The mermaid wanted to die.
If he kept counting like this… there wouldn't be enough scales on her tail.
Was he really going to pluck them off one by one?
"Seven and eight and nine and ten, flying into the plum blossoms…" Broly murmured, then glanced vaguely around, his eyes hazy and unfocused.
Where were the plum blossoms?
With no blossoms here… Ai, how could you be gone?
"Ah—!"
Broly let out a long, anguished howl.
Smack.
At the same time, he lifted the branch in his other hand and wrapped it in a layer of ink-green light.
Scritch… scritch… scritch…
He pressed the branch against the scales of the mermaid's tail and dragged it backwards, scraping.
"Ah… ah… aaah!"
The mermaid screamed, her cries tearing at the air, her tail thrashing wildly.
But no matter how she struggled, she couldn't break free of Broly's grip.
Very soon, the golden scales on her tail had been scraped completely clean, leaving not a single one behind.
Bright red blood streamed down the mermaid's tail, staining the entire fin.
The pain made her faint several times, only to jolt awake again under the agony.
That kind of bone-deep torment made her wish she were dead.
Whoosh.
Broly flicked his hand toward a nearby pile of firewood. A tongue of flame leapt out and set the wood ablaze.
The fire roared up.
Then Broly grabbed the mermaid, lifting her so that her tail hung directly over the blaze.
"Ah… ahhh…"
The mermaid's screams rose and fell, endless, as she burned.
Before long, the smell of grilling fish began to drift up from her tail.
Everyone present stared at the horrific scene, too shocked to say a word.
Arak trembled all over. He had never imagined Broly would torture someone like this.
Part of him even wanted to shout: If you're like this, are you still fit to be the Great God of Destruction?
In just a few minutes, the mermaid's tail was cooked through.
The pain had made her pass out again and again—yet every time, the delicious smell seemed to drag her back, her lips smacking unconsciously.
Then she realized that scent was coming from her own tail. She took one look—and blacked out yet again.
"You. Eat the fish." Broly ordered the four Gods of Destruction present, his tone allowing no argument.
The four of them looked at one another. No one dared move.
"You first," Broly said, eyes settling coldly on Arak.
Arak shuddered, then staggered forward, grabbed a chunk of meat from the tail, and shoved it into his mouth, swallowing it in one go.
Smack! Smack!
Broly gave the mermaid two hard slaps, snapping her awake on the spot.
Her face was paper white. And yet, fish had strong life force—she wasn't dying that easily.
When she saw Arak chewing meat from her own tail, hatred flooded her eyes.
"Arak, you beast!" the mermaid cursed.
Arak's mouth twitched; he didn't dare say a word.
I don't want to eat it… but if I don't, I'm pretty sure he'll kill me.
Yet after he swallowed, the lingering taste spread across his tongue—and he suddenly noticed how unique the flavor was.
"So good… Can I have another bite?" Arak's eyes lit up.
Broly didn't answer, which amounted to permission.
Arak grabbed another piece of fish and savored it.
"Arak, you bastard!" the mermaid screamed, voice hoarse.
"Is it really that good?" Majin Buu couldn't resist anymore. He reached out, took a piece, and had a bite.
Sure enough—it was.
Buu's eyes shone as he ate, delighted, then nudged Bardock with his elbow. "Hey, give me your share. I'll eat it for you."
Bardock: "…"
Bardock nodded repeatedly.
"My share too," Gin said quickly to Buu.
"You're so thoughtful," Buu said, not refusing in the slightest.
…
Universe 6, God of Destruction Realm.
Ken held his staff, watching the images of what was happening to Broly.
Seeing Ai vanish, seeing Broly's grief tear him apart, Ken felt a bitter twist in his chest and was just about to head to Universe 3.
Fwoom—
Suddenly, a figure flickered into existence beside him.
The Grand Priest appeared.
"Greetings, Grand Priest," Vados said, surprised, hurrying forward to bow.
Ken didn't bow. He just frowned.
Why show up now?
You're here to stop me from going, aren't you?
"I'm already aware of what's happening in Universe 3," the Grand Priest said, looking at Ken.
"So you're here to stop me from saving Ai?" Ken asked bluntly. "The rule that a God of Destruction disappears if they use Instant Transmission—who made that?"
"You're not thinking it was me, are you?" the Grand Priest replied with a faint smile.
"Wasn't it?" Ken shot back. "Do you think it's easy to raise a God of Destruction? And now you're just going to let her disappear?"
"Ken, that really wasn't the Grand Priest's rule," Vados added from the side.
"Yeah, he didn't set that one…" Amarella's voice sounded in Ken's mind as well.
"Then who did?" Ken asked her, puzzled.
Right now, Amarella was the one he trusted most.
As for the Grand Priest and Vados, Ken felt their words weren't exactly reliable at a time like this.
"The Space-Time God of Destruction," Amarella answered.
"The Space-Time God of Destruction?" Ken blinked.
"Gods of Destruction are too strong. If they were also allowed to freely use Instant Transmission, every jump would have a massive impact on space-time," Amarella explained. "Think of that universe-sized fissure Sidra tore open on you before—it's the same idea. With the energy a God of Destruction carries, moving that power around can cause the fabric of space-time to collide. So under the rules, any God of Destruction who uses Instant Transmission takes on a huge penalty: they disappear."
Ken said nothing.
"And that includes angels. Because of their divine power, angels are also forbidden from using Instant Transmission," Amarella added. "If they did, they'd warp space-time as well."
"But the Grand Priest uses Instant Transmission all the time," Ken said.
Amarella: "…"
"That's because when the Grand Priest uses Instant Transmission, it doesn't affect space-time. He's already solved the collisions that happen during teleportation," Amarella replied.
Ken finally understood.
Now that he knew the real reason, he couldn't very well vent his nameless anger on the Grand Priest.
"I know everything that happened with Ai," the Grand Priest said, hands folded behind his back, nodding slightly. "Before she vanished, I went to Universe 3 and retrieved her storage unit."
As he spoke, he lifted his hand. A chip the size of a fingernail appeared in his palm.
It was shattered into more than a dozen pieces.
"Take it and try to repair it," the Grand Priest said, passing the chip to Ken. "But try not to use angelic power to fix it. This is human technology. If you pour angel power into it, there's a risk you'll do irreversible damage."
Ken immediately took the chip with both hands and stored it carefully in a pocket of subspace.
Once he got back to Earth, he'd have Bulma take a look and see if it could be repaired.
That chip should contain Ai's lifetime of memories.
As long as the memories remained, Ai wouldn't truly be dead.
At least, that's what Ken chose to believe.
"If the chip can't be fixed, or the data's lost, there's another way to bring Ai back," the Grand Priest said after a pause.
"Please, tell me," Ken answered. His tone had cooled; he sounded more polite now.
The Grand Priest leaned in and quietly explained a few things.
Ken fell silent on the spot.
"And about that universe-jumping wormhole of yours—don't use it unless you have to," the Grand Priest went on with a sigh. "You were lucky these last few times; you didn't trigger a space-time collision. But if you ever cause serious damage to space-time and draw the God of Destruction of Space-Time's attention, not even I'll be able to save you."
Fwoom—
Without another word, the Grand Priest used Instant Transmission and vanished.
Ken sank into thought.
After a few seconds of silence—
"He's not just trying to scare me, is he?" Ken asked Vados.
"Oh my, oh my, no. He's serious," Vados said, shaking her head. "I've told you before: try not to create wormholes like that. Have you ever seen me do it? I used Super Shenron to set up a one-way connection between the two Earths, remember?"
"Then why didn't you tell me earlier?" Ken said irritably.
"Oh dear… Some things, even if we tell you, you might not care," Vados replied with a smile. "Only when you go through it yourself—and suffer for it—will you really understand. That's how you gain experience, that's what real training is. It was the same with Merus. It's not like we never told him how to handle things. But no matter how much you say, nothing beats living it once yourself."
Ken had to admit she had a point.
It was like parents lecturing their children.
You can dump all the advice in the world on them, and they still might not listen.
But the moment something actually goes wrong, they never forget it.
People don't learn from people—they learn from what happens to them.
Right now, though, that wasn't the priority. First, he needed to find out whether Ai's core chip could be restored.
Ken immediately used the crystal orb on his staff to contact Bulma back on Earth and told her everything that had happened.
He scanned the broken chip through the staff as well, letting Bulma see it.
"I'll need to analyze it in person…" Bulma said, eyes red. "My sister's study companion robot… dying out there in some unknown universe…"
"I'll head back right now. Wait for me," Ken said. Without hesitating further, he tapped the staff lightly against the ground.
Whoosh—
Ken turned into a streak of starlight and shot off in the direction of Earth.
Vados watched him go, then sighed helplessly and said nothing more.
…
Universe 3, gourmet planet.
Miu was tortured to death by Broly.
Even then, his rage hadn't cooled. He ordered Bardock to make a trip to the underworld and tell King Yemma to have the mermaid reincarnated as an ordinary fish raised for food.
And that fish was to be pan-fried by humans.
Bardock followed his instructions, flew to the underworld, and relayed Broly's words to King Yemma.
Miu's soul trembled in terror.
"Oh, and one more thing—when she reincarnates, she keeps her memories, but she still has to be a normal food fish," Bardock added.
"If… if she dies again, what do we do with the soul?" King Yemma asked respectfully.
"Repeat it," Bardock said after a pause. "She keeps her memories every time, until her soul completely burns out."
"Yes, God of Destruction!" King Yemma bowed low.
Once Bardock finished giving instructions, he left the underworld at speed.
Miu fainted on the spot.
I'm going to suffer, again and again, in endless pain?
Right then, she regretted everything so much her guts hurt.
Why did I provoke that devil?
Is he a God of Destruction or a demon?
While Bardock was still in the underworld, Broly narrowed his eyes and turned them on Arak.
Arak had only one arm left and no legs. He couldn't stand, only float in midair.
Seeing that terrifying look, and thinking of what had just happened to Miu, Arak shook uncontrollably, then dropped to his knees and bowed.
"Great God of Destruction, spare me!" Arak begged again and again.
"Now you can tell me what that poem means, can't you?" Broly asked, face cold.
Arak almost burst into tears.
"'Your bones lie buried deep beneath the earth, while here in the world my hair turns white as snow.'"
He really didn't know what it meant.
But he still forced himself to explain: "That 'lord'… might be a respectful form of address… 'Beneath the earth,' in human terms, is probably the underworld… 'Bones gone to dust in the soil' means being buried so long even the bones are gone…"
Broly lifted a brow, gesturing for him to go on.
"'While here in the world my hair turns white as snow'… means I'm here, in the human world… with snow turning my hair completely white… maybe that's what it means," Arak stammered.
Boom!
Broly had heard enough. He brought his palm down in a savage slap, smashing Arak deep into the ground so that only his head stuck out.
"Ah—!"
Arak froze for a second, then the pain hit him and he screamed.
"Today, I'm going to let you see what 'snow on your head' feels like," Broly said through clenched teeth, rage and grief tangled together. He turned to Gin. "Carve a snowflake onto his scalp."
Gin bowed at once. "Understood."
He didn't hesitate. A small knife of ki shimmered at his fingertips, and he began to carve a white snowflake into Arak's skull.
Each cut made Arak shriek and sob.
When the snowflake was finished, Broly looked over at Majin Buu.
"How about we turn him into chocolate and eat him?" Buu said, smacking his lips. "Killing him outright would be a waste."
Broly didn't object. He nodded his approval.
"Heh heh…"
Buu felt like happiness had fallen out of the sky.
Broly really agreed.
I get to eat chocolate again.
Chocolate made from a God of Destruction, no less.
"Y-you… Broly! You can't kill me!" Arak panicked. "If you kill me, you'll be breaking the rules!"
Gin thought about stepping in—but in the end, he kept quiet.
This was not the time to meddle.
If he said the wrong thing, Broly might start hating him too.
Better to keep his head down.
"If you don't die, the hatred in my heart will never fade," Broly said, voice low and icy, eyes hard.
"Turn into chocolate!"
Electricity crackled along Buu's head tentacle, then shot out, instantly engulfing Arak.
"Ah—!"
Arak screamed as his whole body twisted and warped.
In the very next moment, he was a human-shaped chocolate statue.
Thud.
Buu stomped on the ground, jolting the chocolate out of the earth.
The figure was missing an arm and both legs; it didn't look too appetizing.
Not that Buu cared.
He grabbed the chocolate and shoved it into his mouth.
Crunch… crunch…
He chewed the chocolate to pieces and swallowed.
Rumble—!
Right after that, a massive surge of energy erupted from Majin Buu.
His ki swelled outward in waves, whipping up a storm around him.
When everything finally calmed, arcs of lightning crackled over Buu's body, snapping loudly—
Then faded away.
Buu clutched his belly and laughed.
A moment later, he turned a burning gaze on Gin.
"Broly, I want another one," Buu said, patting his stomach.
Gin trembled, face turning white.
At the same time, he was terrified by how much Buu's power had shot up.
After eating Arak, Buu's strength had been forced up to level 55.
That was a bigger jump than when he'd absorbed Champa.
Buu was over the moon, licking his lips as he stared at Gin, itching to turn him into chocolate too.
One wasn't enough.
"Bardock, can you hear me?" Broly spoke up suddenly, ignoring Buu.
Bardock, who was just about to leave the underworld, heard his voice at once.
"I hear you," Bardock replied quickly.
"Arak's soul should be in the underworld too. Handle him the same way as that fish," Broly ordered.
"Got it. I'll tell King Yemma," Bardock said, not arguing in the slightest.
He immediately turned back and relayed the message.
This time, he didn't leave right away. He personally escorted Arak's soul to King Yemma's great hall.
After all, this was a God of Destruction's soul. Even without a body, it was still powerful.
Bardock worried King Yemma might not be able to handle him, so he stayed to help.
"Do you know who I am? I'm Arak, God of Destruction of Universe 5! How dare you!" Arak roared.
Wham!
Bardock punched Arak's soul so hard it nearly scattered.
For all Arak's strength in life, his soul alone wasn't much of a match for Bardock.
Arak reeled, dizzy, feeling like his whole existence was falling apart.
King Yemma's mouth twitched.
This… this was getting out of hand.
Your God of Destruction grudges… and you bring them down here to settle them?
But he didn't dare disobey Bardock. He knew perfectly well that Bardock seemed to be doing this at another God of Destruction's command.
And that unlucky God of Destruction from Universe 5 had obviously been killed by that other god.
"Take him away. Same treatment as the fish," King Yemma said through gritted teeth, stamping his seal.
Bardock personally escorted Arak's soul to the reincarnation zone and watched as both he and Miu were reborn as food fish—only then did he leave the underworld.
…
Universe 3, gourmet planet.
Watching Majin Buu creep closer step by step, Gin was falling apart inside.
I'm on your side, you know.
Don't feed me to Majin Buu.
Gin's body shook. He dropped to his knees and begged nonstop, "Great God of Destruction, spare me!"
Broly let his transformation fade, the ink-green aura dispersing. He stepped forward, barked at Buu to stand down, then personally helped Gin back to his feet and straightened his God of Destruction garb.
Gin was still trembling.
After what he'd just seen, who wouldn't be?
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Right then, applause rang out from above.
Broly slowly lifted his head.
Three figures appeared in the sky.
Universe 4's God of Destruction Quitela, Universe 2's God of Destruction Heles, and Universe 8's God of Destruction Liquiir.
The three of them had gone through a lot to get here. With guidance from Universe 9's Supreme Kai Roh, they had finally tracked Broly down.
"Well, if it isn't Universe 12's God of Destruction, Gin," Quitela said with a squinting smile as he looked down.
Gin glanced up at him, tongue-tied.
"Gin, you spineless fool. You already started calling Broly 'Great God of Destruction'? You think just because you acknowledge him, he really becomes the Great God of Destruction? How ridiculous," Quitela sneered, then slowly turned his gaze on Broly.
Broly said nothing. The pain in his chest hadn't faded.
Heles and Liquiir traded a glance, their expressions complicated.
As a woman, Heles had a keen sense for such things. She immediately noticed something was off about Broly's state.
Just looking at him made her eyes sting, like she might cry if she stared too long.
What happened to him?
Liquiir, a fox by nature, was just as sharp as Heles—if not more.
He felt the same.
The grief rolling off Broly was so strong it made your heart ache against your will.
Heles and Liquiir caught each other's eye, silently trading a look.
A moment later, both nodded. This was definitely not the time to stir up trouble.
Quitela descended slowly, coming to a stop right in front of Broly.
Broly didn't acknowledge him, his expression still as grief-stricken as before.
"What's with your face? You look like somebody died," Quitela snorted, unable to resist taking a jab.
Gin frantically tried to signal him with his eyes, begging him to stop talking.
Then he heard that line.
And he felt like lightning had struck him.
Quitela, do you have a death wish?
You're absolutely asking to be destroyed.
Sure enough, when the words left Quitela's mouth, Broly's eyes locked onto him, sharp as blades.
"Did I hit a nerve?" Quitela laughed, louder and louder.
Gin could only clutch his head helplessly. In his mind, Quitela's tragic fate was already sealed.
"Let's eat another one," Buu said, turning to Broly.
Broly didn't answer.
"What are you even talking about eating for? Look around you!" Quitela snapped. "Do you know how much trouble I went through to find you? This time, none of you are getting away! And not even Ken can help you now!"
Heles and Liquiir didn't land right away. They stayed aloft, watching.
"Hey, Liquiir… doesn't something feel off?" Heles murmured.
"I see it too. Broly's state is wrong somehow… and he feels stronger," Liquiir said quietly, his expression growing more serious.
"Yes. He definitely looks stronger, even without transforming," Heles agreed. "And for some reason, the moment I saw him, my nose started to sting. I felt like crying."
"Not to laugh at you, but… I felt the same," Liquiir admitted, face grim.
Heles didn't laugh at him.
She might be a woman, but she was still a God of Destruction.
After living for hundreds of millions of years, not much could make a God of Destruction want to cry.
So if Liquiir felt that way too, then something truly serious had happened to Broly.
"Something enormous must have happened to him," Heles said softly.
"According to the information from Universe 3's Supreme Kai, there should be two more Gods of Destruction here besides Broly and Buu," Liquiir said, frowning. "A new God of Destruction from Universe 3 named Ai, and a new one from Universe 9 named Bardock."
"So where are they? I can't sense them at all," he added, scanning the planet.
"No idea," Heles said with a faint shake of her head. "Let's go down—but don't rush into anything. We need to see what's going on first."
"You're right," Liquiir agreed.
The two descended slowly, taking up positions behind Quitela.
They didn't speak in his defense. They stayed quiet, choosing to watch and wait.
"If we can't eat, I'll just give him a beating," Buu said, completely unconcerned.
(End of Chapter)
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