Mayuri's reaction speed was definitely not slow.
He reflexively raised his left hand, pressing down hard with his thumb, forcibly breaking off his little finger!
Guh... snap.
This self-mutilating behavior seemed to cause literal 'confusion' to the other person present.
A clearly audible light "huh?" came from behind, but soon...
As Mayuri's self-mutilating action was completed, the entire laboratory underwent a dramatic transformation.
The internal machinery, already in self-destruct mode due to the electrical current, now entered a secondary combustion state.
Flickering, dazzling flames continuously twisted upward, distorting, and finally like an ignited powder keg, began exploding one after another.
Boom boom boom boom boom!!!
The entire laboratory became a literal 'sea of fire.'
The laboratory staff who had been busy outside almost tumbled in rushing over, with Akon leading them, sweating profusely, but before he could see clearly what was happening inside...
Nemu, her body bathed in flames and scalded beyond recognition, supported herself against the wall, walking out the door.
She 'calmly' said to the squad members coming to help.
"Intruder, Captain Mayuri is responding to the emergency."
"All personnel... withdraw, leave the Department of Research and Development."
"Enter level two alert status, non-combat personnel retreat to the basement, release experiment subject number one..."
"Then, seal, the experimental area... activate, the partition, put the entire Department of Research and Development, in... war state..."
She couldn't finish.
Because the flesh on Nemu's chest had been completely scalded, and now through the holes punctured by flying debris, turbid blood and flesh were flowing out.
Just seeing such a scene would be enough to drive an ordinary person crazy.
But Akon was, after all, a researcher, and had witnessed firsthand the birth of the sleep project.
His sense of responsibility was no less than Nemu's.
Reaching out, grasping the falling figure, Akon half-turned his head, gritting his teeth as he shouted behind him.
"Did everyone hear that?! Stop standing there... this is wartime emergency, everyone is to follow the lieutenant's orders!!!"
Squad Twelve had always been known for being strange and reclusive, after all, the people here all looked odd... but it was only at times like this.
These people showed extraordinary ability to act.
Absolute obedience to Captain Mayuri's orders, this was the fundamental characteristic of Squad Twelve.
Looking at the experimental area in front of him, now a sea of fire, Akon, though dizzy from the smoke, still gritted his teeth, attempting to charge inside!
But this action had not even fully formed before it was halted by the person in his arms reaching out.
It was Nemu.
Even with her face beyond recognition, even approaching the point of fuzzy consciousness.
She still accurately grabbed Akon's sleeve, saying in a tone without ripples.
"Give me... flesh, replenishment, medicine..."
Flesh replenishment medicine.
It was a supplementary drug invented by Mayuri after extensive research.
Thanks to its nature, it could instantly supplement missing, lost flesh, thereby filling and patching up already deficient bodies.
Some injuries so severe that they were life-threatening could even be instantly aided by this drug, allowing the person to escape danger and regain mobility.
But...
It didn't come without a cost.
After all, in essence, it was forcing cells to proliferate at an extremely terrifying speed.
Cells produced through such methods don't possess long-term vitality, which also means the user's lifespan would be greatly shortened.
Mayuri often performed such experimental behaviors on himself, which was indeed a characteristic of a research maniac, but to some extent...
It was also a kind of contempt for life.
If possible.
Akon didn't want to use this thing on Nemu.
And this brief, momentary hesitation seemed like an unspoken consensus, instantly letting both parties know each other's thoughts.
Nemu silently raised her severely deformed left hand, grabbing Akon's collar.
Due to muscle loss, this action had no strength to speak of... even just thinking about doing this, Nemu needed to use all her strength.
This was her limited remaining energy.
But it certainly conveyed her thoughts, will, and beliefs.
She wanted to stand up again, to help Mayuri who was fighting.
Looking at the calm light revealed in her remaining eye, Akon choked at this moment.
—Take the lieutenant down for treatment!
These words rolled in his throat, but no matter what, he couldn't utter even half a word... Akon's lips pressed slightly, and finally he closed his eyes.
Taking out a syringe from his pocket.
No need to aim, just inject it into the still intact flesh on Nemu's shoulder.
The turbid medicine was ejected and pushed by the mechanical extension.
The medicine rapidly seeped into her body, and at an incredible speed contacted the blood and cells, then started various reactions.
Nemu's body began to shake violently.
Her throat rolled up and down, mouth opened wide, as if brewing a silent scream...
At the same time.
Her disheveled appearance instantly transformed.
Flesh, like tattered cotton, was continuously replaced, exchanged during the process of 'renewal,' becoming a new shape, appearing on the body surface.
Blood vessels, muscles, skin, pores...
Even the skin color was identical.
These reconstructed bodies were like mirages appearing in dreams, and Nemu's eyeball formed during her breath.
She broke free from Akon's embrace, although her clothing was damaged, causing large areas of privacy to be exposed.
But the person concerned seemed to completely disregard these things.
Propriety, shame, these things had always been placed in a later position on Nemu's priority list.
She stood in place, just nodding to Akon.
"Thank you."
Then rushed back towards the sea of fire.
The Department of Research and Development wasn't just a laboratory in the simple sense.
In fact, this weird place, under Mayuri's modification, was even more 'heavily guarded' than many crucial places.
Between each area, there were similar fire and electrical isolations.
This not only prevented areas from affecting each other during accidents but also maximally protected facility safety.
Especially at times like this...
Even if Mayuri 'went crazy' on the spot, the area he could ultimately affect would be quite limited.
Thoughts rose and fell in his mind, Akon wanted to give some other instructions.
But there was simply no time to give more content, as he had already seen the girl's figure disappear like a moth flying into a flame.
Akon's expression could only become tangled and difficult.
If the captain knew about this decision I made, he'd probably scold me...
But, I won't regret it.
Turning around, Akon, as the temporary commander, began to give various orders to the squad members present.
"Get moving, this is not the time to relax!"
"The enemy continues to invade, we also need to pull ourselves together..."
"Open the warehouse, release the prototypes, the rest of the personnel retreat, execute according to the established plan!"
Meanwhile.
The hustle and bustle outside couldn't affect the confrontation inside the laboratory at all.
Mayuri's current situation was definitely not good.
After all, he was lying on the ground in an extremely miserable posture.
The captain's haori that displayed his status was consumed by flames, burned, and finally disappeared like flying ash.
Half of his left arm had disappeared.
Along with the flesh at his waist being completely blown away, revealing a bloody mess.
His legs were also completely pinned by collapsed beams, showing an angle that was enough to make one's teeth ache just by looking.
Even Mayuri's chin had also vanished at this moment.
Just describing it as miserable couldn't capture even one ten-thousandth of this image; in ordinary people's eyes, even if he hadn't died instantly, he probably only had breath left...
This was nothing short of near death.
"By detonating the laboratory, inflicting maximum damage on the invading enemy?"
"How to put it... although I'm not very interested in this kind of behavior."
"But this kind of decisiveness and resolution indeed has learning value."
Step, step, step.
Light footsteps came from afar.
Mayuri's somewhat listless eyes slowly moved, until they swept to the side.
What came into view was a notably eye-catching, even glaring white outfit.
In this messy laboratory, the composure displayed by the other seemed completely 'out of place' with the surrounding environment.
But it was precisely because of this.
That it highlighted the other's identity as an invader.
Their eyes met.
Mayuri saw the other's lips curl up uncontrollably, finally revealing a smile that was close to smugness, but maintained a teasing angle.
It was a youth-like figure.
Messy blonde hair, young features, and red eyes. Wearing a hooded, loose, high-collared coat, with a distinctly different appearance from other Quincies.
"Yo, nice to meet you."
"Hmm... at this time, a self-introduction would be better, right?"
"Then, I'll start first."
The other stood in place, taking his hands out of his pockets.
As if to embrace the air in front of him, he slightly opened his arms, took a deep breath, his smile unchanging.
"My name is Gremmy Thoumeaux."
"As you can see, I'm a being granted the Schrift by His Majesty, and at the same time..."
"Though it might sound boastful, I should be the strongest person in the Sternritter."
As soon as the words fell.
Mayuri had already silently raised his right hand.
Even though his entire body was already in a state close to exhaustion, even so, his movements were still decisive to an unbelievable degree.
Click.
His severely distorted right hand bent down directly, the arrangement that should have been bones was now replaced by a black gun barrel.
Hiss...
The air was completely dragged and rolled back.
Gremmy watched as the light in front of him began to gather, and at this moment could only slightly change his face and open his mouth.
Letting out a sigh-like sound.
"Hmm..."
Boom!!!
A thunder-like explosion came.
The severely deformed laboratory, at this moment, welcomed a merciless 'secondary ravage.'
Intense rumbling and earth-shaking tremors echoed inside the room, but even exaggerated to this extent, this laboratory still 'stood firm.'
In a sense, this could also be considered one of Mayuri's research achievements...
Still lying limply on the ground, Mayuri suddenly straightened his body.
His legs curled and stretched tightly. The beam pressing on top was pushed away by a tremendous force, completely flying off.
Mayuri expressionlessly stood up.
The wounds on his face, body, and legs were also rolling with recovery at this moment, being filled and completed.
Mayuri, as if taking a deep breath, rubbed his neck.
Along with his tone becoming somewhat complaining.
"Through research on Arrancar, making Kidō able to be embedded in the body in a loaded form... although it's a very rare usage, the burden on the body is unexpectedly large."
If possible.
Better try other methods next time.
So what's the result?
"I see, so this is what a scientist is?"
Gremmy emerged from the scattered smoke without a scratch.
His right hand was slightly raised, index finger standing up high, now gently waving, his expression calm and teasing.
"It's someone who tampers with their own body, doing things normal people can't understand or imagine... is that what a scientist is?"
Perhaps there were too many points to retort.
Even the usually sharp-tongued Mayuri fell into a brief silence.
But compared to the desire to retort, as a scientist, he was more concerned about other aspects at this moment.
His brows very obviously furrowed.
"You... why are you unharmed?"
Couldn't understand.
The laboratory explosion, the subsequent loaded Kidō.
These two methods were definitely not something that could be easily ignored.
Without exaggeration, that kind of situation... if it were those not-so-mature captain-level figures, directly causing serious injury wouldn't be surprising.
But this guy was exaggeratedly immune.
This was beyond Mayuri's understanding... for the opponent he needed to face directly, this situation was absolutely not good.
Gremmy, hearing this question, tilted his head, his expression becoming increasingly teasing.
"You mean that explosion just now? Ah... this thing."
He raised his right hand, pointing to his temple.
"I just needed to imagine it."
It's that kind of thing.
"Imagine myself unharmed, and I can ignore all of this."
Schrift V.
The Visionary.
"Things I imagine become truth, how about it? Pretty amazing, right?"
For example...
Gremmy's gaze turned, until it concentrated on Mayuri not far away.
"If those bones supporting your body all turned into foam-like fragile and weak things... what would happen?"
Click click click click click click...
A series of sounds came, and Mayuri's body collapsed like mud.
Gremmy slowly stepped forward, looking down at Mayuri, whose face showed some surprise, his smile not diminishing at all.
"How is it? I told you just now, right?"
"I am the strongest Sternritter."
"My imagination is the embodiment of my power."
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Powerstones?
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