"Oh, is that so? You really lucked out, didn't you." Caulifla was a little envious of her junior's experiences. A female father was nothing strange — the universe was full of all kinds of weird and wonderful intelligent species, so that was barely worth blinking at.
Kale had a happy family. A father, a mother, a big sister. That was more than enough.
And she'd just spotted it herself — Kale's family even kept a pet pig. Quite the beast, that pig… it looked like it would taste absolutely delicious.
This was an eating contest, not a fighting contest. Super Saiyan 1, 2, 3 — none of that had anything to do with eating. Caulifla quickly tossed the whole Super Saiyan question out of her mind and asked Kale for the details and format of the competition.
It was just a game, after all. No need to take it too seriously.
"Dad explained it roughly once. I think the format is…" Kale wrinkled her brow and did her best to recite what Ino had told her.
Caulifla was thrilled. She immediately headed back to her team and shared the intel she'd gathered with her temporary teammates.
Ino's family wasn't competing. Choji had come to have fun and wasn't counted as a Seventh Universe contestant either.
There were still plenty of others just here to watch the excitement.
Shin and Kibito arrived on Earth together with the Grand Supreme Kai. Perhaps because Beerus was present — or perhaps because he'd been flipping through the photo album too many times these past few days and gotten a bit overexcited — the Old Kai had stayed behind at the Sacred World of the Kai to mind the house.
The Grand Supreme Kai was simply here for a free meal. Not long after he arrived, Fuwa, the equally rotund Supreme Kai of the Sixth Universe, showed up as well.
The Grand Supreme Kai and Fuwa were contemporaries. The two fat old men were thick as thieves, and they settled down side by side on the ground — one grabbing an apple, the other a slice of cake — chatting and eating away.
The official competitors wouldn't dream of eating anything right now, but guests had no such restrictions. Bulma had prepared more than enough food for everyone.
Ino was nearby, chatting with Whis and Vados.
Hinata had gone to help Chichi with the preparations, the two of them swapping tips on housekeeping and raising children as they worked.
Ino was in the middle of discussing Ultra Instinct with the two Angel Attendants when she suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Her head snapped around, and she stared at the side of Bulma's private lake, her expression going utterly strange.
"No way… this person actually came?" she murmured. "Did either of you know about this?"
She looked to the two Angel Attendants. Both Vados and Whis shook their heads in unison.
"We had no idea either."
The three of them managed to stay relatively composed.
Beerus, who had been lounging on his deck chair like a retired old man, shot up as if someone had stepped on his tail — a full-body spring off the chair — and bolted over at the speed of a house fire. Without a word, without even looking up, he dropped into a ninety-degree bow.
Champa's power and reaction speed left something to be desired, but Vados, to her credit, chose not to pull one of her usual pranks at a moment like this. She quietly passed him a word of warning.
Champa scrambled over in a flurry, took his place beside Beerus, and matched him bow for bow — ninety degrees, perfect form.
After them came the Supreme Kais. They positioned themselves a step behind the Destroyers, then dropped to their knees, foreheads pressed flat to the ground, prostrating themselves in full ceremony.
Only then did Ino and the two Angel Attendants stroll over at a leisurely pace.
Ino dropped her everyday disguise, returning to her nine-year-old body. She clasped her hands behind her back and stood to the side of the welcoming formation.
The two Angel Attendants took their places flanking Beerus and Champa respectively, staves in hand, gazes fixed straight ahead, standing ramrod straight.
The Earthlings: "???"
What on earth was going on?
Son Goku was supposed to be competing, but after a whole morning of running around, he'd worked up an appetite. He'd picked up a big bone-in joint and was gnawing away at it when he noticed the gods arranging themselves into that bizarre formation. Being the straightforward sort, he couldn't help but speak up.
"What are you all…"
He'd barely gotten one word out before Vegeta clapped a hand over his mouth.
The look Vegeta gave him was the look you'd give a complete idiot.
Goku was not having it — he very much wanted to argue the point — but North Kai chose that moment to send him a timely telepathic message, which finally got him to settle down.
From the moment the presence was sensed to the moment all the gods had lined up in greeting — it had taken all of two seconds.
A brilliant, blinding pillar of seven-colored light descended.
Grand Zeno had arrived.
Big head, small body, spindly limbs — Grand Zeno looked every bit like a child. Flanking him from behind stood two tall, silent bodyguards, one on each side.
The Grand Minister, still wearing that eternally youthful face, stood at Grand Zeno's side.
"Grand Zeno, Your Majesty. Grand Minister, my lord." Ino genuinely hadn't known these two would show up today.
"Supreme Kai of Time, you're here too — wonderful! The Grand Minister told me there'd be delicious food, so I decided to come on a whim. Can you check for me — will there actually be good things to eat today?" Grand Zeno tilted his oversized head and asked in that soft, childlike voice of his.
Ino smiled. "Of course. The Seventh Universe has prepared dishes from every corner of the world today. Your Majesty will not be disappointed."
The moment she mentioned the Seventh Universe, both Shin and Beerus broke into brilliant smiles — Beerus's edging just slightly into fawning territory.
Grand Zeno pumped his little fist. "Wonderful. I'm very excited."
Ino exchanged a few pleasantries with Grand Zeno, then gave the Grand Minister a small, respectful nod. With that, protocol was satisfied, and she naturally stepped to one side.
"Your Majesty, Grand Zeno!"
"Grand Minister, my lord!"
The assembled gods fell over themselves welcoming the two great figures.
Ino had visited Grand Zeno's palace a few days ago to play Gomoku with him and had brought a box of sweets along. They weren't friends, exactly, but they at least knew each other.
For the gods now prostrating themselves before him, Grand Zeno, with a mind like that of a young child, didn't really recognize most of them. He went blank for a moment, at a loss for what to say, then looked to the Grand Minister.
"Today is not a day for official business," the Grand Minister said pleasantly. "Please feel free to treat myself and His Majesty Grand Zeno as two ordinary visitors. Everyone — please, carry on with the festive atmosphere from before."
Treat them as ordinary people? Impossible. Grand Zeno could wipe out a universe with a single wave of his hand if he felt like it.
Even Ino wasn't about to say something breezy like "play on, play on" at a moment like this.
She caught Shin's eye and gave him a pointed look — just say something, anything. Don't expect me to keep warming up the crowd for you.
Shin was not, it had to be said, a man of quick wit. He was sweating profusely right now. He'd understood Ino's look perfectly, but for the life of him couldn't think of what to say.
And yet he was the Supreme Kai of the Seventh Universe, and this was the Seventh Universe's Earth. By every measure of duty and circumstance, the response was his to give.
The moment stretched. A slightly uncomfortable silence settled over everything.
Ino sighed inwardly. Fine. For old times' sake, I'll bail you out one more time.
With a small adjustment to the timeline, Vegeta's younger brother — Prince Tarble — and his wife Gure found themselves "naturally" piloting their ship into an early landing on Earth, a full year ahead of schedule.
The whole sequence of events had been moved forward.
Tarble's ship touched down close to the gathering. He threw open the hatch and came sprinting out with his wife in his arms, calling out in a panic:
"Onii-chan! Onii-chan! Run! Frieza's men found me again! They're about to chase us all the way to Earth!"
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