Swish!
A hand claw, covered in black scales, ripped apart the body of a demon.
The demon's expression was still one of disbelief as its body was torn in two, revealing a dragon-like figure leaping out from the middle.
It was Yamiru, with golden pupils.
After tearing through the demon blocking his path, his momentum didn't slow down.
Around this area, shrouded in poisonous mist, faint silhouettes could be seen here and there, and now and then, pairs of scarlet eyes flashed by. Clearly, demonic creatures were lurking and observing. In the distance, eerie sounds could be faintly heard, likely hallucinations designed to confuse the mind.
However, these tricks to scare people were useless against someone like Yamiru or Namek, who could sense others at the level of ki, almost like opening the Third Eye. To them, such tricks were nothing.
Namek, like Yamiru, treated the poisonous mist as if it didn't exist, paying no attention to the whispers that twisted around their ears. He flew straight into the seemingly calm mist. Soon after, a series of dull thuds rang out from behind the dense mist, and the presence of several nearby demons vanished.
After wiping out a wave of approaching demon minions, Yamiru returned to the front of the main force.
Due to his limited strength, there were times when he found the demons' strength to be formidable, making them somewhat tricky to deal with. However, as they traveled further, he began to absorb more and more demonic energy into his body, aided by the dragon-shaped mark on his wrist. This made his battles against the demons quicker and more decisive.
Namek's power, however, would only fluctuate when he made a move to defeat an enemy. This outward fluctuation of power, under Namek's delicate control, was short-lived. Ordinary experts might not even have time to notice it.
But Yamiru was no ordinary expert.
In terms of power, perhaps Yamiru was nothing compared to the cosmic freaks like Namek. However, in the martial arts realm, Yamiru was undeniably superior to Namek.
Along their journey, Yamiru was the only one in the entire team capable of discussing martial arts and realms with Namek. The two didn't need to use much effort. By occasionally exchanging moves, they could clearly gauge each other's abilities: indeed, they were both of the same caliber.
But the bystander, Yamoshi, was utterly confused. She always felt that the words between the two sounded like they were in a fog, making her want to punch through the mist just to clear things up.
Namek's strength was several times stronger than the just-resurrected Bardock, according to Yamiru's judgment.
After Namek infiltrated the mist and dealt with a wave of demon minions, he quickly withdrew, continuing to lead the group with Yamiru as they moved through the poisonous mist.
Behind them, Earth's martial artists and the mutated humans who had had their shackles removed formed a tight group, following closely behind. Above them, Yamoshi flew at low altitude.
Though Yamoshi was the strongest in terms of combat power, she herself couldn't sense the ki. In such a poisonous mist environment, without Yamiru and Namek leading, she would have gotten lost a long time ago. Therefore, with Yamiru and Namek guiding the way in front, she flew above Earth's group, keeping a lookout in all directions. Though she couldn't sense ki, her overwhelming battle power gave her heightened sensory abilities. As long as something was within earshot or sight, her perceptive abilities were on par with or even better than sensing ki.
"Namek, hand."
Up ahead, Yamiru suddenly sensed an anomaly in the nearby ki. Glancing over, he noticed that Namek's face had already shown signs of poisoning. He immediately called out to him.
Namek, hearing this, didn't force himself to hold back. He flew closer and extended a hand toward Yamiru.
Yamiru grabbed his wrist, and the dragon-shaped mark on his arm appeared. It surged out, traveling from Yamiru's wrist to Namek's arm, quickly circling around him and absorbing all the toxins in his body. The energy, having been consumed, returned to Yamiru's wrist, where it reattached.
Namek felt an indescribable sense of comfort when the dragon-shaped mark, almost like a living creature, flowed over his body. His mood naturally became much calmer. Having wandered through the universe for so long, Namek couldn't help but feel a strange sense of nostalgia—was this what it felt like to be home? But how could he have a home?
Yamiru withdrew the mark and thought to himself, "This guy's battle power must be at least tens of thousands, maybe even with hidden potential... The Elder's evaluation of geniuses like Piccolo, not being considered Super Saiyans, might not have been a lie. Perhaps the Elder's recognition comes from Namek and Yamoshi's experiences together. At the very least, Yamoshi is destined to become a Super Saiyan and the god of Super Saiyans."
"Thank you," Namek nodded. "Without your ability to detoxify, this would have been really difficult."
Yamiru waved his hand, signaling that there was no need to worry, but in his heart, he thought, "But even if I can match the Super Saiyans, so what? Super Saiyans still catch colds and get fevers. They also can't fight off viral heart disease. Even in the Dragon Ball world, powerful beings who can destroy star systems still experience aging, sickness, and death— their immune systems never catch up to their battle prowess..."
Speaking of Saiyans...
Yamiru turned and flew toward Yamoshi, who was hovering above the Earthlings.
Yamoshi blinked, then quickly realized, "Ah, did I get poisoned again?"
The Saiyan girl touched her cheek. She felt no effects from the poison, but in Yamiru's eyes, her face had already started to show a slight purple tint.
"Have you grown?" Yamiru glanced at her a few times.
Yamoshi paused, clenched her fist, and after a moment, happily nodded, "Wow, I really have! I've started to grow!"
Visible physical development... Saiyans are truly strange! Yamiru shook his head, then proceeded to grab Yamoshi's wrist. The dragon-shaped mark on his wrist moved across her body, swallowing the poison and returning to Yamiru's wrist.
"Thanks," Yamoshi said casually, flying alongside Yamiru, "This poison is so sneaky. You can't even tell when you're poisoned... Something's moving!"
She suddenly let out a small huff, firing an energy blast at a shadow flickering in the mist nearby.
"Just an illusion," Yamiru shook his head, already touching the ground.
Sure enough, Yamoshi's energy blast disappeared into the mist, with no sense of impact. Only after several seconds did the distant sound of an explosion echo back. Yamoshi furrowed her brow and pouted, reflecting on the previous conversation between Yamiru and Namek, feeling that she should be able to learn their techniques.
"Everyone, hold onto each other's wrists."
After landing, Yamiru looked at the group of Earthlings around him, each with a different appearance. Most of them had a poisonous tint to their faces, varying in intensity.
Just as Yamoshi had said, the poison in the mist was very insidious. Before the poison led to death, the only sign would be a strange color on the face, without any immediate discomfort. Along the way, several Earthlings had died from poisoning due to carelessness. When the poison broke out, even Yamiru, with his dragon-shaped mark, couldn't save them in time.
Everyone followed his instructions, hastily holding onto each other's wrists. Finally, Yamiru grabbed the wrist of the person at the front. Instantly, the dragon-shaped mark on his wrist flickered and moved, flowing from the first person to the last, a wolf-headed individual, and then quickly returned, coiling around Yamiru's wrist.
Seeing everyone's color return to normal, several people continued to fight off the demon minions that occasionally jumped out to attack. Yamiru felt relieved.
At that moment, Yamiru's eyes suddenly narrowed, and he looked up sharply.
Namek, who had been leading the way, also felt a shock. A small white lightning bolt sparked on his head as he turned around to look back.
"Mm... are you real, or are you fake?"
Yamoshi, flying low, furrowed her brows, muttering to herself. In front of her was a powerful demon that had suddenly emerged from the mist.
"Get ready to fight! Minto!" the demon shouted, baring its teeth. It opened its blood-red mouth, dripping with venom, and lunged toward the monkey-tailed human girl in front of it.
Below, Yamiru suddenly looked down. Almost at the same time, the ground beneath him exploded, and a demonic hand reached for his ankle— but it grabbed nothing. His foot had become a shadow, drifting and swaying.