Chapter 36: Gods and Gods
"Become a god? ×3"
Not just Paragus—even Raditz and Broly were shocked by Turles's words. They hadn't expected Turles to harbor such an absurd, unrestrained idea.
Yes—all three didn't believe gods existed in this world, especially immortal gods.
Because in Saiyan legend, even the Super Saiyan—all Saiyans' faith—was just a powerful warrior, without immortality characteristics.
Moreover, Saiyans had always been more interested in combat. Regarding immortality or gods, if not scoffing, they at least showed minimal interest.
Seeing everyone's disbelief, Turles—rarely interested—began explaining to the three.
"Gods do exist in this world. And these gods not only possess tremendous strength, but their lifespans are incomparably long. So long they could lie on the ground counting how many blades of grass exist."
"First are the indigenous gods frequently mentioned on planets. These gods either become revered through faith, or become gods after passing divine trials. Though these gods might lack powerful strength, they often possess miraculous abilities—either healing or mental interference."
"But though these gods have such unusual abilities, they're ultimately mortal flesh, haven't broken life's limitations, and will eventually approach death."
"Above these gods are four Kais in our current universe."
"Kais?"
Paragus suddenly interrupted Turles, face full of recollection: "I think I've heard that name before."
"Oh? You've heard of Kais?"
"Snap!" Paragus clapped his hands, understanding: "That's right, I remember now!"
"When Saiyans were still wandering the universe, they once invaded a planet. That planet had Kai legends. Seems ultimately a Kai intervened, driving away the Saiyans then. This incident was recorded by a Saiyan. I only saw it by chance. Never thought Kais actually existed."
Turles hadn't expected Saiyans to have encountered Kais so early. He didn't know which Kai, but probably not North Kai. North Kai wouldn't even care much about Earth's destruction—otherwise Future Trunks wouldn't have needed the time machine to find Goku and others in parallel timespace.
Turles asked with interest: "Did that record mention what color that Kai was?"
"??? Do Kais have different colors? Aren't they the same species?" Paragus seemed surprised.
Hearing Paragus's question, Turles had to continue: "Not exactly. These Kais seem to all come from a race called Core People. Moreover, this race seems to grow from fruit. Specifically, I'm not too clear either."
"Core People? Growing from fruit? What a strange race."
"Mm! Speaking of Kais, we must mention these four Kais' strength. Though these Kais only have battle power of several thousand, because they can traverse the living and spirit worlds, they can recruit some afterlife experts."
"These experts might have tens of thousands of battle power, or possibly hundreds of millions. So these Kais have existed extremely long, witnessed planetary rise and fall. Thus, each is a martial arts grandmaster-level figure, possibly having developed special techniques."
"Wait! Afterlife—Turles, you just mentioned the afterlife. Do we really have souls after death? And how do you know all this?"
Hearing this, Paragus could no longer listen. He felt Turles was purely spouting nonsense. If he hadn't truly seen records left by Saiyans, he probably couldn't have endured this long. Now even the afterlife had emerged.
Regarding Paragus's objection, Turles didn't immediately argue. Instead, smiling, he looked at him, asking back: "Paragus, how can you be certain there's no afterlife?"
"This..." Paragus was stumped.
"Not only is there an afterlife, but King Yemma exists—specifically responsible for judging newly deceased souls. If someone's merit is relatively deep, they can not only go to heaven but retain their body, continuing to live and train in the afterlife. Many afterlife experts originate this way."
Seeing Paragus wanted to ask more, Turles directly interrupted: "Are you listening or not? Can't you wait until I finish before asking? Right, where was I? Oh, four Kais."
"Our universe is managed by four Kais—East, South, West, North. The region we previously inhabited belongs to North Galaxy, managed by North Kai. Above the four Kais is Grand Kai. Reportedly, Grand Kai possesses great strength—a former Supreme Kai candidate."
"Above these five Kais are two great gods. One is Destroyer God Beerus. One is Supreme Kai Shin. Supreme Kai is responsible for creating planets, evolving life. Destroyer God is responsible for destroying planets. My current goal is one of these two great gods."
"Alright, I'm finished. Ask any questions!"
After finishing, Turles shrugged, speaking to the three who'd been listening dumbfounded.
Of course, above this universe were Angels, Grand Priest, Zeno—these divine beings. Beyond spacetime were Dragon God Zalama, Supreme Kai of Time—Turles didn't mention these.
Already shocked by Turles's explanation, the three didn't recover for a long time, standing dazed in place, obviously still digesting this information.
After a while, Raditz's dry voice rang out: "Turles, you said this world has an afterlife. After death, we're judged by merit, determining whether we go to heaven or hell. How is this merit determined?"
Hearing Raditz ask, Paragus and Broly also recovered, ears perked, seriously watching Turles.
"Sigh!" Turles first sighed, then said: "Merit is naturally simple. Saving worlds brings merit. Destroying worlds brings sin. Tell me—with Saiyans' previous behavior, what other outcome awaits in the afterlife?"
Hearing Turles's words, Paragus and Raditz's faces immediately paled. Their mouths opened but couldn't speak.
Made sense. Saiyans primarily invaded planets—who knew how much sin they'd accumulated. If hell truly existed, basically all Saiyans would go there. The reason for saying "basically" was because at minimum three people were exceptions in this universe.
One was Earth's Goku. Originally meant to invade Earth, if he hadn't fallen down a ravine as a child and lost his memory from head trauma, current Earth would be devoid of people. But current Goku had already saved Earth once, and might save it again. So Goku definitely had deep merit.
Second was Broly. Though Broly's rationality frequently had issues due to rising battle power, fortunately Vampa was a barren planet with no intelligent life. Moreover, Vampa hadn't been destroyed by Broly. So current Broly probably had neither sin nor merit.
The last was Vegeta's brother Tarble. Though Tarble was Vegeta's brother, the siblings were complete extremes. Tarble didn't seem like someone who could be born from the Saiyan race. Naturally kind, to protect his adoptive planet, he'd dared seek his brother. Obviously, Tarble wouldn't be like other Saiyans.
As for Turles, though his soul had changed, his predecessor had invaded plenty of planets. He didn't know if there'd be consequences. So currently, he wasn't certain whether he had more merit or more sin.
The reason Turles told Paragus and others all this also related to his future plans. He needed to transform their mindsets somewhat. Previously they hadn't known. Now with reverent awareness, Turles believed Paragus and others could make correct choices.
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