Jiren hesitated, a flicker of fear in his eyes.
The gap between us is just too big.
"Go back and train hard," Ken said with a small smile. "Losing to me isn't something you need to stress about. I'm going to become an angel—a true god—so for you, I'll always be that ceiling you can't surpass."
Jiren felt that right in the heart.
You say it like you're comforting me, but why does it sound so… cruel?
"In thirty years, have a proper match with the Supreme Kai I'm training," Ken added, lifting his right hand. A cluster of angelic power gathered in his palm.
Pa!
Within the angelic light a scene formed: Son Goku, chomping into roast beef.
Yep—Goku had hauled a wild ox back, roasted it over a fire, then sprawled over it, gnawing away, happy as can be.
Off to the side, Old Gohan stroked his white beard, eyes full of doting pride as he watched Goku eat; he couldn't help but break into a hearty laugh.
Jiren: "???"
"So… you're training a Supreme Kai too?" Jiren finally understood.
And then felt another stab to the heart.
You didn't choose me as your Supreme Kai?
Does that mean… this kid is actually strong?
"Yeah. He's the Supreme Kai I'll be raising," Ken said, pointing at Goku in the projection.
"He's your clansman?" Jiren's gaze fell on Goku's tail, then flicked to Ken's.
"Yes. His name is Son Goku."
"Is… is he strong?" Jiren asked, a little tense.
All he could see was an image; he couldn't gauge the kid's power. But the way the kid ate…
He was nearly through a whole ox.
Someone who eats like that… probably strong, right?
Merus stayed quiet on the side, not sure what to say.
Don't scare my Supreme Kai candidate off.
"If we used battle power numbers, and yours is one hundred million, what do you think his would be?" Ken asked.
"A billion?" Jiren's voice trembled; his face kept changing.
Ken slowly shook his head.
"A… hundred billion?" Jiren looked even worse.
Ken shook his head again.
"A trillion!" Cold sweat broke across Jiren's brow. Suddenly he didn't feel like being a Supreme Kai anymore.
That's too much…
How far would I have to go to catch up?
Ken still shook his head.
Jiren: "…"
"I give up… I should stick to my original path. I won't be a Supreme Kai," Jiren said decisively, knees wobbling as he nearly fell, gritting his teeth to stand straight.
Merus: "…"
He did spook Jiren right off the cliff.
"Let me tell you his number first. Then decide," Ken said, smiling.
Jiren grew even more nervous, bracing for a number that would crush his soul.
Past billions comes… quadrillions, right?
Don't tell me it's a quadrillion…
He stared at Ken, torn between wanting to know and not wanting to know.
"I'll announce Goku's battle power now," Ken said after a beat. "If yours is one hundred million, his is… less than one."
Jiren froze, baffled.
"Yes," Merus jumped in, terrified his Supreme Kai would fly away again. "Rationally, it's about 0.0001 right now."
I worked so hard to find you.
Where am I going to get a Supreme Kai this strong again?
Jiren: "???"
What is that supposed to mean?
Zero point… what?
How am I even supposed to respond to that?
"Merus is right. The gap between you two is astronomical—at least ten trillionfold, probably far more," Ken nodded.
What's the current gap between Goku and Jiren?
"Ten trillion" doesn't even begin to cover it.
Even years from now, Jiren is still among the strongest mortals in the universes.
If you convert to numbers, how strong is Jiren?
Golden Frieza's already at 10 gai (a ludicrously huge unit), and Jiren toys with him.
The number's so big Ken can't be bothered to quantify it.
Jiren fell silent.
You spring a random kid on me and I thought he'd be a monster…
But he's that weak?
Wouldn't a sneeze from me kill him?
"Just wait—don't bully the poor youth." Ken floated lightly and patted Jiren's shoulder.
Jiren went quiet.
Five or six seconds ticked by.
"You mean he'll be my rival?" he asked.
"Let's pencil in thirty years. You two can go all out," Ken smiled.
"Thirty years, huh? Fine. I don't believe someone that far behind could catch me," Jiren said, eyes hardening with a hint of scorn.
"Do your best," Ken patted his shoulder again.
Jiren said no more.
Merus, meanwhile, was conflicted.
With a gap like that, he overtakes Jiren in thirty years?
Really? I don't buy it.
He didn't. He'd observed Goku and thought the kid's talent was… ordinary.
Not even close to Ken or Broly.
A three-year-old with average talent—how far can he go?
Beyond Jiren?
Merus shook his head slightly.
But Ken's confidence… it made him wonder.
Could he really raise an average kid to surpass Jiren?
Merus overthought it.
"Ken is already this strong… and Merus here is a real angel…" Jiren's eyes shifted to Merus.
"Yeah, Merus is much stronger than me," Ken said honestly.
Even if Ken could now turn silver-haired, that didn't mean he surpassed Merus.
If they actually fought…
Hard to say. Hard to say…
As for that bit in the story where Merus "vanished" against Moro—Ken always felt Merus chose to give Goku the opening to perfect True Ultra Instinct (silver hair at will).
And in the end Merus came back, didn't he?
The Grand Priest said he'd become a mortal.
Mortal, huh?
Maybe he was still an angel—just not admitting it.
Ken's gut said even a trainee angel like Merus wasn't that weak.
No way Moro should outclass him.
In Ken's view, Moro after absorbing OG73 was only slightly stronger than Jiren—not by much.
From the way Merus showed off his flight speed earlier, his strength was clearly above Jiren's.
Ken's angelic power purity is only 30, and he flattened Jiren.
So Merus? Yeah.
"Well then, Mr. Ken, Lord Merus, I'll take my leave. I'll study this book carefully," Jiren said, lifting the manual and bowing.
This time, he bowed with genuine respect.
At first he thought these two weren't anything special.
After actually fighting Ken, he learned the difference.
"I'll check in again after a while," Merus nodded.
Jiren said nothing more, turned into a streak of light, and sped back toward Planet Pride in Universe 11, vanishing from their sight.
"At least the Supreme Kai matter is settled," Merus exhaled. "A boulder off my chest."
"Next up, we should find a Supreme Kai to study under for a while, yeah?" Ken suggested.
"You're right," Merus nodded. Ken was spot on.
Merus knew some of the Supreme Kai' work, but not in depth.
Getting guidance from a Supreme Kai would be ideal.
"Want to learn from the Supreme Kai of Universe 7?" Ken asked.
Merus: "…"
"Pick another one," Merus wiped his brow.
"You say it—who?" Ken asked.
"We're in Universe 11; Universe 10 is nearby," Merus reasoned. "I've heard their Supreme Kai is about to retire and is grooming a successor—Zamasu, the one we saw in the tournament. Why don't we go to Universe 10 and learn from their Supreme Kai?"
"Alright, let's pay Universe 10 a visit," Ken agreed.
"Then we depart now," Merus said, ready to go.
"Hold it—forgetting something?" Ken asked.
"Forgetting what?" Merus blinked.
"We came all the way to Universe 11 and you're not going to visit your sister Marcarita?" Ken grinned.
"No need. We just met at the tournament in the Void Realm," Merus waved it off. "Angels don't have to stand on ceremony."
"Fair enough. Then straight to Universe 10," Ken said.
He had wanted to visit Universe 11's God of Destruction realm to greet Marcarita, but if Merus said it wasn't necessary, he could save it for another time.
No rush.
Fwoosh!
Starlike radiance burst from Merus. He wrapped Ken in light, and together they streaked away toward Universe 10.
Universe 9, a certain planet.
Broly and Majin Buu had eaten their fill and were in great spirits.
"Come on, I'll show you my God of Destruction realm," Sidra invited.
"No," Broly refused flatly.
"No," Majin Buu echoed with a nod.
Sidra: "…"
"There's plenty of fun stuff and delicious food waiting for you there," Mule coaxed.
"Buu and I are going to wander around. You don't need to follow," Broly said.
Mule: "…"
This brat…
You ate and drank on our dime for days and now you're just leaving?
"Right," Majin Buu agreed. He didn't feel like playing with these two Gods of Destruction anyway.
Hanging out with Broly was way more fun.
Buu thought Broly was interesting.
Which made sense. Majin Buu's real age was around five.
Broly was five, too.
Of course two kids the same age would click.
Across from them were two Gods of Destruction—one an old man, the other a weird-looking guy with horns—no common language at all. Not fun.
Broly and Buu's common language was food:
One loves meals, one loves chocolate.
"Let's go," Broly said to Buu.
Buu nodded vigorously.
They shot into the sky and left the planet, vanishing.
Mule was about to give chase, but Sidra raised a hand to stop him.
"You're just letting them go? They freeloaded for days and we learned nothing!" Mule snapped, annoyed.
"No rush. You think they can get away?" Sidra smiled. "At their speed, the two of us could catch them anytime."
Mule narrowed his eyes, staring into the direction Broly vanished, hatred burning brighter.
"Come on. We'll tail them at leisure and just 'happen' to bump into them," Sidra said.
"That… sounds mid, honestly," Mule muttered, sweating.
"Mule, think about it: their minds aren't mature—they're kids. You can't treat them like adults," Sidra said confidently.
"You've got a point," Mule nodded.
"By the way… did you practice that Sunflower Manual?" Sidra asked, curious.
"No!" Mule shook his head instantly, teeth clenched, body trembling with rage.
"You… you didn't seriously cut it off, did you?" Sidra almost choked laughing.
"No! I said no!" Mule's voice went noticeably sharper.
"Still denying it? Your voice gave it away," Sidra mused.
Mule: "…"
"How would your voice change that fast if you didn't just cut—" Mule paused, confused by his own logic.
"Still saying you didn't?" Sidra nearly burst out laughing.
"Sidra… you tricked me!" Mule bared his teeth.
"Hahaha, Mule, you believed the Sunflower Manual? That's a human legend at best—how could it compare to divine arts?" Sidra laughed.
Mule felt like the world was ending.
So Sidra knew it was bogus and still egged me on!
That bastard!
"Did it grow back?" Sidra pressed.
Stabbed in the heart, Mule refused to answer.
I'm not a regenerator. Grow back—yeah right.
"Guess you'll need an angel to heal it," Sidra patted his shoulder.
Mule said nothing.
"But how will you explain it to Campari? Tell him you cut it off… he'll ask why. You'd better think of an answer," Sidra said, trying not to laugh.
A herd of wild horses thundered through Mule's mind.
That… is a problem.
Campari will definitely ask.
What do I even say?
"Hmph—I'll just say I cut it off to eat it. Big tonic. You got a problem with that?" Mule huffed.
Sidra: "…"
Sidra gave a big thumbs-up.
"One last question," Sidra went on.
Mule stayed silent.
"Standing… or squatting now?" Sidra almost exploded laughing.
"SIDRA! I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU!" Mule roared, flying after him with a flurry of kicks and punches.
Without Mosco's body, he couldn't hurt Sidra at all.
And he wasn't really trying to, anyway.
After a brief scuffle, they checked the timing, then both became violet-red comets and followed after Broly and Buu.
Deep space.
"Hey, Broly, where do we play next?" Majin Buu asked, excited.
"What do you want to do?" Broly glanced over.
"I want to turn people into chocolate, but Merus won't let me," Buu pouted, aggrieved.
"That's not right," Broly shook his head.
"You think it's bad too?" Buu blinked at him.
Broly nodded.
"Then forget it. I won't turn people into chocolate," Buu decided.
"Other than that, what do you want to do?" Broly asked.
"I miss Satan," Buu said suddenly.
Broly: "???"
"Who's Satan?" Broly asked.
"A human from Earth," Buu said. "He gave me the best chocolate I've ever had."
"Earth has lots of good food," Broly agreed.
"Let's go to Earth!" Buu's eyes lit up.
"It's been swapped to Universe 6, right?" Broly scratched his head.
"How do we get there?" Buu looked around, utterly lost.
"No idea," Broly said, just as confused.
Two five-year-olds, lost in space.
Just then, Broly sensed two powerful divine auras in the distance.
"They're coming," he said, turning toward the signatures.
"Who?" Buu asked.
"Sidra and Mule," Broly said, rubbing his chin. "Ken said they might be up to something. I think so too."
"Wanna turn them into chocolate?" Buu offered, hopeful.
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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