Bai Ye asked curiously, "Is there a problem?"
Seth replied, "My identity as a proxy Shinigami only proves I'm not an infiltrator. But how do I explain placing the marker? So, revealing I'm a proxy Shinigami benefits me in no way. On the contrary, if I can maintain my proxy Shinigami identity and escape successfully, I still have hope of completing the mission later."
Bai Ye nodded and asked, "So, is the mission still active?"
Seth nodded.
Bai Ye said, "Alright. Then, let's talk about our issue. If I help you escape here, what benefits will you give me?"
Seth was angry at Bai Ye for tricking him earlier, but he wasn't angry at this question.
Where in the world was there a free lunch?
If Bai Ye had simply offered to help, Seth would have suspected that Bai Ye was planning to trick him again.
Seth asked, "What do you want?"
Bai Ye replied, "That depends on what you have."
Seth began to ponder. He did have some good items, but this wasn't a direct exchange of goods. The ultimate goal of completing the mission was the reward, and there was only one reward, which couldn't be split in half. Also, Seth couldn't offer something better than the reward, otherwise, wouldn't that make him seem foolish?
This was the core of the problem...
Seth didn't know how powerful Hadō #63 was.
Hadō was a type of Kidō technique mastered by Shinigami. There were strong and weak ones. To know its power, one either had to obtain it or witness it firsthand. Kū Kakō had never demonstrated Hadō #63 to Seth.
After thinking for a while, Seth said, "I have a Zanpakutō."
Bai Ye asked, "What quality is it?"
Seth replied, "White."
"Isn't that just trash?" Bai Ye rolled his eyes. "This is a hidden mission, and you're giving me trash to help? Does that make sense?"
Seth asked, "How did you know it was a hidden mission?"
Wasn't that obvious?
Seireitei was a forbidden zone, but now that they were inside Seireitei, it had nothing to do with a forbidden zone, and there were no forbidden zone missions. It was clearly only a hidden mission.
Bai Ye asked, "Just tell me, is it or isn't it?"
Seth nodded helplessly. "It's a hidden mission, but what does that mean? No one knows the reward until they get it..."
Bai Ye directly interrupted, "Do you believe that yourself when you say it? That's a hidden mission. Apart from lacking God Stone fragments, many hidden missions have better rewards than forbidden zone missions."
Seth hesitated for a moment, then said, "Give me a definite answer. What kind of benefits do you want?"
Bai Ye replied, "Nothing lower than blue quality. The type of item doesn't matter, whether I can use it or not doesn't matter. In short, the quality must be at least blue. How about that?"
Seth looked at Bai Ye with a strange expression. "You don't want to take the Golden Chainmail back and get my Black Order uniform for free, do you?"
Bai Ye said, "It's fine if you want to trade the Golden Chainmail, but honestly, I don't really want the Golden Chainmail right now. I can't wear a Daoist robe over a uniform, can I? Do you think I'm some kind of silk underwear?"
Seth shook his head. "Your demand is too high. My reward might also only be blue quality."
"But that's a Shinigami's Hadō, a technique, not an item," Bai Ye said with a smile. "You seem to have some strength and many good items. You should know that when operating in the world battlefield, directly strengthening yourself is the top priority. Weapons, items, and equipment are secondary because they can be accidentally damaged or lost. There are all sorts of possibilities for them to suddenly disappear or no longer belong to you. Therefore, only things that directly affect yourself can permanently make you stronger and truly belong to you."
Seth pondered for a moment, then asked, "Are you sure you can really help me complete the mission?"
Bai Ye replied, "I'm sure."
Seth asked, "You'll give me the item afterwards?"
"That won't do," Bai Ye said. "What if you run away?"
"What if you run away?" Seth looked at Bai Ye with disdain. "Besides, you ran away once before."
Bai Ye explained, "The situation is different. We are currently imprisoned together. How can I take the item and run? Besides, if I were to run, you could just run with me. Wouldn't that also take you out?"
As Bai Ye spoke, he walked to the cage door and looked outside. "You have twenty-four hours to consider. It's almost daylight now, and we can't fight our way out during the day. We have to wait for nightfall again."
Seth didn't respond but truly fell into thought. After about half an hour, Seth seemed to have made up his mind and took out a Zanpakutō.
"A blue quality Zanpakutō!" Seth said. "But just escaping here isn't enough. You must ensure I complete the mission."
Bai Ye replied, "Alright. It's just a matter of convenience!"
Seth was also straightforward. Since he had made up his mind, he no longer hesitated and directly threw the Zanpakutō in his hand to Bai Ye.
Bai Ye casually took the Zanpakutō, and a light screen appeared before his eyes.
Sengiri (Zanpakutō) (Blue): A broad-bladed assault type Zanpakutō. Depending on the strength of spiritual pressure, it can undergo Shikai, incomplete Bankai, and Bankai. Effects: Shikai (transforms into a serpent-like broad blade with a narrow edge that can freely extend and retract to attack enemies). Incomplete Bankai (named King of the Baboons, Sengiri, a giant viper blade shaped like a baboon's head, with a body of over a hundred segments, each of which can be freely disconnected and reconnected). Bankai (named Twin Kings, Sengiri, the right hand transforms into a snake-head skull bite-blade, a massive snake tail wraps around the waist, and the left arm can transform into the giant left arm of the baboon king).
Bai Ye glanced at the Zanpakutō's description and praised inwardly: Good stuff!
After his admiration, Bai Ye looked at Seth again. This guy didn't know his stuff!
But soon, Bai Ye felt that "didn't know his stuff" wasn't entirely accurate.
The correct way to put it was that many things were understood gradually over time. The world battlefield had only been open for about two months at most, so even those who had spent a long time in the Rukongai were not sufficiently familiar with Zanpakutō.
But Bai Ye knew very well that within this area, the most valuable things were Zanpakutō.
Identifying the quality of a Zanpakutō was partly about its grade, and partly about its Shikai and Bankai.
Trash Zanpakutō only had Shikai, and its power and effects after release were rather poor. Powerful Zanpakutō had Bankai, and their power and effects after release were exceptionally strong.
Although this Zanpakutō was only blue quality, it had incomplete Bankai and a complete Bankai, clearly belonging to the top-tier blue quality Zanpakutō, an advanced item that could infinitely approach black quality!
But Seth clearly didn't know these details.
Therefore, if it were an ordinary blue quality item, trading it for a hidden mission reward that could enhance one's own strength would definitely be a profit.
However, trading this Zanpakutō, it was really hard to say whether Seth had made a profit or not.
But...
What did that have to do with Bai Ye?
...