Whis finished his inspection, shrugged, and let out a helpless sigh.
"How is it, Whis?" the Oracle Fish hurriedly asked.
"Your prophecy wasn't wrong… In about three hours, six Gods of Destruction will be coming here," Whis said thoughtfully.
"They're coming to beat up Beerus, aren't they?" The Oracle Fish sucked in a sharp breath. "Six Gods of Destruction… That guy Beerus is done for… How can he still be sleeping?"
"Why don't we go out for a little stroll?" Whis suggested.
"What about Beerus-sama?" the Oracle Fish asked.
"We'll just pretend we don't know anything," Whis replied with a smile.
Oracle Fish: "…"
"I didn't make any prophecy just now, right?" the Oracle Fish said with a nervous little laugh.
"You didn't say a word," Whis nodded.
"Didn't we say a couple days ago we wanted to go on a trip? Are we leaving now?" the Oracle Fish asked.
"Then let's pack up and head out right away," Whis had no objections.
The angel and the fish exchanged a knowing smile.
Beerus was sprawled on the massive bed in his castle. He stretched lazily, rolled over, and went right back to snoring, completely unaware of the looming crisis.
…
Broly soon appeared at the edge of the Null Realm, getting ready to enter Universe 6.
Just as he was about to cross over, he suddenly sensed a very familiar ki rising from the direction of Universe 7.
Broly froze for a moment. At first, he hadn't planned to pay it any mind.
But this ki was just too familiar, as if it awakened some deeply cherished memory from his childhood.
After a brief hesitation, Broly decided to head to Universe 7 first to take a look.
It was just a detour anyway. Going back to Universe 6 afterward wouldn't be far.
"Whoosh!"
Broly turned into a streak of dark green light, shooting into the cosmic expanse of Universe 7. He gradually slowed, his gaze sweeping toward a far-off region of space.
Even though Broly was separated from that location by several hundred light-years, with his current status and power it was still easy for him to see the spaceship drifting through that starfield.
It was a Frieza Force spaceship, slowly cruising through the vast ocean of stars.
Through the ship's glass, Broly spotted a girl inside at a glance.
A girl with bright green skin.
Broly glanced at the girl's skin tone, then lowered his head to look at the green light still leaking from his own body.
He felt like the colors actually went pretty well together.
Broly was certain that the familiar ki he had just sensed was coming from this girl.
Who is she?
He didn't have any clear impression of her.
After all, twenty-six years had gone by.
The little girl from back then had already grown into a pretty young woman.
On top of that, the first time Broly had met Cheelai had been in Universe 10, so he hadn't thought to connect this girl in front of him with Cheelai at all.
After a short hesitation, Broly decided to go over and see why this girl gave off such a familiar feeling.
"Whoosh!"
Broly flew rapidly toward the spaceship.
Inside the ship, besides Cheelai, there were her good friend Lemo and a few of Frieza's henchmen.
There was also a member of the Ginyu Force on board. His name was Burter.
"Frieza-sama ordered us to search all over for planets with life and value. We've been looking for so long and still haven't found a suitable one," Cheelai sighed. "This is basically like searching for a needle in a haystack."
"Shh, shh, shh!" Lemo kept frantically winking at Cheelai from the side, signaling her not to say such blasphemous things.
Sure enough, the moment she finished, Burter's eyes narrowed as he turned to look at her.
"I… I didn't mean anything by it, I was just trying to break the boredom of the trip," Cheelai said with a nervous smile, waving her hands.
"You dare to complain about Frieza-sama's orders?" Burter snorted coldly. "You've been in the army for almost a year now, haven't you? Don't tell me you still don't understand the basic rules!"
"I absolutely meant no disrespect to Frieza-sama!" Cheelai went pale and quickly tried to explain.
"Yeah, yeah… Cheelai's still young… she doesn't really understand the rules yet. Please forgive her, Burter-sama," Lemo stepped forward to plead.
"If every mistake could be forgiven, the Frieza Force wouldn't have any rules at all," Burter snorted. He turned to two of the henchmen. "Beat her. Beat her good. Hit her until she remembers this lesson."
"How about I sing you a song, and you hit me a little lighter, okay?" Cheelai blinked at Burter, forced out a dry laugh, and quickly offered.
Burter: "…"
"That depends on whether your singing is any good," Burter huffed.
Cheelai immediately cleared her throat and began to hum a song under her breath.
The lyrics went like this:
"From that faraway starry sky, you slowly fade from sight; a face that used to blur is suddenly coming into focus… If the universe could bring back the love we once had, I'd spend my whole life waiting; if you no longer cling to those tender memories, then let them scatter on the wind. If the universe could carry away all my sorrow, the way it bears each river of stars, then every wound I've taken, every tear I've shed—my love, please take them all away…"
When she finished, Burter and the handful of Frieza's goons all fell silent, lost in thought.
Three to five seconds passed.
"So, what do you think? Sound good?" Burter asked the henchmen.
They all shook their heads together, indicating it was painfully bad, not a trace of charm in it.
"Kid, your luck's really awful. Since your singing is that terrible, they're going to hit you that much harder," Burter said with a contemptuous smirk. He turned back to the two henchmen. "Go on. Just don't kill her—she's still somewhat useful."
"If you've gotta hit someone, then hit me! Please, I'm begging you, let Cheelai go!" Lemo dropped to his knees and pleaded.
"Then hit both of them," Burter sneered, giving the order.
Lemo: "…"
Just as the two henchmen stepped forward to grab Cheelai and Lemo and drag them aside for a beating—
Smack.
The spaceship suddenly slowed to a halt in the middle of the starry sky.
And, in the window, a dark green silhouette slowly came into view.
"What's going on?" Burter blinked. "Did the ship just stop?"
A henchman rushed up to the window, pointed outside at Broly, and stammered, "B-Burter-sama… there's… there's someone out there!"
Burter twisted his head around and saw a man outside, his entire body glowing with green light.
"Where'd this guy come from? Daring to block a spaceship of the Frieza Force? Looks like he's sick of living," Burter snorted, not taking him seriously at all.
After all, in Burter's mind, his own strength put him in the top three in the entire universe.
From his point of view, naturally, Frieza-sama was the strongest in the universe.
Next strongest was Captain Ginyu.
And third strongest was me, Burter!
I'm the fastest in the universe. Jeice and Recoome are nothing in front of me.
As for that Guldo guy, aside from a few weird tricks, his battle power was pretty average.
My battle power, on the other hand, has already reached the lofty height of forty thousand.
"Burter-sama… look, I think that guy's crying," a henchman whispered.
Burter blinked, stared more closely, and sure enough, Broly's eyes were red and swollen, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Broly really was crying.
From that faraway starry sky, you slowly fade from sight;
a face that used to blur is suddenly coming into focus…
If the universe could bring back the love we once had, I'd spend my whole life waiting;
If you no longer cling to those tender memories, then let them scatter on the wind;
If the universe could carry away all my sorrow, the way it bears each river of stars;
Every wound I've taken, every tear I've shed—my love, please take them all away…
Hearing Cheelai's song, with this scene in front of him, Broly felt his heart twist in pain.
"Don't tell me he got lost and can't find his way home, so he's crying?" Burter snorted, then asked with a chuckle, "What's his battle power?"
"It's not showing up…" One of the henchmen had already used his scouter to check Broly's level.
"Not showing? Don't tell me it's broken. I've said it for ages, these scouters break down all the time," Burter grumbled. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. Let him in. If we help him find his home, we might stumble on a good planet."
"Yes, sir!" the henchman nodded.
One of them stepped up to the window, gestured to Broly, then pointed at the ship's hatch, indicating that he should come in through there.
"Burter-sama… I've got a bad feeling about this," another henchman muttered under his breath.
"What?" Burter asked.
"This guy just brought our spaceship to a full stop. How strong does he have to be to do that?" the henchman said, frowning.
Burter's face went rigid and he immediately sank into thought.
You know… he kind of has a point.
And while the ship wasn't flying at full speed, it hadn't exactly been slow either.
Yet this guy had been able to force it to a halt.
That meant his speed was impressive, and his power seemed pretty decent as well.
"Bring him in and ask. See if he's willing to join the Frieza Force," Burter ordered.
"Who do you think he is?" Lemo muttered.
"I feel like I've seen him somewhere…" Cheelai murmured, "But he looks so sad, crying like that…"
"Let's just hope they forget about punishing us," Lemo said in a low voice.
"Let's really pray they forget," Cheelai nodded hard.
The spaceship's hatch opened.
Broly let his transformation fade and stepped into the ship in his base form. He took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes.
"The green light's gone. What a strange change," Burter huffed.
Broly ignored him completely and turned his gaze toward Cheelai.
Cheelai also stared right back at Broly without blinking. She couldn't shake the feeling that she'd seen him somewhere before.
"Hey, kid, who are you? What are you doing here?" Burter demanded.
Broly, however, quietly leaned in close to Cheelai and sniffed her carefully.
"W-What are you doing?" Cheelai yelped, quickly covering her chest like a frightened little rabbit.
"Who are you?" Broly asked. "I'm sure I've met you. You have a scent I know."
Cheelai: "…"
Lemo, meanwhile, glanced at Cheelai, then at Broly, his face full of gossip.
A scent he's familiar with?
Now this sounds like juicy drama.
"W-What nonsense are you spouting? How could I possibly have a scent you know?" Cheelai shook her head furiously.
"There's no mistake," Broly said seriously.
"Hey, is this how you chase girls? Why don't you just say I'm your girlfriend while you're at it?" Cheelai glared at him in a huff.
"Girlfriend?" Broly scratched his head.
"Don't tell me you don't even know what a girlfriend is?" Cheelai's eyes flashed and she gave a little huff.
"I've only heard of 'friends.' I've never heard of 'girlfriends,'" Broly nodded honestly.
Cheelai: "…"
"Are you two doing a comedy routine?" Burter finally couldn't stand it anymore and shouted at them.
Neither of them paid him the slightest attention and continued talking to each other.
Burter: "…"
Fine, I'll let you two chat for a bit. In a minute I'm going to give you the beating of your life.
Do I really have zero presence here?
Just you wait!
I'll make you pay!
"Officially, a girlfriend is a girl you're in a romantic relationship with," Cheelai explained earnestly.
"When you say 'love'… you mean Ai?" The moment Broly heard the word "love," the image of Ai's face and smile floated up in his mind.
When he heard Cheelai sing "Cosmic Ocean," he'd taken every mention of "love" in the song to mean Ai.
Cheelai: "???"
"Who's Ai?" Cheelai was completely lost.
"She's a very good friend of mine," Broly replied.
"Your girlfriend?" Cheelai asked again.
"Maybe," Broly said uncertainly. "I still don't really get what you mean by 'girlfriend.'"
"You could think of it as… a girl you're going to take home and marry someday," Cheelai said, sweating a little as she tried a more down-to-earth explanation.
"I get it now." Broly's eyes lit up in realization. "So it's like how Ken keeps saying he wants to marry Vados and bring her home as his wife. That's what you mean, right?"
"And who's Ken now?" Cheelai was getting even more confused.
"He's my best friend. He treats me really well," Broly answered.
"Then what's your name?" Cheelai fluttered her lashes at Broly, smiling as she looked at him. It seemed she had already guessed the answer.
"My name is Broly," he said.
"I knew it! Broly! It really is you!" Cheelai's pretty face lit up with boundless joy.
"Huh? You know me?" Broly scratched his head.
"I'm Cheelai! Don't you remember me?" Cheelai quickly told him her name.
"Cheelai?" Broly frowned and fell into thought.
"Lemo, look, it's him—he's Broly! The moment I saw him I thought he looked familiar!" Cheelai said excitedly, grabbing Lemo in her enthusiasm.
"He's Broly? Congratulations, Cheelai! Congratulations on finally finding him!" Lemo was genuinely happy for her. "All that hard work, searching the whole universe… and you finally found him!"
"Yeah, yeah!" Cheelai bounced over to Broly's side and gently took his hand.
"Uh…" Broly still looked completely lost. Then something seemed to click, and he slapped his forehead. "I remember now. You're that little green-skin."
Cheelai: "…"
"Watch your mouth! What's that supposed to mean, 'little green-skin'?" Cheelai's chest rose and fell with anger. "Are you making fun of my skin color?"
Broly shook his head quickly.
"Hmph! Do you remember what you said when we were kids?" Cheelai put her hands on her hips and demanded.
"What did I say?" Broly shook his head again.
"You said that when you grew up, you were going to come and marry me. That was our promise," Cheelai pouted, glaring at him angrily.
Broly: "…"
"I think… it was you who told me to marry you," Broly thought hard and finally answered.
"And did you agree?" Cheelai asked.
Broly hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"So? Are you going back on your word?" Cheelai tilted her head and looked at him.
"I won't… If I've agreed to something… then I should keep my promise," Broly said seriously.
"Hmph, that's more like it. I've been looking for you for sixteen whole years! How many sixteens does a person get? A girl's best years… all spent looking for you!" Cheelai grumbled gloomily, though her eyes shone with delight, like a little woman overjoyed in her own way.
"Looking for me? Weren't you in Universe 10? How did you end up in Universe 7?" Broly asked in confusion.
"Universe 10, Universe 7… I don't know what you're talking about," Cheelai shook her head.
"We got caught in some kind of huge vortex, and when it spat us out, we were in this starfield," Lemo cut in, then took a guess. "You mean we used to be in a universe called 'Universe 10,' and somehow ended up in 'Universe 7' now, right?"
Broly nodded, meaning that was exactly it.
"So, take me with you," Cheelai said with a playful grin.
Broly didn't refuse. He turned toward Burter and the others and said simply, "All of you, get off."
Burter: "…"
Frieza's henchmen: "…"
They had been happily munching on melon-flavored drama.
And somehow, the melon rind had landed on their own heads.
The nerve of this guy, telling us to get off!
"Kid, where do you think you are? You think this is a taxi? You can just get off wherever you want?" One of the henchmen next to Burter jabbed a finger at Broly's nose and shouted, "We were about to bless your little reunion and impending wedding, you know! Are you an idiot, telling us to get off here? Hey, what are you doing—don't use your hands, we can talk this out! Let go of me, you hear me? Let go or I'll— I'll— I'll pound you!"
Before he could finish, Broly grabbed him by the throat, strode over to the hatch, opened it, and flung him out.
"Aaah—"
The henchman's scream grew farther and farther away, fading into the emptiness of space.
(End of chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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