Ging's movements looked light, barely touching the ground, but his body shot forward like a bullet, breaking the laws of physics. His blazing fists slammed toward the Plants' heads, where a faint cold glint shone like polished steel.
For a moment, it looked like they'd be shattered into pieces. But in the next instant, the situation flipped. The Plants suddenly split apart, just like Buggy the Clown's body after eating the Chop-Chop Fruit.
Their smooth, spherical forms peeled open like flower petals, the split perfectly timed to leave a gap in the center where Ging's fists would have landed. He sailed right through without hitting anything.
'What the hell was that?' Ging narrowed his eyes, adjusting his posture as he landed behind the Plants.
His mind raced. In the blink of an eye, their split heads had already closed back together, locking tightly with no seams left behind. The surface was once again smooth and seamless, like they'd never opened at all.
Larry, watching from a short distance away, muttered, "They must be using some kind of parasitic plant inside the metal shells. Probably controlling the outer layer with their branches, letting it split and reattach at will."
He was clearly impressed. "It's a clever way to avoid direct hits, split the head and keep the core safe."
This ability hadn't shown up in the previous batch at all. Was it a hidden trait that only activated under certain conditions, or were these Plants built differently from the start?
Either way, Ging was already adapting. He figured out the trick, they could only split their heads, not their entire bodies. That meant there were still blind spots. A dangerous grin curled on his lips. This was exactly the kind of fight he'd been waiting for.
In a flash, Ging stepped in again, reappearing right in front of one of the Plants. This time, his fists didn't go for the head, they slammed into the chest. The impact was brutal. With a fiery explosion, the Plants's chest caved in, leaving a massive hole and sending the body crashing to the ground.
But the other Plants didn't waste time. They immediately retaliated, surrounding Ging and launching coordinated strikes. Each blow carried terrifying power, the air splitting with sharp cracking sounds. Their fists were coming in fast and heavy, too fast to block them all.
Just as the attacks were about to connect, several small orbs whizzed in from the side and struck the Plants with pinpoint accuracy. The force was strong enough to punch holes in their chests, stopping them in their tracks.
"Nen Ability: Nen Ball Game, Emission Type."
Larry's voice rang out calmly. His aura wrapped around his entire body, forming small nen orbs that floated near him. He slowly increased their number, changing their size, shape, and speed mid-flight. Some accelerated sharply, others curved midair like they had a mind of their own.
By controlling each orb individually, Larry created a constantly shifting network of attacks that could target enemies from multiple angles, especially useful against foes with strange defensive tricks.
With his calm control and Ging's explosive offense, the tide of battle began to shift. The Gildrosia, once unstoppable, now had something to fear.
Ging had just unleashed a swarm of Nen balls that orbited around him, each one floating lazily at first glance, but deadly when approached.
The moment a gold or silver Plants got too close, they'd trigger automatically and slam into the target with explosive force.
At first, this ability seemed borderline useless, hard to aim, slow, too defensive. But after Ging refined it, it became a powerful tool. In his hands, even something simple had terrifying impact.
One of the Plants took a direct hit to the chest. Its torso was blown open, revealing a gaping hole, but its head was untouched, so it could still move.
That was intentional. Ging hadn't just been aiming randomly; he was targeting the chest on purpose. He knew the Plants were using human bodies as hosts, and while that gave them strength, it also came with human weaknesses.
With the spine severed, the creature could no longer stand. It flopped to the ground, writhing helplessly as it rolled back and forth. Oozing from the wound was a strange mix of red and purple blood, sizzling as it touched the ground.
The fluid was highly corrosive, eating through the stone with a low hiss. Clearly, the head was the core, parasitized by some kind of plant. The rest of the body, despite the mutations, was still human.
As for the toxic blood, that was no doubt a byproduct of the parasitic organism controlling the head. The plant had no reason to spread into the whole body, it would be more efficient to just take the head and use the rest as a disposable shell.
Ging figured it was over. One final blow to the head, and this one would be finished for good.
But the Dark Continent had its own rules, none of them reasonable.
Suddenly, the Plants that had been writhing on the floor slammed both hands against the ground with explosive force. The floor cracked like a spiderweb, a loud bang echoing through the room. In the next moment, the entire body launched into the air and shot toward Ging, fists aimed straight at his face with terrifying speed.
At the same time, the other Plants began to regenerate. From inside their hollow chests, thin, bark-like branches began to snake out and fill the cavities. Twisting, weaving, they rebuilt the broken torsos.
In just seconds, the massive holes were sealed. Flesh hadn't returned, but something even tougher had replaced it, dense, dark green wood.
They stood back up, fully functional.
"Seriously? They can repair themselves like that?" Ging muttered, not with fear, but genuine curiosity. "No wonder they're from the Dark Continent…"
As the Plants closed in, Ging casually swatted it aside with one open hand. A loud crack rang out, and the creature was thrown across the floor like a ragdoll. Ging didn't even blink.
But even as he struck one down, the others were already back on their feet, chests fully patched, the holes now stuffed with a tangled mass of plant matter. They weren't even pretending to be human anymore. They were something else entirely.
Ging couldn't tell exactly how the parasitic system worked, but honestly, he didn't care. That's just how things were on the Dark Continent. There, logic didn't apply. Creatures could break every rule of nature. Fish flew, birds crawled, and humans were just another shell to hijack.
Still, Ging wasn't upset, he was thrilled. As more Plants rushed him, he rolled up his sleeves and cracked his neck with a smirk. "Now we're talking…"
The earlier part? That wasn't even a warm-up. This, this was the real fight. His eyes gleamed as his aura surged outward, wild and radiant.