I. The Interruption of Control
The training on Tenrou Island had been underway for three days. Goku had drastically improved his control, managing to concentrate a blow equivalent to a truck at full speed, without leaking Ki into the environment. Erza and Akiha were proud of his progress.
"Alright, Goku. Your Ki is now 99.99% contained. It's safe," Akiha declared, checking her Field Attenuator.
Just then, the air grew heavy. Not from Ki, but from a mechanical resonance. The sky above the island, far from blue, began to distort into a geometric pattern of green and red lines. It was a forced Rift, but this one didn't resemble magic. It was technological.
"That's not the same energy pattern as the purple nexus!" Akiha yelled, activating an energy shield around Erza.
"It's more organized! Someone is forcing a portal with precision!" said Erza, re-equipping her Flame Empress Armor as a precaution.
A robotic, distorted voice echoed from the Rift, carrying the sound of interdimensional static: "Anomaly detected. High mass-energy density object anchored to the region. Extraction initiated."
A metallic blue tractor beam shot out of the Rift. The beam wasn't just targeting Goku, but the entire Tenrou Island. The island's magical gravity inverted, and the three felt themselves violently drawn toward the portal.
"Damn it! It's not a magnet, it's an enhanced gravitational pull!" Akiha growled, trying to anchor her boots to the ground.
"Wow! What a fun way to travel!" Goku exclaimed, unconcerned, and used Instant Transmission to appear right in the center of the tractor beam, grabbing Erza and Akiha before they were torn apart.
The trio was absorbed by the Rift, and Tenrou Island returned to normal with a tremor.
II. A World of Neon and Steel
Unlike the chaotic acidity of the first Rift, the journey through this one was fast, cold, and silent. When the light returned, they were hundreds of meters in the air above a city that defied imagination.
It was a world of neon and steel, where black and silver skyscrapers towered above the clouds, connected by floating bridges of light. The atmosphere was charged with electrical energy, and the air smelled of hot metal and ozone.
"What... what place is this?" Erza was stunned. Magic didn't exist here, or at least, it wasn't the dominant energy.
"This is a world of Techno-Ascension," Akiha murmured, her eyes gleaming with scientific respect. "Power isn't based on aether or Ki, but on the precise manipulation of physical laws."
Goku grinned, feeling the energy in the air. "Looks fun! But it reminds me of a city Frieza destroyed!"
Suddenly, a combat alarm blared across the sky, and red neon began to flash on the buildings. From beneath them, a swarm of flying robots with plasma wings approached at high speed.
"Let's land!" Erza ordered. The three descended onto an abandoned landing platform on the roof of a skyscraper.
III. The Automaton Sentinel's Challenge
Before they could analyze their surroundings, an Automaton Sentinel over ten meters tall, armed with an electromagnetic railgun, landed in front of them. Its armor was thick and covered in bright red markings.
"Biological threat detected. Gamma-class anomalous energy. Neutralization protocol initiated," a metallic voice spoke from the robot.
"I'll handle it! Giant Armor!" Erza shouted, re-equipping and charging with her sword ready to cut through the metal.
Erza struck the robot's knee with all her might. Clang! The impact was like hitting a mountain. The metal barely dented.
"It's too tough! My magic is useless!" Erza said, backing away.
"Carbon-diamond shields! My sword won't do anything!" Akiha exclaimed. She tried to use her Aura of Light to glide and search for a weak spot, but the robot rotated at an impossible speed and fired its cannon.
Akiha was saved by Goku, who shoved her out of the line of fire. The plasma beam sliced the skyscraper in half, leaving a trail of molten metal.
"Wow, that's fast! And its armor is strong!" Goku charged with a punch, concentrating his Ki at a level slightly higher than what Erza had allowed on the island.
The punch impacted the robot's chest. The metal groaned, but the robot didn't budge. Instead, the impacted area glowed with an orange energy shield that absorbed the blow.
"Anti-Ki Shield activated. 98.7% absorption efficiency," the robot announced.
"What?! It's not working!" Goku was surprised. His pure strength had been useless.
IV. Kaguya: The Battlefield Engineer
Just as the Automaton Sentinel was preparing to fire another burst, a small, sleek fighter jet, painted sapphire blue, appeared, flying between the buildings. It didn't fire at the robot; it fired at the skyscraper's support cables.
The platform shook and began to tilt, sending the robot off balance.
From the ship, a cold, analytical female voice transmitted through Akiha's communicator (which immediately synced).
"Biological anomaly 1 and 2, and the massive energy subject. Stop fighting the T-900. It's not an enemy; it's a security sentinel."
The ship landed with a metallic screech. Out stepped a woman with long silver hair and piercing yellow eyes. She wore a tight flight suit with various engineering harnesses and tools hanging off it.
It was Kaguya Shirogane, a combat engineer and elite pilot of this world (a world where advanced technology is the sole defense).
"You! Who are you?" Erza demanded, pointing her sword.
Kaguya didn't even look at her. She went straight to the Sentinel, using a small device to instantly deactivate it. The robot powered down, and the Anti-Ki shield vanished.
"My name is Kaguya. And unlike you, I don't waste time fighting systems. My world is collapsing from dimensional incursions, and the energy signature you emitted drew the entire security fleet to you. You're lucky it wasn't them who found you first."
Kaguya turned to Goku, scanning him with her yellow eyes.
"You are the Saiyan, the Dimensional Engine. Your power is beautiful chaos; it cannot be calculated. Your magical armor is primitive but effective, and your interdimensional displacement technology is elegant but reckless," Kaguya said, referring to Erza and Akiha.
"Hey, it's not reckless, it's pure technique!" Akiha protested.
"Both your magic and your Ki are useless here against our absorption shields. You need a new strategy, and I need a Dimensional Engine to escape this planet before it's destroyed."
V. A New Alliance: Ki vs. Technology
Kaguya pointed to the sky, where the Rift was opening again, and from it emerged more combat ships, this time not sentinels, but hostile alien forces seeking the chaos of Kaguya's world.
"They want the power of this planet's Techno-Core. The invaders are here, and they're using technology that neutralizes pure energy like yours," Kaguya urgently explained. "My ship is the only way out. If you help me take the core to a safe location, I will take you to another world."
Erza looked at the futuristic girl, then at Akiha, who nodded.
"Looks like we have to adapt. Goku, your punches don't work. What do you have to say?" Erza asked.
Goku didn't look frustrated, but excited. "This is great! A fight where my strength doesn't work! I need to use my brain! Hey, Kaguya, is that thing tough on the back?"
"Its weak spot is the main circuit box, which is at the base of the spine. Impossible to reach," Kaguya replied.
Goku smiled. "I can do it! Instant Transmission to the circuit! But I need you to distract them!"
The three women looked at each other. Erza re-equipped her Purgatory Armor, Akiha activated her Aura of Light, and Kaguya boarded her ship. The team, now complete with Erza's precision, Akiha's dimensional strategy, and Kaguya's technological cunning, would face their first joint challenge.
Goku's journey through the interconnected worlds had just taken a futuristic turn.