Everyone found themselves standing on a massive floating spectator platform.
All around them stood figures whose auras were each more terrifying than the last.
As the group stepped out of the Universe Cube, the people who had already been waiting there all turned their eyes toward them.
"Oh ho ho ho… it's good to see you all again," Frieza said, his gaze sweeping across the crowd one by one before finally landing on Cooler.
Cooler noticed him too. The two brothers locked eyes, and it felt as if sparks were crackling in the air between them.
"So, Frieza, you came too." Cooler let out a cold snort.
"My dear brother, how could I possibly miss a game this entertaining?" Frieza replied with a pleased smile.
Then Cooler began walking forward step by step, stopping only when the distance between them was less than half a meter.
They stood face-to-face.
The classic height-comparison moment.
Frieza's face darkened instantly.
At this distance, he had to tilt his head up to look at Cooler.
That extra not-even-one-centimeter of height he had gained was meaningless in front of him.
Even if he cashed in the full ten centimeters from his wish all at once, he would still be almost half a head shorter than Cooler.
Frieza's mood soured on the spot.
If he wanted to surpass Cooler, he would need to grow at least twenty centimeters taller.
He turned and walked away immediately, already thinking about how to strike another deal with Levos and add another ten centimeters to his height.
The arrival of the others also drew attention.
"Is that Lord Champa?"
"And those two female Saiyans from Universe 6!"
"Even Hit came!"
The moment Goku saw so many familiar faces, his already excited mood surged even higher.
"Hit, are you here to join the tournament too?"
With his hands tucked into his pockets, Hit actually showed a faint smile for once. "Son Goku, we meet again. With so many powerful fighters gathered here, there's no way I'd miss it."
Meanwhile, the moment Bulma and Android 18 saw the fourteen new Cell Juniors, their eyes turned razor-sharp.
In less than two seconds, their suspicious gazes shot straight toward Caulifla and Kale.
Even Android 21 began carefully sizing up the two Saiyan girls.
Puar floated over and asked, "Master Levos, you only went to Universe 6 once, so how did the number of Cell Juniors increase again?"
"Well… it's complicated. Hard to explain in a sentence or two," Levos said, trying to brush it off.
"Then explain it in more words," 18 said concisely.
Before Levos could answer, Caulifla and Kale stepped forward.
"It's simple," Caulifla said openly. "Levos was about to get blown apart after being overstuffed by that enemy. At the critical moment, Lord Champa told us that if we fused and got absorbed by Levos, we could give birth to those little guys and help him get rid of the excess energy. So we fused."
She folded her arms and lifted her chin.
"Any problem with that?"
Blunt. Open. And faintly provocative.
No one had expected her to admit it so cleanly.
"As long as that method solved the crisis, that's enough," Bulma said with a heavy sigh when she heard Levos had nearly died again.
"No matter what, proper precautions come first," 18 added, arching a brow. "Bring me along next time you fight. No need to keep absorbing outsiders."
She put special emphasis on the word "outsiders."
Android 21 walked over to Levos's side, pushed up her glasses, and studied him with interest.
"Levos, I can tell there's still a lot of energy left in your body. Want to release some of it? You could absorb me and produce a few more Cell Juniors…"
Because 21 also carried Cell Max cells and had already begun researching them, she had always been extremely curious about how Cell Juniors were born.
"N-no need for that."
Even though everyone seemed to be speaking out of concern, Levos had the strange feeling that every single sentence carried another meaning underneath it.
Caulifla gave the women in front of her a quick once-over, then muttered to Levos, "Did you save the universe in your past life or something? Why do so many amazing girls seem to like you?"
Caulifla was far too direct. Levos felt completely unable to defend himself.
On the other side, Champa got mad the moment he saw Vados.
"Seriously, Vados! Did you just forget about me? You stayed over on Earth enjoying good food and never came back to Universe 6!"
"Lord Champa, please don't slander me," Vados said in a perfectly righteous tone. "The Grand Priest's punishment sealed away my Angel powers, so I no longer have the ability to travel between universes."
"Besides, Earth belongs to Universe 6 now, doesn't it? So it is perfectly reasonable for me to stay there."
Hearing that, Champa's eyes lit up.
"Right! Earth's my territory now. I'll just stay on Earth from now on too."
Vados coughed lightly. "Lord Champa, please remember your duties. A God of Destruction must remain in the universe appointed by His Majesty Zeno. You are not permitted to abandon your post."
As she spoke, Vados kept darting her eyes toward "Monaka."
She felt she had already made the hint painfully obvious, yet Champa somehow remained completely oblivious to the pink figure standing right next to him.
"Tch! I've been a God of Destruction my whole life. Can't I enjoy myself for once?"
"So, um," Monaka asked curiously, "how exactly do you want to enjoy yourself?"
"When grown-ups are talking, kids shouldn't interrupt!" Champa snapped, glaring at Monaka, before continuing his complaint. "I'm sick of all these rules. You can't do this, you can't do that, you can't even cross universes just to eat a meal. I just want to spend my days happily eating and drinking. What's wrong with that?"
"And Zeno too. What's the point of a Tournament of Power? Just to satisfy his own whim, he's dragging so many universes that people worked so hard to build into this mess. Isn't that way too self-centered…"
"Um, what's the Tournament of Power?" Monaka interrupted again, cutting off Champa's rant.
Champa sounded extremely impatient. "It's a tournament where all the strongest fighters from the twelve universes, including the gods, get gathered together to fight. The losing universes get erased completely."
"Ohh. That sounds really fun."
"Fun? Hey! Why are you asking about that?" Champa leaned his big face in until it was almost touching Monaka's nose, one clawed hand pressing down on his head. "Are you some spy sent from the Demon Realm or something?"
Vados looked at Champa with pure pity now.
"Um, putting your hand on my head is very rude," Monaka said.
"Tch! I'm a God of Destruction. I can pat whoever's head I want. Now talk. Are you a Demon Realm spy?"
Now Champa had really started interrogating him.
"A spy? No."
"Then let me ask you this. Why are your ears pointy?"
As he said that, he reached out and tugged at Monaka's ear.
Rip
Monaka's ear came off.
"…"
Champa froze for a second. Looking down at his palm, he realized it was a stuffed-cloth ear.
"Hiding your face and still saying you're not a spy? Let me get a good look at who's really hiding under that costume!"
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