Everyone froze, wide-eyed, unsure what they'd just witnessed.
Goku and the others traded baffled looks, but until they understood what was going on, no one stepped in.
Bulma wasn't even there—she was in her room, carefully doing her makeup. Fresh-faced again, glowing with a happiness she didn't bother to hide.
After all, what girl doesn't want her youth back?
She wanted to show Ken the best version of herself. Whatever ruckus was happening outside… not her priority.
Ken glanced at Broly and didn't stop him.
Broly had been short-tempered these two days. Maybe he felt it keenly: in a month, he'd part ways with Ken to take up a post in another universe.
He didn't want to go.
He'd waited twenty-four years for Ken to wake up—and now they only got a single month together?
Yamcha's timing was just terrible. Broly's mood soured, his hand got heavy, and the guy nearly died.
Ken sighed.
A very… dedicated bodyguard.
He suddenly didn't want to send Broly away.
After all that effort raising a right-hand man, hand him to another angel? What a waste.
"Amarella, any way I can keep Broly with me?" Ken asked, while she nibbled cake.
"Simple. Unless you find another candidate to serve as God of Destruction for Universe 9 or 3," Amarella said airily between bites.
"Broly is the God of Destruction of Universe 18. You okay with giving him away?" Ken pressed.
"The Grand Priest decided. What can I do?" She shook her head. "Unless you beat him and settle it by force."
Ken: "…"
"If I could overpower him, would I be asking you?"
"Then raise a new God of Destruction within a month and post them to Universe 3 and 9," she replied, still eating.
"Train a God of Destruction in a month…" Ken went quiet—then grinned. "What if I hop to the future and… recruit a God of Destruction from there?"
"By all means. Try not to meet the Time-Space God of Destruction. Change timelines without authorization and even an angel gets no special treatment," Amarella said, calm as ever.
"Time-Space God of Destruction?" Ken hadn't heard that title.
"Same idea as a universe's God of Destruction. They maintain cosmic balance—when balance breaks, they intervene, erase useless worlds or populations," Amarella explained. "A Time-Space God of Destruction does it for timelines. Each timeline sprouts branches. Too many branches warp development, and the Time-Space God of Destruction prunes them."
"You've seen this Time-Space God of Destruction?" Ken asked, intrigued.
"No. If you don't time-hop, you'll almost never meet them," she said, hair swaying.
"Raising one in a month… tough." Ken waved Broly over.
Little Ai hovered faithfully at Broly's shoulder, status light flickering as if she were thinking hard.
"Broly, what do you want—stay with me, or take the post in Universe 3 or 9?" Ken asked.
"Stay with you," Broly answered without a heartbeat's pause.
"You've graduated. Among current Gods of Destruction you're probably second only to Beerus. A bit more training and surpassing him isn't out of reach," Ken said.
"Stay with you," Broly repeated.
"If you take the post, you'll have freedom. With me, you're… a shadow. A lieutenant," Ken said honestly.
"I'm willing."
"Alright. I'll find a way to keep you," Ken nodded.
"Really?" Broly brightened.
"I'll work on it. For now—go eat," Ken smiled.
Broly nodded, then jogged to Yamcha, fished out a senzu bean, and held it out.
He still had several—part of the stash Ken gifted him after the trials in U18.
"Here. Sorry—got a bit rough," Broly said.
"N-no… I… I'm fine," Yamcha panicked.
Pop.
Broly simply slapped the bean into Yamcha's mouth.
Yamcha spasmed, swallowed by reflex—and his injuries vanished. He scrambled up, shaking.
"Be polite to Ken," Broly said, ruffling his hair and straightening his collar.
"Y-y-yes, sir," Yamcha stammered.
"My bad for the heavy hand. You're Kakarot's friend?" Broly asked.
"Y-yeah…"
Broly gave his head another firm pat—like thumping a watermelon—and headed for the buffet.
"Yamcha, can your face change color?" Krillin peered at him. "Just now you were as green as Piccolo. You sure you're not the son of a god too?"
"Krillin! You little—do you want to go out or not?!" Yamcha glared.
"I didn't say anything…" Krillin scratched his head, then sighed. "Told you not to poke him."
"Damn it! I'm gonna train. I'll surpass him!" Yamcha clenched his fists.
Ken kept chatting with Amarella.
He wasn't eager to test this Time-Space God of Destruction. Angels could cross time even without rings—their power alone could carve a path.
But why didn't they?
First, almost never necessary. Second, you really might run into the Time-Space God of Destruction.
"Gods who meddle with time get erased," Amarella repeated.
"Which 'gods'?" Ken asked, picking at a steak.
"Supreme Kais, Gods of Destruction, Angels, and the Omni-King," Amarella said.
"Not the Grand Priest?" Ken blinked.
"Probably not," she said.
"Rare exception," Ken murmured.
So below-Kais weren't under that judgment? Then why didn't the Time-Space God of Destruction stop Zamasu when he wrecked timelines?
Selective pruning, huh.
"What about mortals? If a mortal scrambles time, does the Time-Space God of Destruction ignore it?" Ken asked.
"More or less. Mortals rarely have the means," she said.
Ken sliced a piece of steak and savored it.
"Also—Supreme Kais have Time Rings. They can travel freely, but only for official work," Amarella said, happily nicking a pink cube of steak with a tiny knife and fork; she took one bite and literally bounced on her heels.
"How strong is he?" Ken asked, curiosity peaking.
"You had that 'angelic power purity' theory, right? During your metamorphosis, the Grand Priest formalized it. Now it's a level system for all gods," Amarella said.
"Oh? Then… what level is the Time-Space God of Destruction?" Ken asked.
"Level 100!" she said, punching the air, eyes sparkling as she downed another bite.
Ken: "…"
"Max level, then," he muttered.
"Yup. Max," she nodded.
"And the Grand Priest?"
"Ninety-something," Amarella said. "You're, what, Level 58? The higher you go, the harder each step gets. Refining angel power gets brutal."
"Let's shelve the Level 100 panic… and find a God of Destruction candidate," Ken said, sweeping his staff's crystal through the cosmos.
He started with Universe 6. He paused at Hit, then flicked on.
A feed showed two infants on their bellies, pacifiers in their mouths—Caulifla and Kale.
So they were already born—same era as Gohan, a bit younger.
Too small. Not candidates yet.
Next—Cabba, nursing a bottle.
Ken scanned all over Universe 6—then moved to Universe 7, the familiar faces rolling by:
Frieza, Vegeta, Nappa, Cooler, King Cold, the Ginyu Force, Jaco, Moro, Gas, Granolah, Slug…
He paused on Granolah.
A man who wished himself to "the strongest in the universe"… at the cost of nearly two centuries of life.
Same with Gas.
Not ideal. Power wrung out by dragon magic—potential spent. And "strongest" only among mortals.
He fixed on Moro next.
Now that one—dangerous, but with the right leash, God of Destruction-tier potential.
Problem: Moro was evil. Buu, by contrast, had the Grand Supreme Kai's imprint—childlike, steerable.
Moro? Not so much.
Right now Moro sat in Galactic Prison.
Ken hesitated. Good fast-track candidate… but.
"Hold him as a backup."
He kept looking. Nothing better appeared—even outside universes looked sparse.
At that point… the future was tempting.
Wait—if there's a future, there's a past.
If the future has candidates… why not the past?
A face flashed in Ken's mind.
Bardock—Goku's father.
If events followed the track Ken recalled, Bardock would confront Frieza, be hurled a thousand years into the past, and become the primal Super Saiyan of legend.
The legend of Super Saiyan would begin with him.
Ken tried the staff—search: Bardock.
A man very like Goku appeared in the crystal, long scar across his cheek.
Bardock.
Ken blinked. Alive?
Location… Planet Cadra.
A remote world on the galactic fringe, low technology, brutal climate—raging storms, meager life energy. Hard to find.
A small house on a mountaintop. A ship parked on a pad outside—very much a Frieza-force craft.
Ken scanned it. Main power unit fried—same kind of failure Jaco's ship once had. Near impossible to repair here.
Cadra sat on the same outer-rim swath as Vampa, where Broly had once lived—though still separated by an immense distance. With Earth's current tech? A century of flight between them.
"Bardock," Ken murmured, eyes lighting.
Had he really gone a thousand years back? If so, how'd he return?
No—he didn't return. He lived through a millennium to get here.
Which meant… how strong did he have to be?
Ken's interest sharpened.
"Broly, you never went home?" he asked.
Because Cadra and Vampa were neighbors in cosmic terms—and for an angel, only minutes away.
Broly shook his head.
"You miss your father," Ken said. "Time to visit."
"After so long… a lot's faded," Broly said, looking skyward.
"You're getting philosophical on me," Ken chuckled.
Broly: "???"
"Eat up. We take Goku to train, then swing by your home," Ken said.
"Alright," Broly set down his bowl and chopsticks. "I'm full."
"So fast?" Ken rose, smiling. "Then let's go."
Broly nodded hard.
Amarella: "…"
"I'm not done…" she muttered, dabbing crumbs. "I wanted more."
"Stay and enjoy it. When I get back, re-form," Ken said, entirely too breezy.
Amarella looked personally wounded.
And you wonder why you're single?
Tap.
Ken set his staff tip to the floor; starlight burst around him.
Fwoosh.
Broly reached out like a dragon's claw—Goku's body slid across the air to his side as if the space between them were nothing.
"Uh? Uh—uh?" Goku blinked, dazed.
"Let's go," Ken said—and launched, not waiting for Amarella.
She sighed, then arrowed into his body as a streak of light.
Starlight flared—and the three of them were in the void.
"Already left Earth? Amazing!" Goku looked back: the blue world was now a marble.
Ten seconds after they'd gone, Bulma stepped out, dressed to turn heads—new dress hugging every line.
"Where's Ken?" She looked left and right, then asked Krillin.
He pointed up, still dazed.
"What? He left?" Bulma planted her fists on her hips, chest heaving. She stamped. "Ken, I hate you!"
The others eyed each other.
"Chiaotzu, did you see that? He shot straight into the sky," Tien said, squinting.
"So fast" Tien wiped sweat.
"Incredible… Wonder where Goku's training will be," Krillin murmured.
"He didn't tell you?" Tien asked.
"He doesn't know where Ken's taking him…" Krillin shook his head.
"What are you lookin' at… I said, what—are—you—lookin'—at…" Little Ai bobbed by Bulma, LEDs pulsing, looping the same line.
Bulma: "…"
"Bulma… Broly won't play with me anymore," Ai's glow dimmed.
"Your little partner grew up," Bulma sighed.
"Ai doesn't want him to grow up…" The light dimmed further.
"People grow," Bulma stroked her head, bit her lip, and quietly pressed the power button.
Click.
Ai's lights faded out.
"Delete everything about you and Broly…" Bulma's voice dropped.
A beat of silence.
"If I could… I'd delete my memories with Ken, too," she said—eyes welling despite herself.
…
Universe 6, deep space.
Ken streaked through the stars with Broly and Goku, a brilliant silver comet.
Soon they slipped into the Null Realm.
"Ken, what is this place?" Goku asked, eyes wide.
"The Null Realm—an undeveloped void between universes," Ken said.
"I don't really get it… but I kinda do," Goku scratched his head, curiosity burning. "Where am I training?"
"You'll see," Ken smiled.
They passed through and emerged in Universe 7, angling up.
Pop.
Ken broke the boundary—Other World unfolded. He dropped to the entrance of Snake Way.
Goku looked around and immediately spotted the endless serpent-shaped road.
"What is this place? Not a soul in sight," he said.
"No people. Only spirits," Broly offered.
"Spirits?" Goku was even more lost.
"See that road?" Ken pointed along Snake Way.
Goku nodded.
"Run it. At the end is a tiny planet. A Kai lives there. You'll train under him first," Ken said.
"A Kai?" Goku blinked.
"He'll build your base. And while you train—work on Ultra Instinct. Speaking of, any parts in the manual you still don't get?" Ken asked gently.
"I did, but Krillin explained the tricky bits. I'm good now," Goku laughed, pulling out the guide.
This wasn't a watered-down pamphlet—Ken had handed him the angels' distilled core method.
With Goku's talent, he'd learn fast.
Pop.
Thirty senzu beans appeared in Ken's hand.
He'd kept his stash in a storage ring—angelic power had preserved it even when he became starlight. Broly had safeguarded the ring, and after Ken returned, gave it back. Ken now had his own pocket dimension, so he stored some beans there and handed the rest—plus the ring and a hundred more—over to Broly. He'd even left the Iron Man suit with him; Broly got more use out of gadgets than an angel did.
"These… senzu beans?" Goku leaned in.
"For the road—so you don't starve," Ken said, passing him the thirty.
Goku: "???"
"Starve? There's nowhere to buy food?"
"Nope," Ken said.
Goku: "…"
"Don't fall off. Drop below those golden clouds and you die straight into Hell—and even I won't get you back," Ken warned.
He was exaggerating to make Goku careful.
"Fall and it's Hell? Yikes!" Goku gulped. "Got it. I'll be careful!"
"Use the beans sparingly. If you die, you're starting over," Ken patted his shoulder.
"Right! I'm off!" Goku waved. "I'll train hard and beat Vegeta!"
Ken nodded.
Fwoosh.
Goku shot along Snake Way and vanished into the shimmering distance.
Ken watched him go, then turned, silver light blooming again. In a breath, he and Broly left the Other World for the stars of Universe 7, heading toward the rim.
"Why Ultra Instinct for him?" Amarella's voice chimed.
"Problem?" Ken smiled.
"Not everyone is you," she said. "Humans can study Ultra Instinct, but truly awakening it takes ages. He could live out his life and never reach the full state. If he reaches the initial point of the Ultra Instinct, that's already huge—call it… Level 20 on the Grand Priest's scale."
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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