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First update of the day
When Broly finished his little warm-up, Fortuneteller Baba just nodded, saying nothing.
"Come out! Bat Man!" she suddenly shouted.
The moment her voice echoed, a lone bat swooped down from the sky. With a soft pop, it transformed into a skinny, shriveled humanoid figure—basically a mummy that hadn't been properly wrapped. But yes… technically still human-shaped.
"Begin," Baba ordered.
Broly didn't feel like wasting time. The second Baba spoke, his figure blurred and vanished. Another boom blasted across the surface of the lake, throwing up a splash. When the water settled, Bat Man had completely disappeared, replaced by Broly standing exactly where the creature had been.
Baba's face froze. Even her brain stalled for a moment.
"You—you're already this strong, so why would you still—"
"I'm only here to find a trigger to get even stronger. Nothing else. Let's move to the next round," Broly cut her off cleanly.
And he proved exactly what "clean and efficient" looked like. Two punches, two knockouts. One for the Invisible Man, one for the Mummy.
Invisible Man was pointless. Against someone who can sense ki, invisible or not doesn't matter. As for the Mummy, Broly didn't even let him say a single word; he blasted him straight into the wall surrounding the arena.
"Husky, where's this surprise you talked about? Only two left. If it doesn't show up soon I'm clearing this whole place!" Broly yelled inwardly.
"Relax, boss. The surprise is in the next round," Husky replied, perfectly calm.
"The next one? Don't tell me… that demon guy?"
"Yep. Demon Man himself!"
Broly frowned, trying to remember. Nothing special came to mind.
Wait—there was one thing.
That beam.
The Demon Ray.
According to legend, anyone hit by the Demon Ray starts awakening all the darkest thoughts buried in their heart. Those negative emotions keep growing nonstop, swelling the victim's body until they blow up like a balloon.
So this was the "surprise"?
"That's right, boss. This is a massive opportunity. All you need to do is tank a few shots. Leave the rest to me," Husky said, sounding like he already knew exactly what Broly would ask.
Broly imagined himself getting hit, feeling his hatred and anger explode out of control… and immediately cut the thought short. That mental picture was not something he wanted to see.
"What the hell!? I'm not Son Goku, okay? I'm not some emotionless saint with a pure heart! And you want me to tank the Demon Ray? And not just once?! You little—
Broly's rant didn't stop for a full minute.
"Boss, listen! You and I are one now. I'd never screw you over. Trust me—handled properly, the Demon Ray can become a cheat-level upgrade," Husky said, first pitiful, then increasingly excited.
"…Really?" Broly stared suspiciously, trying to find any hint of deception.
After the system fully activated its point-collection feature, Husky could finally manifest visually in Broly's mind. Sadly, Broly kind of regretted naming it Husky.
Because it looked… absolutely nothing like a husky.
A big, floating, chubby, round… panda-colored ball. No limbs. No face. No body parts. Just a squishy black-and-white sphere like some oversized sea creature plushie.
Cute. Fat. Round. Soft. Warm—no, stop thinking about that!
With Husky's reassurance, Broly relaxed. When Demon Man finally stepped onto the field, Broly didn't immediately erase him. Instead, he pretended to suppress him through overwhelming strength while trash-talking nonstop, provoking him as hard as possible.
All so Demon Man would fire the Demon Ray.
And Demon Man did not disappoint. Being unable to land a single hit while Broly insulted his entire ancestry was too much. Unlike the original story, he didn't waste time giving monologues.
"You brat, stop dodging! If you can take this next attack without dying, I'll… I'll pee backwards forever!" Demon Man howled, completely losing his mind. It probably didn't even register what a ridiculous promise he'd just made.
"Sure, you said it. I won't dodge. Go ahead," Broly replied, acting like he'd been successfully provoked while grinning on the inside. Finally. Finally.
"Hahahaha! Go die!" Demon Man roared, firing a red beam straight at Broly.
"Kid, move! That'll kill you!" Baba suddenly shouted. This boy had paid for her help—and he was her brother's most talented student. She couldn't just stand there and watch him explode.
"It's fine, Baba. I wouldn't take it head-on if I wasn't confident," Broly answered with a tiny hint of gratitude.
The red light swallowed him.
Negative emotions—hatred, rage, bloodlust—surged wildly in his chest.
But then… deep inside him, unseen by anyone else, a soft white glow appeared. It formed into a massive net, wrapped around the Demon Ray, and pulled it down to settle near his heart. There it kept stimulating Broly's negative emotions, converting them into black energy.
Then part of the white net stretched into a hollow white chain leading to the mysterious Dragon Ball-shaped system in Broly's mind. A moment later, another hollow white chain extended back from the system into a spot within Broly's body.
Black energy flowed through the first chain into the system, thick as a little finger. Meanwhile, the chain leading into Broly's body delivered faint, grayish energy—just a hair's width at first, barely noticeable.
Outside, Broly looked completely unaffected.
Demon Man, unconvinced, fired two more Demon Rays in a row.
When the red light faded, Broly still stood exactly where he had been.
Those two beams were also captured and fused by the white net. And now, the gray energy flowing into Broly's body had thickened to the size of a sewing needle.
"....."