"Sure," Gohan said.
Shin and Kibito both went rigid.
Cut a rock?
With the Z Sword?
That was the legendary sword of the gods. And these people wanted to use it like a kitchen knife.
Caulifla raised the boulder over her head. "Ready, Gohan?"
"Ready." Gohan set his stance and lifted the blade. "This should cut through it like tofu."
"Wait!" Shin finally snapped.
Caulifla paused.
"If you want to test it, use something harder." Shin raised his hand, and a black cube appeared above his palm. "Try this instead."
He tossed it to her.
Caulifla caught it, and her arms dipped at once. "Heavy. What is this thing?"
"That is Katchin," Shin said. "The hardest metal in the universe."
Caulifla tapped the cube with her knuckles and smiled. "Now that sounds more interesting."
She threw it at Gohan.
"Here it comes!"
Gohan brought the Z Sword down.
The blade met the Katchin.
Crack.
For one second, nobody moved.
Then the Z Sword snapped.
The black cube skimmed over Gohan's head, hit the ground in the distance, and slid across the earth before finally stopping.
Gohan stared at the broken blade in his hands.
Everyone stared.
The Z Sword had broken.
Cabba hurried to Caulifla's side and whispered, "Caulifla… are they going to make us pay for that?"
"Pay with what?" Caulifla said. "I don't have anything."
Then she glanced toward Shin and pretended to think about it.
"Well, I guess I could offer myself."
Cabba nearly choked. "Don't joke about that!"
"He's a little stupid, but he's not ugly," Caulifla said, looking Shin over.
"You can't do that!"
Caulifla gave him a sideways look. "Why are you so worked up? Do you like me?"
Cabba's face went red at once. "N-No! That's not—"
"If you do, say it properly. Don't stand there squirming."
Cabba lowered his head, red all the way to his ears.
Kale heard enough to make her mood drop. She stepped closer to Gohan and raised her fists.
"Gohan-nii, we did break their sword. If they try to make us pay for it, I'll handle them."
Gohan looked at her.
"Kale…"
She looked completely serious.
Gohan glanced down at the broken sword and gave an awkward laugh. "How did it break that easily?"
"Maybe the sword was overrated," Goku said.
"This was Shin's idea," Caulifla said at once. "He picked the hard thing. I just threw it."
Shin looked as if his soul had left his body.
"The greatest divine sword in the universe…" he muttered, tears in his eyes. "How could this happen?"
Kibito covered his face and wept.
Gohan tossed the broken half of the Z Sword aside. "Well, it didn't give us any new power, but it did make our arms stronger. If we work out a good plan and fight together, maybe we still have a chance against Buu."
Shin latched onto that immediately. "Yes! You all trained with the Z Sword, and your strength has improved. If you transform into Super Saiyans and coordinate properly, we may still be able to destroy Majin Buu!"
Goku looked doubtful. "Can we really?"
"We won't know unless we try," Caulifla said.
The moment she finished speaking, her legs suddenly tightened.
Caulifla suddenly stiffened.
Something had brushed against her thigh.
Her head snapped toward Cabba. "Move your hand."
Cabba blinked. "My hand?"
"Don't play dumb."
"I'm not—"
"It's still moving!"
Cabba panicked and threw both hands into the air. "Look! Not me!"
Caulifla froze.
Both of Cabba's hands were right there.
Then Cabba pointed, face going pale. "Caulifla… behind you."
A thin blue mist was curling around her waist.
Caulifla turned, saw it, and slapped it out of the air.
"Get off me!"
The mist hit the ground with a yelp and twisted into the shape of an old man.
For a moment, everyone forgot the sword.
The old man rubbed his lower back as he climbed up, then wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth. "Ow, ow… No respect for the elderly these days?"
Caulifla planted a foot on his chest before he could fully stand.
"You. Were you touching me?"
The old man coughed and tried to look innocent. "Small girl, big temper."
Then he wiped his mouth again.
Caulifla's expression turned dangerous.
He was exactly the kind of old creep she hated.
"You filthy old pervert!"
She raised her fist.
"Wait!" Shin cut in, still trying to recover from the shock of the broken Z Sword. "Who is this?"
The old man straightened with as much dignity as he could manage under Caulifla's foot.
"I am your ancestor," he said. "The Supreme Kai from fifteen generations before you."
Shin froze. "What?"
Kibito's mouth fell open. "Our ancestor?"
Caulifla frowned. "You're a Supreme Kai too?"
Then her grip tightened.
"I don't care what you are. You know exactly what you just did."
"What did I do?" the old man said, all innocence. "I had only just come out as smoke. Perhaps I drifted into the wrong place by accident…"
"Wrong place?" Caulifla's voice went low. "You call that an accident?"
"That is an interesting way to say it," the old man murmured, and the drool returned.
Caulifla slapped him twice.
Shin and Kibito panicked.
"Elder Kai!"
They rushed in, trying to pull her away.
Caulifla kicked the old man flat before letting them have him.
Shin and Kibito helped him up.
"Incredible," Elder Kai said, rubbing his cheek. "Girls these days…"
"Elder Kai, are you all right?" Shin asked.
"Of course. A little slap is nothing." Elder Kai grinned as if he had not been the one on the ground a moment ago.
Cabba leaned toward Caulifla. "What did he do?"
"Don't ask," Caulifla snapped.
Cabba scratched his head and suddenly felt like he had lost something without knowing when.
Shin looked at Elder Kai carefully. "How did you appear?"
Elder Kai sighed. "That story goes back a very, very long time. About fifteen million years ago, a terrifying person feared my great power and sealed me inside the Z Sword."
Shin stared. "That happened?"
Kibito looked just as stunned.
Goku tilted his head. "If you're that strong, why did Caulifla beat you up so easily?"
Gohan nodded. "That is a good point."
Goku smiled. "Let me check."
"Dad?" Gohan hesitated. "Maybe don't—"
"Let Goku try," Kale said.
Goku raised a hand and fired a small blast straight at Elder Kai's face.
Goku's blast struck Elder Kai square in the face and knocked him flat on his back.
For a second, nobody moved.
Goku looked down at his hand, then at Elder Kai, as if even he hadn't expected that to work so well.
Gohan stared, horrified. "Dad…"
Kale covered her face. She clearly wanted to laugh, but even she knew this was a little too much.
Caulifla, on the other hand, had no such problem. She pointed at Goku and grinned. "See? Useful."
Cabba looked from Goku to the old man lying on the ground, completely lost.
Was everyone just allowed to attack elders here?
"Elder Kai!" Shin and Kibito rushed over and helped him up.
The moment Elder Kai found his feet, he rounded on Goku. "You idiot! What was that for? You nearly scared my soul out of me!"
Goku lowered his hand. "So you're not actually strong. You just talk like you are."
Elder Kai's mouth fell open. "You brat! I am a Supreme Kai! Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"
Goku only looked at him.
"That wasn't the point!" Elder Kai snapped. "They weren't afraid of my strength. They were afraid of my ability."
"Ability?" Goku asked.
"I'm not teaching you."
Then Elder Kai stuck out his tongue.
Shin and Kibito stared at him.
Their ancestor. Their great, ancient, legendary ancestor.
Somehow, that made it worse.
Goku thought it over. "Is that ability stronger than a God of Destruction?"
The childish look vanished from Elder Kai's face.
"What did you just say?"
Goku smiled. "So you do know about Gods of Destruction."
Elder Kai's eyes narrowed. "You've met one?"
"Yeah. My dad is one."
Elder Kai stared at him for a moment. "You mean you asked a God of Destruction to be your father?"
"What? No." Goku shook his head. "My dad is Bardock. He's the God of Destruction of Universe 9 now."
"Universe 9?" Elder Kai looked at him like the world had moved on without permission. "Mortals can cross between universes now?"
"Elder Kai, don't listen to him," Shin cut in quickly. "There can't be that many universes. I've told him before, he keeps making wild guesses. And this God of Destruction he's talking about is clearly an evil god. One day, I'll destroy him and restore peace to our universe!"
Shin said it with full confidence.
Elder Kai punched him in the face.
Shin hit the ground.
"You absolute idiot!" Elder Kai shouted. "What are you saying?"
Shin sat up, holding his nose. "Elder Kai, what did I say wrong?"
"You called a God of Destruction an evil god?"
"Yes," Shin said. "I saw him once, thirty or forty years ago. He was sleeping in a castle."
Elder Kai already hated where this was going. "And then?"
"He wasn't impressive," Shin said. "I glared at him and sent him flying out of the castle. He landed outside. Someone came right after that, so I left."
Elder Kai stared at him.
Very slowly, he asked, "What did this God of Destruction look like?"
"A cat person," Shin said. "Thin. Terrible sleeping posture."
Elder Kai closed his eyes.
He looked like he was counting every decision that had led the universe to this moment.
At last, he asked, "Where is your teacher?"
"Grand Supreme Kai died fighting Majin Buu," Shin said, lowering his head.
"So he never told you about the Gods of Destruction."
"Gods of Destruction?" Shin looked up. "What about them?"
Elder Kai rubbed his forehead. "Tell me what you think the universe is. Everything. Start from the beginning."
"Yes, Elder Kai." Shin straightened at once. "I've wanted to explain this for a while. Some people believe their views are correct simply because they're loud, but the truth is often held by the few—"
"Skip the speech."
"Yes." Shin cleared his throat. "The Supreme Kais are the highest gods in the universe. We maintain order over everything. Any god who refuses to follow our authority can be judged an evil god. Our only duty is to protect universal peace."
He looked at Elder Kai, waiting for approval.
Elder Kai said nothing.
The longer the silence dragged on, the worse Shin felt.
Finally, Elder Kai asked, "Is there more?"
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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