Shaiapouf's initial idea was to use his cocoon as a disguise, and his real body would turn into tiny particles and quietly pass through the palace gate; then, while looking for the traces of the Ant King, he would get rid of other humans who come here to invade!
What Shaiapouf didn't expect was that the human in front of him had already seen through his plan and ideas.
He even intercepted him suddenly when he was about to succeed.
All his efforts during this time were rendered meaningless, making everything go to waste.
And from the look in the opponent's eyes, he might as well have been a joke, a clown!
This made Shaiapouf feel extremely angry, and his eyes were full of bloodlust.
"But even if you stop me now, what can you do?"
After taking a deep breath to try and calm his emotions, Shaiapouf sneered: "Let me see what you're really capable of!!"
"Can you truly... stop me!!!"
With a vicious tone, he suddenly leaped high into the air.
And just as Ging turned his eyes to track his movement, Shaiapouf's entire body was enveloped in dazzling, radiant light.
Then, in an instant…
Bang!
Like a dream or illusion, his entire body vanished into thin air.
"In the blink of an eye, he broke himself down into ultra-microscopic particles, huh?"
Ging watched the scene calmly.
This tactic, breaking down part of the body into other particles or cells, reminded him of Lan and his wide-screen illusion.
Back then, Lan had used his micro-cellular division particles to gain a full view of the palace, which is how they had such precise knowledge of the royal guards' positions.
"If you're planning to use this trick to slip past me..."
Ging's face remained emotionless.
"Then I'd say that plan is... a bit too optimistic."
Boom!!
As his voice faded, a series of collisions echoed in midair as if to validate what he'd just said.
One tiny particle might not make a sound.
But if thousands of those particles began to collide, then the noise... would grow.
"What the hell is this?!!"
Shaiapouf's enraged voice rang out midair.
The particles converged, transforming into countless tiny bees.
Each bee wore an exact copy of Shaiapouf's twisted face.
"Since I already knew you had the ability to break apart and escape like this..."
Ging said calmly: "Did you really think I would just stand aside and let you?"
"You really underestimated me, didn't you?"
"Bastard!!"
Shaiapouf's face twisted in fury.
"What the hell did you do?!!"
"Nothing major."
Ging replied, thinking out loud.
"Just sealed off the space inside this palace."
"With that done, neither you nor I can get out now."
Sealed off the space?!
No wonder, no matter which corner of the room he tried to escape from, Shaiapouf had been unable to break through.
The entire area had been locked down.
"You said just now, neither you nor I?!!"
Shaiapouf's face darkened.
"Doesn't that mean you're trapped in here with me too?"
"Ah, that's right." Ging nodded.
"After all, if the goal is to keep the enemy in place, I can't run away either."
"Our mission is simple: separate you from the king. Keeping you locked here is enough."
He made no attempt to hide his intentions.
He'd said it clearly to Shaiapouf, and he meant it.
This only made Shaiapouf laugh in rage.
"You really think you alone can trap me?!!"
His face was full of bloodlust.
"If this is what you're doing, locking us both in here..."
"Then all I have to do is kill you, and the seal on this space will be lifted!"
"Yeah, that's a fair assumption."
Ging acknowledged calmly, then added something that nearly made Shaiapouf explode with anger: "But you'd have to actually be able to kill me first."
"If you're not prepared to bet your life, if you don't have the resolve to die, you won't be able to beat me."
Ging warned sincerely.
But to Shaiapouf, those words felt like mocking taunts.
Given his hypersensitive and paranoid nature, this only made him feel utterly disrespected and humiliated.
"Fine then. Let's see whose resolve is stronger, whose strength and skill prevail!!"
Shaiapouf didn't want to waste another word on this aggravating man.
With a cold sneer, he sent his swarm of bee-like clones circling around, looking for the right angle to strike down Ging once and for all.
In the end, it would all come down to strength.
"These micro-particles... This is almost identical to that guy's cell division technique..."
Ging paused to ponder.
He was thinking about something else entirely now.
"Perfect. I can use these bees as research samples… to figure out how to counter that guy's ability if I ever fight him in the future..."
To Ging, Shaiapouf had already become a stand-in, a test subject to simulate Lan's cell-splitting powers.
He believed that through Shaiapouf, he could develop a counter-strategy.
Boom!!
Suddenly, a violent explosion erupted nearby…