The moment the black-clad Saiyan made his proposal, Super Perfect Cell blinked in complete disbelief. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard. Like a wary animal, he slowly circled the mysterious Saiyan, examining him from every angle.
Only after completing a full circle did he stop and stare suspiciously at the man.
"Y-You... What did you just say? Did I hear that right?" Cell frowned, his face full of confusion. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't understand why someone as cold and dangerous as this Saiyan would suddenly ask to become their ally.
The black-clad Saiyan, however, remained perfectly calm. He stood where he was with his arms folded across his chest, chin slightly raised as he looked down at everyone.
"Was I unclear?" The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "I said... I want to form an alliance with you."
The words hit Cell like a thunderclap. He jumped in fright, then without a shred of dignity, leaped behind Trunks and tightly hugged one of Trunks' legs like a frightened child.
"B-Boss... What do you think?" He looked up at Trunks with completely helpless eyes. This situation was far beyond anything he knew how to handle.
Even Trunks had been caught off guard, but he quickly regained his composure. Narrowing his eyes, he carefully examined the black-clad Saiyan.
There was no denying it; the man's strength was unfathomable, and his proposal had caught everyone completely by surprise.
Right now, conserving their strength was the highest priority. No one knew what awaited them later in the tournament.
After thinking it over, Trunks gently patted Cell on the head. "Easy. Let's not decide just yet." Then he looked toward the waiting Saiyan. "Give us a moment. We'll discuss it first."
To everyone's surprise, the black-clad Saiyan actually listened. He simply stood there quietly, patiently waiting.
Meanwhile, Trunks walked straight toward Hit, his footsteps echoing softly until he stopped directly in front of the assassin.
"Hit." His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly.
Hit stepped forward as well, assuming Trunks was about to ask whether he approved of letting the Saiyan join them. Instead, Trunks asked something entirely different.
"Hit, I need to ask you something important. Can you locate the Namekian from our universe? Specifically... can you determine which module he's in, and whether he's safe?"
Trunks looked directly into Hit's eyes. Hit immediately closed his own, extending his senses across the battlefield to search for every Namekian present. But the only ones he could find were the Namekians from Universe 6.
After a long moment, he slowly shook his head.
Trunks fell silent.
'So Hit still can't locate Uncle Piccolo... That's troubling. At least there hasn't been an announcement saying he's been eliminated. And if Hit still can't perceive his module, then Uncle Piccolo must still be inside the area hidden between those two mysterious modules. That means he's probably safe... for now. But that doesn't mean he'll stay safe.'
After carefully weighing every possibility, Trunks finally reached a decision: he would accept the black-clad Saiyan into their alliance. It wasn't because he trusted him, but because he couldn't afford to gamble.
If Piccolo failed to survive the first round, Universe 7 would lose its most valuable support fighter.
Fighting this black-clad Saiyan now would only drain their strength. If Piccolo didn't advance, they'd soon be facing even more enemies, and entering those battles exhausted would put them at a tremendous disadvantage.
That outcome would completely undermine Trunks' strategy.
Until he knew whether Piccolo had safely advanced, the smartest choice was to stay calm and avoid unnecessary conflict.
Still, agreeing to let this stranger join them so easily felt a little too convenient.
Looking straight at the black-clad Saiyan, Trunks said firmly, "After discussing it, we've decided to accept your proposal. But..." He paused. "...before that, I have one small condition."
The black-clad Saiyan frowned slightly, clearly not expecting strings to be attached.
Smiling faintly, Trunks explained, "You have to understand, we're not interested in working with someone whose identity is completely unknown. So if you want us to trust you, you'll need to show us a little sincerity."
The Saiyan's expression grew guarded. "Sincerity? What exactly do you mean?"
Trunks nodded. "First, tell us who you really are. And second... I want you to tell us everything you know about the other two survivors from Universe 10."
Trunks quietly waited for an answer. The black-clad Saiyan tilted his head slightly before slowly facing Trunks again.
"My name... Lightses."
'Lightses...?' Trunks repeated the name in his mind. Almost immediately, an English word popped into his head: 'Lettuces.'
'...Yep. That's definitely a Saiyan name. Lightses... lettuces... literally lettuce.' He couldn't help smiling wryly. 'Well, judging from that vegetable-based naming scheme... he's almost certainly a pure-blooded Saiyan.'
Unable to hold back his curiosity, Super Perfect Cell blurted out, "Oh? So which universe are you from? As far as I know, only Universe 6 and Universe 7 have Saiyans."
Lightses folded his arms and answered coldly, "We're allies. Nothing more. I don't see any reason to tell you my entire life story."
Cell clicked his tongue. "Tch. Fine. Keep your secrets. What a stingy guy." With that, he turned away, no longer interested in pressing the issue.
Trunks calmly stepped forward until he was standing directly in front of Lightses. He smiled and extended his right hand. "My name is Trunks. From this moment on... we're allies."
Lightses stared silently at the offered hand. For nearly three full seconds, he didn't move. Then, as if finally making up his mind, he slowly raised his own hand and shook Trunks'.
"...Mm." But before letting go, he spoke again. "That said... our alliance is only temporary. If things continue to develop within my expectations, there won't be any reason for us to keep working together. I already told you what I'm after."
His eyes sharpened.
"I won't allow anyone to take the Super Dragon Balls from me. Anyone who tries... will become my enemy."
Super Perfect Cell's face immediately darkened as anger bubbled inside him. "Tch! So what, you're planning to fight us once this is all over?"
He pointed accusingly at Lightses before looking toward Trunks. "Boss, just look at this guy!"
Lightses offered only a faint smile in response to Cell's outrage. "I don't mind. When we actually fight... you'll see exactly how badly I beat you."
Cell snorted, his face full of contempt. "Oh? Big talk. I'd like to see you try. If you've got the guts, why don't we settle it right now?"
Lightses remained infuriatingly calm. "Fine. If that's what you want... come and see what happens."
The tension between them escalated instantly, neither side willing to back down. Finally, Hit had seen enough. He stepped between them and raised a hand.
"That's enough. We're allies for now. There's no point fighting over something that hasn't even happened yet. If the day comes when you have to fight each other... then settle it then."
Meanwhile, Trunks' attention had shifted elsewhere, his eyes settling on Lightses' tail.
'This guy's strength is no joke... And from the start of this battle until now, he hasn't transformed into a Super Saiyan even once. Even stranger... he absolutely refuses to say which universe's Saiyans he comes from. That's far too suspicious. Normally, if he isn't from Universe 7, then the obvious answer would be Universe 6. But if he really were from Universe 6... why wouldn't he be representing Universe 6 in the Tournament of Power? Which means... he's probably not from Universe 6 either.'
Trunks frowned, sinking deeper into thought until his eyes suddenly widened.
'Wait... Cell accidentally led me into a false assumption. It's true that among the twelve known universes, only Universes 6 and 7 have Saiyans... But everyone on Universe 10's team isn't from this timeline.'
That was the key. None of Universe 10's fighters belonged to this timeline.
'If I can rule out Universe 6... then there's only one possibility left. He's a Saiyan from another timeline.'
Without another word, Trunks cut off his line of thought and focused back on the present. His sharp gaze swept across the other three before locking onto Lightses.
"Lightses. Next question. Who are the other two remaining members of Universe 10?"
Caught off guard for only a moment, Lightses quickly regained his composure. He shrugged helplessly and spread his hands.
"Sorry, Trunks. I honestly don't know. I only infiltrated Universe 10 in secret. I never cared who else was on their team. As far as I'm concerned... everything they've been doing has been underhanded from the start."
He folded his arms again, wearing a confident smile. "But I can tell you one thing with absolute certainty. Universe 10 isn't going to win this tournament."
Trunks frowned. That answer only raised even more questions. He narrowed his sharp eyes and stared directly at Lightses.
"Oh? Then why are you so certain? You just said you don't even know who the other two remaining members of Universe 10 are. You don't even know how strong they are, so how can you be so sure they'll lose? And there's something else: aren't 'you' technically part of Universe 10? If your goal is to obtain the Super Dragon Balls, then that means 'you' would be the winner. And if you win... wouldn't that mean Universe 10 wins as well?"
Faced with Trunks' rapid-fire questions, Lightses visibly faltered, his eyes shifting away, unable to meet Trunks' gaze.
Watching his reaction, Trunks quietly reached a conclusion: 'That settles it. This guy is definitely suspicious. Strong body... simple mind.'
Lightses' expression became increasingly complicated. Without another word, he turned around and walked several steps away from the group. Crouching in the snow, he scooped up a handful and absentmindedly rolled it into a ball while staring off into the distance.
"I... I feel like I've overlooked something..."
Super Perfect Cell couldn't have been happier. Just a few sentences from Trunks had completely shut Lightses up, and he immediately gave Trunks a thumbs-up. "That's my boss!"
Trunks smiled faintly. "Enough. Don't argue with him anymore. Hit's right, at least for now, he's our ally."
Then he turned toward Hit. "Hit, you mentioned before that time flows differently inside the Space Prison than it does outside?"
Hit nodded. "That's right."
Cell scratched his head. "Huh? Time flows differently? Is it like the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?"
Hit blinked. "The Hyperbolic Time Chamber? What's that?"
Cell eagerly explained. "It's an incredible training room. One year inside equals one day outside. Boss took all of us from Universe 7 in there, and we trained for two and a half years!"
Hit's eyes widened. "What?! You mean after receiving notice of the Tournament of Power... you all spent two and a half years training?"
Cell nodded proudly. "That's right. Hehe."
At that moment, everything finally made sense to Hit. No wonder the intelligence he'd gathered was so different from reality, he had never imagined Universe 7 would have something like that.
Trunks looked at him thoughtfully. "Hit, your Universe 6 team also trained inside your Space Prison, didn't they?"
The question hit the mark, and Hit nodded. "Yes. But only for one year."
He continued, "That was only possible because Lady Vados helped me. Using her abilities, she altered the flow of time inside the Space Prison. One year inside equaled three days outside."
A look of admiration crossed his face. "We honestly believed that a method like this, using a special dimension to extend training time and increase our strength, was unique to Universe 6. I never imagined Universe 7 had something even more effective. During that time, Broly helped train our Saiyans. Sarada, Kale, and Caulifla all improved tremendously, displaying talent and determination far beyond what I'd expected. Caulifla broke through her previous limits, not only did she master the Super Saiyan form Broly taught her, but she advanced even further, reaching Super Saiyan 2. And during her battle against Son Goku... she broke through again, reaching Super Saiyan 3."
Even so, Hit sighed helplessly. "But despite all that... she still couldn't defeat the monster known as Son Goku."
Trunks looked genuinely surprised. "Super Saiyan 3... I never expected Caulifla to reach that level."
In Trunks' memory, the original timeline had been different. Back then, Caulifla had only reached Super Saiyan 2 during the Tournament of Power. After seeing Goku transform into Super Saiyan 3, she'd wanted to achieve that form herself. Unfortunately, Super Saiyan 3 required very specific conditions to awaken.
'So... the reason this world's Caulifla managed it must be because of Hit's Space Prison. Its environment resembles the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and that's what allowed her to break through.'
Smiling, Trunks patted Hit on the shoulder. "Hit... thanks. You've just made me realize I have an ability like this. So... I'm going to borrow your Space Prison. And one more thing: you meant what you said earlier, didn't you? You'll teach me everything you know?"
Hit nodded without hesitation. "Of course."
Trunks could barely contain his excitement. "Good. Then let's begin."
(End Of This Chapter)
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