"Enough with the small talk."
Champa walked over to Gran, slinging an arm around his shoulder with a forced familiarity. "You didn't come all this way just to be polite. Out with it—what are you really up to?"
Champa still felt he owed Gran a favor after the recent God of Destruction Candidate Battle Royale. If Gran needed something, Champa wasn't in a position to refuse.
"Lord Champa, I've actually come to borrow something," Gran said, cutting straight to the chase.
"Borrow what?" Champa and Vados exchanged a look of confusion.
"I want to use the Super Dragon Balls from this universe."
"The Super Dragon Balls?" Champa and Vados blurted out in unison, turning sharply toward him. "What kind of wish are you planning to make?"
They were immediately concerned that Gran might be looking for a shortcut to increase his power. If he used a wish to bolster his martial arts, it could permanently stunt his natural growth and ruin his future as a deity.
"It's for Broly," Gran explained. "You've seen his condition. I want to use the Super Dragon Balls to solve his stability issues permanently."
Hearing this, both Champa and Vados let out a visible sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't Gran taking a shortcut, it was fine.
"That Broly kid's talent is terrifying as it is," Champa said, letting go of Gran's shoulder. "But he's not like you. If he wants to use a wish to fix himself, let him. It doesn't really matter."
He waved a hand dismissively. "Fine, go ahead and use them. It's not like they'll stay gone—they'll scatter back throughout Universe 6 once you're done anyway."
He turned his head away, crossing his arms and huffing. "Keep in mind, you're the only one I'd ever let borrow them. If it were anyone else, I'd tell them to get lost."
"Oh? Even if Lord Beerus asked?" Gran teased.
"That bag of skin and bones?" Champa's neck retracted into his shoulders for a second before he snorted. "Never!"
Vados rolled her eyes. Champa only acted this tough because Beerus wasn't standing right in front of him. Gran and Whis both burst into laughter; the sibling dynamic between the two Destroyers was always a comedy.
Inside the tenth floor of the Tower of Dimensions, the mood was light for everyone—except for Rozu and Hit, who were still howling in agony as they underwent their training.
However, Whis suddenly broke the silence. "Sister, before Gran and I arrived here, we encountered a Magic Beast."
Vados looked puzzled. "A Magic Beast? We've seen those before. Why are you two making such a big deal out of it?"
Champa nodded in agreement, not seeing the issue.
"You haven't heard? In the six months you've been inside this tower, two separate Magic Beast incidents have occurred in Universe 6 alone," Gran added, recounting his encounter in Universe 7 and his conversation with Jim.
The atmosphere in the tower turned chillingly quiet.
"I've been stuck in this tower for half a year, so I haven't kept up with the news," Champa said, rubbing his chin. "But those things are usually weak and mindless. Is it really something to worry about?"
"Actually, yes," Vados said, her brow furrowing. "Magic Beasts usually only appear once every million years or so. For them to pop up this frequently... it is quite strange."
"Sister, do you have any theories?" Whis asked.
"A few, but nothing I can confirm yet."
Whis narrowed his eyes. He clearly had his own suspicions, and they likely aligned with his sister's. Seeing the two Angels speaking in riddles, Gran realized they weren't going to give him a straight answer. He lapsed into silence, lost in his own thoughts.
For a while, the only sound in the room was the pained screaming of Rozu and Hit. Finally, Champa snapped. He turned and roared at the two candidates:
"Can you two show a little backbone?! If you can't handle this tiny bit of pain, how do you expect to evolve your dimension and extend your lifespans?"
Gran snapped out of his trance and looked at the pair. By his estimation, their divine dimension had reached a level roughly equivalent to Korin back on Earth—nowhere near the level of a Guardian yet.
But considering it had only been six months, reaching that level was actually impressive. That level of divine evolution would grant them roughly another thousand years of life, effectively negating the time they had shaved off their lifespans in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
"Lord Champa, do you plan on training them both as full God of Destruction Candidates?" Gran asked.
"Rozu, yes. Hit, no," Champa replied, folding his arms. "Grand Zen-Oh called that battle royale out of nowhere; we have no idea if he'll hold more competitions in the future. I need Rozu ready. Of course, if a genius like you shows up, Rozu is getting the boot immediately."
"As for Hit, he's a pure assassin. He's a genius in his own field, but he doesn't have the temperament or potential to be a Destroyer. I'm just here to help him recover the lifespan he lost in the Room of Spirit and Time."
"I see," Gran nodded. He knew Hit and Champa had made that deal previously.
"Gran, it's time to gather the Super Wish Orbs," Whis said, patting Gran on the shoulder.
Gran looked at Whis, then at Vados. A moment ago, they were deeply troubled by the Magic Beasts, and now they were perfectly expressionless again. Angels were truly impossible to read.
"Go on then. I'll stay here and keep an eye on these two," Champa said with a wave of his hand.
"Alright. Once I've gathered all the Super Dragon Balls in Universe 6, I'll come back for you, Lord Champa. We can all watch the summoning of the Super Shenron together."
With that, Gran and Whis headed toward the exit. But before they left, Whis sent a telepathic message to Vados: When I have time, I will go to Father to confirm my suspicions.
Gran and Champa were none the wiser. Once the two had vanished from sight, Hit and Rozu crawled over to Champa, trembling from the exertion.
"Lord... Lord Champa," Rozu wheezed. "Was Lord Gran born as a god, or did he train to get that way?"
"Only Shinjin are born as gods. Gran reached his divine dimension through pure training," Champa recalled when Gran was just a kid. Back then, he was already at the peak of King Kai's dimension. Who could have guessed he would reach the peak of a God's dimension in just eight years?
"What?" Hit's veins were bulging from the pressure of the tenth floor. "How is that possible? Just staying on the tenth floor is agony. If I stepped onto the 100th floor, wouldn't my very will be erased?"
Rozu looked at Champa in shock.
"The 100th floor?!" Champa snorted. "When I first reached the 100th floor, it took me tens of millions of years of effort! You kids have some nerve even thinking about it!"
The revelation hit them like a lightning bolt. "Then how did Lord Gran reach it at his age?" they asked in unison.
Champa looked like a deflated balloon. "Him? He's a freak of nature. Don't even bother comparing yourselves to him!"
Vados giggled into her hand at Champa's frustration. But thinking back to Whis's parting words, her expression grew heavy once more.
Gran and Whis emerged from the Tower of Dimensions to find Broly waiting for them. "Let's go," Gran said. "Time to finish the collection."
Broly nodded, his eyes bright with excitement. With the Super Dragon Ball Radar, the task was supposed to be simple. They stepped out of the palace and back into the vacuum of space.
However, the three Super Dragon Balls that had been floating outside the Destroyer's planet were gone.
"Huh?" Broly looked around frantically. "Big Brother Gran! Our Super Dragon Balls are missing!!"
Gran didn't panic like Broly. Those orbs were the size of planets; you don't just "lose" them outside a Destroyer's world. They hadn't drifted away.
Someone had stolen them.
"The audacity," Gran said, his voice cold. "Someone actually dared to steal from me."
As if reacting to his shifting aura, Universe 6 began to tremble. A storm was brewing.
"Gran, get the radar. They can't have gone far," Whis said. He was surprised, but calm.
Gran pulled out a Capsule, clicked it, and the Super Dragon Ball Radar appeared in his hand. He checked the screen. Seven dots appeared. Five of them were clustered together, moving rapidly toward the edge of Universe 6.
"Well, well. They managed to find two more on their own. Let's go!"
Broly and Whis placed their hands on Gran's shoulders. Gran pressed two fingers to his forehead. Zip. They vanished instantly.
At that moment, a Transport Cube was hurtling toward the edge of the universe.
"Hahahaha!!"
"I thought Champa might have a hobby of collecting Super Wish Orbs, but I didn't expect to find three of them just sitting outside his front door!"
"It was like taking candy from a baby! Hahahaha!"
"I have five now. Logically, there shouldn't be any more left in Universe 6, which means the last two must be in Universe 7!"
"We have to move before Champa notices, while Beerus is still asleep, and while that brat Gran is distracted in Universe 6! We're heading to Universe 7 immediately!!"
"Hahaha! I'll finally be able to heal my injuries. Gran, you're a dead man!!"
Quitela was cackling inside the Cube. He had assumed the three balls outside Champa's palace were part of Champa's personal collection. He had no idea they belonged to Gran.
The Angel, Cognac, was somewhat surprised. Is Quitela actually going to pull this off? Is he really going to summon the Super Shenron?
Suddenly, Cognac's expression changed. The Transport Cube screeched to a halt in the middle of space.
"Hey!" Quitela snapped. "Cognac, why did you stop?"
"Lord Quitela... look ahead."
Quitela looked through the viewport, and his pupils shrank to pinpricks.
"GRAN!!!"
Across from them, Gran was finally understanding why he couldn't sense the thief's energy and why they were moving so fast. If he hadn't used the radar to plot their trajectory and used Instant Transmission to intercept them, he might have missed them entirely.
"So, an Angel was masking your scent. Quitela!!"
Gran's mouth twisted into a dark, predatory smirk. Whis's eyes widened as well. He never expected the thief to be the Destroyer of Universe 4. Knowing the history between Gran and Quitela, Whis narrowed his eyes. This was not going to end peacefully.
Broly, sensing the murderous tension, began to shrink back behind Whis like a frightened chick, despite being over seven feet tall.
Rumble...
The silent void of space began to hum with a terrifying, unknown resonance. Deities across Universe 6 suddenly felt a crushing pressure weighing down on them, unaware of its cause but filled with primal dread.
Fuwa, the Supreme Kai of Universe 6, noticed the disturbance and began scanning the cosmos. He eventually located five figures near the border of Universe 7. They were split into two groups, locked in a standoff.
When he recognized the faces, Fuwa nearly fell over. "What is going on?! Why is Lord Quitela in my universe? Oh no... he's facing off against Gran! I have to tell Lord Champa!"
Fuwa tried to contact Vados, but she was still inside the Tower of Dimensions and didn't respond. "Dammit! Why can't I reach her now?! Fine, I'll have to go to the Destroyer's planet myself!"
He used Instant Transmission and vanished from the Sacred World.
Back at the standoff, the atmosphere was suffocating. Even Broly was struggling to stay upright; without Whis's protection, he would have been crushed by the aura alone.
Gran stared at Quitela, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Lord Quitela, when the Candidate Battle ended six months ago, you left in such a hurry. Why the rush?"
Here we go, Whis and Cognac thought at the same time. They both knew about the blood feud between them. A fight to the death seemed inevitable.
"Hmph. Whether I leave fast or slow is none of your business, brat!" Quitela snapped. His face was still pale from his lingering injuries. He crossed his arms and sneered. "I have important business to attend to. I don't have time for your chatter. Now get out of my way—a good dog doesn't block the path!"
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