Chapter 16 — The Distance Between Monsters
The world had changed again.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
But in the quiet way reality shifts when something powerful stops staying in one place.
Goku was somewhere beyond known maps, traveling with Bulma.
Azer was across continents, moving through mountains and battle zones with Chi-Chi.
And Mints remained on Mount Paozu—
but no longer truly *connected* to them in any normal sense.
Distance was no longer just geography.
It was dimensional drift.
Their energies no longer synced.
Their thoughts no longer aligned.
Even communication between them had become unreliable.
Not because they were weak.
But because they were *too far apart in scale and state*.
—
## **The Problem of Separation**
Paula stood beside Mints, watching faint flickers in the sky.
"…They're too far apart now."
Mints nodded.
"Yes."
Grandpa Gohan, now stronger than most Earth martial artists combined, crossed his arms.
"So they can't even contact each other?"
Mints replied calmly.
"Not reliably."
Azer's energy signature flickered somewhere far west.
Goku's fluctuated somewhere beyond the eastern seas.
But neither could fully register the other anymore.
Paula frowned.
"Why is that happening now?"
Mints looked upward.
"…Because they are evolving into different dimensional paths."
Silence.
—
## **Current Strength Scaling (Earth Timeline)**
Mints raised his hand.
A projection formed in the air.
Not a simple power level chart—
but a layered existence map.
—
### **Goku — The Instinct Evolution Saiyan**
Goku's projection appeared first.
He stood in the center of a shifting aura that never stayed the same color.
Mints spoke.
"Goku is currently in a pre-Super Saiyan awakening state."
Azer's voice echoed faintly from memory:
"He doesn't even need form to get stronger."
Mints nodded.
"Yes."
Then he continued.
"His base state already behaves like a partial Super Saiyan blueprint."
Goku's energy flickered.
"And when he transforms…"
The projection shifted.
A golden surge appeared.
"Super Saiyan is not a form he *activates*."
Mints explained.
"It is a state his body *remembers how to enter instantly under pressure*."
Paula murmured.
"So no emotional trigger requirement?"
Mints nodded.
"Correct. His trigger is combat necessity."
—
### **Azer — The Angel-Adapted Saiyan Hybrid**
The projection shifted.
Azer appeared.
His aura was structured, controlled, layered.
Mints continued.
"Azer is the opposite."
Paula nodded.
"He refines everything."
Mints confirmed.
"Yes."
Then added:
"His Super Saiyan progression is not explosive."
Azer's aura expanded slowly.
"Instead, it is *constructed*."
He continued.
* Super Saiyan: stabilized transformation
* Super Saiyan 2: emotional suppression breakthrough layer
* Super Saiyan 3 equivalent: energy compression refinement state
Paula blinked.
"So his forms are engineered?"
Mints nodded.
"Yes."
Azer does not transform by rage.
He transforms by *understanding his limits and breaking them precisely*.
—
### **Mints — The Impossible Constant**
The projection shifted again.
Everything broke.
Then reassembled.
Mints appeared.
But not in a stable form.
He was overlapping states simultaneously.
Mints spoke quietly.
"My transformations are not sequential."
Silence.
Gohan whispered.
"…That sounds bad."
Mints continued.
"I do not have Super Saiyan stages in a linear sense."
Instead:
* Ultra Instinct is baseline awareness extension
* Saiyan transformations manifest as temporary reality density increases
* Angel traits act as stabilizers across all forms
Paula frowned.
"So you don't transform normally?"
Mints shook his head.
"No."
Then added:
"I scale continuously. Forms are just visual interpretations of thresholds."
Azer's voice echoed again faintly:
"…That's cheating."
Mints smiled slightly.
"Yes."
—
## **The Problem: They Are Too Far Apart**
Mints lowered his hand.
The projection faded.
"…Now the issue."
Paula asked softly.
"Distance?"
Mints nodded.
"Yes."
He explained.
Goku is evolving through **instinctive chaos adaptation**.
Azer is evolving through **structured refinement escalation**.
Mints is evolving through **constant existential growth without form limits**.
Mints continued:
"These three systems do not synchronize anymore."
Grandpa Gohan frowned.
"So they can't fight together either?"
Mints shook his head.
"Not effectively."
Silence.
—
## **Why They Cannot Communicate**
Mints raised a finger.
"Communication requires alignment of energy frequency."
Paula nodded.
"And theirs don't match anymore?"
Mints confirmed.
"Yes."
He explained:
* Goku's energy is unstable and reactive
* Azer's energy is structured and filtered
* Mints' energy is absolute and continuously shifting
Mints continued calmly:
"When energies diverge too far, even thought transmission collapses."
Grandpa Gohan sighed.
"So they're just… alone out there."
Mints nodded.
"Yes."
Then added softly:
"…for now."
—
## **Super Saiyan Evolution Paths (Future Insight)**
Mints briefly expanded the projection again.
Not as certainty—
but as *possibility branches*.
Goku:
* Super Saiyan (unstable access)
* Super Saiyan 2 (natural reaction layer)
* Super Saiyan 3 (temporary instinct overload state)
* Beyond forms → instinct dominance evolution
Azer:
* Super Saiyan (controlled activation)
* Super Saiyan 2 (precision evolution layer)
* Angel-adapted Super Saiyan (future hybrid state)
* Potential Angel-equivalent transformation
Mints:
* Formless escalation
* Reality-density compression states
* Existential overwrite thresholds
* No fixed final form
Paula exhaled.
"…They're not even in the same system anymore."
Mints nodded.
"Correct."
—
## **What Mints Actually Feels About It**
Paula looked at him carefully.
"You're not worried?"
Mints paused.
Then answered honestly.
"No."
Gohan blinked.
"…Why not?"
Mints looked toward the horizon.
"Because separation does not mean weakness."
He continued.
"It means divergence."
Azer's distant energy flared briefly.
Goku's aura surged somewhere far away.
Mints smiled faintly.
"And divergence creates evolution paths I cannot predict."
Paula softened slightly.
"So you're waiting again."
Mints nodded.
"Yes."
Then added:
"But this time…"
He looked upward.
"…they are no longer growing under me."
A pause.
"They are growing away from me."
Silence.
—
## **Final Scene — Three Points in a Broken Map**
Somewhere in the world:
Goku laughed while dodging impossible attacks on a remote island.
Bulma shouted at him from a broken capsule vehicle.
Azer stood atop a mountain facing an opponent who didn't survive the encounter long enough to be remembered.
Chi-Chi watched quietly from below.
And Mount Paozu remained still.
Mints stood alone.
Not as a master.
Not as a guardian.
But as something closer to a point of origin that had lost direct influence over its own creations.
Paula stood beside him.
"…Do you regret it?"
Mints shook his head.
"No."
He smiled faintly.
"…This is the first time I cannot predict them."
Azer's energy faded into the distance.
Goku's power spiked and stabilized elsewhere.
And for the first time—
the strongest being in existence felt something rare.
Not loneliness.
Not control.
But anticipation of separation becoming destiny.