Chapter 538 - 538 The Coded Message

The Outer Ring of Hueco Mundo.

Hueco Mundo is divided into an inner ring and an outer ring. The outer ring is where the largest number of Hollows in all of Hueco Mundo are found.

However, most of the Hollows active in the outer ring are just ordinary Hollows and large Hollows. Even the lowest class of Menos Grande, the Gillian, is rarely seen. The Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force operates in this outer ring.

Because the number of Hollows affects the balance between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society, Soul Society established this special unit, the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force, to periodically clear out ordinary Hollows and maintain their numbers within a reasonable range.

Since the Expeditionary Force's purpose was merely to maintain the balance between the two worlds, not to oppose the ruling power of Hueco Mundo, and because maintaining the balance was also beneficial to Hueco Mundo, when Baraggan ruled Hueco Mundo, he did not specifically target the Expeditionary Force.

This is one reason why Soul Society did not immediately recall the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force after Aizen's defection. It wasn't solely because everyone had overlooked them.

From Soul Society's perspective, the existence of the Expeditionary Force was beneficial to both sides. So, even if the King of Hueco Mundo had changed to Aizen, he should, like Baraggan before him, ignore the Expeditionary Force rather than annihilate them.

Therefore, Soul Society had not specifically considered recalling the Expeditionary Force.

Initially, as Soul Society had guessed, Aizen did not care about the Expeditionary Force's existence. After all, the inner ring was the core of Hueco Mundo, and the Expeditionary Force had always operated in the outer ring, with no interaction with Las Noches, which ruled Hueco Mundo. The two sides had coexisted peacefully.

The reason Aizen attacked the Expeditionary Force this time was mainly because the previous plan to capture Orihime and lure the Shinigami to split their forces had failed.

To force Soul Society to split its forces and weaken its combat strength, Aizen remembered the existence of the Expeditionary Force.

As for attacking Nel and the others, that was incidental. In Aizen's view, Nel was an Arrancar and theoretically an enemy of the Shinigami.

Although she might have some friendship with Toshiro, and he was the type to value friends, it was hard to say whether Toshiro would risk great danger to come to Hueco Mundo specifically to save her.

So, Nel and the others were just incidental hostages in Aizen's plan. His main leverage was the hundreds of Shinigami in the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force. As for Nel and the others, capturing them would be an extra guarantee, but not capturing them was no great loss either.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Toshiro and the others appeared on a low sand dune in the outer ring of Hueco Mundo.

"Captain, we've been searching the outer ring for so long, and we still haven't found any sign of the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force. Could Aizen have already captured them?"

Rangiku said gravely.

"Yes, that's very possible."

Toshiro's expression was also grim. After all, he had once served as Commander of the Expeditionary Force and had good relationships with the Shinigami there.

The main reason Toshiro had disobeyed Yamamoto's orders to come to Hueco Mundo was that the ones in danger were the Shinigami of the Expeditionary Force and Nel's companions.

Otherwise, if it had been unrelated people, Toshiro might not have been so 'selfless' as to risk great danger to rescue them.

"Captain, isn't there any way to directly contact the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force?"

Sojiro asked.

"A direct means of communication with the Expeditionary Force does exist. In fact, as a former Commander, few people know more about the communication methods between the Expeditionary Force and Soul Society than I do. However..."

"Direct communication requires both parties to make a series of preparations in advance, setting up equipment. In short, it's a very troublesome matter."

"After all, Hueco Mundo is different from the Living World. Most cities in the Living World have Shinigami stationed there. Soul Society even monitors many places in the Living World to timely grasp the locations of Hollows. To some extent, the Living World can be considered Soul Society's sphere of influence."

"So, the Technology Development Bureau has many base facilities in the Living World. With some simple communication equipment, cross-dimensional communication between Soul Society and the Living World is possible."

"But Hueco Mundo is different. It is the Hollows' sphere of influence. It's desolate, with basically nothing usable. So, cross-dimensional communication is a very complex and troublesome matter."

"In fact, when I was in the Living World, after learning of the disturbance in Hueco Mundo, I immediately tried to contact the Expeditionary Force. Unfortunately, I received no response. I don't know if it was due to communication difficulties or if they had already met with disaster."

Toshiro said worriedly.

"Captain, then what should we do now? Go directly to Las Noches or continue searching for the Expeditionary Force in the outer ring?"

Ashido asked.

"Let's search a bit more. Even if the Expeditionary Force has indeed been captured by Aizen, they shouldn't have disappeared without a trace."

Toshiro decided.

…

Somewhere in the outer ring of Hueco Mundo, a valley.

"Could this be the Expeditionary Force's camp!"

Toshiro said, somewhat surprised and pleased.

Although the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force had always operated in the outer ring, its camp was not fixed. It changed locations constantly according to the Expeditionary Force's battles.

However, as a former Commander, Toshiro was very familiar with the Expeditionary Force's activity patterns. After searching a few suspected locations, they finally found a site that seemed to be an Expeditionary Force camp.

"Captain, look! It seems there was a fierce battle here!!"

Rangiku suddenly shouted.

The pitted ground, broken Asauchi, scorched tents, fresh blood… everything indicated that a brutal battle had taken place here.

Although no bodies were found, that didn't mean no one had died. It was also possible that the bodies had dissolved into Reishi and dissipated.

Toshiro walked through the ruined camp with a heavy heart, as if searching for something.

"I found it!"

Toshiro suddenly exclaimed and quickly walked to a hidden corner of the camp.

In this hidden corner, some mysterious symbols were carved on the back of a stone.

"Captain, what are these?"

Rangiku and the others also came over and asked.

"A coded message from the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force."

Toshiro said, carefully examining the symbols.

"What does it say?"

Sojiro asked.

Toshiro said gravely, "It says the Expeditionary Force was suddenly attacked by a large number of Arrancar and Hollows. They suspect the attackers are from Las Noches. After a fierce battle, aside from some comrades who died in battle, the others were captured. The enemy didn't seem intent on killing them."

"Not killing them... probably to use them as hostages, right?"

Ashido said.

"Yes, that's likely the case. Otherwise, if the Shinigami of the Expeditionary Force were all dead, there would be no need for us to come to the rescue. In any case, it's a blessing in disguise that the Expeditionary Force wasn't completely wiped out."

Toshiro said bitterly.

"Alright, since we've confirmed that the Expeditionary Force has indeed been captured, there's no need to stay in the outer ring any longer. Now, we head to Las Noches immediately to rescue the Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force and Nel's companions!"

Toshiro decided on the spot.