Late at night, Squad 2 gradually fell into a heavy silence.
After finishing their training, the squad members returned to their respective dormitories, though those on duty continued to weave through the various hidden corners of the compound.
Urahara Kisuke, who should have returned to his barracks, instead appeared before the thick iron gate of the Maggots' Nest.
"Section Commander Urahara, are you here for a late-night inspection?"
"Don't ask so many questions. Just open the door."
"Yes, sir."
Urahara Kisuke stepped onto the stairs and made his way down, entering the interior of the Maggots' Nest.
The Maggots' Nest was currently dim; the prisoners had already retired to their individual cells for the night, leaving only faint night lights to illuminate the corners of the corridors.
Urahara walked straight toward his hidden laboratory.
After pushing open the door disguised as a stone wall, the scene inside was a world away from the outside.
On one side of the lab bench, various instruments flickered with faint light, and papers on the desk recorded complex data.
The other side, however, had been transformed into a small ecosystem.
A layer of Kido barriers designed to amplify reishi concentration was set up around the perimeter.
In several neatly arranged fields, the plants were thriving, their lush green leaves stretching out under simulated sunlight.
In a small fenced area nearby, several chickens that were abnormally large were huddled in a corner napping, while a few plump pigs grunted and squeezed together further off.
These test subjects, which Urahara had bred using Kido barriers and reishi regulation technology, grew much faster than their counterparts in the outside world. This was one of the collaborative projects he shared with Hasumi Ren.
However, Lieutenant Omaeda had expressed significant interest in the project after finding out about it.
If they were to submit it for approval to Central 46, given their appallingly low efficiency, it would likely require Lieutenant Omaeda to grease the wheels if they wanted it passed quickly.
When that time comes, he'll likely want to get his hands on the project. I wonder how he'll negotiate the partnership with Hasumi Ren then, and how much profit I'll still be able to take from it.
However, Urahara Kisuke quickly pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind.
He walked straight through the pastoral area to a seemingly ordinary wall at the end.
He triggered a hidden mechanism once more, and the wall opened to reveal the true core behind it.
It was a secret laboratory filled with various instruments.
On the cold stone tabletops lay complex wiring, pipes, and containers emitting strange, flickering lights.
He walked to the lab bench and opened an encrypted reishi storage device to organize the experimental materials inside.
On the bench sat a detailed report on spiritual pressure sample analysis.
Aside from the complex charts and terminology, the core conclusion was highlighted.
"A stable 'Hollow' reishi nature has been detected within the sample's spiritual pressure, highly integrated with the host's soul. Signs of external contamination have been ruled out."
"Preliminary hypothesis: The host possesses the potential for 'controlled Hollowfication,' though further verification is required."
Urahara Kisuke finished organizing his things and turned around, staring intently at the report.
This was the primary task he had been busy with recently, and he had finally achieved some results.
The composition of the Hollow spiritual pressure contained within Hasumi Ren's body was truly unique.
A normal Soul Reaper's spiritual pressure is pure soul power—balanced and serene.
A Hollow's spiritual pressure, however, is a chaotic and disordered mess of desire, obsession, and distorted soul traits.
But Hasumi Ren's spiritual pressure was as if a trace of Hollow characteristics had been forcibly blended into pure Soul Reaper power, yet remained exceptionally obedient and stable.
This was a phenomenon that even he could not understand until now.
'Does something already lurk deep within his soul?'
'Or is he a unique individual whose very soul structure naturally encompasses the dual characteristics of both Hollow and Soul Reaper?'
'In the World of the Living, there is a group known as Fullbringers who seem to be born when a Soul King fragment reacts to a Hollow attack during their mother's pregnancy. But they are different from Hasumi Ren... After all, he is a Soul Reaper...'
It is common knowledge within the Soul Society that a Soul Reaper tainted by Hollow ichor will undergo a process known as soul suicide, leading to their complete erasure.
A Soul Reaper like Hasumi Ren, who possessed Hollow power within his body, was almost entirely unrecorded in the history of the Soul Society.
'I wonder if he can actually mobilize this spiritual pressure within him...'
Urahara Kisuke frowned in thought, seemingly focusing on a specific point.
The next moment, he set the report down and walked to the innermost wall of the laboratory.
He pressed a few specific spots on the wall, and it slid open silently to reveal a small storage room.
Inside the storage room, there was nothing but rows of specialized reishi containers.
He shifted his gaze to the other side of the laboratory, where a massive storage cabinet made of an unknown material stood.
He walked over and opened the cabinet doors.
In an instant, an aura of distorted, hungry, and violent spiritual pressure spread out like a literal cold current, radiating an ominous feeling.
Urahara Kisuke looked at the transparent, sealed jars that were neatly arranged inside the cabinet.
Each container had once held a murky, constantly twisting mass of dark spiritual pressure.
Those were purified spiritual pressure samples extracted from various Hollows.
The sources of these samples were quite complex.
Some he had personally extracted from Hollows appearing in the World of the Living or the Soul Society, while others came from less-than-official channels.
These ferocious spiritual pressures were preserved here like specimens.
However, most of the jars were now empty.
A dark red light flowed across the surface of the containers, reflecting onto Urahara Kisuke's contemplative face.
He picked up a small, crystal-clear test tube containing Hasumi Ren's latest spiritual pressure sample and examined it closely.
Inside the tube, the wisp of spiritual pressure belonging to Hasumi Ren misted peacefully. It looked gentle and harmless, completely out of place among the rabid Hollow spiritual pressures surrounding it.
Urahara Kisuke walked further inside until he reached the very back, where he cautiously opened a hidden seal to reveal what lay within.
Inside a unique glass container was a special object sealed by an irregular polyhedral barrier.
The Hogyoku.
That was what he called it.
Urahara Kisuke stared at the Hogyoku, his gaze shifting back and forth between it and Hasumi Ren's sample, yet he remained unable to make up his mind.
Urahara Kisuke recalled the reason he had created the Hogyoku: it was because he had already sensed the upper limit of his own abilities.
After achieving Bankai, the growth of his spiritual pressure had begun to slow, seemingly dependent only on the slow accumulation of time.
For someone with his extraordinary talent, this was undoubtedly agonizing.
Therefore, Urahara Kisuke had entertained some unconventional ideas.
In an attempt to break the upper limit of a Soul Reaper's power, this Hogyoku had been born in his hands.
By concentrating a massive amount of spiritual pressure into a single point, he hoped to create something capable of shattering that limit.
Driven by this idea, he had begun its development.
This Hogyoku was created using Hollow spiritual pressure; however, he had clearly underestimated his creation.
The Hogyoku's desire to devour grew more intense. He had already fed it the spiritual pressure of countless Menos, yet it remained unsatisfied.
By now, the Hogyoku had clearly transcended his control, appearing to have developed a consciousness of its own, constantly transmitting its insatiable hunger to him.
This time, it wasn't just Hollow spiritual pressure.
It wanted the spiritual pressure of a Soul Reaper, too.
Urahara Kisuke was starting to feel afraid.
He wanted to destroy it, but he simply couldn't. The cost of its destruction was more than he could bear. He could only seal it away for the time being and wait for a future opportunity to deal with it.
He had already intended to give up on the experiments involving the Hogyoku.
But Hasumi Ren's appearance seemed to provide a new turning point.
Urahara Kisuke contemplated for a long time before finally reaching out and carefully taking down the container holding the Hogyoku.
The laboratory door closed silently behind him, completely isolating the deep secrets within the silence of the facility.