"Hey! Broly! Stop fighting!!!"
Inside Universe 6's observation room, Champa roared furiously at the screen. His eyes were wide, veins bulging on his forehead as if sheer volume alone could somehow carry his voice through the walls and all the way to Z Broly.
Of course, that was impossible.
Back on the Snowfield Module, Z Broly and Laitses were still locked in a fierce battle.
Their figures crossed like flashes of lightning, fists and kicks colliding again and again. Every impact sent violent gusts tearing across the battlefield, throwing snow high into the air. Every punch Z Broly threw carried terrifying force, as though it could shatter the world itself.
Laitses, however, refused to give an inch. His movements were quick and fluid, weaving around Broly's relentless attacks before slipping in counterattacks of his own. For the moment, neither side could gain the upper hand.
Heavy booms echoed continuously through the sky, each collision shaking the surroundings. Even the air had been churned into chaos by the shockwaves of their battle, forming visible spirals of turbulent wind.
"No way, Boss! This guy can actually fight Z Broly evenly?!" Super Perfect Cell stared at the battle in disbelief. He swallowed hard. "B-Boss, if I remember correctly, Z Broly's Super Saiyan 3 was already around the same level as your old Super Saiyan 4, right?"
He hesitated before asking, "So where would you say he stands now compared to you?"
Trunks couldn't give him a precise answer. He had never personally fought the current Z Broly, but one thing was certain: Broly was definitely stronger than Trunks had been back when he first reached Super Saiyan 4.
According to Hit, Z Broly had only spent a year inside the Space Prison. But before he ever went to Universe 6, Broly had been trapped inside Majin Buu's body for a full ten years. Broly's Legendary Super Saiyan ability had continued strengthening him passively throughout that time, but Trunks and the others had also spent those ten years training relentlessly.
After considering it for a moment, Trunks said, "Hard to judge exactly. From what he's shown so far, I'd say he's probably around full-power Super Saiyan 4 level."
Super Perfect Cell froze. The sly gleam normally present in his eyes vanished as he stared blankly into the sky.
He had asked about Z Broly's strength, but Broly wasn't the person he truly cared about, he was trying to measure Laitses. And Trunks's answer had shaken him badly.
Laitses's current strength was already absurd, but the most terrifying part was that he hadn't even transformed into a Super Saiyan yet. He was displaying this much power in his base form alone.
A chill ran up Super Perfect Cell's spine. What would happen if Laitses actually transformed into a Super Saiyan? Or worse, went even further and reached an even higher transformation?
He didn't even want to imagine it.
Super Perfect Cell glanced at Trunks. "Boss... what do you think would happen if he really turned Super Saiyan?"
Despite Cell's obvious shock, Trunks remained calm. He narrowed his eyes and continued watching the battle. "Don't rush to conclusions. Keep watching. Let's see whether Z Broly is actually capable of forcing Laitses to show his real strength."
With that, Trunks stopped speaking and focused entirely on the fight.
---
As time passed, the two only fought harder, yet neither of them transformed.
Trunks could clearly sense one major difference between them: Z Broly was overflowing with killing intent, whereas Laitses seemed to be genuinely enjoying the fight, showing no sign whatsoever that he intended to kill Broly.
Then, without warning, Laitses suddenly pulled back his aura.
"That's enough," he said, looking at Z Broly. "We should stop here. The people we need to deal with next are the fighters from the other universes."
Laitses was actually inviting Z Broly to cooperate.
Trunks and the others watching from nearby immediately fell into an awkward silence.
Super Perfect Cell blinked. "Wait, Boss... did I hear that right? He just told Z Broly to stop fighting?"
Trunks nodded. "You heard him correctly. Looks like my guess was right. Laitses was only testing him. He hasn't been fighting seriously at all." Trunks paused. "But he clearly doesn't understand Z Broly very well. He seems to think Broly is the kind of person you can simply talk things out with..."
Hit also looked helpless. Z Broly had never been part of their plan, he was a complete wild card.
"Laitses!" Hit shouted toward him. "He wasn't included in our plans!"
Laitses looked confused. "What do you mean? Didn't you say inside the Space Prison that he helped Universe 6 a lot? That he guided a bunch of people and helped you out? He sounded like a pretty reasonable guy to me."
Super Perfect Cell slapped a hand over his face. "Damn it. This idiot really only heard half the story and ignored the rest. He must've been spacing out!" He immediately shouted at Laitses, "Hey! You made that last part up yourself!"
Laitses froze for a moment. He looked down at Super Perfect Cell and Hit in confusion, then his gaze accidentally met Trunks's. This time, he didn't look away, and from the look in Trunks's deep eyes, he got exactly the same answer Super Perfect Cell had given him.
"Watch out! Don't get distracted!" Trunks shouted.
Laitses suddenly felt a wave of scorching heat behind him. Z Broly was staring at him like a predator sizing up its prey.
For a moment, Laitses went blank. 'Why? Why isn't this going the way I thought it would?'
BANG!
Z Broly's fist slammed straight into his face. With a deafening explosion, Laitses was sent flying over a thousand meters before crashing into the ground.
Just as Z Broly was about to rush after him, an announcement suddenly rang out across the module:
"Only the contestants from the final remaining module have yet to enter the Gate of Advancement. Please proceed to the Gate of Advancement immediately."
"The Gate of Advancement is about to close. Failure to enter will be treated as forfeiture."
"The Gate of Advancement is about to close. Failure to enter will be treated as forfeiture."
"The Gate of Advancement is about to close. Failure to enter will be treated as forfeiture."
The announcement continued repeating.
Meanwhile, Laitses lay buried among a pile of shattered rocks.
So in the end, it really had all been wishful thinking on his part. He'd simply assumed Z Broly was someone reasonable enough to talk to.
With his eyes closed, Laitses carefully recalled the way Broly had been fighting him. Now that he thought about it, Broly definitely hadn't been treating it like a friendly spar. If anything, he'd been fighting as though Laitses were a hated enemy.
"Oh... so I really did misunderstand."
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the repeating announcement. At the same time, a desperate shout came from nearby.
"Hey! Don't tell me that punch actually knocked you unconscious!" Super Perfect Cell was practically screaming at the top of his lungs. "We've been calling you forever! With your strength, there's no way one hit should've put you down like that!"
Laitses slowly climbed back to his feet and looked around. Other than Trunks and Super Perfect Cell, two people were missing.
"Where are Broly and Hit? Wasn't I just fighting Broly?"
"Forget about that for now!" Super Perfect Cell urged him forward. "Hit trapped that guy for the moment. The priority is advancing to the next round. You heard the announcement, right? Hurry up and follow me and Boss!"
Trunks, meanwhile, was staring into the distance, a single figure reflected in his eyes: Hit.
Hit's face was tense, his teeth clenched hard as cold sweat poured down his forehead. Just moments earlier, when Z Broly had been about to continue beating Laitses down, Hit had dragged Broly into a Space Prison of his own creation.
Trunks had to admit that Hit was remarkably responsible. Laitses was now their ally, and as far as Hit was concerned, that meant protecting him was part of the deal.
Then a strained, exhausted voice reached Trunks.
"Tr... Trunks..."
"Hurry... get everyone to the Gate of Advancement..."
"I don't think... I can hold him much longer."
Trunks looked over and saw Hit barely hanging on, sweat running down his face as he struggled to maintain the prison.
"Want me to help you?" Trunks asked.
Before Hit could answer, Laitses suddenly disappeared from where he stood. In a flash, he appeared right in front of Hit.
"If you can't hold him, then stop trying."
Hit blinked, then his face turned even uglier. "W-What do you mean?"
Before Laitses could answer, a deafening roar tore through the sky, the air itself seeming to crack apart under the terrifying force.
Everyone turned toward the sound. Z Broly had forcibly smashed his way out of the Space Prison!
Hit immediately lost his balance and fell backward, crashing heavily to the ground. His expression was a mixture of shock and helplessness. Against someone as overwhelmingly powerful as Z Broly, his Space Prison simply wasn't strong enough to contain him for long.
Z Broly stood there like an enraged beast. His eyes were blood-red, and a terrifying aura rolled off his body as his savage expression twisted with murderous fury. His gaze locked onto Laitses, pure killing intent filling his eyes.
Seeing this, the corner of Laitses's mouth curled into a faint smile. Without the slightest trace of panic, he turned toward Trunks and the others.
"You guys go ahead. I've got something to settle first."
(End Of This Chapter)
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