Back in the Newborn Zone, Ivan remained completely oblivious to everything that had transpired at the site of the hundred-Hollow free-for-all.
He was still happily hunting down swarms of Newborn Hollows, never tiring of the daily grind.
His Reiatsu and physical size were steadily increasing.
Right now, a snake-like Hollow, roughly four meters long, was tightly wrapping its body around a squirming, pig-like Hollow.
The snake Hollow writhed, then suddenly constricted with explosive force.
Crack!
A sickening crunch echoed through the air.
The pig Hollow’s bones were shattered, and it died instantly.
Just as the snake Hollow was about to feast on its fresh kill, the sand beneath it trembled.
A massive, white centipede tail erupted from the ground right behind it, crackling with arcs of dark gold lightning.
Boom!
A brutal tail whip slammed the snake Hollow several meters deep into the sand.
Hiss!
Howling in pain, the snake Hollow struggled wildly, trying to untangle itself and stand.
“Well, look at that.
For a mere Newborn Hollow to take a tail whip from me and not instantly pass out, you can die proud!” Ivan’s upper body slowly rose from the dunes.
He couldn’t help but praise the snake Hollow’s toughness, but his compliments didn’t stop his assault.
Golden lightning sparked across the segmented joints of his centipede tail as it crashed down on the snake Hollow once more.
Zzt!
An ear-piercing crackle of electricity ripped through the air, and Ivan actually caught the scent of roasted meat.
Looking at the charred, blackened corpse of the snake Hollow, he shook his head in slight exasperation.
“Looks like I overcooked this one!” He wasn’t picky, though.
He shoved the entire snake Hollow into his mouth like a giant meat stick, his cheeks bulging comically before quickly returning to normal as he swallowed it down.
After finishing the snake, Ivan turned his attention to the mangled pig Hollow nearby.
He rushed over and scarfed it down in three quick bites.
“The snake hunts the pig, and Ivan cleans the plate!” After completely digesting both Hollows, Ivan patted his stomach in satisfaction.
Before he knew it, two months had passed since he arrived in this world.
He was completely adapted to life in Hueco Mundo, though he occasionally missed the video games, anime, and other entertainment from his past life—and, of course, the girls.
“This universe has a Human World, too.
If I can become a high-level Menos and then an Arrancar, there’s still a chance I can return to human society.” Thinking this, Ivan shook his head with a wry smile.
“What’s the point of overthinking?
Since I still don’t know the timeline, aggressively grinding my stats is the only absolute truth!” Ivan quickly adjusted his mindset.
Just as he was about to set off in search of fresh prey, he noticed a disturbance ahead.
“Something’s happening up there.” Ivan activated his Reiatsu Concealment, sinking his massive body just below the surface and swimming rapidly toward the source of the noise.
Woof, woof, woof!
Peering out, he saw a small, battered yellow dog running for its life, chased by something completely invisible.
The yellow pup leaped desperately, barely dodging an unseen whip strike.
A second later, a massive, invisible force slammed into it, sending the dog flying a dozen meters away.
“Buddy?” The sudden appearance of this yellow dog yanked Ivan’s memories straight back to his past life.
When he was just a kid, he had picked up a stray golden pup.
The dog grew up alongside him, making up his most cherished childhood memories.
Sadly, the good times didn’t last.
One day, three years later, Ivan came home from school and never saw his dog again.
All that was left was a bloodstained leash.
After that day, Ivan never kept a dog again.
If it weren’t for the barely noticeable white bone mask on the dog’s face and the perfectly round Hollow hole in its chest, Ivan would have believed it was actually his old dog, Buddy.
The resemblance was uncanny.
“It’s just a weak, Newborn dog Hollow.
It’s not…
my Buddy.” The unseen entity trailing the yellow dog hadn’t gone for a quick kill.
It was clearly toying with the pup, drawing out the torture.
Whatever it was, it possessed a high level of intelligence.
Judging by its Reiatsu signature, the creature was significantly stronger than Ivan.
But Ivan figured that as long as he struck first and seized the initiative, he had a real shot at winning.
He stopped hesitating.
“Screw it, I’m blasting it!” He poked his right index finger above the sand.
A speck of black-red Reiatsu rapidly condensed at his fingertip.
Fwoosh!
A beam of black-red light carrying terrifying heat shot forward.
It grazed the dog Hollow’s tail and slammed into the empty space directly behind it.
Just from a glancing blow of the Cero’s heat, the tip of the yellow pup’s tail was vaporized, leaving behind a charred stub.
Yip!
The yellow dog yelped in terror and rolled to the side.
Roar!!!
A bloodcurdling scream erupted from the blast zone.
An instant later, a massive silhouette was forced into visibility.
It was a giant, dark green chameleon—roughly five meters tall and thirty meters long.
The giant chameleon Hollow clutched two massive, jagged bone spikes in its claws.
Its cavernous mouth hung wide open, revealing a long, crimson tongue that had been blasted into a mangled mess.
It glared fiercely in Ivan’s direction, its eyes swimming with unspeakable murderous rage.
“A lizard?
No, wait…
a chameleon!” Judging by its Reiatsu and sheer size, this chameleon was firmly at the Giant Hollow stage.
An entire tier higher than Ivan.
Seeing the chameleon Hollow forced out of stealth, Ivan’s confidence spiked.
Its primary weapon—that invisible tongue—had been blown to shreds by his Cero.
Against a half-crippled Giant Hollow, Ivan was absolutely confident he could win!
“Damn it, who was that?!
Who dares launch a sneak attack against me?!
I’m going to tear you limb from limb!” The giant chameleon Hollow actually spoke, spitting vicious threats in human language toward Ivan’s position.
To think that the intelligent fellow Hollow Ivan had been searching so hard for would appear right here, in this exact manner.
But Ivan had zero intention of chatting.
He continued tunneling under the sand, slipping completely behind the chameleon Hollow.
His massive centipede tail whipped upward, wreathed in crackling lightning, and sent the completely unguarded beast flying through the air.
“Bastard!
You dare get in my way?!
I’ll kill you!
I’ll kill you!” Ivan ignored the chameleon Hollow’s deranged screaming.
Taking advantage of the paralysis from his Lightning Arc, he rushed forward, his upper body bursting out of the sand right in front of the beast.
He clenched both fists.
Golden lightning coiled around his arms as he unleashed a frantic barrage of punches directly into the chameleon’s soft underbelly.
When he first unlocked it, his Lightning Arc could only wrap around his lower centipede half.
Now, he had evolved enough to channel it across his entire body!
“Ora, ora, ora!” Under Ivan’s relentless, brawler-style stunlock combo, the exposed belly of the chameleon Hollow was turned into Swiss cheese.
Every punch opened a gory hole, sending dark green blood spraying in all directions.
Sizzle!
Bad news—the bastard’s blood was highly acidic.
Ivan’s fists hissed and burned as they were continually coated in the dark green fluid.
The searing pain began to drastically slow his punching speed.