"Hey, hey, hey! Long time no see, everyone! How have you all been lately? Ah, no need to answer — I can already see it for myself!"
Even before his eyelids had fully opened, Charlie already recognized the owner of that voice.
Gaia.
The boss of the Saviors across the various Planar Worlds.
*(So, we've been summoned to the Sanctuary Void?)*
With that thought, Charlie slowly opened his eyes, and the first sight that greeted him was two girls of unparalleled beauty. Their beauty transcended the logic of the mortal world — it even made the goddesses of the Danmachi World look like ordinary humans by comparison.
Gaia and Alaya.
Both were so breathtaking that it felt as though the very concept of beauty had been created solely to describe their existence.
Charlie glanced around. Sure enough, he was in the Sanctuary Void — a place separated from the flow of time in any multiverse.
At the center of the room stood a large round table, surrounded by chairs bearing Roman numerals. Charlie sat in the chair marked V.
Of the ten chairs present, only chair VII appeared empty — a reminder of the comrade who had perished during a Quest.
"Is it just me, or did they summon us faster than usual this time?" From chair IX, Frank voiced the doubt that the others shared as well. "Normally there's an interval of several weeks between one summons and the next."
Several other Saviors nodded in agreement. Confusion and bewilderment were written plainly across their faces.
"This is not a Quest." Alaya spoke for the first time. Her voice was cold and indifferent, like a winter wind blowing across a snowfield.
The Saviors exchanged glances.
Gaia took over before the Saviors could ask further questions.
"This is a special occasion. I've given it the name — Barter of a Thousand Realms!"
"As you've experienced for yourselves, Quest difficulty has been growing harder and more challenging with each passing day. The fact that only one Savior has died so far owes largely to luck playing a significant role. Not that I'm underestimating you — but that is the truth."
Pausing for a moment, Gaia looked at each of the Saviors present, one by one.
"Just look at the Saviors from two cycles before you. Their power templates were far superior. Some possessed the strength of Goku, Vegeta, Gilgamesh, Sakamaki Izayoi, Saiki Kusuo, even Saitama — individuals who were theoretically 'OP' even in other Planar Worlds. And yet in the end? They were all slaughtered by the Abyssal Devourer."
Those names echoed through the Sanctuary Void. Even Charlie was taken aback.
Alaya gave a slight nod, offering a concrete example that made the Saviors' skin crawl.
"For instance, there was a Savior named Lin Fan. He possessed the Son Goku template. Yet he died in a rather pathetic manner at the hands of an Abyssal Devourer of the Parasite Type."
"His enemy took control of a beautiful woman's body to seduce and sleep with him. When Lin Fan let his guard down after their tryst, the woman injected a lethal disease into his bloodstream."
"As you may know, while the Saiyan Race possesses extraordinary growth potential within the Dragon Ball universe, they are vulnerable to internal illness. The heart, viruses, cells — all of these can kill them."
"That's true." From chair II, Kazuya nodded quickly. As a die-hard Dragon Ball fan, he recalled that detail with perfect clarity. "In the original story, Goku once died from a heart disease. If not for Future Trunks arriving with medicine from the future, Goku would have been dead even before the Cell Games began."
Alaya stared at Kazuya blankly before dropping a bombshell.
"At that time, Lin Fan was one of our finest Saviors. He had even managed to break through his limits and transform into Super Saiyan Five."
"Unfortunately, he was a lecherous man, far too obsessed with women. After reincarnating in the Planar World of Isekai Smartphone, he stole all the heroines from the original protagonist, slaughtered the gods in heaven simply because they protected that protagonist, and in the end... combat power as formidable as that died because he fell into the trap of his own lust."
"..."
Silence blanketed the Sanctuary Void.
"Wait — Super Saiyan Five?!" Oscar in chair VIII cried out in shock, nearly leaping from his seat. "Does that stage actually exist? Isn't the highest limit Super Saiyan Four? After that it's Super Saiyan God, isn't it?"
Oscar wasn't the only one startled. Kazuya's jaw dropped wide open, Frank furrowed his brow deeply, and Charlie himself felt his eyebrows rise.
"Super Saiyan Five?" Kazuya repeated, his voice wavering between disbelief and excitement. "That... that has never appeared in any canon! Even in the games, Super Saiyan Four is the absolute ceiling!"
"That transformation exists." Gaia replied, letting out a long sigh. "Lin Fan managed to dig deeper into the potential of the Saiyan bloodline than anyone before him, reaching a transformation that no one else had ever achieved — and may never achieve again."
"What a shame. He was simply too fond of chasing women. His obsession with them was his greatest weakness. And the enemy exploited that fact to finish him off."
Hearing this, the female Saviors — Nadia in chair I, Claire in chair IV, and Elena in chair X — simultaneously displayed expressions of disgust toward the figure of Lin Fan.
"Haah... What a waste... Truly, he brings shame to the name of China."
In chair VI, Wang Jian felt humiliated by the depravity of his fellow countryman.
Gaia let them react for a brief moment before returning to the main topic.
"But enough about Lin Fan." Her cheerful clap redirected everyone's attention. "Now, let's focus on the reason for this summons."
"The Barter of a Thousand Realms has been prepared. This is a platform for you to exchange items, techniques, or knowledge from your worlds of origin with the Planar Worlds where other Saviors have reincarnated."
"The goal is singular — to accelerate your collective growth, so that none of you end up like Lin Fan."
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