Shitaki sat behind his desk, drowning in work.
Endless lines of digital paperwork filled the screens before him, each document representing another report from across the empire. Production reports, damage assessments, economic forecasts—everything had become chaos after the recent cosmic disaster.
He sighed.
When was Tundra coming back?
At that exact moment, Tundra appeared beside him.
"AH!"
Shitaki nearly fell out of his chair.
He quickly straightened himself and cleared his throat, trying to regain some composure.
"Where have you been, my lord?"
Tundra glanced at the massive display of digital files covering Shitaki's desk. The system was one he had personally requested from the empire's scientists—physical paperwork had become almost impossible to manage given his enormous size.
"That's… more than usual," Tundra said. "I assume you discovered the new planets?"
Shitaki stared at him.
"You knew about this?!"
He gestured helplessly at the screens.
"And there's still mass hysteria across several worlds because of that galactic quake or whatever it was. Many workers had to undergo therapy. Production slowed down significantly."
Tundra nodded calmly.
"Thank you for handling the paperwork. I'll take care of it now."
Then he added something unexpected.
"If you want anything in exchange, say it now. I'm willing to grant one request."
Shitaki blinked.
What could he possibly ask for?
He already lived in luxury. Wealth, influence, power—he had experienced all of it.
But then his thoughts returned to the newly restored planets.
"Please," Shitaki said, "use non-hostile methods when taking control of the new worlds."
Tundra considered the request.
"Two diplomats and a squad of soldiers will be sent," he decided. "If diplomacy fails, force will follow. That is the most I can promise."
Shitaki nodded.
He knew that was the best compromise he would ever get.
"Very well, my lord. Thank you for considering it."
Tundra gave a small nod.
In truth, he had already been thinking along similar lines. These planets were supposed to be valuable—why damage them unnecessarily?
"I'll head to my quarters and finish the paperwork."
He prepared to teleport.
Then he froze.
Far away, he sensed something.
A large ki signature.
Dark… disturbingly similar to the energy that had leaked from the Dragon Balls earlier.
"…Actually," Tundra muttered, "that may have to wait."
In an instant he teleported to the source.
He appeared beside a massive, pulsating egg-like sac.
Tundra grimaced in disgust.
He scanned the surrounding area.
The thing that laid this shouldn't be hard to find.
Nearby lay two corpses.
One was a gigantic black reptilian creature with four wings—a dragon-like beast sprawled lifeless across the ground.
The other was a monstrous spider with twelve legs, most of them severed. Colorless fluid leaked from the wounds, sizzling violently as it touched the ground.
Acid.
"Great," Tundra muttered.
He turned his attention back to the sac.
Whatever was inside clearly wasn't either of those creatures.
Tundra climbed onto the dragon's corpse and sat down.
While waiting, his thoughts drifted back to something he had been considering since the battle with Majin Buu.
How to grow stronger.
He glanced at the dead creature's claws.
Maybe he could replicate something similar.
Tundra coated his fingers in dense ki. That part was easy—it was a technique he had used countless times.
But he wanted something sharper.
He attempted to form pointed blades of pure ki at his fingertips.
The moment he tried increasing the energy output, he stopped.
Using too much ki risked disturbing the strange shards embedded in his body.
He tried several times, each attempt failing.
Eventually he closed his hand and tried forming a single blade extending from his palm.
It worked.
But the result felt dull, fragile, unstable.
Not useful.
"Maybe later," he muttered.
At that moment the sac moved.
Tundra's attention snapped back to it.
The sac pulsed, once, twice before a hand suddenly pierced through the membrane.
The sac split open as the limb tore through it effortlessly.
What emerged was something horrifying.
A towering humanoid creature with the lower body of a spider. Four leathery wings extended from its back. A crown of twisted horns framed its head.
Embedded in the center of its chest was a dark blue Dragon Ball with a single star.
Its skin was pale with black stripes, and its glowing amber eyes locked directly onto Tundra.
Tundra stared at it in visible disgust.
What the hell was this thing?
Without speaking a word, he raised his hand and fired a ki blast.
The creature reacted instantly.
It opened its mouth and swallowed the blast as if it were a snack.
Tundra blinked in genuine shock.
He had never seen anything like that.
Still, the attack had been insignificant. Most of his power now resided in his physical body—those shards prevented him from releasing large amounts of energy.
So he moved instead.
Tundra launched himself forward, aiming to crush the creature's skull with a punch.
Suddenly—
Dark purple energy wrapped around him.
His body slammed into the ground.
His strength began draining rapidly.
Looking up, Tundra saw the creature holding its hand out toward him.
It had done this.
"This power is bullshit," Tundra thought grimly.
The creature stepped closer and spoke in broken, uneven words.
"...how… tasty… but… unfortunately… you… die… now…"
The effort of speech clearly strained its body.
For the first time in his life, Tundra felt genuine panic.
There was nothing he could do.
But maybe he could still take the creature with him.
It had worked before against stronger opponents.
"I die?" Tundra muttered. "No… we're dying."
The creature tilted its head in confusion.
Meanwhile Tundra began pulling together every fragment of ki he still had, forcing it past the burning shards embedded in his body.
Pain exploded through him.
The creature approached calmly, opening its maw.
It wasn't worried.
Tundra suddenly smirked.
He grabbed one of its spider legs.
"That's not where I was aiming."
Then everything exploded.
Nearly all of Tundra's remaining ki detonated from his hand.
The blast was powerful enough to annihilate multiple solar systems—but he focused it tightly, compressing the energy into a concentrated explosion.
The creature's entire lower body vanished instantly.
Tundra collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.
But the dark energy was still clinging to him.
Then he saw something that made his heart sink.
The creature was smiling.
It pushed itself up on its hands.
Flesh began regenerating.
Within seconds its entire lower body had regrown.
It landed gracefully back onto the ground.
The creature laughed.
"...how… adorable… you… thought… that'd… kill… me?"
Hopelessness filled Tundra.
This wasn't like fighting Buu.
There was no way to fight back.
Without hesitation, the creature lifted one of its legs and drove it straight through Tundra's chest.
The monster watched with fascination as blood spread across the ground.
Then it slowly pulled the leg out.
Tundra was still alive.
The creature considered something.
Then it did something far worse.
It ripped one of its own legs off.
After licking the blood from it with disturbing delight, the creature shoved the bleeding stump into Tundra's wound.
The monster waved cheerfully.
Then its leg regenerated instantly.
Without another word, it spread its wings and left.
Tundra lay helpless on the ground.
The severed limb remained lodged in his chest as poison began spreading through his body.
His vision blurred.
"Why… is this… happening… to me… again…?"
Those were his final words before darkness consumed him.