After ending the call with Ken, Merus took a deep breath and used his staff to contact the Grand Priest.
The Grand Priest's voice quickly came through the staff.
He did not turn on the video, however. It was only a voice call.
Merus naturally did not comment on that.
"What is it, Merus?" the Grand Priest asked in his usual calm tone.
"Ken contacted me just now and said he recently came up with a very delicious new dish. He felt a little awkward about contacting you directly, so he asked me to pass the message along instead. He wanted to know whether you might have time to come and try it," Merus said, repeating Ken's words exactly.
"I won't be going," the Grand Priest replied at once.
At the moment, his body was still transparent.
If he showed up outside like that, it would be a little inappropriate.
"I'm not particularly interested in food," the Grand Priest added. He did not seem suspicious of Ken's invitation at all. "You can go yourself."
"Yes, Grand Priest," Merus replied respectfully.
"But tell Ken not to waste all his time experimenting with food. He should focus more on training and raise his level as quickly as possible. Doesn't he want to defeat me? Then tell him to work hard," the Grand Priest said before ending the call.
After that, he continued restoring his angelic power inside his residence.
Merus then opened another video call with Ken.
"What did the Grand Priest say?" Ken asked.
"He said he's not especially interested in food," Merus answered honestly. "And he also said that if you have time, you should focus on raising your level instead of spending all day experimenting with dishes."
"I thought he might be into good food too… all right, got it." Ken nodded.
"If that's all, I'll leave it there," Merus said, ready to end the call.
"Oh, right, Merus. What level are you now?" Ken asked.
"Oh, wow… is the signal getting bad? Huh? Why'd your image disappear?" Merus said, then decisively cut the connection himself.
Ken fell silent.
The Grand Priestess fell silent too.
Are you really my son?
He just asked your level. You could have answered.
Why are you too scared to even say it?
Ken was speechless too.
The speed of his own growth really had dealt Merus a serious blow.
Should he slow down a little and wait for him?
Suddenly, Merus felt kind of pitiful.
Such an outstanding angel in training, and he had completely wrecked his confidence.
"What was it you were saying before?" Ken asked, tapping the Grand Priestess on the head with his staff.
Thunk.
A lump immediately swelled up on her head, and she let out a soft cry of pain.
"You… what are you doing?" the Grand Priestess snapped in fury. "You dared hit me on the head?"
"Baring your teeth again?" Ken asked, eyeing her with a smile.
The Grand Priestess panicked instantly and lowered her head like a child who had done something wrong.
"If you bare your teeth at me again, I won't let you off so easily next time," Ken said. Then he stepped forward, gently rubbed her head, and asked in a soft voice, "Does it hurt?"
The Grand Priestess said nothing.
What kind of stupid question was that?
How about she hit him and asked afterward?
Was he seriously trying to pull the old trick of hitting her and then soothing her after?
Did he think she would fall for something that cheap?
She had lived for who knew how long. There was nothing she did not understand.
Still, she did not dare say a word.
She would endure it for now.
Once her strength returned, she would make him pay.
"You said earlier that the Grand Priest had gone somewhere. Was it the Demon Realm? And he's already back this soon?" Ken asked with a smile.
"How would I know he'd come back that quickly?" the Grand Priestess said, equally puzzled. "If he really returned that fast, then there's only one explanation. His negotiations with the Demon Realm went very smoothly. But the Demon Realm has never hidden its ambition. One day, it will absolutely try to swallow both the Realm of Gods and the mortal world. If the negotiations succeeded so easily, then it probably means they have something else to deal with right now and aren't ready to attack the Realm of Gods yet. But once that matter is settled, war with the Realm of Gods will be inevitable."
"How long do you think we have?" Ken asked thoughtfully.
"Based on my judgment, the Demon Realm will launch a full-scale invasion in no more than ten years," the Grand Priestess answered, her face growing even darker.
"Ten years?" Ken's brow twitched, and his expression turned grim.
Less than ten years.
Could he really reach level 90 or above in that time?
It did not seem likely.
"So, Ken, give the energy back to me," the Grand Priestess said, looking at him earnestly. "Once I deal with the Demon Realm and settle my score with that Demon Supreme Kai, I'll return all the energy to you after everything is over."
"Forget it," Ken replied flatly.
She wanted him to hand the energy over?
And then what? Let her torture him once she had recovered?
There was no way Ken was giving the absorbed energy back to her.
He was not that generous.
As for her claim that the Demon Realm would launch a full-scale invasion within ten years, he only put the odds at fifty-fifty.
Still, if he thought about the timing, ten years from now was roughly when the Tournament of Power would end.
If the Demon Realm made a move around then, it would not be all that surprising.
For now, the only thing that mattered was raising his own strength as fast as possible.
That was more important than anything else.
"Won't the Space-Time God of Destruction step in?" Ken asked casually.
"If this timeline falls into chaos and reaches the point where it can no longer be saved, the Space-Time God of Destruction will personally destroy it," the Grand Priestess said calmly.
"So if the Demon Realm invades us, the final result would just be the Space-Time God of Destruction destroying our timeline by hand. The Demon Realm would gain nothing, and it might even vanish together with us. What would be the point of that?" Ken asked, unable to make sense of it.
"Hmph. And what if the Space-Time God of Destruction is killed first?" the Grand Priestess replied, shooting him a sidelong glance.
Ken froze for a second. "The Great Demon God has the power to kill the Space-Time God of Destruction?"
"I estimate the Great Demon God is at least level 100," the Grand Priestess said. "And with the Demon Supreme Kai and the God of Ruin helping, do you really think killing one Space-Time God of Destruction would be that difficult?"
Ken fell silent.
Several seconds passed.
"Have you never brought this up to the Space-Time God of Destruction?" he asked.
"Would he believe me if I did?" the Grand Priestess said with a dismissive smile. "How's your relationship with Beerus? That one is pretty arrogant, and the Space-Time God of Destruction has a very similar personality. Besides, without actual evidence, there's no way to prove any of this."
The more Ken thought about it, the more he felt she had a point.
Running off to warn the Space-Time God of Destruction now would not accomplish much.
"I'm serious, Ken," the Grand Priestess said again. "Once I resolve the Demon Realm situation, I'll return every bit of the energy to you."
"Let's bring over the other three incarnations first," Ken said with a light smile.
It sounded like he had agreed, but in reality he had not budged an inch.
The Grand Priestess, however, naively took it as a sign that he was softening, and excitement surged through her heart.
Ken took out his staff and immediately contacted Goku.
"Huh? Ken? You looking for me?" Goku asked in surprise.
At that moment, Goku was training seriously outside his house on Earth, working hard so he could eventually defeat Temat.
"How's your Instant Transmission coming along?" Ken asked.
Ken had already made up his mind. He could not keep dumping every task on Fuwa from Universe 6.
He had a Supreme Kai of his own.
Would it not make more sense to use his own Supreme Kai?
That was why he had thought of Goku.
He had spent all that effort training his own Supreme Kai, so he might as well start putting him to work.
"Instant Transmission? Uh… it's all right, I guess," Goku replied, scratching his head.
"I'm talking about the Supreme Kai technique, Kai Kai, not your Yardratian Instant Transmission that relies on sensing ki," Ken corrected him.
"Huh? Kai Kai? Uh… I haven't really learned much of that," Goku admitted, looking troubled.
"If you can see it, you can go there," Ken said simply, giving him the core principle of Kai Kai.
"I don't get it," Goku said, now even more confused.
Ken fell silent.
He had almost forgotten that Goku's intelligence could be a problem.
"Can you sense my ki?" Ken asked.
"Uh… not really. I still can't sense yours properly. That makes it harder," Goku replied.
"What about now?" Ken asked, slightly changing the nature of his aura.
About ten seconds passed.
"Yeah, I can sense that one," Goku said immediately.
"Come here," Ken told him.
"On my way," Goku said, then vanished from the spot with Instant Transmission.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared beside Ken.
"Huh? Who's this?" Goku asked, noticing the Grand Priestess in her bizarre outfit.
"No need to worry about the details. She's just my servant," Ken said with a smile.
"Oh, got it." Goku nodded and did not ask further.
The Grand Priestess's face darkened, but there was nothing she could do except seethe in silence.
Just wait.
One day she would pay him back for all of it, with interest.
Every bit of humiliation he had put her through, she would return tenfold.
"So, Ken, what did you call me here for?" Goku asked.
Ken immediately projected an image of Rohl from Universe 3 with his staff.
"Huh? Isn't that Temat? No, wait… not quite." Goku leaned closer and studied the projection carefully, realizing the resemblance was not exact.
"No. That's Rohl from Universe 3," Ken said, pointing at the image. "I'm going to teach you how to use Kai Kai properly. After that, you'll go there and bring him back for me."
"He's in another universe? That might be hard. I can't sense that far away," Goku said, shaking his head.
"That's fine. With Kai Kai, you can do it," Ken said with a smile.
"You're right. It's just that in the future, I didn't spend much time learning it from Fuwa," Goku said, scratching his head.
"It's fine. Let her teach you," Ken said, pointing at the Grand Priestess with his staff.
The Grand Priestess paused and looked at Goku.
At first, she had wanted to refuse.
Did Ken seriously think it was appropriate to have the strongest goddess in the universe teach a mortal?
But then a thought struck her.
If she taught Goku, then later she could have him take her away with Kai Kai.
That would let her escape from Ken's grasp.
And once she got away from him, it would not be so easy for him to find her again.
That settled it.
"Fine. I don't mind," the Grand Priestess agreed readily.
"So you know Kai Kai too? That's amazing," Goku said in admiration, then casually asked, "Are you a Supreme Kai too?"
"You could think of it that way," the Grand Priestess said with a nod, deliberately avoiding any more detail about her real identity.
Her real status was too embarrassing to explain right now.
"How long will it take him to learn Kai Kai?" Ken asked.
"That depends on his talent," the Grand Priestess said.
Ken said nothing more.
The Grand Priestess then checked Goku's aptitude.
The moment she did, her expression turned very strange.
"Angelic power? You actually awakened angelic power?" she asked in shock.
"Yeah. Ken taught me," Goku said with a grin.
The Grand Priestess was baffled.
Ken had taught Goku to awaken angelic power?
That made no sense.
Ken's own angelic power only existed because of her in the first place.
How could he possibly teach someone else to obtain it?
She immediately carried out a simple analysis of Goku's angelic power.
After examining it, she realized that Goku's angelic power shared a few similarities with Ken's.
At once, she understood.
Ken must have split off a tiny portion of his own angelic power and given it to Goku.
That was why Goku had been able to cultivate it.
Now that made sense.
Even so, one thing still puzzled her.
The angelic power she had given Ken was originally a unified whole. It should have been extremely difficult to divide.
And yet Ken had still managed to separate a small fragment from it and pass it on to Goku.
How had he done that?
It seemed that if she studied this man called Son Goku properly, she might discover something useful.
"Learning Kai Kai actually isn't that difficult. As long as you grasp a few principles and little tricks, you can do it," the Grand Priestess explained to Goku. "Since you already know Yardratian Instant Transmission, you've actually built a solid foundation for Kai Kai."
"Really? That's great. I thought it'd be something super complicated," Goku said excitedly.
The Grand Priestess continued explaining Kai Kai to him in detail.
Goku listened carefully.
About an hour passed.
Goku's expression gradually turned serious.
"All right, now try it. See how far you can see," the Grand Priestess said, pointing toward a direction in the sky.
"Okay, I'll try." Goku followed her instruction and looked in that direction.
Ten seconds later—
"Huh? I see it. I can see a spaceship. And the people on board… they're three faces I know," Goku said excitedly.
"Now try using Kai Kai and see if you can go straight to the ship," the Grand Priestess said without much expression.
"Okay, I'll give it a try," Goku said, then attempted to use Kai Kai.
In a flash, Goku vanished from the spot and appeared inside the spaceship.
Inside, Caulifla, Cabba, and Frost were all staring fixedly at the approaching Earth, completely unaware that Goku had just appeared behind them.
"So that's Earth?" Caulifla said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
"Yeah. It's actually a pretty nice-looking planet," Cabba said with a nod.
"So those two Saiyans are really on this world? Just wait. I'm going to make them pay," Frost said coldly, clenching his fists so tightly it looked like his eyes were burning.
"Huh? That's Earth? What are you three doing here?" Goku asked in surprise, sticking his head forward between them.
All three froze in shock and turned to stare at the Goku who had suddenly appeared behind them.
When had he gotten there?
"Y-you… when did you…" Caulifla stammered.
"It's you! I was just about to settle the score with you!" Frost barked, snapping back to himself and glaring at Goku.
Cabba said nothing, but his eyes stayed fixed on Goku in wary caution.
"What are you doing on Earth?" Goku asked.
"None of your business," Caulifla snapped.
"We're here to deal with you, obviously. Did you think you could run forever?" Frost said darkly.
"We're here to rescue Kale!" Cabba blurted out.
"Idiot! Don't tell him that!" Caulifla snapped.
What a useless teammate.
Now he would be prepared.
"You're here for Kale?" Goku slapped his forehead. "Then what do you want with her?"
"We're obviously here to save her from her suffering," Caulifla snorted.
"I'm here to get revenge on you, and on that pointy-haired guy with you too. Where is he?" Frost asked, full of hatred.
"I think you've misunderstood us pretty badly… all right, then. I'm busy right now, so I don't have time to go with you to Earth. I'd better send you back instead," Goku said, scratching his head. He placed a hand on the wall of the ship. "I wonder if this'll work."
As he said that, he raised two fingers toward his forehead.
"What are you trying to do?" Caulifla asked, feeling that something was off.
"No, no, not that kind of teleportation. The other one," Goku said, lowering his fingers and fixing his eyes on the far-off Planet Sadala instead.
"What is he doing?" Caulifla asked, baffled.
"You arrogant little punk!" Frost shouted and lunged straight at Goku, throwing a punch at him.
Goku casually lifted one hand and blocked the punch.
Then he used Kai Kai.
In a single instant, Goku, the entire spaceship, and all three passengers reappeared on Planet Sadala.
Goku glanced out the window, grinned, and laughed. "Haha, it worked. All right then, see you later."
With that, he vanished again in the blink of an eye.
Caulifla, Cabba, and Frost looked at one another, then at the world outside the ship, each more stunned than the last.
"Hey… tell me this isn't Planet Sadala," Caulifla said in disbelief.
"I think it is," Cabba said after looking around carefully.
"How did he do that? Wasn't that supposed to be Instant Transmission?" Frost asked, looking utterly miserable.
"Can Instant Transmission even move a whole spaceship?" Caulifla cried out.
"Well, whatever it was, we really are back on Planet Sadala," Cabba said, checking the ship's instruments with a numb expression.
The next moment, all three fell silent.
They had flown for three full days just to reach Earth.
And then, in a single instant, they were right back where they started.
That was just tragic.
"That bastard! I won't forgive him!" Frost snarled, his whole body shaking with rage.
…
Goku used Kai Kai again and returned to the Grand Priestess in an instant.
"I'm back," he said, waving at her.
"Not bad. You really are talented. You do have the makings of a Supreme Kai," the Grand Priestess praised him.
"Hehe, I guess I'm okay," Goku said with a silly grin. Then he suddenly realized Ken was nowhere nearby and quickly asked, "Hey, where'd Ken go?"
"Over there," the Grand Priestess said, pointing into the distance.
Goku looked that way and spotted Ken far off. He was just about to head over when the Grand Priestess grabbed him.
Goku blinked.
"I taught you Kai Kai, didn't I?" the Grand Priestess said, smiling. "So how are you going to thank me?"
"How am I going to thank you? Uh… do you like Ken? Want me to help set you two up?" Goku asked with a grin.
The Grand Priestess fell silent.
A thousand curses surged through her mind.
Was that really the kind of thanks she meant?
"No," she answered darkly.
"Then what do you want me to do?" Goku asked. "If it's something I can help with, I won't say no."
"It's simple. Take me away from here, as far as you can," the Grand Priestess whispered. "Hurry. Ken can't find out."
Goku froze for a moment. "Wouldn't that be bad? You'd be sneaking away behind his back."
"I'm the one who taught you Kai Kai. You said you'd thank me," the Grand Priestess said with a huff. "A man ought to keep his word."
"You've got a point," Goku said after some serious thought, nodding slowly.
"Hurry," the Grand Priestess urged, joy exploding inside her.
"All right, let's go," Goku agreed, placing a hand on her shoulder.
The Grand Priestess let out a small breath of relief.
Apparently Ken had not noticed.
Perfect.
At last, she could get away from this place.
Just a moment ago, she had tricked Ken into thinking there were demons hiding in the mountains over there.
And he had actually fallen for it.
That gave her the perfect chance to escape the planet with Goku.
As long as she got off this world, it would be far harder for Ken to track her down.
"Let's go," Goku said, and immediately used Kai Kai.
In an instant, he and the Grand Priestess vanished from the spot.
The next moment, Goku reappeared right beside Ken with her in tow.
The Grand Priestess's mind filled with question marks.
What was going on?
Why had she ended up right back beside Ken?
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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