Oh, the audacity.
Watching the scene unfold before him, Frieza nearly drooled.
He had watched Marvel and seen this scene before. But these were the Infinity Stones, after all.
In the Marvel universe, these were the ultimate artifacts of cosmic power.
And the result?
Here, in this damned Time Variance Authority, these treasures were casually tossed into drawers like pebbles, some even used by these clerks to prop up table legs or serve as paperweights?
What a sacrilege. It was utterly unconscionable.
The light of greed was practically spilling out of Frieza's scarlet eyes.
He stared intently at the drawer full of gems on the desk of the clerk named Casey, his feet rooted to the ground, completely unable to move.
'Is this what they call an all-you-can-eat buffet?' Frieza ranted furiously in his mind.
If he could inlay all of these onto his battle armor, or simply craft them into a necklace to hang around his neck, wouldn't he, Lord Frieza, be able to swagger unchallenged across the entire multiverse?
Just as Frieza was immersed in these wonderful fantasies of the future—
"Hey! Prisoner! What are you staring at?!"
Behind him, a Time Guard responsible for the escort grew impatient.
He looked at the blond man standing still and spacing out, his face adopting that specific look of annoyance characteristic of civil servants.
Having to process so many time criminals daily, he had long since become numb to it all.
"Move it! Stop dragging your feet!"
With that, the guard raised the orange baton in his hand and jabbed Frieza.
"To the courtroom! Now!"
His attitude was exactly that of someone driving livestock to slaughter.
Frieza's body stiffened slightly.
The wonderful fantasy shattered instantly, replaced by a surge of rage that shot straight from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
He had only reluctantly acted out this charade of surrender just so he could sneak in and scope out the place.
Now?
Since he had already seen the treasure, and these pathetic ants were so utterly disrespectful, why bother acting anymore?
If he kept this up, wouldn't he, the Emperor of the Universe, truly become a laughingstock?
"Hmph."
A soft snort, carrying an endless chill, escaped Frieza's nostrils.
He slowly turned around, and the eyes that had previously seemed somewhat harmless were now completely replaced by bloodthirsty scarlet.
"Did you just use that filthy stick to poke me?"
Frieza's voice was soft, elegant, and even held a hint of amusement. But upon hearing it, the guard inexplicably shivered.
However, his long-held belief in the TVA's invincibility made him instantly dismiss that dangerous intuition.
"So what if I poked you?"
The guard widened his eyes, holding up the controller in his hand, his face radiating utter confidence.
"You suicidal variant! This is the TVA! Here, magic, superpowers—they are all useless."
"You're wearing a reset collar around your neck. All I have to do is lift a finger and I can make you wish you were dead."
The guard sneered, preparing to press the red button, eager to teach this unruly newcomer a lesson.
The surrounding guards and clerks cast expectant glances, having witnessed this scene countless times.
Every arrogant newcomer thought they were hot stuff, but didn't they all end up groveling on the floor like dogs?
However, the very next second, their smiles froze on their faces.
"Magic is useless?"
Frieza's lips curled into an extremely cruel smile.
"What a collection of ignorant, narrow-minded fools."
"Who told you that I use magic?"
BOOM!
Before his words even finished, a terrifying wave of energy, powerful enough to visibly distort space, instantly erupted from Frieza's body.
It wasn't magic, nor divine power, nor even a mutant ability.
It was pure life energy—Ki!
It was the terrifying bio-energy inherent to the Dragon Ball system.
The rules here could restrict the Infinity Stones and magic, but could they restrict the inherent power of a living being?
Evidently not.
CRACK!
In the instant before the guard could press the button, the reset collar, which claimed to control all time criminals, shattered instantly like a cheap plastic toy under the strain of Frieza's rapidly expanding neck muscles and terrifying aura.
"What?!"
The guard's eyes nearly popped out of his head, and the remote control in his hand clattered to the floor.
How was this possible?
No one had ever broken free of the collar using mere physical strength. It defied all logic.
But Frieza didn't concern himself with logic or science.
The way he felt right now was absolutely magnificent.
His body slowly began to levitate. Although he hadn't transformed, the profound, sea-like pressure made the air throughout the entire hall incredibly heavy.
"Ohohohoho..."
"Ants, I disliked your condescending attitudes just now."
Frieza looked down upon the panicked Time Guards below, his expression one of pure, unadulterated enjoyment.
"Now, let's play a game."
"Let's see whose is faster: your little pruning sticks, or my Death Beams?"
[Ding! Extreme fear detected in TVA employee! Fear Points +100!]
[Ding! Fear Points +100!]
[Ding! Fear Points +100!]
The system notifications were like beautiful music, exciting Frieza even further.
"Quick! Prune him! Prune him now!"
The initial guard finally reacted, screaming as he snatched up his time baton and charged forward along with the other guards.
But in front of Frieza, whose power level was a staggering 530,000, their movements were painfully slow, like those of snails.
Vwoom!
A layer of purple aura instantly enveloped Frieza's entire body.
The supposedly intimidating time batons struck his aura shield but were simply repelled, failing to cause even the slightest ripple.
"Too weak. Far too weak." Frieza shook his head in disappointment.
"Since you are all so eager to die..."
He slowly raised his right hand, extended his index finger, and a dazzling point of purplish-red light condensed at the tip.
"Then I shall oblige."
Whoosh... Whoosh...
Death Beams rained down like a torrential storm.
There was no doubt, this was a one-sided massacre.
Every single beam precisely pierced a guard's forehead or heart.
The Time Guards, clad in black armor, dropped in swathes, like wheat being harvested.
Screams and explosions instantly filled the entire hall.
The once orderly TVA had instantly transformed into a living hell.
In just a few seconds, the guard squad that had been swaggering moments ago had all become corpses littering the floor.
Only the guard who had first yelled at Frieza remained, sprawled on the ground, trembling violently, a foul stench of urine wafting from his pants.
Frieza landed elegantly in front of him, not even a single drop of blood having stained his shoes.
"M-mercy... please show mercy..." The guard sobbed.
Frieza did not kill him immediately. Instead, he reached out and tore a mobile phone-like device from the guard's waist.
The Time Controller.
This was a fine piece of equipment. With it, he could freely traverse timelines.
"Tell me, how does this device work?" Frieza toyed with the controller.
"If you teach me, I might be in a good enough mood to let you live."
"I'll teach you! I'll teach you!"
The guard grasped this lifeline, trembling as he quickly demonstrated the operating procedures, terrified that a single second of delay would result in his head being blown off.
Frieza listened intently. After all, he was a studious Emperor of the Universe.
A few minutes later.
"I see. That was quite simple, wasn't it?"
Frieza nodded in satisfaction and tucked the Time Controller into his suit pocket.
"Then... can I go now?" The guard asked tentatively, his eyes filled with hope.
"Of course." Frieza smiled and nodded.
Overjoyed, the guard scrambled to his feet and turned to run.
However, he had only taken two steps when...
Whoosh!
A purple beam instantly pierced his back, exiting through his chest.
The guard stiffly turned his head, staring at Frieza in utter disbelief.
"You... you promised..."
"Oh dear, my apologies."
Frieza blew on his index finger, a look of playful mockery on his face.
"I seem to have forgotten to tell you that I am not fond of keeping promises."
"In your next life, remember not to trust the words of a villain, ohohohoho..."
Having dealt with that troublesome fly, Frieza finally turned his attention to the office desks.
The drawers there were emitting a captivating glow, it was the light of the Infinity Stones.
"They are all mine."
Frieza waved a hand, and a surge of Ki swept through the area.
Clatter!
Dozens of Infinity Stones of various colors flew toward him like candy.
Red, blue, purple, green...
Any one of these outside the TVA would be enough to spark a cosmic war.
Yet now, Frieza grabbed the gems by the handful and stuffed them into his pockets, treating them as if he were stocking up at a flea market.
"This Space Stone is quite nice, the quality is excellent."
"Oh, look, a Power Stone? Mine."
"A Soul Stone? I suppose I'll keep this trash, just in case it proves useful."
In no time at all, his otherwise pristine and expensive suit pockets were stuffed full and bulging. But Frieza didn't care about his appearance in the slightest.
His pleasure was paramount.
Just then—
Bang... Bang...
A wave of heavy, rapid footsteps echoed from the distance.
Clearly, the commotion had alerted the main forces of the TVA.
Hundreds of fully armed Time Guards, weapons raised, were surging in from all directions.
"You damned variant! Put your hands up!"
Gazing at this group of suicidal fools, Frieza patted his bulging pockets, a cold smile appearing on his lips.
"What a nuisance these flies are."
"I was planning to leave after collecting my goods, but since you are so enthusiastically offering yourselves up for death..."
Frieza's body slowly ascended, his surrounding aura began to swell violently, and the entire hall trembled beneath the force of his power.
"Then I shall oblige."
"It's perfect. I also wanted to pay a visit to these so-called 'Time-Keepers' and see how they intend to repay me for the destruction of my assets."
"Today, I am going to tear this miserable place down."
"Ohohohohoho!"