"Divine power?" Goku rubbed his chin and thought it over. Come to think of it, that did seem to be the case.
"Goku, you've been training in divine power? As in, actual godly power?" Krillin was floored.
"Seems like it. It's completely different from the energy I used to have in my body." Goku nodded.
"That's such a shame then. There's no way to awaken your dormant divine power." Krillin sighed in regret.
"Who are you? Why do you possess divine power?" the Grand Elder asked, a little puzzled.
Goku had just opened his mouth to answer.
"Wake Gohan's power instead," Piccolo suddenly cut in.
"Right! Gohan, you come give it a try! I can feel it—Gohan's definitely got some terrifying power hidden inside! Gohan will be fine!" Goku nodded quickly.
Gohan stepped forward and stood beside Goku.
The Grand Elder placed his hand on top of Gohan's head and silently sensed the energy within him.
With that one probe, the Grand Elder's face once again filled with shock.
"Is this little one really an Earthling? I can sense an immense power slumbering inside you… but with my ability, I can only awaken a small portion of it." The Grand Elder sighed with deep emotion.
As he spoke, he no longer hesitated and immediately awakened a small part of the power sleeping inside Gohan.
In an instant, an incredibly powerful aura erupted from Gohan's body.
Sensing how overwhelming Gohan's ki had become, Goku, Piccolo, and Krillin were all stunned on the spot.
"That's enough… what I woke up is only the tip of the iceberg. If this little one meets the right person in the future, it's possible most of his sleeping power will be awakened," the Grand Elder took a long breath and said thoughtfully. "When that time comes, his strength will be beyond imagination."
"Just how much power is Gohan hiding? That was only a small portion of what's sleeping inside him?" Goku was beside himself with surprise.
"Not bad. He really is someone I've got my eye on," Piccolo nodded in satisfaction and stepped forward to pat Gohan on the shoulder.
"But come on, Piccolo, the one who really has his eye on Gohan is Ken, right?" Krillin mercilessly exposed him.
"Shut up!" Piccolo snapped, fuming.
"Piccolo, do you want to try awakening your dormant power too?" Goku asked him.
"Child of Katas! Come here. I'll try awakening your sleeping power," the Grand Elder said to Piccolo.
"Just call me Piccolo," he replied. He didn't say much more and walked over to the Grand Elder.
The Grand Elder placed his hand on Piccolo's head, and an invisible force spread over his body.
In the next moment, the power that had been lying dormant inside Piccolo was completely drawn out by the Grand Elder.
Piccolo quietly felt the immense energy now coursing through him, the joy in his eyes plain to see.
I've gotten stronger!
I can clearly feel it—I've already become much stronger.
With the Grand Elder's help, everyone's strength had increased significantly, Goku being the only exception.
"Goku, even if we add all of us together now and go challenge that Frieza guy… I'm afraid we still wouldn't be able to beat him," Krillin said with a bitter shake of his head.
"Yeah, we still can't win," Goku nodded. "We'll have to come up with another plan."
…
Universe 3, Gourmet Star.
More and more dishes were being brought out to the table by the waiters of the planet.
Broly, Majin Buu, and Bardock were eating with great relish.
"As expected, the food here is really something else," Bardock couldn't help but praise.
Buu stuffed his mouth full of chocolate, then crunched it down in one bite. The antenna on his head spun in place, like someone who'd been cracking sunflower seeds all afternoon and finally threw the last handful of kernels into his mouth.
"Ai, this planet is great," Buu chuckled. "The chocolate here isn't as good as the stuff Satan gives me, but it's nice and crunchy, about the same as the chocolate a God of Destruction makes."
"Right? I knew you guys would love it." Ai nodded, staring straight at Broly. "Broly, what do you think? Isn't it delicious?"
"It's good," Broly admitted with a nod.
"I'll pack some up for you to take home when we go back," Ai said, eyes curving into crescents.
Broly didn't object to that, which counted as agreeing.
But just as Ai finished speaking, Broly suddenly frowned and raised his head, looking toward the sky above.
Buu felt it too and followed Broly's gaze, looking up at the sky.
Bardock's expression shifted slightly as he glanced upward.
Ai's eyes went cold as she swept her gaze over the two figures that had appeared in the sky.
Up in that crimson sky, two people dressed in God of Destruction attire had appeared.
Both of them had rather bizarre faces.
He was Arak, the God of Destruction from Universe 5.
The other God of Destruction was a fish-man, with the head of a fish and a human body, like an evolved piranha.
This fish-man was Gin, the God of Destruction from Universe 12.
Broly quickly took out his card and flipped through the information.
The Gods of Destruction from these two universes had both reached the height of level 54.
When he saw their level, Broly's face went dark.
He could just barely fight a God of Destruction to a draw one-on-one. But two level 54 Gods of Destruction teaming up? That would be much harder to handle.
"Pop!"
Arak and Gin descended slowly from the sky and appeared in front of Broly and the others.
"So you're the God of Destruction Broly who wants to become the Great God of Destruction?" Gin looked at Broly with a squinting smile, then swept his gaze over Buu and the others.
"That's me!" Broly stood up abruptly and nodded.
"You're not worthy," Gin said with a mocking smile. He swung his hand forward, and a mass of destruction energy rushed out, engulfing the area ahead.
Seeing the incoming destruction energy, Broly's body instantly erupted with dark green light, arcs of lightning coiling around him.
"Bang!"
Broly lashed out with a kick, slamming his foot into the destruction energy.
The destruction energy was blasted back the way it came.
"Oh? Interesting," Gin said, startled and delighted. He slapped out with his palm.
"Bang!"
With a dull boom, he sent the destruction energy flying back again, once more howling toward Broly.
Broly snorted coldly, thrusting his right hand forward and driving his fingers straight into the purple-red destruction energy.
In the next second, he swept his left hand across and ripped the mass of destruction energy cleanly in two.
Grabbing a chunk of destruction energy in each hand, Broly clenched down hard, crushing both into shreds of purple-red dust.
"With just that level of power—about the same as mine at most—you think you can become the Great God of Destruction?" Gin sneered, narrowing his eyes at Broly.
Broly wasn't in the mood for politeness. He shot forward, charging straight at Gin.
Gin's reaction was just as fast. He kicked himself backward through the air, opened his mouth wide, and spat out a beam of energy.
The blast streaked toward Broly with frightening speed.
Broly twisted his body just enough to slip past the attack, drawing ever closer to Gin.
"Pop!"
The energy Gin had just spat out struck Majin Buu's chocolate.
In an instant, all the chocolate on Buu's table was erased from existence, completely gone.
Veins bulged on Buu's forehead as white steam fumed off the top of his head. He narrowed his eyes, seething with rage.
"You ruined my chocolate! I won't forgive you!" Buu spun around, glared at Gin, and leaped into the air, ready to charge him.
"Whoosh!"
But someone else moved even faster.
"Bang!"
With a muffled thud, Buu was caught midair and punted down with a single kick.
"Boom!"
Buu crashed into the ground below, leaving behind a massive crater.
"Let me make this clear. Over there is the fight between Gin and Broly. If any of you over here dare interfere, I won't mind getting rough with you," Arak said with his arms folded, a cold smile on his face. "Of course, you're welcome to all come at me together."
Ai and Bardock both shot to their feet.
"That's a private grudge between those two. I hope you don't stick your noses into it," Arak snorted, narrowing his eyes at Ai and the others.
"Private grudge?" Ai blinked, one slim brow arching in confusion.
"Simply put, Gin's favorite little lover was a goldfish raised by Mule that evolved into a person," Arak explained. "Very few people know about it."
Ai: "…"
Bardock: "…"
Buu: "???"
"You could say Gin's little lover was basically like Mule's daughter. They'd built up feelings since she was young, until Gin took a liking to her and brought her away," Arak went on with a faint smile. "Then, not long ago, Gin's little lover had a nightmare one night. In her dream, her foster father waved goodbye to her, never to meet again. She jolted awake and used the communicator they'd left behind to contact Universe 3. But she couldn't get a single bit of information."
Buu nodded hard, face full of gossip.
Bardock said nothing, only glancing toward where Broly and Gin were fighting.
For now, the two of them seemed evenly matched.
Ai, on the other hand, showed clear worry as she watched Broly and Gin battling in the distance.
"And then?" Buu asked.
"Naturally, she got in touch with Gin right away. After Gin investigated, he found out Universe 3 had undergone earthshaking changes," Arak said with a cold snort. "And not just Universe 3. Even the God of Destruction of Universe 9 was killed by you two."
As he said this, Arak's gaze lingered on Bardock for a few seconds. He already knew Bardock was the newly appointed God of Destruction of Universe 9.
"At first, Gin wanted to come take revenge on you immediately. But after thinking things over, he decided to hold back," Arak continued. "After all, the fact that you killed two Gods of Destruction… I'm sure even the Grand Priest already knows, right? And yet the Grand Priest hasn't punished you. Instead, he chose two new people to become the new Gods of Destruction for those universes. That's… interesting, to say the least."
Buu nodded as if he understood, then scratched his head in confusion. "Interesting how?"
Arak: "…"
Arak didn't feel like explaining too much. He just shot Buu a glance and picked up where he'd left off. "Fortunately for us, Broly wants to become the Great God of Destruction. The Grand Priest has declared that even if someone kills him, it doesn't count as violating the laws of the divine realm. So, to put it simply, Gin is here to avenge his little lover, his most beloved little lover. I'm afraid things are going to end badly for Broly today."
Ai pressed her lips together, looking even more uneasy.
"I'll say it again: this is a private matter between them. You are not allowed to interfere. If you do, I won't be polite," Arak said, his smile growing brighter, eyes gleaming. "And the moment you interfere, you're effectively declaring yourselves Broly's allies. Even if I kill you, it wouldn't count as breaking the rules."
Buu rolled his shoulders, itching to rush in and beat the guy up.
Just as he was about to charge, Ai grabbed him by the arm and hauled him back.
She shook her head at him.
Ai knew all too well that with Buu's current strength, he probably wasn't Arak's match at all.
And judging from Broly and Gin's fight, the two of them were still evenly matched for the moment.
After a careful scan and prediction, Ai decided Broly might not lose.
If Broly wasn't going to lose, barging in would only get in the way.
"Oh? Back and forth, blow for blow… they really do seem evenly matched," Arak commented as he turned to glance at the battle.
Broly and Gin's clash continued.
The fight quickly carried them off the planet and out into open space.
"Pop!"
Broly lunged forward, seized Gin by the head, and slammed his face deep into a nearby meteorite.
"Bang!"
Broly followed with a punch that shattered the meteorite to pieces.
Gin's head spun. He saw stars—tons of little stars swirling around his field of vision.
"Bang!"
Broly shot upward and drove an uppercut straight into Gin's jaw.
"Awooo…"
Gin let out a miserable cry as blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
"Do you yield?" Broly asked calmly.
Gin wiped the blood away with his thumb and looked at it, eyes burning brighter with fighting spirit.
Broly's brow furrowed slightly.
"Looks like unless I get serious, you're not going to understand how strong an old-school God of Destruction really is," Gin snorted as purple-red light flared around him.
"Whoosh!"
In a blur, Gin appeared behind Broly.
"Bang!"
His fist slammed into Broly's back.
"Gah…"
Blood sprayed from Broly's mouth as he tumbled forward.
"Hakai!"
Gin swung his hand through the air, and a mass of destruction energy roared toward where Broly was falling.
It was as if Broly had sensed it in advance. He hurriedly twisted his body and dropped lower, slipping past the sweep of the destruction energy.
But just as he let out a breath of relief—
"Whoosh!"
Gin flickered again and, in an instant, appeared at Broly's side.
Broly's reaction was just as quick—he lashed out with a kick.
"Pop!"
Gin raised his hand and caught Broly's incoming leg.
"Hmph. Is that all?" Gin sneered.
"Bang!"
But no sooner had he finished than Broly's other foot smashed into his face, stamping a big, clear boot print across it.
Gin flew into a rage. Grabbing Broly by the ankle, he dove out of the sky and slammed him into a nearby meteorite.
"Rumble!"
The meteorite exploded into countless fragments.
Broly gritted his teeth through the pain and kicked again, this time catching Gin in the chest.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The two of them clashed once more, trading blows in that patch of space.
For a while, neither could gain the upper hand. The fight dragged on, deadlocked.
Roughly an hour later—
"Pop!"
The dark green light around Broly's body suddenly faded away.
This was the first time Broly had ever encountered an opponent so evenly matched.
You could say this battle had pushed his stamina to the verge of exhaustion; his energy reserves were nearly drained.
Broly had never experienced anything like this before.
"Huff… huff…" He panted heavily, feeling waves of fatigue wash over him.
Gin didn't look much better. The gills on his neck were bulging and contracting non-stop.
"What's this? The green glow's gone?" Gin snorted. "Perfect. Now watch how I take you apart."
As he spoke, purple-red light burst forth from Gin again. He was about to launch another attack on Broly.
But just as he surged forward—
"Pop!"
The purple-red aura around Gin collapsed all at once.
In the next moment, his own stamina hit rock bottom. Exhaustion filled his face.
He drifted forward wearily and landed opposite Broly.
The two of them punched at each other's faces at the same time.
"Bang!"
Their fists connected with each other's cheeks.
But with both of them almost out of energy and strength, the punches didn't actually do much damage.
"You're not in much better shape than I am," Broly snorted.
They slowly drew their fists back.
Then they stared at each other, their gazes sparking in midair.
Broly and Gin both looked like utter wrecks—black-and-blue, covered in bruises.
"Do you yield?" Broly asked through gritted teeth.
"Hahahaha!" Gin laughed, sounding oddly content.
"If you don't, we can keep going," Broly said, clenching his fists, though he felt no strength in them at all.
"Broly, I yield. I admit defeat," Gin said suddenly, weakly patting Broly on the shoulder.
Broly: "…"
"I'm truly moved by your perseverance," Gin laughed. "It's been a long time since I've had this much fun! Across all the universes, there aren't many Gods of Destruction who can fight me like this."
Broly stayed quiet. Mostly, he just didn't know how to respond. He couldn't quite keep up with Gin's pace.
"So… about your little lover…" Broly started.
"What's that saying again? Brothers are like limbs, wives are like clothes," Gin answered with a grin. "A wife is just a piece of clothing. A lover doesn't even qualify as clothing."
Broly: "…"
He was genuinely stunned.
That little lover called Miu… didn't even count as a piece of clothing?
"What… what are you saying?" Ai ground her teeth, suddenly feeling like her own status had been downgraded by some invisible force.
"Broly, since you want to become the Great God of Destruction of all universes, I, Gin, will be the first to support you!" Gin said, laughing as he patted Broly's shoulder again.
Broly almost felt embarrassed.
I beat you up this badly, and you still want to back me up.
"From now on, I, Gin, am your best ally!" Gin said with a bright, cheerful smile.
"Um…" Broly scratched his head.
"You probably don't know this, Broly," Gin added, "but among the twelve universes, I'm the third strongest God of Destruction."
"Uh…" Broly quietly looked him over, suddenly finding that fish face much more pleasing to the eye.
"If we join forces, we might not be able to beat Quitela, but sweeping aside the other Gods of Destruction should be no problem," Gin suggested with a smile.
Broly nodded thoughtfully.
If Gin really was the third strongest God of Destruction, then there wasn't much wrong with what he'd just said.
Teaming up with Gin really could make the other Gods of Destruction submit.
"About your little lover…" Broly still felt a bit awkward.
He'd heard what Arak said earlier and knew Gin's little lover was Mule's adopted daughter.
I killed Mule.
How could Miu not hate me?
"Didn't I just say it? A little lover doesn't even count as clothes," Gin said with an easy smile. "Don't worry about it. The universe is a big place. Once you become the Great God of Destruction, just find me another little lover as compensation, and we're square."
Broly nodded. He had to admit, Gin made a lot of sense.
He did feel a little sorry for that little lover, though.
"Besides, Miu was spoiled rotten from the day she was born. In human terms from one particular planet, she'd be what you call a 'little fairy princess,' and I can't stand that type. If it weren't for her body being… well, you're a man, you get it… I wouldn't have kept her around," Gin went on with a smile.
"Her… body?" Broly blinked.
Having never been in a relationship—and never watched anything related to that kind of thing—Broly had no idea what he meant.
For the moment, he just couldn't wrap his head around what exactly Gin was getting at when he said "body."
After all, Ken always kept things vague when it came to that sort of topic.
Broly had never studied any of it. He just hadn't caught on.
Aside from thinking Ai looked really pretty after her reincarnation, he honestly hadn't had any special thoughts.
Ai let out a disgruntled hum, feeling distinctly unhappy.
What do you take us women for?
Stupid fish.
Still, annoyed as she was, Ai was genuinely happy for Broly.
At the very least, he'd gained a very powerful companion.
You could say this was, in the truest sense, the first God of Destruction to submit to Broly.
No—"submit" wasn't quite right.
He'd been moved by Broly's courage and strength.
Buu looked from Broly to Gin and kept his mouth shut.
Bardock stayed silent as well.
Neither of them had expected that, after a life-or-death battle, Broly and Gin would end up forming such a deep bond of friendship.
With this, Broly's future path toward becoming the Great God of Destruction would be just a bit smoother.
"Arak, bring that healing potion over," Gin called, turning to shout toward Arak, then explained to Broly, "I've got healing potions. As long as we drink them, our injuries will be completely healed in under an hour. Fortunately, the other Gods of Destruction haven't come to this universe yet, but they're probably all looking for you. Better stay sharp. Once we're back in shape, I'll take you to crush the other universes."
But just as Gin finished talking and turned his head, he suddenly realized Arak was nowhere to be seen.
"Arak, where did you run off to?" Gin shouted.
"It's fine. I've got Senzu Beans," Broly said as he reached into his clothes. "If we eat Senzu Beans, our injuries and stamina will be restored immediately."
"You've got something that good?" Gin said, genuinely surprised.
But just as Broly's hand slipped into his inner pocket, before he could touch the Senzu Beans—
"Whoosh!"
A figure suddenly appeared behind him.
Broly seemed to sense it and frowned.
"Arak, where did you go?" Gin looked past Broly and saw that the newcomer was Arak.
Only when Gin saw the cold expression on Arak's face, he was struck by a sudden sense of dread.
"Arak, what's wrong with you?" Gin asked, brow knitting.
"Bang!"
With a cold chuckle, Arak thrust his finger forward. His right hand punched straight through Broly's back and came out through his chest.
"You—!" Gin's face twisted over and over as he roared, "Arak, are you insane?!"
"Bang!"
Arak swung his hand forward, his palm slamming into Gin's chest.
"Gah…"
Blood gushed from Gin's mouth in a torrent.
Broly and Gin barely had any stamina left, and both were already badly injured.
For Arak, finishing them off was almost effortless.
"Hmph."
Arak yanked his hand out of Broly's chest and turned a cold gaze on Gin.
His earlier strike had left a deep hand-shaped dent in Gin's chest.
That handprint had sunk straight into Gin's heart, and blood was still spilling from his mouth.
Broly's whole body trembled uncontrollably, his chest soaked in his own blood.
"Broly!" Ai cried in shock.
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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