Lin Huang slithered across the endless white sands at full speed for more than half an hour without daring to look back.
Only after confirming that the Antelope Hollow had no intention of following him did he finally let out a sigh of relief before immediately burrowing deep beneath the sand.
After digging nearly five meters underground, he finally felt safe enough to swallow the palm-sized Hollow mask fragment whole.
The instant the fragment entered his body, his tiny ten-centimeter-long snake form suddenly stretched taut as the rich reishi contained within the mask began dissolving.
Warm spiritual particles flowed throughout his body like a gentle current, constantly nourishing every part of him, while an overwhelming wave of drowsiness followed close behind.
This was Spirit Drunkenness.
Whenever a Hollow absorbed an excessive amount of reishi beyond what its body could immediately process, it would instinctively enter a deep sleep while evolving.
“I’m evolving!” Joy instantly filled Lin Huang’s eyes.
Suppressing the irresistible sleepiness, he forced himself to continue digging another dozen meters deeper into the ground to make his hiding place even safer.
Only after confirming that no one would easily discover him did he stretch out his body, curl into a stable position, and slowly close his eyes.
Whoosh!
Roughly two hours later, white sand burst open.
A snow-white snake over a meter in length emerged from beneath the dunes.
Its abdomen now possessed the characteristic Hollow Hole, while a bone-white Hollow mask covered its head.
Two short horns extended upward from the top of the mask, making it look noticeably more intimidating than before.
It was Lin Huang.
He had successfully evolved.
“I’ve finally become a Newborn Hollow.” Twisting his newly evolved body, Lin Huang couldn’t help smiling.
However, the excitement quickly subsided.
He understood perfectly well that he had merely advanced from being an insignificant insect to a slightly larger one.
Compared to the countless Hollows wandering Hueco Mundo, he was still pitifully weak.
Even so, this marked the first step toward surviving in this cruel world.
That alone was worth celebrating.
Just then, a familiar figure quietly entered his field of vision.
The four-meter-tall Antelope Hollow stood not far away, her goat-like face carrying a distinctly human smile as she looked at him with narrowed eyes.
“Little white snake, you’re finally awake.” Lin Huang’s heart immediately tightened.
He had fled so far, yet she had still found him.
Seeing the vigilance in his eyes, the Antelope Hollow hurriedly shook her head.
“Don’t be scared.
I know you can understand me.
You’re the first intelligent Hollow I’ve met since I was born.
Can we be friends?” As she spoke, she bent down and picked up a headless corpse with her mouth before gently placing it in front of Lin Huang.
“This is for you.
You need it more than I do.” It was the corpse of the Pig Hollow she had killed earlier.
Although the Hollow mask, which contained the greatest concentration of reishi, had already been consumed, the corpse still belonged to a Powerful Hollow.
Even without its mask, the remaining flesh contained enough spiritual particles to be an extraordinary meal for a newly evolved Hollow like Lin Huang.
“Hurry and eat.
It’s already been dead for a while.
If you wait too long, its spiritual body will begin to dissipate.” The Antelope Hollow happily skipped around him while continuously urging him to eat, behaving more like an energetic young girl than the terrifying predator she appeared to be.
Faced with such sincere kindness, Lin Huang found it impossible to refuse.
However, staring at the bloody, headless corpse lying before him, he hesitated.
Only three days earlier, he had still been human.
Eating raw flesh was something he instinctively resisted.
“Damn it…
I’ll just pretend it’s sashimi.” After mentally preparing himself, Lin Huang slithered over and bit deeply into the corpse’s neck.
The moment the flesh entered his mouth, an overwhelming fishy stench exploded across his senses, making him almost vomit.
He forcibly endured it.
This was Hueco Mundo.
Only the strong had the luxury of choosing what they ate.
The weak survived by devouring whatever they could.
If he didn’t seize every opportunity to become stronger, then one day he would die without even knowing why.
Slowly, he continued swallowing.
As time passed, his movements became increasingly skilled.
Within half an hour, more than half of the enormous corpse had disappeared into his stomach.
Toward the end, he even felt that the taste wasn’t quite as unbearable as before.
It carried a strangely fermented flavor that reminded him somewhat of fermented bean juice mixed with pork.
Before long, the entire corpse had vanished.
His one-meter-long snake body had swollen into a gigantic ball measuring more than three meters across.
“Burp…” Lin Huang released a satisfied belch before looking gratefully toward the Antelope Hollow.
By now, he was completely convinced that she harbored no ill intentions.
His guard finally relaxed.
“Thank you.” The Antelope Hollow froze.
Several moments passed before she finally reacted.
“You…
you…
you can talk?” Her voice trembled with excitement.
She had originally believed Lin Huang to be nothing more than an unusually intelligent Miniature Hollow.
Having wandered Hueco Mundo alone for countless years, she had even considered keeping him as a pet.
Now she realized he possessed true human intelligence just like herself.
She became so happy that she actually rolled back and forth across the sand.
After calming down, she happily ran over to Lin Huang.
“Hello.
My name is Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck.
Just call me Nelliel.
What’s your name?” Hearing that familiar name, Lin Huang finally confirmed the guess he had formed earlier.
So it really was her.
Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck.
One of the future Tres Espada under Aizen, who would later become the Third Espada before being betrayed by Nnoitra Gilga and Szayelaporro Granz, eventually reverting to the childlike form known throughout the Arrancar Arc.
After a brief pause, Lin Huang slowly answered, “My name is…
Huang.” The moment the words left his mouth, another overwhelming wave of drowsiness washed over him.
The massive amount of reishi he had just consumed was once again pushing his body into Spirit Drunkenness.
Seeing this, Nelliel smiled gently.
“Sleep, little Huang.
I’ll keep watch.” “Thank you…
Nel…” Before he could finish saying her name, Lin Huang fell into a deep sleep once more.
Whoosh!
Several hours later, he slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was a goat face covered by a bone-white Hollow mask only a few centimeters away from his own.
The sudden sight startled him.
“Oh, you’re awake!” Realizing she had gotten a little too close, Nelliel awkwardly rubbed her masked face affectionately against his snake body.
Among Hollows, the Hollow mask represented both their greatest defense and the symbol of their identity.
Touching masks in such a manner was one way intelligent Hollows expressed trust and friendship toward one another.
Lin Huang gently raised his tail before lightly rubbing it against Nelliel’s head in return.
Only then did he notice the changes in his own body.
His length had nearly tripled again.
He now measured close to three meters long, while the thickness of his body was almost equal to an adult human’s forearm.
Although he remained within the Newborn Hollow stage, he was now approaching the level of a Powerful Hollow.
The following day.
Hueco Mundo.
The Sea of Sand.
A region commonly referred to by Hollows as the Spawning Ground.
This was where countless newly transformed Hollows that had recently fallen from being human souls wandered after their births.
Besides the numerous Newborn Hollows, many recently evolved Powerful Hollows also hunted here.
Most of these Powerful Hollows had only recently advanced by continuously devouring weaker Hollows, so neither their spiritual pressure nor their combat experience was particularly impressive.
“ROAR!” A rough, furious roar echoed throughout the desert.
A gigantic earthworm-shaped Hollow suddenly burst from beneath a sand dune.
Its body measured nearly seven meters long and was as thick as a large barrel.
Beneath its Hollow mask, there were neither eyes nor a nose.
Only a horrifying circular mouth lined with countless sharp fangs, from which sticky saliva continuously dripped.
At that moment, it was relentlessly chasing a snake-shaped Hollow measuring less than three meters in length.
The snake Hollow moved with astonishing agility.
Despite pursuing it for nearly half a day, the earthworm Hollow hadn’t managed to touch even the tip of its tail.
Suddenly, the fleeing snake stopped inside a shallow depression in the sand.
It remained completely motionless.
“ROAR!” The earthworm Hollow roared excitedly before launching itself into the air.
Its massive mouth opened wide, fully intending to swallow the snake whole.
However, just as it descended…
The snake suddenly darted sideways.
A distinctly human look of ridicule appeared beneath its Hollow mask.
Bang!
Without the slightest warning, a pair of bone-white hooves descended from the sky.
They smashed directly onto the earthworm Hollow’s head with overwhelming force.
Before the Powerful Hollow could even scream, both its mask and head exploded into countless fragments.
Its enormous body crashed heavily onto the white sands.
It never moved again.