On the far side of the universe, Tagoma and his subordinates endured Frieza's brutal training regimen—a daily dance along the razor's edge between life and death. Each session ended with their bodies battered and broken, only to be restored by healing pods before the cycle began again. Those who couldn't keep pace simply died.
While Frieza's elite forces honed themselves through hellish conditioning, his legion swept across the surrounding star systems in a campaign of ruthless expansion. Frieza's resurrection had emboldened his army, giving them the confidence to resume their conquest. In the regions beyond the Galactic Justice League's reach, they operated with impunity. The fleet captured seven or eight planets in rapid succession, and more than a dozen others surrendered without resistance. All of them fell into Frieza's grasp like ripe fruit.
Over the past two months, their influence had spread across multiple galaxies, creeping ever closer to the borders of the Justice League's jurisdiction.
They attacked planets, stripped them of resources, slaughtered innocents, and enslaved the survivors. To most civilized beings, such actions were unforgivable atrocities. But from the perspective of the divine hierarchy, this chaos served a purpose—maintaining universal balance.
The God of Destruction especially appreciated these dynamics. Evil forces like Frieza's legion eliminated worthless planets and culled the weak, enforcing survival of the fittest and raising the overall strength of the universe. Furthermore, the existence of such threats forced righteous warriors to train harder and grow stronger to oppose them. This cycle of conflict and advancement was exactly what the gods wanted to see. It was why Beerus had allowed the Frost Demon race to flourish unchecked for so long.
Amid Frieza's frenzied plundering, his forces had acquired something that would confound even their most brilliant scientists.
The music box was an exquisite artifact—ornate lines carved across its surface in patterns that spoke of classical antiquity. Detection technology confirmed its origin in some distant era, but no scanner could penetrate its interior. Whether sealed by advanced technology or magic remained a mystery.
"Dr. Dieter, any progress?" Inside the laboratory, a helmeted soldier stood before the reinforced steel gate.
His rank insignia marked him as at least a captain in Frieza's army.
Dr. Dieter—a reptilian alien with flushed, dinosaur-like features—worked frantically at his station. Behind a protective energy barrier, the music box sat suspended in a scanning field. His fingers flew across the keyboard, his brow furrowed in concentration.
"This is extraordinary. The object exists completely outside our understanding of physics. Some kind of special environmental seal is isolating it from external interaction. If we can crack this technology, it would be invaluable to Lord Frieza's legion."
"I see. Lord Tagoma has ordered preparations for a major offensive. He expects results before his training concludes."
"I'll find a way." Dieter's fingers continued their rapid dance across the controls.
The captain, seeing the scientists were fully absorbed in their work, turned and left without another word. The steel gates sealed shut behind him with a hydraulic hiss, the polished metal gleaming like liquid silver under the laboratory lights.
Scientists and assistants stared intently at the cascading data on their screens, but nothing changed. They felt a mixture of shame and frustration that their advanced technology couldn't solve the riddle of a simple music box.
Suddenly, Dr. Dieter's eyes lit up. "Retrieve the space-time energy King Frieza ordered us to study!"
"Doctor! That's impossible—King Frieza explicitly ordered us to preserve it for research!"
"We'll only use a trace amount to test external energy bombardment. King Frieza will understand. Normal energy won't affect this thing. Only the space-time energy Lord Frieza recovered might break through."
Dieter was determined to solve this puzzle. If conventional analysis wouldn't work, brute force would have to suffice.
He extracted a portion of the space-time energy Frieza had secretly obtained from Towa and fed it into the experimental apparatus. Dark purple energy pulsed through transparent conduits, sparking at the connection points. Under such high pressure, the equipment threatened to overload.
"Now! Direct it at the music box!"
The assistant slammed the activation button. The entire chamber shook violently as space-time energy erupted from the emitter, a lance of dark purple light striking the corner of the music box before vanishing into nothingness. The volatile energy simply ceased to exist, untraceable and unreachable.
At least they hadn't used much—if they'd depleted King Frieza's entire sample, the punishment would have been death.
But the music box remained unchanged. Dr. Dieter sighed in disappointment, seeing none of the results he'd anticipated.
Then an assistant screamed. "Doctor, look!"
Everyone followed his pointing finger. A crack had appeared in the music box's corner! Along the edge of the carved pattern, those delicate engravings had fractured into fissures. The space-time energy hadn't disappeared into the void—it had struck its target after all.
White smoke began billowing from the fracture. The surge of air pressure shattered the containment field as something struggled to emerge from within. Slowly, the white smoke coalesced into a humanoid figure, wind currents spiraling around him.
"What... what is this?" Dr. Dieter stammered, completely unprepared for this outcome.
Everyone stared in stunned silence as the white smoke formed into a man with crimson hair and long, pointed ears. An ancient flute hung at his side, and a longsword rested across his back.
When he opened his eyes, the music box exploded into fragments. All their technology and research were reduced to worthless debris in an instant. The scientists had no way of knowing the music box was merely a sealing vessel, and that its lock had been purely magical in nature.
"Stay back," the red-haired man said coldly, his tone suggesting he had no interest in conversation.
Dr. Dieter laughed harshly. "We found the music box, which makes you our property. Besides, we were the ones who freed you—and this is how you show gratitude?"
"You freed me?" The red-haired man lowered his flute, his expression darkening with fury. "Then you've made a catastrophic mistake. You've unleashed a disaster upon this universe!"
"A disaster?"
"You have no idea what you've done!"
"A disaster is exactly what we want! Chaos pleases King Frieza. The more havoc we cause, the better. Hahaha! Since we can't study the box, we'll study you instead. Seize him!" At Dr. Dieter's command, the guarding soldiers opened fire, laser bolts converging on the red-haired man.
Hearing these words, the stranger understood immediately—he'd been freed by villains and had emerged straight into a viper's nest. He gripped his flute tightly in one hand while drawing the sword from his back with the other, deflecting the laser fire with impossible speed.
His velocity shocked everyone. Dr. Dieter stood frozen for several seconds before shouting again.
"Attack! All of you, attack!"
The soldiers rushed forward, but the longsword in the stranger's hand moved with devastating precision, forcing them back. Understanding the danger of his situation, the red-haired man raised his blade and swept it in a wide arc. The sword's light carved a dazzling path through his attackers, and he immediately fled through the opening.
Dr. Dieter slammed his fist on the alarm button.