"Uh… Captain Soi Fon?"
A confused look appeared on Shimo's face as he asked,
"I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding between us.
What do you mean by 'shameless seducer of Lady Yoruichi'?"
Soi Fon's slender palm pressed firmly against Shimo's back as she growled:
"If it weren't for you, Lady Yoruichi would never have met Kisuke Urahara, and she wouldn't have ended up betraying the Soul Society!"
Shimo could feel the intense spiritual pressure radiating from her palm and couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.
Soi Fon, being a diehard devotee of Yoruichi Shihōin, modeled herself after her in everything—even if it meant going against the principles she usually upheld.
"Traitors must die," had always been her creed.
But if it was Yoruichi… exceptions were possible.
"Captain Soi Fon, please… let's not frame an innocent man here!"
Shimo protested, "Lady Yoruichi's defection had absolutely nothing to do with me."
He was telling the complete truth—no embellishment at all.
Yes, he had been the one to pass along intelligence on Yoruichi back then…
But all he did was deliver the message.
Back when he lacked the strength to intervene in major affairs, he had no intention of jumping into the political mess of a high-level betrayal.
And truthfully, even without his report, Yoruichi would have defected from Soul Society all the same.
Shimo had only pushed things along slightly, out of his longstanding relationship with Yoruichi and a desire to control the tides of future events.
"Silence, you scoundrel!"
Soi Fon clearly had made up her mind about him.
"Without your Zanpakutō, let's see if you can survive inside the Nest of Maggots.
Once you crawl out—if you even do—we'll settle this once and for all!"
The Nest of Maggots was located in the northwestern sector of the Second Division's compound and was overseen by the third seat of the Detention Unit.
The Second Division's facility layout was even more complex than the First Division's.
After passing through several corridors and crossing two training fields, they finally reached a wide moat.
A wooden bridge, simple yet sturdy, stretched across its width.
Shimo gazed up at the fortress-like structure before him. Even the materials used felt distinctly different.
"Don't bother staring. It's built with a special material similar to Sekkiseki," Soi Fon said coldly.
"It can effectively neutralize spiritual pressure both from the inside and out."
"My task was only to bring you here," she added. "Whether you survive or not… is up to you."
Apparently, she had more pressing matters to attend to, so after handing Shimo off to the guards, she departed swiftly.
The underground special containment facility—spanning the size of thirty buildings and encircled by the giant moat—was more commonly known as the Nest of Maggots.
Led by the guard, Shimo stepped inside.
Here, the "prisoners" were not actually imprisoned.
Strictly speaking, they weren't even criminals.
They were simply individuals deemed dangerous to the Soul Society due to their nature or unstable potential.
The cave-like interior descended via a long stone staircase, winding downward.
Above them, water dripped from overlapping stalactites, the drops echoing through the vast and empty space.
The darkness veiled the path ahead, but a faint glimmer of light provided just enough to move forward.
No one knew how far they had descended when the guard suddenly halted.
In front of Shimo stood a massive vermilion gate, engraved with countless Kidō incantations.
A faint glow shimmered from the cracks in the door.
Without a word, the guard pushed the door open.
Bright light flooded out, momentarily dazzling Shimo's eyes.
What appeared before him wasn't too different from a standard building interior, though the walls remained carved from the natural stone of the mountain.
Above them, the ceiling was reinforced with a special kind of material, possibly for containment or reinforcement.
"Step inside," came the muffled voice from beneath the guard's mask.
Shimo nodded silently and entered without hesitation.
As soon as he stepped inside, the current residents of the Nest of Maggots—all considered dangerous by Soul Society—turned their eyes on the newcomer.
But most only glanced at him briefly before looking away.
A weakling wasn't worth their attention.
Only when a newcomer survived the Nest could they prove their worth.
The guard led Shimo to his designated resting area.
Which, in truth, was just a barred cell—standard living quarters for those held in the Nest.
To Shimo's surprise, there were no locks or restraints on the cell doors.
Anyone held here could come and go as they pleased.
"Tsk… didn't expect to see a new face in the Nest of Maggots."
A strange laugh echoed behind Shimo.
He turned around, gazing toward the source of the voice.
Eyes filled with twisted amusement stared back at him from beneath a black-and-white dual-colored mask.
On his head sat an eccentric headpiece, unmistakable in its twisted design.
There stood the current captain of the Twelfth Division, and second Director of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute—
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