny young boy, who had been sitting on the sand dune playing with sand. His expression was very gloomy, giving people a feeling of being unapproachable.
The last man was a burly uncle with abundant body hair and a bright, cheerful smile.
One could tell at a glance that he was a cheerful, big boy.
Suddenly, a white shadow flashed in front of the five of them.
A cloaked girl appeared before them. The girl took off her cloak, revealing a delicate, doll-like face.
"I got it!" The girl gently shook the wine bottle in her hand: "I'm sure that person drank from it; there should be his saliva on it. This can serve as a medium."
Then he handed the wine bottle to the young boy who was playing in the sand next to him.
"Justin, stop playing there. The rest is your job. I didn't expect these Shinigami to actually guess that we could move to Hueco Mundo. If we don't deal with them quickly, the consequences will be unimaginable. Especially that Yamabuki, who calls himself the Chief of Staff, the Commander has ordered that he must die in Hueco Mundo at all costs," the girl said, taking off her cloak to reveal a head of long hair as brilliant as gold.
This girl held a very high position within the Sternritter. Her name was Isaac Warren, the twin sister of the Sternritter Commander, Mardon.
Using Hollows as their eyes was not something only Yamabuki had thought of; Mardon had thought of using Hollows as his scouts as soon as he arrived in Hueco Mundo. These Hollows would immediately report any Shinigami sightings to the Quincy.
Although Hollows seemed terrifying, once they entered large-scale army battles, they immediately became cannon fodder for both sides.
They lacked organization and leadership, just a scattered mess.
Therefore, Yamabuki and his group's whereabouts were exposed not long after they entered Hueco Mundo.
The little boy playing in the sand showed a bitter expression, taking the wine bottle to extract the saliva from it.
This little boy's name was Justin, and his ability was very special. He had no direct combat power but could transfer physical damage to a designated target.
His Schrift was M, and the name of his ability was The Malice.
Also, only the damage he sustained from self-harm would be transferred to the target. If someone else cut him with a knife, that damage would only be borne by him, and due to the special nature of his ability, the pain he experienced during self-harm was twice that of an ordinary person.
Moreover, to designate a target, there must be a corresponding medium.
Previously, when numerous Quincy surrounded Yamabuki and Saitō Furōfushi, unexplained wounds would often appear on their bodies. In fact, that was this young boy secretly at work.
During the battle with Bard, Yamabuki was whipped by the yellow sand, causing flesh and blood to fly. Justin used this blood as a medium to attack Yamabuki.
Of course, this attack was not infinite. Each time he launched an attack on an enemy, some of the medium would be consumed. Once all the medium was exhausted, his connection with the target would be severed.
When he had consumed all of Yamabuki's blood, he saw that Saitō Furōfushi had a lock of hair cut off. He then used that lock of hair as a medium to attack Saitō Furōfushi, nearly costing Saitō Furōfushi his life.
At the same time, his ability could only transfer damage, not death.
That is to say, if he used a knife to stab himself through the heart while activating his ability, causing him to die immediately, he would truly die, and this damage would not be transferred.
It was precisely because the activation conditions were so strict that his ability appeared even more mysterious and unpredictable, making it impossible for ghosts and gods to guard against.
It made Yamabuki exclaim that he had seen a ghost.
Moreover, he was very good at hiding, never revealing his true identity until the very end.
Justin took out a dagger from his bag, and then took out a bottle of specially refined poison, gently sprinkling it on the dagger.
This potent poison was specially refined; once it entered a person's body, it would quickly flow into the heart with the blood, causing the heart to dissolve. Regardless of whether the target was a Shinigami or a Quincy, they would surely die when faced with this potent poison.
"Are you sure this potent poison won't harm me?" Justin asked, trembling.
If the ability wasn't activated in time, he would be the one to die.
"A man should have courage! Boy, do you want me to help you?" The strong man with abundant body hair showed a row of white teeth and smiled.
"No, thank you!" Justin placed his left hand on the desert, raised his dagger with his right, took a deep breath, and then plunged the dagger through the back of his hand.
The intense pain made him cry out.
"Ability activated: Self-Mutilation, Damage Transfer!"
In an instant, the wound on his hand, along with the potent poison, vanished completely, transferring to Yamabuki in the distance.
…
Yamabuki followed the Hollow to the Quincy palace, but quickly realized something was amiss. This palace was merely for show, constructed from reishi in a short amount of time. It wasn't the true Quincy palace. He was in trouble; he had fallen into a trap.
Had the Quincy already surrounded this place, ready to eliminate him? Yamabuki hastily drew his Zanpakutō, vigilantly surveying his surroundings. However, aside from this fake palace, everything was silent, without a hint of movement.
What was going on?
Had the Quincy all read Romance of the Three Kingdoms?
Learning from Cao Cao to establish seventy-two fake tombs?
No, that's not right! Romance of the Three Kingdoms hadn't even been written yet in this era! Besides, could these foreigners even understand Chinese?
The atmosphere here was eerily strange. Just as he was about to retreat, a sudden sharp pain shot through his palm, and a bloody hole appeared out of nowhere on his left hand.
Yamabuki's scalp tingled. He was all too familiar with this ability. Earlier, when he and Saitō Furōfushi were exploring the World of the Living, a Quincy had constantly attacked him with this very ability. He hadn't expected the opponent to be ambushing him nearby!
"Not good, retreat!" Yamabuki shouted.
At the same time, the wound on his hand healed at an incredibly fast rate. Such a minor injury didn't even require a bandage.
However, just as Yamabuki thought it was all over, his legs suddenly gave out, and he fell to the ground with a "thump." He felt as if his heart was being incinerated by a raging fire, and an indescribable pain spread from his chest.
"My heart…my heart is dissolving! Potent poison! Pfft!" Yamabuki spat out a large mouthful of blood directly from his mouth, mixed with fragments of his heart. Unohana, who had studied Kaidō for a while, quickly knelt down to examine Yamabuki's injury.
....
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