The atmosphere inside the seemingly bottomless Space Prison was so oppressive it felt suffocating.
Then, without warning, a mysterious beam of light shot straight upward like a brilliant meteor.
'Whoosh!'
At that exact moment, Trunks opened his eyes.
An invisible force rippled through the area, triggering a series of astonishing changes. The Space Prison began expanding at a visible rate, and in the blink of an eye, control of the entire dimension shifted hands.
Trunks, however, remained completely calm. There was nothing surprising about it, he had created this space himself, and every tiny change within it was under his control.
"Boss! You did it!"
A thunderous cheer rang out from the distance. Trunks turned his head and saw a small figure racing toward him at incredible speed: Super Perfect Cell. The moment he realized Trunks had finally awakened, Cell's face lit up with excitement. He dashed over and skidded to a halt right in front of him.
"Boss! You actually did it!" Super Perfect Cell looked up at Trunks with pure admiration, his eyes practically shining.
Trunks smiled and nodded. "Yeah. It took a little longer than expected, but luckily, time flows differently inside the Space Prison compared to the outside world. The delay shouldn't matter much."
Just as the two were enjoying their success, Trunks glanced off to the side, noticing Hit, Kale, Caulifla, and the others.
"Caulifla… and Kale," Trunks murmured.
Super Perfect Cell blinked in confusion. "Boss, you know them?"
"No."
"Then how do you know their names?"
Trunks smiled. "This is a space I created. Everything that happened here while I was busy was within my awareness."
Cell's eyes widened. "Boss! You could see all of that too? That's amazing!" Then his expression turned smug. "So you saw what I did earlier, right? Pretty cool, wasn't I?"
He eagerly waited for praise, and Trunks didn't disappoint him.
"Of course. Whose underling do you think you are?"
Cell looked as if he had just received the greatest compliment of his life.
Before long, Hit and the others arrived, appearing in front of Trunks almost instantly.
Hit spoke first. "Trunks, I assume you already know everything that just happened?"
Trunks gave a small nod, then turned his attention toward the group from Universe 6. His eyes met Caulifla's; she stared directly back, curiosity and challenge clear in her gaze.
"Hey. So you're this guy's boss?" She pointed at Super Perfect Cell.
Cell's expression instantly darkened. "Hey! Watch how you talk! Show some respect to my boss, you crazy woman!"
Trunks remained perfectly calm. "Yeah. That's me." His voice was steady, completely unaffected by her attitude.
Instead of backing off, Caulifla only grew more interested, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. "Then you must be pretty strong, right? How about it? Wanna fight me?"
Her eyes sparkled as her Saiyan blood began to boil. The mere thought of fighting someone strong sent excitement surging through her body like a raging fire.
"Haaah!" Caulifla shouted as a dazzling golden light burst from her body. Her aura exploded outward and her muscles surged as her power rapidly climbed, transforming her into Super Saiyan 3 in an instant. Her long golden hair whipped behind her like blazing flames while waves of overwhelming energy rolled through the Space Prison.
"As expected of Caulifla!" Cabba exclaimed. "She's already mastered Super Saiyan 3!"
While Cabba was still stunned by the transformation, Super Perfect Cell burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! Do you even hear yourself? This is hilarious!" He looked Caulifla up and down with open contempt. "With that level of strength, you actually want to challenge my boss? Keep dreaming! You can't even beat me, what makes you think you have any chance against him?"
Cell grew more smug with every word. "And I'm not trying to crush your confidence, Caulifla, but that so-called Super Saiyan 3 transformation of yours? My boss could do that easily years ago!"
His obnoxious laughter echoed throughout the entire space.
Caulifla's expression darkened. She clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles turned white, veins bulging across her forehead as anger and frustration built inside her. "Tch! Enough crap! We won't know who's stronger until we actually fight!"
The very next instant, Cell's laughter abruptly stopped, as if someone had grabbed him by the throat. His face stiffened as he realized something very important.
He whipped his head around to stare straight at Trunks, his eyes widening. "Wait… Boss, that's not right. If I remember correctly… you can't actually transform into Super Saiyan 3, can you?"
The words dropped like a bomb. Super Perfect Cell's boss couldn't transform into Super Saiyan 3?
Everyone turned to look at Trunks. Even Caulifla, who had been fuming over Cell's taunts, relaxed a bit and fixed her eyes on Trunks, waiting for his answer.
Trunks remained completely unfazed. He didn't deny Cell's claim, nor did he rush to explain whether he could use Super Saiyan 3. Instead, he quietly studied Caulifla with a thoughtful expression.
"Mm. Just as I thought." His voice was soft, but everyone heard him clearly.
"Hey! Why do you keep staring at me like that?" Caulifla snapped, her impatience flaring up. "Just answer me already! Can you turn into Super Saiyan 3 or not? Stop dragging this out!"
Trunks still didn't answer. He already had a good idea of what kind of person she was, so there was no need to rush. Besides, an interesting thought crossed his mind.
Super Saiyan 3? That was nothing. He might as well show her something different.
'Whoosh!'
A dazzling light erupted from Trunks's body. His muscles swelled, his golden hair rose like burning flames, and in an instant, he transformed from his base form into Super Saiyan 4.
Caulifla merely stared with a blank expression. She had already seen Goku transform into Super Saiyan 4. "Yeah, that's Super Saiyan 4," she said dismissively. "Nothing special. I've already seen it."
'Boom!'
Trunks's energy suddenly exploded. His power surged violently outward as he skipped straight past Full Power Super Saiyan 4 into Super Saiyan 4 Limit Breaker.
Even then, Caulifla barely reacted. "Tch. I just wanted to see the legendary Super Saiyan 3. Can't you show me something new?" She folded her arms, clearly losing patience.
Before she could finish complaining, an even more terrifying aura erupted from Trunks. A white blaze of energy wrapped around his entire body, and the surrounding space began to distort under the sheer pressure of his power.
This time, Caulifla's expression finally changed. Her eyes flew open and her mouth fell agape as she stared in disbelief, unable to utter a word. Even Super Perfect Cell froze in place, completely stunned, Trunks had never used this transformation in front of him before.
Everyone's full attention locked onto Trunks. Even Lighters, who normally carried himself with absolute confidence, couldn't tear his eyes away.
The deep crimson aura surrounding Trunks gradually shifted into a pure, snow-white glow. The light grew brighter until it formed a faint layer over his wild Super Saiyan 4 form, giving him an imposing, almost regal presence while making him seem far more mysterious than before.
More shocking still was the power pouring from his body. The entire Space Prison began to tremble as visible ripples radiated through the air, the intense pressure making the surrounding atmosphere emit a deep, continuous howl.
There was no mistaking it: Trunks had broken through again.
Hit said nothing. Kale stood silently. Cabba, meanwhile, couldn't help but smile.
"B-Boss! What is this?!" Cell blurted out.
A knowing smile appeared on Trunks's face. He slowly pulled his aura back in, letting the overwhelming energy vanish as his form settled back into ordinary Super Saiyan 4.
"That's enough of a demonstration." He looked directly at Caulifla. "So? Anything else you want to say?"
Caulifla stared at him, wide-eyed and speechless. What she had just witnessed was completely beyond her imagination. The transformation had lasted only moments, but the sheer power had left an indelible impression on her. Suddenly, something about Trunks seemed almost irresistibly fascinating.
Before she could stop herself, Caulifla asked, "Can you teach me?"
Trunks gave her a calm glance. "You want to learn it? As you are now, you're nowhere near ready." His voice carried unquestionable authority. "Besides, Super Saiyan 3 is nothing special. If anything, it's a flawed transformation. There's no real reason to spend too much time studying it."
As soon as he finished speaking, his appearance changed in a flash, Trunks dropped from Super Saiyan 4 straight into Super Saiyan 3. Golden light erupted around him, so bright it was blinding. His hair lengthened down to his waist, and his eyebrows disappeared completely as he fixed a calm, confident gaze on Caulifla.
Cell stared in shock, his mouth hanging open. "Boss… when did you learn that?!" As far as Cell knew, only Goku and Vegeta had managed to reach Super Saiyan 3.
Trunks smiled. "Did you forget? We spent two and a half years inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. For me, figuring out Super Saiyan 3 wasn't particularly difficult." He paused. "And it happened exactly as I suspected: to reach Super Saiyan 3, you need to train under special conditions, like the Other World, the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, or a Space Prison. It doesn't seem possible under normal conditions."
He looked toward Caulifla. "So your Super Saiyan 3 transformation most likely has something to do with Hit's Space Prison."
The moment Trunks said that, Lighters's eyes twitched before he quickly turned away. It was a subtle reaction, but inside the Space Prison he had created, almost nothing escaped Trunks's awareness.
A faint smirk touched the corner of Trunks's mouth. Turning back to Caulifla, he added, "Still, you shouldn't rely too much on Super Saiyan 3. Its biggest weakness is how much stamina it drains. I'm sure you've already noticed that yourself."
Only then did Trunks notice Caulifla had gone completely quiet, lost in thought. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized he was right. She had achieved Super Saiyan 2 long ago, but no matter how hard she trained, Super Saiyan 3 had remained out of reach until Hit created the Space Prison.
Looking at the young Saiyan standing before her, who was apparently even younger than she was, Caulifla felt genuine admiration rising inside her. She never would have guessed someone his age possessed such overwhelming power, nor that his understanding of transformations ran so deep. In an instant, her opinion of him skyrocketed.
"When this Tournament of Power is over, you have to teach me!" Unable to contain herself, Caulifla reached out to grab Trunks's arm.
Battle-honed instincts kicked in, and Trunks shifted aside, easily dodging her hand. "We'll talk about that later. Right now, the important thing is figuring out what we're going to do next."
Trunks turned toward Hit, who stood nearby with a serious expression. "Hit, you mentioned earlier that there was a mysterious section you couldn't see into clearly. Do you think I might be able to investigate it?"
Hit nodded. "In theory, yes. Your abilities are different from mine, and you're certainly strong enough. You should try."
Trunks closed his eyes. His consciousness spread outward, sweeping across the vast and mysterious God of Destruction arena. Like a hawk searching for prey, he carefully examined every corner, tracing every spatial fluctuation and faint trace of energy until his eyes snapped open.
That aura… It was weak and barely noticeable, but unmistakably familiar.
Gohan. And Piccolo.
There was no doubt about it, but why were their ki signatures so faint? Had something happened to them?
No… wait. There was another weak aura mixed in with theirs. Who was that?
Trunks focused carefully, recognizing it a moment later. Jiren.
Hit had been right; finding Gohan and Piccolo's ki was easy once Trunks knew where to look. But what he sensed next made his brow furrow sharply.
A violent aura was rushing straight toward Gohan and Piccolo.
Trunks's expression changed. 'Gohan and the others are in danger!'
(End of this chapter)
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