"Still… when you dealt with Demon King Piccolo just now…"
Master Roshi patted Broly's rock-solid shoulder. He tried to regain a little dignity as an elder and mentor.
"You must have used your full strength, right? Yes… that must be it. After all, the opponent was Demon King Piccolo!"
"Uh… no," Broly said casually, shaking his head.
His expression was completely natural, as if stating something obvious.
"At first I only planned to use about one ten-thousandth of my power to test him."
"But the moment I touched him, he felt really fragile, like he might fall apart any second."
"So halfway through I quickly pulled back more than ninety percent of that power."
"To be honest… I barely used any strength at all."
Roshi: "..."
Master Roshi's face instantly turned darker than the bottom of a cooking pot.
The veins on his forehead began twitching again.
You brat!
Can you stop saying nonsense with such a serious face?!
One ten-thousandth… and then only one tenth of that…
And that killed Demon King Piccolo?!
Do you think you're in a science fiction movie?!
This joke wasn't funny.
Not funny at all.
Roshi felt like his intelligence and worldview had been completely destroyed today.
Back to the Dragon Balls
"Old man, why are you still standing there?" Broly asked lazily, patting Roshi's shoulder.
"Aren't we here to collect the Dragon Balls? If we wait any longer, it'll get dark."
Roshi: "..."
His mouth twitched slightly.
He looked at Broly with an extremely complicated expression.
Then he chose silence.
After all, the ultimate purpose of gathering the Dragon Balls was to defeat Demon King Piccolo and save the world.
But now…
That goal had already been accomplished by the glutton he raised since childhood.
And it had been done in such a casual way.
For Roshi, the heroic determination he had prepared earlier now felt like a completely unnecessary drama.
Just as Roshi was lost in these mixed emotions—
A shiny bald head suddenly appeared in his imagination.
Krillin seemed to poke his head out of Roshi's mind, pointing at his nonexistent nose.
What about me, Master Roshi?!
Aren't you going to revive me?!
"Ah!" Roshi suddenly slapped his forehead.
"That's right! We must revive Krillin and Goku!"
"I almost forgot the most important thing!"
The Problem With Piccolo
"But didn't Demon King Piccolo swallow the Dragon Balls earlier?" Broly said thoughtfully.
He rubbed his greasy fingers on his chin.
His brows slightly furrowed.
"Looks like we'll have to… dissect him."
He sighed.
"That's too cruel."
"Just imagining it might make me lose my appetite."
As he said this—
Broly casually pulled out another shiny chicken drumstick.
Then he began chewing loudly.
Roshi quietly wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
You call this losing your appetite?!
You're eating better than ever!
"Forget it," Roshi said helplessly.
"I'll handle the dirty work."
He glared at Broly and started walking toward Piccolo's corpse to retrieve the Dragon Balls.
The Explosion
But just as Roshi took his first step—
"BOOOOM!!"
A thunderous explosion suddenly erupted in the distance.
The ground trembled slightly.
A powerful energy burst from the location where Piccolo's corpse had fallen.
A massive blast wave rolled across the land, carrying dust and rocks toward Roshi and Broly.
"Watch out!" Roshi shouted.
Instinctively, he rushed forward and stood in front of Broly.
He crossed his arms, ready to block the shockwave.
However—
"Grab!"
A strong hand suddenly seized Roshi's collar from behind.
In one easy motion, Broly pulled him backward.
Roshi was dragged behind him.
Broly still held his half-eaten chicken leg in his other hand.
Facing the approaching shockwave—
Broly didn't even change his posture.
He simply stood there.
Like a massive rock standing against the ocean.
The shockwave slammed into him.
His black hair flew backward in the wind.
His clothes fluttered violently.
But Broly didn't move an inch.
He didn't even stop chewing.
Roshi stumbled slightly after being pulled back.
Then he looked at Broly's mountain-like back and suddenly slapped his forehead.
I'm such an old fool.
This kid can casually kill Demon King Piccolo.
Why would he care about a tiny shockwave like this?
And I tried to protect him…
How embarrassing.
Something's Wrong
"What happened?" Broly finished the chicken drumstick and tossed the bone aside.
He blinked curiously toward the explosion site.
"That explosion came from where Piccolo's body was," Roshi said seriously.
"Could it be… he's not completely dead?"
"Or maybe he left some kind of trap behind?"
Broly's eyes immediately lit up.
"That's great!"
"I didn't even enjoy the fight earlier."
"It felt like it ended before it even started."
He rubbed his greasy hands excitedly.
Roshi's mouth twitched again.
He said nothing.
Instead, he silently mourned Demon King Piccolo for one second in his heart.
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