With a sharp whoosh, Broly shot forward, instantly closing the distance with Champa and appearing right in front of him.
Their fists crashed together with a thunderous bang, and a terrifying shockwave burst outward from the point of impact, tearing through space.
In an instant, the aftershocks shattered hundreds of nearby planets.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
The next moment, the two of them launched into a fierce clash in the void of space. For a while, they were actually dead even, trading blows on equal footing.
Off to the side, Bardock was completely stunned.
So when Broly was fighting me… was he holding back the whole time?
Is this the true power of a God of Destruction?
…
Beerus's planet.
"Ha ha… hahahahaha…"
Wild laughter suddenly echoed from within Beerus's castle.
Whis and the Oracle Fish both stopped and looked toward the castle.
"Beerus-sama woke up?" Oracle Fish asked.
"No, not yet." Whis shook his head and lifted his staff, gazing carefully into the crystal orb at its tip.
"Then what's he laughing at?" The Oracle Fish was puzzled. "Did he dream about eating something delicious?"
"Ahh, he probably sensed in his dream that someone was helping him destroy a lot of planets, so he almost laughed himself awake." Whis sighed softly.
"Helping him destroy a lot of planets?" Oracle Fish was still confused. "What happened?"
"At the border region between Universe 7 and the Null Realm, Champa-sama is currently fighting Broly-sama. The aftershocks of their battle have already wiped out quite a few planets." Whis explained with a smile.
"Broly? That Broly who wiped out two Gods of Destruction?" Oracle Fish sucked in a cold breath, his voice shooting up several pitches.
Whis nodded calmly.
Whis had already told Oracle Fish about Broly's battle with Mosco and Sidra.
And Oracle Fish himself had more or less foretold what was going to happen back then.
That was why he was so shocked now.
"So that means… Champa-sama is in danger…" Oracle Fish wiped at his face, his fishy features twisting into a look of horror.
"It shouldn't be too bad. Broly-sama's killing intent has been steadily fading. He's probably just playing around." Whis mused.
"Champa-sama still doesn't know Broly-sama wiped out two Gods of Destruction, right?" Oracle Fish asked.
"He shouldn't know. If he did, with Champa-sama's personality, he'd probably turn around and run immediately." Whis replied with an easy smile, utterly unbothered.
"That does sound like him." Oracle Fish nodded, then glanced again toward the castle. "Beerus-sama can really sleep through anything. His title as the number one God of Destruction in the universe is about to get stolen, and he's still sleeping like a baby, laughing no less… I really wonder, once Broly surpasses him, will he still be able to laugh that happily?"
"Ho ho ho… that's something Beerus-sama will have to worry about." Whis looked toward the castle, still smiling.
Just as they were talking, a pillar of purple-red flame suddenly shot out of the castle, streaking through the air and appearing beside Whis and Oracle Fish.
With a crack, the flame condensed and reshaped, turning into the figure of Beerus.
Oracle Fish froze for a moment, staring blankly at the manifested Beerus, then turned his head toward Whis, clearly wanting to ask what was going on.
"Ahh, that's just a virtual avatar Beerus-sama created in his sleep, shaped out of his dream itself." Whis said after a brief pause, giving the answer.
"What does that even mean?" Oracle Fish still didn't get it.
"How should I put it… It's like when you're asleep and you imagine a person—no, a fish—and you control that fish to do whatever you want." Whis explained.
"I usually imagine a female fish… and what she can do is unlock all sorts of new positions." Oracle Fish said shamelessly, blowing a bubble.
Whis: "…"
"You're a fish. What 'new positions' could you possibly have?" Whis was completely speechless.
"Fish have plenty of positions, okay?" Oracle Fish happily kept blowing bubbles.
"Ahh, ahh, we're getting off-track again." Whis said.
"Changing the subject again… Poor Beerus-sama really has no presence." Oracle Fish sighed along with him.
"Indeed, indeed…" Whis nodded.
"But seriously, what's he planning to do? Why manifest a body like that…" Oracle Fish looked curiously at Beerus's avatar, then leaned toward Whis and whispered, "Whis, look at him. That guy looks kinda dumb…"
"After all, it's a body controlled from within a dream. Whether it's strength or intelligence, it's probably, at best, one-thousandth of Beerus-sama's real self." Whis observed quietly, giving his analysis.
"One-thousandth… isn't that basically an idiot?" Oracle Fish wiped at his face again.
"More or less." Whis nodded.
"Hey, Beerus-sama, what's 385 + 1?" Oracle Fish suddenly asked.
Beerus's avatar thought about it for a full minute, then frowned and narrowed his eyes at Oracle Fish.
Bang!
The next moment, Beerus smacked Oracle Fish across the body with a heavy slap.
Oracle Fish flipped several times through the air and crashed to the ground, flopping and thrashing around.
"Oracle Fish, my IQ might only be at one-thousandth, but that doesn't mean I'm mentally disabled. I'm just a bit slow to react." Beerus snorted coldly, then stepped forward and grabbed Oracle Fish by the tail.
"I was wrong, Beerus-sama!" Oracle Fish begged for mercy at once.
"Smack, smack!"
Beerus gave him two more slaps across the face.
Oracle Fish screamed in pain.
"Ptui!"
Beerus spat into Oracle Fish's mouth.
Oracle Fish: "…"
Oracle Fish felt like his whole fish body was about to collapse.
"Hmph. You'd better behave yourself from now on. Otherwise, when I wake up, I'll boil you into soup." Beerus snorted, casually flung Oracle Fish aside, and then rose into the air. His figure turned back into purple-red flame and vanished at high speed.
Oracle Fish kept gagging, feeling like he was about to puke his gills out.
"Beerus! This isn't over between us!" Oracle Fish shouted angrily, totally disgusted.
"Oracle Fish, it's only gross in your head." Whis walked over to comfort him. "That wasn't the real Beerus-sama. It was just a body he manifested using his energy… and he didn't really spit anything. There was nothing there."
Oracle Fish thought about it carefully and realized Whis was right.
Yeah, that was just a body made of energy. How could it have spit?
"You can always pretend it was your favorite female fish." Whis suggested.
"That's still disgusting!" Oracle Fish yelled.
"Ahh, ahh… You don't kiss your female fish?" Whis asked curiously.
"How is that the same? How is that the same?" Oracle Fish demanded angrily.
"If you really can't let it go, you can always get payback…" Whis lowered his voice. "Beerus-sama's still asleep, isn't he?"
Oracle Fish's eyes went wide. He thought that sounded like a pretty good idea.
"My, my, how terribly rude." Whis covered his mouth, snickering quietly.
"But seriously, where did that manifested Beerus body go?" Oracle Fish looked up at the sky.
"He probably sensed some powerful presence and got itchy to fight." Whis replied, turning his gaze to the distant stars.
…
Universe 7, deep space.
Broly and Champa's battle was still raging on.
Their clash was only growing fiercer, explosions booming one after another and reverberating through this stretch of starry sky.
After about ten minutes of fighting, Broly was slightly on the back foot.
"Heh heh, how about it, Broly?" Champa looked at him with smug satisfaction, the grin on his face growing even brighter. "More than twenty years have passed, and your strength has indeed improved a lot, but compared to me, you've still got a long way to go."
Broly said nothing.
Bardock flew up, took a deep breath, and called out to Broly, "Let's fight side by side!"
Broly turned his head and glanced at Bardock, his expression calm as he replied with just two words. "No need."
"No need?" Bardock's sword-like brows lifted. "That guy is clearly stronger than you. If the two of us team up, we might actually stand a chance."
"Hahaha, Broly, what your fellow Saiyan said is right. Go ahead and team up. I still haven't gone all out yet. Ending the fight like this would be way too boring." Champa laughed loudly as he spoke.
Broly slowly lifted his left hand.
There was a watch strapped around his left wrist.
He pressed one of the buttons on the watch.
Mechanical sounds whirred.
In an instant, a layer of red battle armor materialized and locked onto Broly's body.
With a flash, the armor's glow shifted from red to dark green.
Champa's grin froze on his face.
"T-That armor… you're the one wearing it?" Champa's expression went from bad to worse.
Champa knew very well how terrifying that armor was.
The rumors said it could amplify the wearer's power by fiftyfold.
"Haven't used this in a long time. Feels nostalgic." Broly said, looking at Champa from within the dark green armor.
Far away.
"That armor is forged from refined cosmic essence, right?" Amarella's beautiful eyes sparkled as she quickly recognized it.
"Strictly speaking, it's battle armor refined from the son of Mule." Ken replied.
"And Bulma designed that armor style, right?" Amarella asked.
"Bulma and her father built it together." Ken nodded.
"That's really impressive." Amarella sighed.
The moment Broly finished equipping the armor, he suddenly received a strange signal.
"Hello, Ken, are you there?"
It was a cautious-sounding girl's voice.
Broly found the voice quite familiar.
"This is Broly. Is that Bulma?" Broly blinked in surprise and answered at once.
"Huh? I always thought the armor's comm system was broken… When you came back I kept meaning to ask, but I got busy and forgot. I didn't think the comm system still worked!" Bulma was both surprised and delighted, then a bit annoyed. "If it was working this whole time, why didn't you answer in the last few years?"
She might have said she never wanted to talk to Ken again.
But talk was talk; her actions said something else entirely.
Not even a few minutes had passed before she'd already found a way to contact him.
"Maybe we crossed universes, so the signal couldn't get through." Broly said, not entirely sure.
"So that means… you're in the same universe as me now?" Bulma asked.
"No, Ken and I are in Universe 7." Broly replied.
"Universe 7? I remember we're in Universe 6 now, right? I get it. The portal on Earth must be relaying the signal across… that's how the connection got established. That has to be it." Bulma muttered to herself.
Broly didn't really understand any of that, so he simply stopped talking.
"Were you looking for Ken?" he asked after a brief silence.
"No. I'm looking for you!" Bulma said.
"Wait a minute. Ken probably noticed." Broly said, then immediately hit the disconnect button.
Bulma: "…"
Ken had indeed heard Broly talking just now.
Bulma had called into his armor.
Ken, through the crystal orb of his staff, immediately established contact with Bulma on Earth in Universe 6.
"Hmph, gone without a word again!" Bulma pouted, clearly unhappy.
"Ahh, ahh, my apologies. Things happened a little suddenly, so I had to leave." Ken said.
"Don't… talk in that same tone as that blue Smurf, okay?" Bulma sniffed.
"I'm an angel now. Even if I don't sound like one, I do at least need to have that same calm heart." Ken explained.
"Where did you go? Broly said you're in Universe 7." Bulma asked.
"Yeah. I'm in Universe 7 right now, dealing with a few things." Ken replied. "So, what did you need from me?"
"I just wanted to ask… are you still using that armor?" Bulma asked.
"The armor?" Ken paused, then glanced from afar at Broly in the battle armor. "Yes. I gave it to Broly. He has more chances to use it than I do."
"Then forget it… I thought that now you've truly become an angel, you wouldn't need armor anymore. But if Broly's using it, then so be it." Bulma sighed.
"Did you need it for something?" Ken asked.
"I was planning to give Ai an upgrade." Bulma said thoughtfully.
"Back when Broly fought Mosco, he smashed Mosco into pieces and scattered the fragments all over space." Ken mused. "When I get the chance, I'll gather those fragments. They should be good enough to upgrade Ai, right?"
"Mosco? He was also refined from cosmic essence?" Bulma's eyes lit up with excitement.
"That's right." Ken said.
"That's amazing!" Bulma nodded eagerly.
"All right. Once I'm back, I'll hand all those fragments over to you." Ken promised.
"W-When are you coming back?" Bulma asked, a bit hopeful.
"Hard to say for now, but it shouldn't be too long." Ken replied with a smile. "Oh, right. I left a communicator on your bedside table. If you miss me, you can use it to reach me."
"Who misses you? I don't!" Bulma's fair face stiffened for a moment, a flicker of emotion flashing in her bright eyes, but she still huffed out loud.
"Then I'll leave it at that." Ken ended the call.
Bulma happily skipped back toward her room.
Sure enough, she found a communicator sitting on the bedside table in her bedroom.
It looked very similar to the one she used to talk to her sister.
"Bulma, Ken really does care about you." Ai floated over, the light on her "head" flickering.
At the same time, Ai's voice had become that of a mature, intelligent woman. She was no longer the little girl she used to sound like.
"Ai, once Ken brings those materials back, I'll give your body a massive upgrade." Bulma said, gently patting Ai's head.
"Thank you, Bulma." Ai's glowing chassis pulsed with anticipation.
…
Universe 7, deep space.
"What are you mumbling about?" Champa snorted. "Are you talking to Ken? So what if you contact him? He's probably all the way over in Universe 18. It'd take ages for him to get here!"
With a roar, purple-red light burst from Champa's body, his power surging to its limit.
"Don't think that just because you put on some armor, you can beat me!" Champa's words were tough, but his expression was deadly serious.
He knew exactly how powerful that armor was.
Off to the side, Bardock was completely dumbfounded.
When did this turn into a robot battle?
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Champa and Broly collided again in the depths of space, trading furious blows.
Broly's base power had risen significantly, and the armor naturally scaled up with him as well.
But armor still had an upper limit.
And its upper limit was the power of a God of Destruction.
So if Broly wanted to easily crush Champa using the armor alone, that was still a bit difficult.
Of course, Broly was just playing around, deliberately burning through Champa's energy.
Sure enough, after more than ten minutes of fighting, Champa suddenly felt a bad premonition.
Why does it feel like this guy is stalling for time?
What's he planning?
I get it. He's waiting for Ken to show up and heal him.
With a sudden roar, Champa slammed his palm into Broly's chest.
The mechanical armor on Broly's chest flared with light and shrugged off the blow unharmed.
Champa, however, used the impact to launch himself backward.
"Hmph, I just remembered I have something very important to do. I'm done playing with you today." Champa snorted, and immediately turned to flee.
Broly: "…"
Should I transform into Legendary Super Saiyan Two and go drag him back for a proper beating?
Just as Broly was thinking that—
A purple-red streak of light whistled toward them from the distance, instantly arriving beside him.
When Ken saw who it was, he was also a little surprised, and he looked over with considerable interest.
But he very quickly noticed something was off.
"Is that Beerus? Why does he look so… insubstantial?" Ken muttered. As he spoke, he immediately lifted his staff and scanned Beerus's body with the crystal orb.
It didn't take long for him to figure it out.
"That's not his real body." Ken said to Amarella.
"Beerus-sama is still asleep, right? Then that makes sense. That's a body he manifested using his destructive energy." Amarella replied.
"I see it now." Ken nodded.
Broly's face shifted slightly when he saw Beerus suddenly appear.
He had never met Beerus before, but he'd heard the name enough times from Ken and the other Gods of Destruction.
This was Champa's brother.
Sure enough, when Champa turned and saw Beerus, he was so overwhelmed that tears almost welled up in his eyes.
"Beerus! You finally woke up!" Champa shouted excitedly. "You can really sleep! Do you even realize how many years you've been out?"
Beerus said nothing. He glanced at Champa, then at Broly and Bardock.
He stayed silent for a good ten seconds.
"So it's you, Champa." Beerus finally said.
Champa: "????"
"No kidding, who else would it be? Hey, why do you seem like you're a beat slow?" Champa frowned. Something felt off.
"And who are those two?" Beerus asked.
"The one in the armor is Broly. And the other one is…" Champa didn't know Bardock, so he raised his voice and yelled, "Hey, who are you?"
"I'm Bardock, Super Saiyan God!" Bardock replied.
"Super Saiyan God?" Beerus narrowed his eyes. "A long name doesn't mean you're strong."
"Broly, let me handle that skinny cat." Bardock suddenly got fired up.
Broly: "…"
You couldn't even beat Champa. What makes you think you can take Beerus?
Still, Broly didn't stop him.
If he wanted to become a God of Destruction, he'd have to eat a few hard knocks sooner or later.
Only once Bardock grew stronger could he eventually take over the God of Destruction position for him.
That way, Broly wouldn't have to be separated from Ken.
Broly gave a slight nod, trusting Ken to step in and save Bardock if things got really dangerous.
After all, Bardock was their best candidate for a future God of Destruction.
"Be careful." Broly reminded him.
"Hey, skinny cat, your opponent is me." Bardock waved Beerus over.
Beerus didn't even look at him. He kept his narrowed eyes fixed on Champa.
Under that gaze, Champa started to feel a little creeped out. He forced a dry laugh and asked, "Beerus, what's with that look?"
"What are you doing in my Universe 7?" Beerus snapped. "You weren't trying to steal our good food again, were you?"
"Don't start! You think Universe 6 doesn't have anything tasty? I was just taking a little stroll!" Champa said, though he sounded a bit guilty.
"So, you've been fighting those two mortals?" Beerus snorted. "I could sense a battle from far away."
Champa didn't answer.
"It's been a long time since I stretched my legs. I'll have some fun with them too." Beerus chuckled softly, and in the next instant appeared right in front of Bardock.
Bardock didn't dare be careless. Red ki flared across his body.
Crackling red lightning danced over his skin, crawling across his entire body.
"Oh? Interesting transformation." Beerus said with mild surprise, then beckoned Bardock over.
"Then I won't hold back!" Bardock shouted, driving his fist forward in a heavy punch that slammed into Beerus's gut.
Beerus coughed out a mouthful of destructive energy. The purple-red energy burst apart the moment it left his mouth.
Bardock blinked.
Was that supposed to be blood?
"Bang!"
Before he could think about it too much, Bardock drove a kick into the side of Beerus's head.
Beerus again opened his mouth, spraying another ball of purple-red destructive energy.
Bardock flashed behind him in a blur and drove a kick into his back.
Beerus pitched forward, tumbling through space.
Bardock stayed on him, following up with a relentless flurry of attacks.
For a moment, Beerus was completely on the defensive, staggering backward under the assault, looking downright battered.
Broly was stunned.
Bardock's this strong?
Wasn't Beerus supposed to be the strongest God of Destruction?
Why is he going down so easily?
Champa's eyes were wide, his face full of disbelief.
"Hey, Beerus, what are you playing at?" Champa yelled.
But he was still a God of Destruction. It didn't take him long to realize what was going on.
"So it's just a body made from destructive energy… no wonder he's so weak." Champa gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Champa, let's continue." Broly's voice came, and the weight in his chest eased a little.
"I suddenly remembered I forgot to turn off the air conditioner when I left home." Champa said quickly.
Broly: "????"
"I have to go back and turn it off. My AC is 200 horsepower… guzzles electricity. Once I turn it on, the meter spins faster than a fan. We'll have a proper rematch next time." Champa snorted, purple-red ki blazing around him as he turned and bolted.
Broly was speechless.
Couldn't he have come up with a better excuse?
You're a God of Destruction. You really care about your electric bill?
Broly hesitated for a moment, then ultimately didn't chase him.
Truthfully, he didn't hold much real hatred toward Champa.
And Broly knew that back then, Champa hadn't really gone all-out on him. He'd definitely held back.
Otherwise, with the strength he had back then, he had no doubt Champa could have beaten him to death.
If anything, Champa had been the one to suffer the bigger loss in that old fight.
That was why Broly hadn't gone all out against him this time either.
"Just you wait, I'll be back!" Champa shouted once he'd put some distance between them.
Broly: "…"
If you're going to run, just run. Why toss out threats on the way out?
With a sharp whoosh, Broly, who had originally planned not to pursue, changed his mind the moment Champa started talking big. He turned into a streak of dark green light and shot after him.
Champa's face changed color when he saw Broly chasing him.
"Time out!" Champa suddenly stopped and raised a hand in a "pause" gesture.
Broly gradually came to a halt.
"Broly, if you've got any guts, take off that armor and fight me!" Champa snorted. "Wearing armor doesn't count as real skill!"
Broly pressed a button inside the armor.
Mechanical sounds echoed again.
The battle armor retracted in an instant, collapsing back into the watch and returning to its previous form.
(End of chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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