"Hss… your face looks unnatural. Don't tell me an enemy is approaching?" Levos asked curiously.
"Ahem! No, not right now…"
Piccolo coughed awkwardly, as though he'd choked on his own spit.
Levos didn't question it, assuming Piccolo's concern was simply for his safety.
With a calm voice, he said, "Let's move out. I'll explain everything on the way."
Piccolo breathed a quiet sigh of relief at the change of subject and nodded in agreement.
"Your body will it hold up?" Piccolo asked, a trace of genuine concern in his tone.
Levos flicked his massive tail, offering a grin. "These wounds are nothing. I'll recover soon enough."
With Fused Zamasu sealed within him, constantly feeding energy into his body, Levos wasn't overly worried about stamina or damage.
The real priority now was to find Android 17 and complete his evolution.
At those words, Piccolo's brow eased. He tossed the unconscious Android 18 back toward Levos.
"She's yours. You keep her."
Levos sighed, catching her helplessly.
In his other hand, he gently held Bulma, then turned, ready to pick a direction to fly when a streak of light tore across the sky, hurtling toward them at alarming speed.
"Who?!" Piccolo tensed instantly.
Levos's expression sharpened. Anyone moving that fast was at least on par with him. And he was still weakened!
Too late to flee. Their ki flare had already given them away.
The intruder was coming straight for them.
Levos's chest tightened. A strange sense of dread welled up in him.
The figure landed.
It was none other than Cooler Frieza's brother.
Of all the enemies Levos had encountered, Cooler alone had remained unfathomable. His calm, emotionless composure had concealed depths Levos could never quite see through.
From the moment he had appeared, Cooler had wasted no words, his every move sharp, deliberate, merciless.
The memory burned vividly in Levos's mind Cooler standing unflinching against Goku Black's assault, then striking down Dark Vegeta with surgical brutality. If not for Goku Black fusing into Rose Vegito in the nick of time, Cooler might well have been the greatest threat of all.
And yet, even in defeat, Cooler's body hadn't fallen apart naturally it had broken down in a way that had seemed… wrong.
That detail had haunted Levos ever since.
He motioned Piccolo to remain still, his own stance taut with vigilance.
A moment later, Cooler descended, golden light glinting off his Ultimate Form.
His cold gaze swept the battlefield before fixing on Levos.
"Levos," Cooler said, his voice low and detached, "you never truly bent the knee to Frieza. You only played along to protect Earth."
Bulma and Piccolo stiffened, their bodies on edge.
Piccolo frowned, confused. When Cooler had been slain by Rose Vegito, Levos was nothing more than a frog. How could he possibly know this truth? Had Cooler seen it all from Hell?
Levos, however, kept his composure. After a pause, he replied evenly:
"You're not really Cooler's true body."
Piccolo's eyes narrowed, bewildered. He had no idea what Levos meant.
But Cooler's expression barely shifted. Only a glint of sharp light flickered in his gaze. "Impressive. You've uncovered my secret."
Levos's suspicions solidified. Back on Earth, Cooler had never once dropped his golden transformation not even when others rested their forms. Even Frieza himself, a genius, couldn't maintain Golden Form for long during the Tournament of Power.
Cooler had been hiding something.
And now, the truth emerged.
Levos's voice dropped, his body cold. "…You let Goku Black fuse on purpose, didn't you?"
Cooler's lips curled faintly, almost mocking. "Correct. I wanted to see what those so-called gods could muster before me. In the end, the show was worth watching. Earth gave me… quite the surprise."
His gaze locked on Levos, voice calm but razor-edged.
"Even my so-called defeat at Vegito's hand was only an accident. That body was disposable. I possess thousands more like it."
The words slammed into them like a hammer.
Bulma and Piccolo froze in shock, dread coiling in their stomachs.
The three Dark Ones were already more than they could handle and now this. An endless army of Golden Metal Coolers, each as strong as his Fourth Form enhanced by Golden power.
Levos's mind reeled. It was like the "Return of Cooler" scenario all over again but far, far worse.
Cooler had mastered the Big Gete Star, harnessing its technology completely.
Levos's blood ran cold. If he had such power at his disposal, why hadn't he already conquered the universe?
Unless… ruling the universe wasn't his true goal.
"What do you want?" Levos asked quietly.
Cooler's crimson eyes gleamed. "After watching your battles on Earth, I've taken an interest in your body. Its potential… is exactly what I need. I intend to fuse you with the Big Gete Star's core, and through you, perfect myself and my mechanical army."
The implication hit Levos like ice.
He wanted to mass-produce Mechanical Perfect Cell Max.
Levos's chest tightened. This timeline… what the hell is happening?
Every villain pushed endlessly for more power, as though some looming crisis beyond even their comprehension demanded it.
Couldn't any of them be like Frieza satisfied once they reached their peak?
"So that means…" Levos's voice hardened. "There's no way for us to coexist?"
His body tensed for battle, though he knew the odds were hopeless.
Cooler regarded him coldly. "For now… I have no intention of being your enemy."
Levos almost choked. You want to feed me to your machine core and you don't call that hostile?
Cooler smirked, as if reading his thoughts. "My concern is that you'll die at the hands of those three Dark Ones before I can make use of you. Don't forget you still have that problem."
Levos fell silent.
"…Thanks for the reminder," he said at last.
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