At Biska Forest Park, the site of the first half of the second phase.
The battle between Roy and Netero had long since ended.
At this moment, both of them had disheveled clothes and were lying flat on the ground in that classic spread-eagle pose from One Piece.
"Hah..."
Roy let out a breath, then said to Android 18, who was walking over with helplessness still in her eyes, "18, get me the thing from that gray little pouch I gave you earlier."
Android 18 sighed helplessly. She really had ended up with a husband who never let her relax.
Even so, she rummaged around in the gray pouch for a moment, then pulled out a green little bean that looked rather undernourished.
"Here."
Gulp.
Roy swallowed it without hesitation.
In the next instant, all the exhaustion in his body vanished, and strength began surging back into him in an endless stream!
Roy stood up, took the pouch back from Android 18, and walked over to Netero, who was sprawled on the ground just like he had been.
"Chairman, you really went all out."
"Ho~ ho~ ho~. It's not often I run into someone worth fighting. Naturally, I had to enjoy myself properly," Netero said with a smile, though a trace of fatigue and surprise still lingered in his eyes.
"I didn't expect you to recover this quickly. What extraordinary natural talent!" Netero clicked his tongue in amazement.
"Eat this, and you'll be just as extraordinarily talented as I am."
As he spoke, Roy took out another bean, flicked it with his finger, and sent it straight into Netero's mouth.
Crunch.
Netero showed no concern at all over whether Roy had fed him something harmful.
Gulp... "Hm?!"
In the next instant, the fatigue in Netero's eyes disappeared, replaced by a sudden gleam.
Then he stood up and at once regained the bearing of the world's strongest man, with all the lofty aura of an immortal master.
"Boy, what kind of medicine did you just feed me?"
"Guess for yourself~"
What Roy had given Netero was a Senzu Bean!
It was one of the miraculous, borderline game-breaking items from Dragon Ball, manifested through Nen—something capable of restoring all stamina and injuries.
One Senzu Bean could keep a person from going hungry for ten days. It could restore stamina from extreme exhaustion and return the body to peak condition.
Of course, Senzu Beans had two shortcomings. One was their extremely low yield, and the other was that they could not cure illness.
Karin, the one who cultivated Senzu Beans, had once said that at most only a few could be grown in a year. And Senzu Beans could not cure disease; all they could restore were stamina and injuries. Back then, Goku's heart disease had been caused by an external virus invading his body, and the Senzu Bean had failed to heal him. It could not expel the virus from the body, so naturally it could not cure Goku's heart illness.
Inside Roy's little gray pouch, there had only been ten Senzu Beans in total.
Now that he had used two, eight remained.
Netero was worth spending one Senzu Bean on. As for whether Netero would become suspicious of anything, Roy simply did not care!
Roy put the Senzu Beans away again.
Netero did not ask any further questions either. Everyone had their own secrets. Still, his gaze became much deeper.
"So young, yet already possessing such tremendous strength. And on top of that, a miraculous restorative medicine that can instantly recover a person's injuries and stamina... Power like this, and an item this wondrous... perhaps it could only come from that place..."
"The Dark—"
Netero stroked the half of his beard that had been knocked off. Then he looked over at Android 18, who was tugging on Roy's ear while Roy wore an eager, ingratiating smile, and suddenly began to doubt his own speculation again.
"Well, never mind. I'll have Beans gather some information on him later. His name seems to be... Roy, was it?"
...
The sky gradually darkened, and the airship flew back to where it had originally been.
The moment the airship landed and the hatch opened—
"Chairman!" Beans shouted anxiously.
Then his cry came to an abrupt stop.
Gon, Killua, Satotz, and Menchi all came out as well, and what they saw next struck them as absurd.
Roy and Netero had somehow gotten hold of a small wooden table from who knew where. On top of it sat quite a few snacks, and the two of them were each holding a cup of fragrant tea, savoring it at leisure.
As for Android 18... well, she was brewing the tea.
Beans: "..."
Menchi: "..."
Satotz: "..."
Gon's group of four: "..."
Looks like we were worrying for nothing.
Still, fortunately, neither of them seemed hurt.
Everyone silently let out a sigh of relief. As long as they were fine, that was what mattered.
"Yo, you're here."
Roy waved at them.
Gon and the others walked over to Roy.
"Roy, it's great to see you're okay!"
Gon was genuinely delighted.
Meanwhile, Beans, Menchi, and Satotz walked over to Netero.
"Chairman, are you... all right?"
Beans still looked a little worried. After all, Netero really was rather old.
"I'm fine." Netero waved his hand with a cheerful smile.
(End of Chapter)
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