A few minutes later, Ken arrived in Merus's room with Broly and Bulma.
Merus had already sensed them. He immediately opened the window to welcome them in.
"Merus, long time no see. You doing alright?" Ken greeted with a smile.
After that, Ken looked toward a little girl standing beside Merus, still smiling.
The girl's skin was dark, and her short ponytail bobbed as she stared at Ken with wide, curious eyes.
"Ken, let me introduce you. She's the new God of Destruction I found—Kale," Merus said.
"Nice, nice. Can she transform yet?" Ken asked.
"Maybe she's still too young. For now, she can't become a Legendary Super Saiyan…" Merus shook his head.
Broly froze for a moment, then looked the little girl up and down.
A Legendary Super Saiyan?
Her too?
"Then you'd better work hard." Ken smiled, ruffled Kale's hair, and added, "You too, kid. Do your best."
Kale was shy. She hurriedly hid behind Merus.
"Kale, that's Ken. He's like me—an angel-in-training," Merus said gently. "Don't be scared. He doesn't mean any harm."
Only then did Kale slowly peek her head out and study Ken again.
"And that's Broly," Merus continued, pointing at him. "He's like you—also a Legendary Super Saiyan. Only one is born every thousand years."
Kale grew even more curious, staring at Broly without blinking.
But soon, her attention was stolen by the floating ball hovering at Broly's shoulder.
Broly didn't say anything.
"What are you looking at?!" Ai flashed with light.
Kale jumped.
The ball talked!
She immediately ducked back behind Merus again.
Merus: "…"
This kid's a bit timid.
I need a way to build her courage.
"Merus, if you want to raise a great God of Destruction, you need real combat, not shutting yourself in and theorizing," Ken advised.
"You're right…" Merus nodded. Kale really was lacking practical experience.
Just teaching her on its own felt slow.
"Where's my sister? Is she still here?" Bulma asked.
"She is… I'll take you to her," Merus said with a nod.
With Merus leading the way, Bulma soon met her older sister, Tights, who was writing here at Galactic Patrol Headquarters.
The sisters hugged each other tightly.
"Tights!" Ai flashed and floated over to her side, greeting her warmly.
"Isn't this Ai? You brought her all the way here?" Tights rubbed at Ai's body lightly. "Ai, long time no see. You doing okay?"
"Ai doesn't feel very good. It's like I lost something really important… my memories," Ai replied, flickering.
"Lost something really important?" Tights blinked, confused.
She didn't know anything about Ai being remodeled into a God of Destruction.
And of course, she knew even less about what had happened to Ai and Broly.
"Doesn't matter. Ai is really happy right now," Ai's innocent little voice chirped.
"Ken, long time no see." Tights stepped in and gave Ken a big, enthusiastic hug.
"I still remember back then—when we slept under the same blanket," Ken said, visibly moved.
Bulma: "…"
Merus: "…"
Tights: "…"
Could you not say it that directly?
You were little back then. I only saw you as a kid.
If you say it like that now, people are going to get the wrong idea.
"At least Tights didn't secretly fart under the blanket," Ken added with a grin.
"Hey!" Tights snapped, embarrassed and furious.
Who says that about a pretty girl?
"But… Bulma, it's been ages. Why do you look younger?" Tights studied her, frowning as something felt off. "Aren't you already in your thirties?"
"Sis, you're basically forty," Bulma giggled.
Tights: "…"
Can we even have a normal conversation?
We just exposed each other's ages like that.
"I got my youth back. Look—don't I look like I'm eighteen again?" Bulma even patted her proud chest on purpose.
Tights looked closely. Sure enough, there wasn't the slightest hint of sagging.
"You got your youth back? Did you use Porunga to do it?" Tights asked, openly jealous.
"Hehe. Ken did it," Bulma said, giggling again.
Tights immediately turned to Ken, her eyes burning with excitement.
"Fine. I'll restore your youth too, while I'm at it." Ken raised his staff and pointed it at her.
A burst of angel power wrapped around Tights in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, Tights transformed, returning to the lively energy of an eighteen-year-old.
Tights checked a mirror. The moment she saw her younger self, she got so excited she kissed Ken on the cheek.
But right after, she realized what she'd done and hurriedly looked at Bulma with an apologetic expression.
"Bulma, sorry— I just couldn't help myself…" Tights blurted out.
Bulma: "…"
You already kissed him. What's the point of apologizing now?
"Shouldn't you be apologizing to me?" Ken sighed. "I'm a god, you know. That's blasphemy."
"In front of your sister, you'll always be a little brat," Tights said with a playful grin.
Ken calmly wiped the cheek she'd kissed, then wiped his hand on her clothes.
Tights: "…"
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Tights fumed, her chest rising and falling.
Is this little brat… disgusted by me?
She shot Ken a vicious glare, then pulled Bulma away to chat.
"Hey, hey—so you're just leaving Ai behind?" Ai complained, exasperated.
Feels like nobody's looking after me.
Broly rubbed Ai gently and said softly, "Let's go."
"Broly treats me best." Ai flashed in agreement.
"Ken, I'm heading to Beerus's place," Broly said.
"Go." Ken patted Broly on the shoulder.
"This time, I will become the Great God of Destruction." Broly's expression turned grave.
"Broly, you're the strongest God of Destruction in the entire universe. That throne will shine because of you." Ken nodded, offering encouragement.
"Whoosh!"
Dark green light burst from Broly as he flew off with Ai, leaving Galactic Patrol Headquarters behind and shooting toward Beerus's Planet.
"Huh? Ken, long time no see!"
Just then, Jaco stepped out of another room. The moment he saw Ken, his face lit up with excitement.
"Long time no see." Ken shook his hand.
"But you've changed a lot, Ken. Even your hair turned white from training." Jaco stared at him, fascinated.
"Yeah." Ken nodded.
After a quick exchange, Ken bid Jaco farewell and returned to Merus's room.
"Ken, there's something I've wanted to ask your opinion on for a long time," Merus said.
"Go on." Ken nodded.
"I've had a place in mind for Kale to train," Merus said thoughtfully. "But I need your approval."
"You mean Planet Namek, right?" Ken immediately understood what Merus was thinking.
Merus wanted Kale to interact with Goku and Vegeta as soon as possible, so she could grasp the gap between them sooner.
That way, Merus could adjust his approach early.
"That's right. Planet Namek." Merus nodded seriously.
"No problem. If she wants to go, let her go." Ken didn't object.
"Great. Then I'll take Kale over there in a bit and head for Planet Namek," Merus said with a smile.
"Don't celebrate too early." Ken let out a sigh.
"What do you mean?" Merus blinked.
"Do you still have suitable candidates to become Gods of Destruction?" Ken asked.
Merus: "????"
"What's wrong?" Merus asked, puzzled.
Merus honestly didn't know what had happened in Universe 3, and he had no idea the God of Destruction of Universe 5 had already been wiped out.
Not only that—Universe 3's God of Destruction, Ai, had vanished as well.
Merus wasn't the gossiping type. After he saw that ball named Ai, he'd assumed Bulma had made an "Ai 2.0."
Of course, Merus hadn't analyzed Ai with his staff. That would've been rude.
After all, these days Merus mostly appeared here as a Galactic Patrolman.
"You really have been shutting out the outside world and burying yourself in your books," Ken said with a sigh.
"That line has a strangely specific flavor." Merus got briefly distracted, then snapped back. "What happened?"
"Simply put, two more universes lost their Gods of Destruction," Ken said.
Merus was stunned, eyes wide, and for a long time he didn't even react.
He stayed frozen for a full dozen seconds, barely even blinking.
"Did you freeze?" Ken asked, curious. "Guess this world has bugs."
Merus: "…"
"Two more Gods of Destruction are gone?" Merus exclaimed. "Which universes?"
"Universe 5 and Universe 3," Ken answered.
"Universe 5? That's an incredibly developed universe! Their God of Destruction is gone? How did they die?" Merus stared at Ken in disbelief.
"How else? Broly beat him to death." Ken sighed.
Merus was speechless.
Then Merus suddenly slapped his forehead, realizing something.
"Ai… Ai is gone too?" Merus's expression shifted.
"Because of Arak, Ai disappeared. Broly went berserk and erased him," Ken explained. "That's not the point. The point is, two more universes are missing their Gods of Destruction. It's giving me a headache."
Merus didn't know what to say.
Whose fault is that supposed to be?
But then Merus seemed to realize something else and immediately pulled Kale behind him.
"My Jiren and Kale aren't ready yet… Don't you dare set your sights on them now," Merus blurted out, anxious.
My Majin Buu already got taken—no, more accurately, Broly took him.
And now you want Kale too?
"No. The ones you picked all seem pretty average," Ken said, shaking his head, disappointment in his eyes.
Merus felt stabbed right in the heart. He weakly argued, "Majin Buu is average?"
"If Broly wasn't carrying him, Majin Buu would be nothing," Ken said coldly.
Merus had no rebuttal.
Annoyingly, you're not wrong.
"But… where are you planning to find two more Gods of Destruction?" Merus said, half-laughing, half-crying. "I'm starting to feel like more are going to die before Broly becomes the Great God of Destruction."
"That's why we need backups." Ken frowned, thinking. "I'm considering something… Universe 18 has turned into such a mess, maybe I should just destroy it."
Amarella: "????"
Are you being polite right now?
Did you ask for my opinion?
"Universe 18… doesn't really need a God of Destruction right now. It might be better to assign one to other universes for the time being," Merus said seriously.
Amarella: "…"
You two are going too far.
I'm the angel of Universe 18, and I haven't even said a word.
Yet you're already deciding my universe's future.
"If it comes down to it, Broly and Majin Buu could take over Universe 3 and Universe 5. The numbers work out perfectly," Merus added. "What do you think, Ken?"
"No. Those two won't do. They're in charge of the bigger picture." Ken shook his head.
"In charge of the bigger picture?" Merus blinked.
"Broly will become the Great God of Destruction in the future, overseeing every God of Destruction," Ken explained.
"Then what about Majin Buu?" Merus asked.
"Majin Buu will be the lesser God of Destruction. When Broly isn't around, Majin Buu fills in," Ken replied.
Merus: "…"
Merus genuinely had no words.
"Then… there really isn't anyone suitable in the whole universe to train into a God of Destruction right now." Merus shook his head.
"We'll search. What else can we do?" Ken sighed. "I'll keep looking. I'm sure I'll find someone."
"Only option." Merus nodded, not sure what else to say.
I've said what I needed to say.
You're the one who wants to hunt down new Gods of Destruction and Supreme Kais.
If you want to stir things up, then go stir them up.
"At this rate, we still need two more pairs of Supreme Kais and Gods of Destruction," Ken murmured.
"But how do we even find them…? We've already found most of the people worth finding," Merus said, head aching.
"I like high-difficulty challenges. What do you think about pairing Gohan and Piccolo?" Ken asked with a grin.
"Those two?" Merus wiped sweat from his brow.
Are you serious?
They're that weak…
Can they really be trained?
Sure, that kid Gohan has exploded with a terrifying power once before.
But I still feel like that's about all he's got!
If he wants deeper growth, it'll be incredibly, incredibly hard.
"You're sure?" Merus asked, still unconvinced.
In Merus's eyes, Ken fooled him plenty of times.
So Merus wasn't sure if Ken was being serious.
Besides, the Grand Elder of Planet Namek already knew Gohan's hidden power was unfathomably deep.
As an angel, how could Merus not know?
By all logic, it should be impossible for him not to.
But that was the truth.
Why?
Because Planet Namek's Grand Elder had close contact with Gohan—he'd used his hands to feel his body and sense the latent energy inside him, so he could clearly perceive the terrifying power sleeping within Gohan.
Merus, on the other hand, had never physically touched Gohan. He'd only done a rough scan with his staff.
And when Merus scanned Gohan, Gohan was only four years old.
At that stage, Gohan's latent energy naturally couldn't compare to what it would be a year later.
That was why Merus didn't think highly of Gohan.
"Then it's decided." Ken nodded.
"Wait… you mean you're training the Supreme Kai too?" Merus quickly asked.
"Yeah. It's better to train them in pairs. Otherwise the Supreme Kai is too fragile. If one dies by accident, my God of Destruction disappears too," Ken said seriously.
Merus didn't feel like talking.
Lately, it's mostly been Gods of Destruction dying, hasn't it?
There hasn't even been a case of a Supreme Kai dying and taking the God of Destruction with them.
"Are you not going to bring back the Supreme Kais who disappeared before?" Merus asked.
"Why bring them back?" Ken shook his head, continuing, "Right now I'm thinking about who should be the God of Destruction and Supreme Kai for another universe, but I still don't have a better pick…"
Ken truly didn't have a better choice among the people available right now.
But he did have a fairly strong pair in mind.
Android 17 and Android 18.
The problem was that their late-stage growth potential was limited.
He would have to give them a serious push to raise them to God of Destruction-level power.
If Bulma could build a God of Destruction like Ai, then upgrading 17 and 18 shouldn't be difficult.
As long as he built them a new type of battle suit, he could raise their strength to the level of a God of Destruction.
But right now, Ken was short on cosmic essence.
"Merus, do you know where I can find cosmic essence?" Ken asked.
"Cosmic essence?" Merus blinked.
Earlier, Ai had vanished because she violated the universal rules.
As a result, the essence taken from Mosco had been almost completely used up.
All that was left now was Ai's soccer-ball-sized body.
Ken needed more essence so he could build new battle suits for Android 17 and Android 18.
If strength wasn't enough, then technology would make up the difference.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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