Around Baraggan's throne, a swarm of locust-like Voids were swarming up and down. Their appearances might be slightly different, but their Reishi structure and thought processes were exactly the same.
They played and chased each other wantonly, but no Adjuchas dared to reprimand them. Even when being teased, the Adjuchas could only crawl on the ground, because they were Vasto Lorde-class Picaros.
The death of their comrade saddened them, but they quickly regained their optimism and cheerfulness. However, their innocent memories were mixed with hatred for Zero, Grimmjow, and Ulquiorra...
"Picaro guys, I've designed a fun game, wanna play?"
Szayelaporro touched the mask that resembled glasses, a sly glint in his eyes; he was trying to trick Picaro into accepting his experiment.
"Baraggan wouldn't agree, would he!"
"Yes, yes, he said before that we weren't allowed to play with Szayelaporro."
"Yeah, saying he's a bad guy is definitely not right."
"Then reject him!"
The Picaro gathered together, whispering amongst themselves, but their voices were overheard by the Menos Grande. After their discussion, they unanimously addressed Szayelaporro:
"No!"
"Damn!"
"I'm not going!"
"Buzz!"
Those who can speak refuse verbally, while those who cannot speak can only express their agreement through vocalizations.
"Heh, just as I thought, Baraggan..."
Szayelaporro chuckled. Pikachu was indeed only afraid of Baraggan.
Because Baraggan's abilities are too effective against those who are 'split beings', weak individuals die as soon as they are infected, and there is no way to save them.
"Picaro, I'm allowing you to play with him this time. He has lots of weird toys in his Laboratory!"
Baraggan also tried to deceive him, saying it was something he had agreed upon with Szayelaporro; he needed another powerful and controllable fighter...
The Picaros, overjoyed at receiving the agreement, were completely unaware that this was a plan orchestrated against them by the two Vasto Lorde. The remaining nearly two hundred Picaros followed Szayelaporro.
This is a Laboratory that is already covered with a thick layer of dust. Unlike the Laboratory that Lojia took away, this one has obviously been around for much longer.
Szayelaporro, who evolved into Vasto Lorde through research, was discovered by Baraggan after capturing Picaro. He was subsequently recruited as a researcher for Las Noches and helped Barragan develop many powerful warriors.
The main achievements include: forcibly fusing various low-level Adjuchas into high-level or top-level Adjuchas; stripping certain Adjuchas of their special abilities and assigning them to designated targets; and repairing Adjuchas masks that had been chewed up by their peers, etc.
Lojia also developed this idea. Adjuchas generally cannot use Negación devices; they can only control Gillian to use it, and Gillian only has a lump of flesh on its body that can use this ability.
Szayelaporro then peeled the mass of flesh capable of being used Negación from Gillian's body, processed it in various ways, and transplanted it into Lojia' body...
"The equipment we prepared for you is all here, hehehe, so let's begin!"
Szayelaporro said in a sinister tone, "Now let's play a game, are you interested?"
"What game?" -- "Let's start!" -- "I can't wait!" -- "It looks like fun!"
The Picaro chimed in, their excitement at the prospect of playing games turning them into children.
"I will unite you all as one. If I fail, you can do whatever you want with me after you come out. If I succeed, you will have to obey me. How about it?"
"A composite body? Interesting." -- "If you fail, I'll eat you." -- "No, I'll twist his head off and use it as a ball." -- "Punish him by making him crawl, tear off his feet, hahaha!"
Upon hearing the rules of the Szayelaporro game and the penalties for winning and losing, the Picaro uttered chilling words—words that didn't sound like they came from children, but it was true.
Szayelaporro knew that Picaro would really do that. Because their thinking was like that of a child, they would not suppress their own impulses as the source of ego, but would instead release them.
"Hehe, let's begin!"
Slightly stunned by Picaro's words, Szayelaporro also announced the start, opening a large rectangular empty box, resembling a large coffin.
The materials used to make it are unclear, but the Picaro, who were happily entering it, were playing around and releasing Bala, which failed to penetrate the large coffin at all.
Its interior space is also large enough to accommodate a Gillian lying flat. Now, it's just a crack, and two hundred Picaro have all gone in without any problem.
More than a dozen pipes extended from the large coffin, each time a large circular sphere appeared before the pipes narrowed and continued to extend until they reached the Container filled with blue Reishi at the end...
"Haha, I didn't expect to have Vasto Lorde-class Experimental Subjects so soon. I'm so happy! I'm already prepared for the split. If I can get experimental data on Vasto Lorde fusion, that would be perfect."
Szayelaporro's face was filled with fanaticism; he had been dedicated to the research of 'immortality,' Lojia was now his test subject.
However, Szayelaporro could only obtain reference data from Lojia, because Lojia was merely a high-ranking Adjuchas with special abilities, while Szayelaporro was Vasto Lorde, whose Reiatsu was even stronger than Baraggan's.
The dusty button kept ticking under Szayelaporro's fingers, and screams of Picaro began to emanate from the sealed coffin. They cried out to stop this game, but it was too late...
Picaro was broken into clumps of Reishi, which were continuously filtered through pipes to remove those scattered spiritual Reishi that affected the composition of Picaro's main Reishi, and finally reformed in the blue Container.
In Szayelaporro's expectant gaze, a human figure gradually took shape inside the blue Container, and as it formed, an increasingly heavy pressure arose between heaven and earth.
On the Blood Panther Group's side, all the Adjuchas were sent out to recruit Menos Grande, and they also needed to drive the Gillian to gather them together, as the Gillian played a significant role.
The Cero they unleash is incredibly powerful; Adjuchas, who is not good at defending, could be rendered incapacitated by a single hit. Moreover, because the Gillian's Reiryoku is vast and abundant, they can continuously unleash it, although it takes a little time to condense it.
Under Adjuchas's control, Gillian can also release Negación to protect his teammates—a truly divine skill.
They moved from the south to the west of Las Noches, which is how they absorbed a certain amount of combat power.
A month later, the Blood Panther Group's total number of Adjuchas exceeded 150, while the Gillian colony of over 2,000 was being driven away by them.
Imagine how spectacular it would be if they all fired Cero shots at the same time!
"Nangong, the pace of driving away the Gillian is far too slow. At this rate, they won't even reach Las Noches in a few more years. By the time they get there, Baraggan will be old and dying!"
Grimmjow suddenly turned back from the front of the group; he simply couldn't stand the slow pace of the journey.
You should know that when they were being chased by Baraggan, they could cover hundreds of spirit miles in just one day on the battlefield, but now, because they are carrying Gillian, they can probably only cover about twenty spirit miles a day, which is about two hundred kilometers.
At this rate, it wouldn't take several years to reach Las Noches, but it would still take a few months. If we speed things up, we'll inevitably have to abandon Gillian.
"But our basic combat strength has been continuously increasing along the On the Road. Nangong Nangong's plan is correct. Grimmjow, just bear with it a little longer."
Zero didn't speak, but instead gave Ulquiorra a wink. After only a couple of seconds of hesitation, Ulquiorra understood and answered Grimmjow for Zero.
"There must be Gillian over there too, we don't need to bring them here!"
"Fool, Baraggan still has hundreds of Adjuchas under his command. Do you think he'll leave you with a controllable Gillian?"
"Our top-tier combat power is strong enough. No matter how many minions come, it won't make a difference; the difference in Reiatsu is undeniable."
"Indeed, it's almost impossible for the lower ranks to defeat us, but there are guys like Yaxiao among them who can occasionally disrupt you and potentially turn the tide of the battle..."
Grimmjow's volatile temper and Ulquiorra's calm patience form a stark contrast in their personalities, and Zero watches with considerable interest as they try to reason with each other.
But in the end, Ulquiorra won because 'using the grassroots to restrain the opponent's grassroots and prevent them from affecting the high-level showdown' was the smartest tactic.
While the two were arguing, the scout Captain, Arafi, discovered a large pit where a giant Adjuchas, resembling a poisonous mushroom, lived. It was difficult to move, but it could control Gillian to protect it.
That's not the main point. The main point is that Arafi has never seen an Adjuchas control a swarm of hundreds of Gillian; at most, it can control a few dozen.
Moreover, this is the ground, not the Menos Grande Forest. Gillian generally don't live long on the ground and are usually eaten by Adjuchas who want to replenish their Reiryoku after a battle.
When Arafi voiced his suspicions, Zero and the others had already vanished into thin air, reappearing at the mushroom pit.
Sure enough, the colorful, hundred-meter-long Mushroom Hollow spotted them and immediately began to control the Gillian to attack.
Moreover, upon sensing the strength of his opponent, he instantly opened the four holes on his mushroom cap and sprayed out a cloud of black colloid. After struggling for a while, the black colloid completely transformed Gillian's appearance...
"I see. He can create Gillian himself, no wonder he can control hundreds of Gillian. Let's go, recruit him into our ranks; he'll be very useful in this war."
Zero found it amusing, so he Shunpo next to Mushroom Hollow and directly used his Reiatsu to immobilize it.