"It's wonderful that you've regained your memories," Bardock said, reaching out to gently rub Gine's head, his face full of joy.
"Gine, congratulations on getting your memories back," Videl said with a smile, genuinely happy for her best friend.
"Don't call me that," Gine suddenly said, her face stiffening as she looked quite displeased.
"What?" Videl blinked, not quite understanding.
"You should call me 'Grandma,'" Gine said with a perfectly straight face.
Videl: "..."
"Otherwise, I might not let Gohan marry you," Gine continued solemnly, though a glint of mischief flashed in her eyes.
Videl's mouth twitched, and her cheeks instantly turned beet red. Gohan, standing nearby, wiped his brow vigorously, feeling the atmosphere turn a bit awkward.
"Pfft..." Gine couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into laughter, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
"You... you, you, you!" Videl finally realized Gine was just teasing her. Both angry and amused, she stepped forward and playfully grabbed Gine's neck as if she were fuming.
"Cough, cough, cough..." Gine let out a few coughs, and the two of them collapsed into a fit of giggles. Seeing this, Videl quickly let go, though her face still carried a pouty blush.
Bardock's face had turned red watching them, his fists clenched so tight they were creaking. He had almost been tempted to swat Videl away.
"Just a joke! You can call me whatever you want from now on," Gine said with a light chuckle, covering her mouth as she tried to smooth things over.
"I treat you like my best friend, and you try to be my grandmother? That's just too much," Videl grumbled, still feeling a bit miffed as she gave Gine a mock glare.
Goku stood to the side, looking as confused as ever, completely failing to grasp the interaction between the two. After watching for a while, a lightbulb finally seemed to go off in his head. He let out a cry of realization. "I get it! You're my dead mom who got reincarnated, and now you've regained your past memories! Right?"
"My, my, it certainly is lively in here."
Suddenly, Whis's gentle voice drifted in from outside, breaking the playful atmosphere in the room. Goku's ears immediately perked up. As if he'd received a direct command, he bolted out of the room in a single bound.
In the courtyard, Whis and Merus appeared before everyone.
"Hello, Mr. Goku," Merus was the first to step forward, greeting Goku politely.
"Hey there, Merus!" Goku waved back with a friendly smile.
"It seems Mr. Goku has gained a preliminary understanding of Ultra Instinct. This training session has certainly yielded significant results," Whis said with a smile, his eyes full of approval.
"Hehe," Goku grinned and immediately bowed respectfully, offering his sincere thanks. "Thank you so much for your guidance, Mr. Whis."
"No need to thank me. Merus was the one who primarily guided you this time," Whis said with a slight smile, waving his hand to give the credit to Merus.
"Not at all. I merely engaged in some simple sparring with Mr. Goku; that was all. It's mostly due to Mr. Goku's extraordinary talent," Merus said modestly, returning the smile.
"Merus, thank you," Goku turned and bowed to Merus as well.
"Mr. Goku, you're far too kind," Merus said, quickly stepping forward to help Goku back up.
"Has Mr. Vegeta returned as well?" Whis then turned his gaze toward Vegeta, who was standing nearby, his voice carrying a hint of curiosity.
"Naturally," Vegeta tilted his chin up with a flat expression. "Not only am I back, but I've also gained new insights in that other parallel world. My strength has increased once again."
"That's wonderful to hear," Whis said with a satisfied smile.
"Furthermore, I've discovered something," Vegeta continued, his gaze deepening as he looked at Merus with an inquiring look. Merus looked back at Vegeta calmly, saying nothing, as if he had long expected this.
"Never mind, I won't say it," Vegeta swallowed his words, choosing not to reveal Merus's true identity. I'll just let Kakarot figure it out for himself slowly.
Merus let out a cooperative smile and said nothing more.
"Vegeta, what did you find out? Tell me!" Goku immediately crowded in, his face full of curiosity.
"Hmph, you can just imagine it for yourself," Vegeta smirked proudly, intentionally keeping Goku in suspense.
Goku: "..."
By now, Bardock and the others had also filed out of the room. Gine, supported by Bardock, slowly made her way out, saying she wanted to get some sun. In truth, her illness was completely cured, but she was still a bit weak from the ordeal.
"You two must be Mr. Goku's parents. Hello, sorry for the intrusion," Whis stepped forward and greeted Bardock and Gine politely.
"Hello," Bardock nodded in response.
"Hello," Gine also returned the greeting with a polite bow.
"Pop!"
The scepter in Whis's hand suddenly flickered with a soft light. From the crystal ball at the top, a cluster of starlight-like flames emerged, looking both dreamlike and mysterious.
"Whoosh!"
The brilliant streak of light flew out and gently enveloped Gine.
"Eh?" Gine looked surprised and instinctively pulled back a bit.
In the next moment, she clearly felt the weakness in her body vanish without a trace. She felt vibrant and full of energy, her spirit completely refreshed.
"Your body is now fully restored," Whis said with a smile.
"That's amazing! Thank you so much, I really appreciate it," Gine was overjoyed and quickly bowed to Whis in gratitude again.
"Alright, it's time to depart, Mr. Goku," Whis turned to address Goku.
"Right! I'm all set," Goku nodded, looking eager to go.
"Whis, this is my son, Trunks. Can he come along to watch the matches?" Vegeta asked, pointing to Trunks.
"Of course, no problem at all," Whis agreed readily. He then looked at the others. "Is anyone else coming to watch?"
Bardock, Gine, Videl, and the others all expressed their desire to go along and see the excitement.
"In that case..." Whis gave his scepter another gentle wave. A transparent flying cube appeared out of thin air, hovering in the sky. Under Whis's direction, everyone stepped onto the cube one by one.
"I won't be going. I'll stay home and prepare some food for you all," Chi-Chi said. She wasn't particularly interested in these kinds of tournaments and decided to stay behind to handle the housework.
"Then we shall leave it in your hands, Ms. Chi-Chi," Whis said politely.
Just as the flying cube was about to depart...
Piccolo flew in from the distant horizon like a streak of green lightning, quickly appearing above the courtyard.
"Uncle Piccolo! Quick, over here!" Gohan hurried to the edge of the cube and waved him over. Piccolo dove down, landed steadily on the ground, and followed Gohan into the cube.
The moment he saw Piccolo, Raditz's face immediately contorted with rage, his eyes filled with hostility. This was the guy who killed me back then. I can't just let that debt go.
"Hey, you green-skinned bastard, do you remember me?" Raditz snorted, looking at Piccolo with pure anger and ill intent.
Piccolo merely gave Raditz a flat glance and said nothing. How could I not remember you? If I hadn't taken your father to the underworld to find your whereabouts, do you think you'd have been resurrected so easily? Of course, Piccolo couldn't be bothered to say any of that out loud. In his eyes, talking to someone like Raditz was a waste of breath.
"I challenge you!" Raditz snorted, glaring at Piccolo and taking a fighting stance.
"No fighting allowed in here, you know," Whis said softly from the side. His tone was gentle, but it carried an undeniable authority. After saying that, Whis immediately controlled the flying cube to take off.
"Whoosh!"
The flying cube instantly vanished into the starry sky, heading toward the vast depths of the universe.
"No fighting?" Raditz blinked and glared at Whis. "Who are you? You say no fighting and I'm just supposed to listen? I'm going to fight!"
"Thump!"
However, the moment the words left Raditz's mouth, Gine slapped him upside the head.
But since Gine was currently just an ordinary person—even though she had her memories back, she still had the body of an Earthling, not a Saiyan—the slap didn't hurt Raditz at all. Instead, Gine's own hand felt a bit numb from the impact.
"Who? Who hit me?" Raditz was furious, looking all around.
"Thump!"
Bardock couldn't take it anymore. He stepped forward and sent Raditz crashing to the floor with a single, powerful slap. Seeing that it was his father who had struck him, Raditz's face turned pale with fear. He immediately withered and didn't dare utter another peep.
"My apologies, Mr. Whis. Sorry you had to see that," Bardock said, stepping forward to apologize to Whis.
"It's quite alright," Whis said with an expressionless face.
Then, Bardock immediately took Gine's hand, carefully checking her delicate palm. "Did you hurt your hand?" he asked with concern.
Gine nodded and rubbed her hand.
"Wham!"
Seeing this, Bardock stepped forward and gave Raditz a hard kick, venting his frustration. Raditz let out a cry of pain, feeling incredibly slighted.
I finally get it now. You and Mom are the true love... Kakarot and I were just accidents...
"Raditz, you need to show some respect to Mr. Whis," Goku said, crouching down to address Raditz on the ground. "Even I'm no match for him. It's only because Mr. Whis has such a good temper; if it were Lord Beerus, you'd probably have been Hakai'd by now."
"Lord Beerus? Who's that?" Raditz asked, looking completely confused.
"Lord Beerus is the God of Destruction, and he's incredibly powerful!" Goku explained, his voice carrying a hint of awe.
"God of Destruction? I feel like I've heard that somewhere before," Raditz scratched his head, trying hard to remember.
"Also, you're currently no match for Piccolo at all, so don't go looking for trouble," Goku added helpfully.
"You... what did you say? I'm no match for that green-skinned guy?" Raditz was deeply unconvinced. He couldn't believe he couldn't even beat a green monster from Earth.
"You're far from it," Goku laughed, his tone very certain.
"Hmph, I don't believe it!" Raditz snorted, still expressing deep skepticism.
"There's nothing to be skeptical about," Vegeta chimed in from the side, striking Raditz down without mercy. "Aside from those two women, you're the weakest one here."
Raditz: "..."
Prince Vegeta, can we not be so blunt? Can't you leave me at least a little bit of face?
"Furthermore, even Piccolo is at least several hundred million times stronger than you," Vegeta added, giving Raditz a pointed eye-roll.
"Several hundred million times?" Raditz's mouth twitched violently. His face turned deathly pale, and his eyes were filled with shock.
This person is actually hundreds of millions of times stronger than me? How is that even possible!
"In your current state, even if you turned into a Super Saiyan, there would still be a massive gap," Vegeta continued, showing no sign of letting up.
Raditz slumped onto the ground, looking completely despondent. Even as a Super Saiyan, I'm still no match for this green guy?
The flying cube traveled for about two hours before finally arriving at the location of the tournament planet. It was a crimson planet shrouded in mist, looking quite mysterious. Outside the planet, six dragon balls the size of planets were slowly floating, emitting a soft glow.
"That... what is that? Why do those look so much like Dragon Balls?" Goku stared at the massive orbs, his eyes bulging in shock.
"Those are some huge Dragon Balls!" Gohan couldn't help but cry out, his face written with disbelief. Bardock was also stunned, clearly never having seen Dragon Balls of such immense size.
Vegeta, however, let out a proud smirk, acting as if he had seen it all before. A bunch of country bumpkins.
"Dad, look, look! Those Dragon Balls are really huge!" Trunks was also staggered by the sight. He tugged on Vegeta's sleeve and shouted in amazement.
"Shut up!" Vegeta glared at Trunks. Don't go embarrassing us at a crucial moment like this.
"Those are the Super Dragon Balls, also known as the 'Wish-Granting Stars' that Lord Champa mentioned," Whis explained with a smile. "There are seven Super Dragon Balls in total, scattered across Universe 6 and Universe 7. Lord Champa has already collected six of them."
"Each one of those Dragon Balls is the size of a planet, isn't it?" Goku truly felt like he was gaining new insights and couldn't help but marvel at the sight.
"Yes, they're roughly the size of Earth," Whis nodded, his tone flat.
"Eh? As big as Earth? Then how do you even collect Dragon Balls that large?" Goku marveled even more, unable to imagine the sheer scale of the project required to gather them.
"For a God of Destruction, such things are quite easy," Whis said with a smile.
"It seems the gap between me and a God of Destruction isn't just in terms of strength," Goku mused, rubbing his chin.
"It's quite commendable that you can recognize that," Whis laughed, expressing his deep agreement.
"So... if the Super Dragon Balls are used to grant too many wishes, will they generate negative energy?" Goku suddenly leaned in close to Whis and asked quietly, a trace of worry on his face.
"No, you can rest easy on that front, Mr. Goku," Whis gave Goku a reassuring look and spoke with certainty.
"Then I'm relieved," Goku let out a sigh of relief, a smile of peace returning to his face.
"Whoosh!"
The flying cube slowly descended, finally landing inside a massive protective barrier. Since there was no air on this planet, Saiyans and Earthlings wouldn't be able to survive here. Thus, a barrier had been constructed beforehand, containing air and a suitable environment for Goku and the others.
"Everyone, we've arrived," Whis greeted them with a smile.
Goku looked around and immediately spotted Beerus, Champa, and Vados inside the barrier. Merus also stepped forward right away, bowing respectfully to Vados. Goku blinked; though he found it a bit odd, he didn't pay it much mind.
Vegeta: "..."
No wonder they say this kid is a trainee Angel. With that attitude, he's a dead giveaway. If you don't look closely, it's really not easy to tell his identity apart.
"Whis, you certainly took your sweet time," Beerus glanced sideways at Whis and let out an impatient huff, his tail flicking behind him.
"My, my, it's rare to see Lord Beerus not being late," Whis replied with a smile, his tone carrying a hint of teasing. "I thought Lord Beerus might have overbalanced his afternoon nap and slept in."
"You've brought quite a crowd. Aren't there only five contestants?" Beerus didn't bother bickering with Whis and immediately scanned the group beyond Goku, his brow furrowing slightly.
"Those are just here to watch the excitement," Whis explained easily, a smile on his face.
"Whatever," Beerus said, waving his hand. He didn't have much interest in these irrelevant people.
"Everyone's here, right? Let's get ready to start," Champa shouted from a distance, sounding quite impatient.
Goku immediately looked toward the Universe 6 contestants, his eyes full of curiosity. He didn't recognize a single one of them. However, one of them looked somewhat familiar; the person's build and appearance were strikingly similar to Frieza's.
Vegeta looked over silently, seeing several familiar faces, and felt a sense of clarity in his heart. The Universe 6 contestants were: Botamo, Magetta, Cabba, Frost, and Hit.
Yep, exactly the same as in my previous life.
Vegeta was more than familiar with these people. Aside from Hit, who was a bit tricky to deal with, the other four were just there to make up the numbers in his eyes. But in this life, dealing with Hit would be easy for Vegeta.
So what if he has Time-Skip? Simply put, it's just the ability to control time. And his time control has a very obvious weakness. As long as one's own energy far surpasses his, his Time-Skip is essentially useless.
Vegeta was very confident. His current strength far exceeded Hit's, and he could completely break through the Time-Skip.
"Vegeta, is that purple-skinned guy Hit?" Goku leaned in next to Vegeta and asked with a low, smiling voice, his eyes full of anticipation.
Vegeta: "..."
"Who's Hit? Never heard of him," Vegeta's eyes flickered as he quickly denied it.
"Vegeta, you told me Hit's name before," Goku grinned, sounding very certain.
Vegeta chose to stay silent, grumbling inwardly. I just mentioned a name randomly, and you remember it this clearly? Raditz is your own brother, and you almost forgot him... what do you think Raditz would feel about that?
"By the way, where's Frieza?" Vegeta immediately changed the subject, turning to look at Whis with a deep frown.
Whis covered his face, quietly wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead, looking a bit embarrassed.
"You didn't forget him, did you?" Vegeta was speechless seeing Whis like this.
"Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry. I truly did forget about Frieza," Whis laughed sheepishly and quickly explained. "I'll go pick him up right now, but the round trip will take several hours."
Beerus: "..."
Three veins popped on Beerus's forehead as he struggled to suppress his rage. By the time you get back, the tournament will be over. What's the point of picking him up now?
"There's no need to pick that guy up. For this tournament, I can defeat all of them by myself," Vegeta snorted.
"Then never mind. It doesn't matter if that Frieza fellow shows up or not," Beerus thought about it and also felt there was no need to go back for Frieza. After all, wasn't Goku here? With Goku's strength, even dealing with Champa wouldn't be much of an issue, let alone these Universe 6 contestants.
Furthermore, Beerus suddenly felt that Goku's strength seemed to have increased again. And it had only been five short days. This kid must have been guided by Whis... is that why his strength has improved so rapidly? If this keeps up, I might actually be surpassed by him...
A sudden sense of tension rose in Beerus's heart. As a God of Destruction and the power ceiling of this universe, it would be far too embarrassing to be surpassed by a mortal.
"So Frieza didn't come... actually, I kind of miss him," Goku scratched his head and laughed. He had actually wanted to spar with Frieza again.
"Frieza? He was resurrected too?" Bardock raised an eyebrow and looked at Goku with surprise.
"Lord Beerus resurrected him to participate in this tournament against Universe 6," Goku answered quietly, then added, "But it seems they forgot about him."
Bardock: "..."
"With Frieza's level, isn't he a bit out of his league for a tournament like this?" Bardock muttered.
"That's not it, Dad," Goku shook his head and replied seriously. "Frieza has become very strong, especially in his Golden form. It's at least comparable to Vegeta's Super Saiyan Blue."
Vegeta's face went dark, and he gave Goku an annoyed glare. Don't go using me as a comparison, alright?
"Super Saiyan Blue!" Bardock mused, his gaze shifting back to Vegeta with a look of inquiry. Vegeta said nothing, merely tilting his chin up with a look of complete confidence.
"Eh? Did the Supreme Kai and Broly not come?" Goku suddenly noticed that neither the Supreme Kai nor Broly was there and looked around in confusion.
Vegeta stayed silent, having noticed this as well. This life definitely had some minor changes compared to his previous one. In the last life, the Supreme Kais from both universes had come to watch the excitement. But in this life, not only had their universe's Supreme Kai not come, but the Universe 6 Supreme Kai also seemed to be absent. I remember the Universe 6 Supreme Kai was a fat guy.
Also, in the previous life's tournament, Jaco from the Galactic Patrol and the Galactic King had come to watch, but this time they were nowhere to be found.
"That person over there... he looks a lot like Frieza," Bardock had long noticed Frost from Universe 6. He nudged Goku's arm and whispered to him.
To be continued…
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