Savage Beast's pupils shrank.
He could feel that the energy inside him had not weakened in the slightest.
He could also feel his blood surging through his veins.
And yet…
Every part of his body had stopped obeying him.
His consciousness was perfectly clear, but he had completely lost control over his own body.
It was as if his mind and body had been separated.
"What did you do to me?"
"Why can't I move?!"
"No matter what kind of damage I take, my immortal body can repair it!"
"Damn it! Heal already!"
For the first time, fear appeared in Savage Beast's voice.
The unknown terrified him far more than any physical wound.
Hit, still with both hands in his pockets, looked cold and indifferent as he calmly answered.
"I simply shifted the position of every bone in your body by a small amount."
"And while I was at it, I severed the main connections between your spinal nerves and motor neurons."
"What does that mean?" Goku did not understand.
Piccolo's expression turned extremely grave.
"All the bones in Savage Beast's body have been displaced."
"And because his bodily functions are completely intact, his immortal body can't even recognize this as an injury. After all… on a cellular level, nothing has been destroyed."
"But his brain can no longer send any effective commands to his limbs."
"He's paralyzed."
Piccolo's words made everyone nearby suck in a cold breath.
Was that really something a normal person could come up with?
Inside the arena.
"Bastard! My immortal body can even repair and reconstruct a destroyed brain! How is this possible?!"
Savage Beast roared wildly.
He began using the most primitive method, mobilizing the energy in his entire body to forcefully break through the restraints.
"Ahhhhh!"
His aura erupted violently.
Under the impact of that overwhelming energy, his body began to tremble fiercely.
Crack… creak…
A series of bone-grinding sounds rang out, sharp enough to make one's teeth ache.
Savage Beast's right arm twitched at an extremely bizarre angle.
It was not under his control.
Rather, the displaced joint had suffered an even more severe, terrifying deformation under the force of his rampaging energy.
Pain surged through him.
"Ah!"
He screamed, but his expression became ecstatic and deranged.
Because this time, his immortal body began repairing the injury in his right arm.
"Hehehe… hahaha… this little bit of pain means nothing to me!"
"I'm already used to it! You think this cheap trick can defeat me?!"
Crack, crack, crack!
The bones throughout Savage Beast's body exploded with sharp sounds under the impact of his violent energy.
As long as he could inflict more severe damage on his body and let it repair itself, he could regain movement.
Of course, this kind of self-harm could not trigger his passive ability.
"It's useless."
Hit looked at Savage Beast coldly.
"An assassin's job is not always to take a life."
"Keeping a target alive and unable to resist is also one of the commissions I often receive."
"Under normal circumstances, I don't keep the target conscious."
The moment his words fell, Hit flashed forward.
When he appeared again, one finger tapped several points on the back of Savage Beast's neck.
Savage Beast's pupils dilated, and his consciousness sank completely into darkness.
The barrier withdrew.
A flash of light passed.
Savage Beast, limp as mud, was teleported back before the throne inside the Saiyan spaceship.
Hit won!
Inside the Saiyan spaceship, there was dead silence.
Emperor Vegeta stared at Savage Beast lying unconscious on the deck, his expression shifting between dark and uncertain.
Another loss.
And in a way he could neither understand nor accept.
If Savage Beast had been defeated by a powerful fighter, that would have been one thing. But compared to Savage Beast's raw strength, Hit was far too weak.
Deep inside, Emperor Vegeta could not help but feel a trace of doubt toward the power the Saiyans had always taken pride in.
Broly's immortal body had been countered by absolute destructive power.
Kakarot's Saiyan passive had been avoided by Frieza's precise control of injury thresholds.
The Crown Prince had been completely sealed by Hearts's rule-level power.
And now, Savage Beast had been paralyzed and knocked unconscious by an assassin's unimaginable technique.
"Is this wish combination still not perfect enough…"
Emperor Vegeta had always believed that in the face of absolute strength, all techniques were useless tricks.
But today, the total defeat of his guards had shaken him.
The perfection he had always pursued could actually be dismantled in so many different ways.
Hit's figure appeared back in the spectator stands.
His hands were still in his pockets, his expression cold, as if what had just happened was nothing more than a trivial warm-up.
"Mr. Hit, you were amazing!" Cabba's eyes were full of admiration.
Champa also came over. His injuries had not fully healed yet, but the amazement on his face was genuine.
"Hey, Hit, that move of yours was way too sinister! Even watching it made my back go cold…"
Vados smiled.
"Lord Champa, sinister is such an unpleasant word. That is called professionalism."
The Earth warriors also gathered around Hit.
"Hit, you understand the structure of the human body way too well," Krillin said with lingering fear.
Goku's eyes shone as if he had discovered a whole new world.
"So fighting can be done like that too! No beam struggles, no punching and kicking. You just make the opponent unable to move. That's amazing!"
Piccolo looked at Hit with a serious expression.
"How did you do it? In such a short amount of time, you accurately found every joint and nerve center in his entire body?"
Everyone waited curiously for Hit's explanation.
Hit glanced at Piccolo and, rarely, said a few more words.
"An assassin's work requires years of accumulation."
"A target's information, physical structure, and movement habits are all intelligence that must be mastered."
"That man is powerful, but his body structure is not fundamentally different from an ordinary Saiyan's."
"All I needed to do was carry out work within my field of expertise."
His tone was calm, without the slightest pride after victory.
"Master Hit really has the bearing of a true expert!"
Even Levos could not help sighing inwardly.
His presence was simply on another level.
But after being drowned in praise from the Earth warriors, even Hit could not quite endure it.
In the end, he said one final sentence to Piccolo.
"To put it simply… brutes who only rely on strength are actually easy to deal with. Compared to Savage Beast, the pressure he gave me was far inferior to yours."
After saying that, he fell silent again, walked to an empty corner, and closed his eyes to rest.
As the remaining matches ended one after another, the first round of the winners' bracket came to a close.
Levos won vs. Lagss
Frieza won vs. Kakarot
Vegettina vs. Cabba won
Hearts won vs. Crown Prince
Fu won vs. Little Cell
Time Patrol Gohanks vs. Bardock won
Buu vs. Mosco, God of Destruction of Universe 3, won
Ginyu won vs. Little Cell
Android 18 won vs. Bulma
Kale won vs. Oren
Kamin vs. Android 21 won
Savage Beast vs. Hit won
Broly, Universe 7, won vs. Champa, God of Destruction of Universe 6
Cumber won vs. Liquiir, God of Destruction of Universe 8
Puar won vs. Arak, God of Destruction of Universe 5
Salza vs. Heles, God of Destruction of Universe 2, won
Next would be the first elimination round of the losers' bracket.
The thirty-two contestants from the first round and the sixteen contestants who had just lost in the winners' bracket would all take part.
In this round, twenty-four losers would be completely eliminated.
Before the new round began, the contestants received their usual thirty-minute rest period.
At this moment.
Frieza's eyes were filled with anticipation.
Full Metal Cell Max's voice remained calm and emotionless.
"Congratulations to all victorious contestants. You will each receive ten Spirit Tree Fruits as your reward and advance to the next round."
As his voice fell, sixteen faint lights flashed.
Sixteen sets of rewards were delivered before each winner.
Ten purple-black fruits hovered quietly in front of Frieza, releasing an incredibly tempting aura.
This was exactly what he had been waiting for.
The corners of Frieza's mouth could not stop rising, the curve growing wider and wider.
"Ohohohoho…"
He secretly glanced at Cooler beside him, and his laughter grew even more arrogant.
Cooler snorted coldly and turned his head away, clearly disdainful of seeing his foolish younger brother get so smug over such a petty reward.
Frieza did not care at all.
How could his foolish brother understand how he felt right now?
This was no ordinary reward.
This was a staircase from which he would look down upon everyone!
His consciousness had already sunk into his exclusive height panel.
Ten Spirit Tree Fruits.
According to the rules, one fruit could be exchanged for one lottery chance.
He now had ten chances.
Frieza's gaze fell on the progress bar that was almost full.
Current progress: 14.99 cm / 15 cm.
Only a little more.
Just that insignificant 0.01 centimeters.
As long as he drew once and got the reward of ten Spirit Tree Fruit fragments, he could exchange it for 0.01 centimeters and complete the goal.
From his previous lottery attempts, he had already discovered that the chance of obtaining ten Spirit Tree Fruit fragments was quite high.
If nothing unexpected happened, one draw would complete this historic step.
At that point, his height would completely surpass Cooler's!
He would become an existence superior to his elder brother in every aspect.
Frieza suppressed his excitement and decided to test the waters with one draw first.
"Exchange for one lottery chance."
With a thought, one Spirit Tree Fruit in his palm turned into motes of light and vanished.
Before his eyes, the familiar roulette appeared.
It was densely packed with reward options.
But his target was only one.
Spirit Tree Fruit Fragments x10!
With ten chances in hand, he was not panicked at all.
Because Spirit Tree Fruit Fragments x1 was the worst reward on the roulette.
In other words, even if his luck was at its absolute worst, after ten draws he would still gain at least 0.01 centimeters of height increase.
As for the other options, 1 cm, 0.5 cm, 0.01 cm, and so on…
He did not ask for more.
As long as he filled that one-time 15-centimeter progress bar, he would be satisfied.
An excited heart.
A trembling hand.
Frieza resolutely pressed the Start Lottery button.
The roulette slowly began to spin.
His tail swayed gently behind him, unconsciously exposing the tension beneath his calm expression.
Time seemed to slow down.
The needle gradually slowed.
It moved like a crawling snail.
One slot.
Then another.
When it passed 0.5 cm, Frieza's pupils contracted slightly, but he quickly regained his calm.
When it slowly moved past 1 cm, Frieza admitted that he was very tempted, and quickly comforted himself to stay calm.
His goal was not high.
He only needed 0.01 centimeters.
Closer.
Closer still.
The needle slowly stopped in the area he desired most.
A slot marked 0.01 cm.
He got it!
Congratulations! You have obtained the reward: 0.01 cm, Instant Redeem.
Frieza could not help letting out a hohoho laugh.
Not bad luck. He had succeeded directly!
However, he suddenly noticed that the accumulated height progress bar had not changed at all.
It was still…
Current progress: 14.99 cm / 15 cm.
In disbelief, Frieza rubbed his eyes and looked again and again.
Then he saw the words "Instant Redeem" in parentheses after the 0.01 cm.
After reading the small description beneath the reward, he froze slightly.
0.01 cm, Instant Redeem: This reward can be used immediately to increase your height by 0.01 cm.
Frieza understood.
This 0.01 centimeters was for immediate use.
It could not be added to the 15-centimeter progress bar.
The joy on his face froze.
A huge sense of disappointment welled up in his heart.
Just a little.
He had been just that tiny bit away.
But he quickly reacted.
Growing 0.01 centimeters was still growing taller, and it was an immediate reward.
In the past, he would never even have dared to dream of such a good thing.
Frieza rapidly adjusted his mindset.
"Although it did not complete the final step of that 15 centimeters, small gains add up. As long as I draw this a few more times, the effect will be the same."
"Besides, I still have plenty of Spirit Tree Fruits."
He looked again at the 1 cm option on the roulette and laughed softly.
"Ohohoho…"
"Very well. A reward that can make me grow taller immediately without needing accumulation is not bad either."
Use 0.01 cm, Instant Redeem?
Yes. No.
"Use it."
Frieza chose to use it without hesitation.
A barely perceptible strange sensation flowed through his entire body.
His line of sight seemed to rise by the tiniest fraction.
Although the change was so faint that even he could barely sense it, he knew it was real.
He had truly grown taller again!
Frieza's heart burned once more.
Looking at the remaining nine Spirit Tree Fruits in his hand, his eyes flickered with desire.
"Exchange them all!"
"Nine chances!"
"Ohohohoho… I refuse to believe I cannot draw what I want!"
This time, he had several more targets on the roulette.
Aside from gathering ten Spirit Tree Fruit fragments to synthesize 0.01 centimeters of accumulated progress, he also had his eyes on instant-redeem rewards such as 1 cm, 0.5 cm, and 0.3 cm.
"Draw for me!"
The roulette spun rapidly.
First draw.
The needle stopped.
Spirit Tree Fruit Fragments x5.
Automatically converted into 0.005 cm.
Current progress: 14.995 cm / 15 cm.
Only 0.005 cm left!
Frieza felt a little frantic, but he quickly comforted himself.
"Not bad. The start is still smooth."
After all, this was five times better than the worst reward.
Second draw.
Spirit Tree Fruit Fragments x3.
Current progress: 14.998 cm / 15 cm.
Still fine. Only two fragments left.
Third draw.
Spirit Tree Fruit Fragments x1.
Current progress: 14.999 cm / 15 cm.
Frieza's breathing grew rapid.
Only 0.001 centimeters left.
Just one-thousandth of a centimeter!
And the lowest reward on the roulette was Spirit Tree Fruit Fragments x1.
Even if this height system tried to mess with him, what other trick could it possibly pull?
He still held six chances.
Victory was guaranteed!