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Chapter 196 - Chapter 196: Senzu Beans and Cat Sages

Through the system interface, Smith learned something important: future character template fusions wouldn't alter his appearance. The changes would be internal, boosting his bloodline potential, combat power, and his library of techniques, but his human features would remain intact.

He let out a slow, quiet breath in the dim light of the cabin. Relief. Piccolo's strength was undeniable, but the thought of turning green with antennae sprouting from his forehead... that was a hard pass.

Still, he held off on activating the template fusion. He was on a plane, after all, the low hum of the engines a steady vibration through his seat. A sudden, massive power surge mid-flight could blow out the aircraft's systems or worse. Better to wait until his feet were on solid ground.

The Namekian blood would be a game-changer for survivability. As long as his head stayed attached, he could regenerate from almost anything.

Smith dismissed the character templete draw screen and shifted his focus to the item pool. The void of the system space shifted, the character portraits dissolving and being replaced by a new field of glowing orbs, each containing an object. Senzu Beans appeared in multiple forms: single beans, small bags, even entire jars. Saiyan attack pods hung in the dark space next to sleek Namekian spaceship. Frieza's massive, menacing flagship loomed in the far distance. Ultra Divine Water. First and second-generation Saiyan armor suits. Medical pods. Gravity chambers. Containers of capsules. Second and third-generation scouters, their lenses promising higher power reading limits.

It was standard equipment, for the most part. Useful, but not earth-shattering.

Then Smith's gaze tracked deeper into the field, and his pulse quickened.

Tree of Might fruit. A Tree of Might seedling. The gleaming, silver Z Sword. The simple, red Power Pole. A pair of golden Potara Earrings. And impossibly far back, almost lost in the void: a time machine.

Smith's mind raced. The time machine could open portals to parallel timelines. The Tree of Might fruit granted instant, massive power boosts, and the seedling could be planted anywhere with sufficient nutrients. A mature Tree of Might could bear fruit in days, turning barren worlds into power-up farms.

As Smith Doyle drew the lottery, the figure in front of him blasted a Kamehameha towards the celestial body above his head, and then shattered one of it.

Congratulations to Smith Doyle for winning the Senzu Bean.

When Smith saw that it was Senzu Beans, and just one Senzu Bean at that, he was stunned for a moment. It was not that Senzu Beans were bad, but just one Senzu Bean was really hard to accept. If it was a bag of Senzu Beans, then he might accept it.

But since there is only one Senzu Bean, it seems that it can only be used as a life-saving trump card. One Senzu Bean can be regarded as a life.

He wanted to pull a Frieza. Find planets, plant trees, harvest the fruit, and move on. Interstellar real estate with a side of exponential power growth.

The Tree of Might was leagues better than the God Tree from the Naruto world. That thing needed a thousand years and an Otsutsuki sacrifice just to bear a single fruit. The Tree of Might took root and grew to maturity in hours, as long as the planet had enough life energy. No blood sacrifice required. Just plant and wait. The fruit had no side effects either. Legend said it was food meant for the gods, possibly grown exclusively in the Kaioshin Realm for divine consumption.

Smith mentally filed that away. He hadn't drawn it this time, but the item would cycle back eventually. And he knew of several planets in the Marvel universe with rich, dense biospheres. They would be perfect candidates for Tree of Might cultivation.

He pushed those thoughts aside. Two draws down, one to go.

The partner draw was last.

Smith pulled up the interface and examined the field. His last partner draw had given him Bulma, and she had been invaluable. The Universal Capsule Company existed entirely because of her genius. The Fraternity's rapid expansion and logistical might owed everything to her capsule technology.

The meteorite field loaded. Smith scanned the visible options floating nearby. Korin. Android 8. King Pilaf. The World Martial Arts Tournament announcer. Dende. The Namekian Grand Elder. King Yemma.

His eyes drifted to the depths of the field, where the truly absurd options floated. Zamasu. Babidi. Old Kai. The Shadow Dragons. The Ultimate Shenron. Even Whis hung in the distant void, his attendant's staff clearly visible.

Smith paused on the tournament announcer. Would summoning him just to host future Dragon Ball tournaments be a waste? The man's enthusiasm was legendary, but using a precious partner slot for an MC seemed excessive.

Then he spotted the Shadow Dragons and Ultimate Shenron, and his stomach dropped. A cold, practical worry. Would his Dragon Balls eventually evolve into that? In Dragon Ball GT, the Ultimate Shenron scattered across the entire universe after granting wishes. If you didn't recover all seven within a year, the planet you were standing on would explode. And the Shadow Dragons, born from the negative energy of selfish wishes, were walking apocalypses. Regular Super Saiyan 4 couldn't handle them.

If those things manifested here, in the Marvel universe, the damage would be catastrophic.

Mental note: monitor the Dragon Balls closely after each scatter. Check for two things. First, make sure they didn't turn and become Ultimate Dragon Balls. Second, scan them for any negative energy accumulation that could birth Shadow Dragons.

The Grand Elder and Old Kai both had potential unlock abilities. And Whis... Whis could train someone to God of Destruction levels, if given enough time. The power scale on these partners was insane.

But Smith kept his expectations realistic. The deeper options were buried too far back. His Kamehameha couldn't possibly reach that distance.

He wound up and fired anyway, pouring everything into the system's familiar blast.

A sphere shattered. Light cascaded down, forming a summoning card in the void.

Congratulations! Smith Doyle has acquired: Support Partner - Korin

Smith's eyes widened. His breath caught in his chest.

Korin. The cat sage.

This was a jackpot.

If he remembered correctly, Korin's combat power sat somewhere around 190 points. Respectable, but that wasn't why this draw mattered. What mattered were the two partner skills that came with him: Ultra Divine Water and Senzu Bean Cultivation.

With Korin on his team, the Fraternity would have a steady, reliable supply of both. Ultra Divine Water could push warriors past their natural limits, unlocking hidden strength. And Senzu Beans... they were miracle healing in an edible form. As long as you weren't already dead, one bean could bring you back from the brink to full health, instantly.

The only question was production speed. In the later parts of Dragon Ball Z, Korin's supply had dwindled to just a few beans. Growing them took time, and even with ideal conditions, they matured slowly.

But even a limited production was infinite compared to what Smith had before: nothing.

This changed everything. His forces could train harder, push further, and take bigger risks in combat, knowing that recovery was guaranteed. The Fraternity's entire operational capacity had just multiplied.

There was one small drawback. The single Senzu Bean he'd pulled from the item draw was now, in the long run, redundant. Korin would eventually produce more.

But production took time. Korin would need to assess Earth's environment, find or create suitable growing conditions, plant the seeds, and wait for the first harvest. Until that came in, that single bean was still a priceless emergency resource. It was a literal extra life, in edible form.

Smith closed the system interface and leaned back in his seat, the hum of the plane's engines filling the silence. Three draws. Three wins.

A Piccolo template, complete with regeneration and over 1,000 combat power. A single Senzu Bean for a dire emergency. And Korin, to provide long-term, strategic resources that would strengthen his entire organization.

This was, by any measure, a massive haul.

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