To anyone who didn't know better, it might have looked like they were playing a game of freeze tag.
Larry sighed softly and shook his head.
"Hey, didn't we have a good chat earlier? Why are you all quiet now that I'm here?"
His mocking tone only stirred irritation among them.
These were powerful people, yet faced with Larry's attitude, their fear turned into anger.
"Fine," Larry said, "if you don't want to talk, I won't force it."
Larry casually waved his hand, and just as the group let out a sigh of relief, they suddenly noticed a figure standing behind him. How it had gotten there without anyone seeing was a mystery.
The figure was large, nearly reaching the ceiling, and its lower body floated in midair.
It resembled a giant jellyfish, much bigger than any normal one, with tentacles that acted like hands and feet.
At first glance, Nihilego looked almost like a shy girl.
Its translucent, glass-like body emitted a faint glow, giving it an innocent, pure aura.
But instead of feeling calm, everyone grew more anxious.
The presence of this Nen beast, released by Larry, was terrifying. Its aura was far more imposing than Larry's own.
The power it radiated was overwhelming.
'How could such a terrifying force exist?'
'This strength is way beyond even the leader's!'
The uniformed man who had just stood up next to them was stunned, staring at the awe-inspiring Nihilego as if frozen.
Inside, he was roaring with disbelief.
Facing Larry like this, he completely lost his composure.
He had always trusted in strength, but now, for the first time, he felt the vast gap between himself and others.
He knew Larry was powerful, but he never imagined Larry possessed a beast even stronger than the [Guide].
He'd seen the [Guide] before and knew it was far superior to him, but this unknown beast was on another level entirely.
Within moments, the uniformed man's already torn clothes were soaked with sweat, and he was drenched.
Although the other four people weren't as strong and couldn't fully gauge Nihilego's power, they all understood one thing clearly: Larry's strength exceeded all their expectations.
Nihilego floated gently in the air, its tentacles swaying as if swimming through water.
At the tips, each tentacle split into five smaller parts, delicate and beautiful.
Each tiny segment contained a potent neurotoxin, and with a portion of Nihilego's consciousness, Larry could control others freely.
This was Larry's plan: to use Nihilego's parasitic abilities to take control of the five people, turning them into his obedient slaves.
Under Nihilego's control, five block-shaped objects of varying sizes merged into the bodies of several horrified onlookers.
The difference in size was no accident. The stronger the creature, the more toxins were required.
Among them, the block attached to the man in the military uniform was the largest.
As each block split off, the tip of Nihilego's tentacle quickly regrew to replace what had been used.
Nihilego itself is a jellyfish-like creature with a remarkable self-healing ability.
Using its own aura, it can split into multiple smaller parts like this.
Originally, Nihilego could parasitize by embedding its entire body into a host, giving it the strongest control.
But now, it has evolved to achieve an even more terrifying effect.
In simple terms, Nihilego has three parasitic modes.
The first is whole-body parasitism, where it fully invades the host, granting maximum control.
The second is partial parasitism, the method currently being used on these five individuals.
This mode allows Nihilego to infiltrate part of the host's brain, controlling their thoughts with strong influence.
The third is toxin parasitism, which is less about control and more about injecting neurotoxins to manipulate the host to a limited degree.
However, this often causes the victim to lose control, sometimes resulting in mental breakdowns.
For controlling these five people, the second mode is clearly the best choice.
It requires only a small sacrifice but turns them into obedient slaves under Nihilego's command.
Truly, Nihilego lives up to its reputation as a parasitic Pokemon and, even more, as an Ultimate Beast.
The versatility of its abilities is impressive.
With Nihilego, Larry can effortlessly build a large army.
This power will become even more valuable once he ventures into the Dark Continent, where countless opportunities to use it will arise.
As the small pieces entered their bodies, the five individuals twitched simultaneously.
Countless neurotoxins quickly spread throughout their systems.
Their faces faintly glowed with a purple light, a clear sign of deep poisoning.
After a few moments, the purple glow faded, and their expressions calmed, as if nothing had happened.
But in reality, they were completely under control.
It was now Nihilego's consciousness pulling the strings.
Like a puppeteer, Nihilego used the neurotoxins as marionette strings, manipulating the five people as if they were nothing more than puppets.
Five powerful leaders, each governing one of the six continents, had all become puppets under Larry's control.
In reality, this meant that Larry was effectively commanding the entire V5 by himself.
From this point forward, any orders he gave would be treated as official commands from the V5.
Controlling these five figures proved to be the most efficient way to influence the six continents.
Although they were under his control, their outward appearances remained unchanged.
This was largely because Nihilego used an undetectable neurotoxin instead of manipulating their minds with aura, making it impossible for others to sense that these leaders had been compromised.
"Excellent," Larry said with satisfaction.
However, he hadn't anticipated just how valuable this trip would be.
Having these five leaders under his thumb wasn't just about power and wealth. It also granted him access to priceless memory tools and all the information related to the Dark Continent.
What intrigued him most right now was learning how they communicated with the mysterious [Gatekeeper].
The five leaders exchanged glances before the man in the suit spoke up.
"Communicating with the [Gatekeepers] is difficult. We usually contact them only once a year, or sometimes even less frequently. The main reason for these contacts is to have the [leader] guide the team. In fact, we reached out once recently to orchestrate the Chimera Ant incident."
He continued, "We use special items combined with the blessing of divine words to connect with them."
The explanation was vague, so Larry immediately asked for a demonstration.
The suited man nodded and said, "We use a special aura device that's split into five pieces, one for each of us."
As he spoke, all five leaders pulled out gray stones etched with strange patterns.
At first glance, they looked like ordinary stones, but Larry could sense a powerful aura radiating from them.
Working together, the five leaders merged the stones seamlessly into a single, perfectly round orb covered with intricate symbols.
It looked as if it had naturally formed that way.