Upon hearing the question, Axis turned his gaze to the Laughing God. The task of preparing a body for the Goddess of Life had been Cegorach's responsibility; Axis had only provided the Fruit of the Tree of Might.
"Oh, that matter requires some more preparation," The Laughing God said with a slight smile. "It might take another dozen years, perhaps even a century or so. Give or take."
Isha, the Goddess of Life, rolled her eyes at this. She shot Axis a look of pure exasperation, an expression that seemed to ask just how unreliable his associates were.
"What is the situation? I already gave you what you needed. Do not tell me it is not ready," Axis said, his brow furrowed.
"My friend, that fruit is no ordinary thing," Cegorach protested. "A single bite would overwhelm a common mortal. The immense life energy contained within it is simply more than a mortal can bear. Besides, I need to select a suitable vessel for it, and for that, I need the Craftworld Aeldari to choose a candidate. You know how they are. The Aeldari can be rather indolent with their affairs, and they have not even chosen a candidate yet!"
Cegorach found the situation incredibly difficult. He thought back to when Axis and Khorne had finally revealed the full scope of their plan to him. They had given him almost no time to prepare, dragging him directly to Holy Terra right before the fighting began. Only a few days had passed since then. To expect him to have selected, enhanced, and delivered a host in such a short time was an absurd joke.
Even if his own Harlequin Troupe could find a suitable candidate to host the Goddess of Life, that individual would still need to be augmented. His Harlequins had possessed the Fruits of the Tree of Might for a century, thanks to Axis's previous gifts. Cegorach had conducted experiments. He knew that even a Harlequin, with their superior physique, needed more than a decade to completely absorb a single fruit. A common Aeldari maiden would take far longer. Unlike Axis, he did not possess Ki to empower his followers.
"Why not just pick someone from your Harlequin Troupe?" Axis suggested.
"Are you joking?" The Laughing God scoffed, rolling his eyes again. "Those are my faithful. Do you have any idea what followers mean to a god? It is impossible for one of my own to become a vessel for the Goddess of Life."
"How about this, then," Axis offered. "She can settle in the Webway for now, and we can provide the body later."
"That is fine. I can wait a while," the Goddess of Life said. She was quite reasonable and did not intend to make things difficult for Axis or Cegorach, "Our transaction still stands."
The three of them nodded in agreement. Led by the Laughing God, they soon arrived at the ruined Webway city where Axis had once fought the Emperor. The destruction was still severe. Their last cataclysmic battle had leveled more than half of the city. Returning here, Axis was filled with a sense of nostalgia, as if his duel with the Emperor had happened only yesterday.
Within the sprawling ruins, which were composed of several planets orbiting captive suns, Isha chose one that remained relatively intact. After selecting her location, she nodded in satisfaction and spread her arms wide. A torrent of impossibly powerful divine life energy poured forth from her.
The entire planet suddenly burst with vitality. Green grass carpeted the ground, and colossal trees shot up toward the sky, followed by the appearance of countless small animals. Isha had manifested her divine realm directly onto the planet, covering the dead, ruined world with her Garden of Life.
In moments, a silent wasteland had been transformed into a vibrant, thriving planet. It was now a Planet of Life, a fitting abode for a god.
"There. The environment here is quite nice. I will reside here from now on," Isha said, then turned to Axis. "Now, Lord Axis, when shall we begin planting the divine tree you spoke of?"
"We will have to wait on that for now. I must first handle the current affairs of the Imperium of Man. I will return," Axis replied. "Before I go, however, I would like to conduct an experiment on your Planet of Life, if I may?"
Due to the previous incident in the warp, Axis now carried a spatial storage device containing all his most valuable assets. Among them were the seeds of the Saibamen.
The Goddess of Life smiled and nodded. "Of course, Lord Axis."
"Thank you. I want to create a special kind of life on your planet. They are called Saibamen, beings I brought from my world. They are somewhat similar to the Orks," Axis explained, taking out a seed. "However, their combat strength is much higher than an Ork's, and they have great plasticity, capable of absorbing the genes of other lifeforms to evolve and optimize themselves. Most importantly, they are the only beings in this universe, aside from myself, who can use Ki." He still had about twenty Saibamen seeds.
In all his time since crossing over, he had only cultivated five proper ones.
"Such a wondrous lifeform exists?" Isha's eyes lit up with interest, "Can they truly merge with any genes?"
"I have not fully tested that, but it should be theoretically possible. If these creatures are planted using ordinary methods, their combat power will not be too great," Axis said as he began his work.
He dug a pit over a meter deep into the rich soil of the new world. This time, Axis intended to use his own gene-seed, nourished with the blood of a Saiyan, to create a special Saibaman that possessed Saiyan power.
He buried the gene-seed in the earth, placed a Saibaman seed alongside it, then covered them both with soil. Next, he produced a vial of juice from the Tree of Might and poured it over the spot.
This was to be his own special Saibaman, and he intended to give it the best possible start.
After completing these steps, Axis channeled a massive amount of Ki into the seeds buried below. A deep rumbling sound echoed from the earth as the Saibaman seed began to crazily absorb his energy.
In just a few short minutes, the ground erupted.
A figure burst forth, standing two-and-a-half meters tall. It had a human appearance, but with green, pointed ears and a bald head.
The Saibaman cultivated from Axis's gene-seed was not particularly handsome, but it was humanoid. It did not even inherit the iconic Saiyan tail, which Axis considered a good thing, as it meant the creature would not transform into a Great Ape.
"Great Father, my Master, thank you for granting me life," the newborn Saibaman said, kneeling before Axis in a pledge of fealty.
This Saibaman was stronger than a normal member of the Golden Legion. Thanks to the gene-seed, it possessed the nineteen superhuman organs, making it effectively an enhanced Space Marine.
"Hmph. From this day forward, your name shall be Klaus. You are now a member of the Golden Legion," Axis declared, naming his creation.
"Great Father," Klaus replied, "from this day, I, Klaus, shall follow you into battle."
Axis nodded, satisfied.
This Saibaman was incredibly potent. Having been born on the Goddess of Life's world, its life force was remarkably strong, far greater than the others he had cultivated. He then turned to face the two Aeldari deities, who had watched the entire creation process with immense curiosity.
"A truly magical lifeform," the Laughing God remarked. "And they possess the power of Ki, inherited from you." He felt a pang of envy.
Besides Axis, only these Saibamen could wield such power. Even Axis's own son did not possess that magnificent strength.
"I will take my leave now," Axis said, "Klaus can remain here as my liaison."
"Wait a moment, Lord Axis," Isha called out, stopping him before he could depart. "Perhaps it is not necessary for an Aeldari maiden to offer her life for me. We may have just found a new way to create a divine body for me."
Watching the Saibaman's birth had given the Goddess of Life a new idea.
Axis was intrigued. "What do you mean, Lady Isha?"
"Lord Axis, let us use one of your Saibamen seeds to create a vessel for me," she proposed.
"You want to cultivate a body from a Saibaman?" Axis asked, surprised.
"Exactly," Isha confirmed, "If the creature can inherit your bloodline and take on human features, then surely it can be made to exhibit Aeldari features as well. This Saibaman seems to be without gender, so it could be made female. I can use my own powerful life force to nourish the seed as it grows."
"Theoretically, that is possible," Axis said, stroking his chin with a serious expression. "Let us try then." He could see the Goddess of Life's true intention; she wanted to get his Ki for free.
This time, however, Axis had no intention of using one of the original seeds from the Dragon Ball world. Instead, he would use one of the seeds left behind after the rebirth of his first Saibaman, Phoenix.
She could have a suitable body, but it would certainly not come with his Ki.
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ps?