patreon.com/riojiyo131
Currently on chapter 33.
--------
After leaving Mr. Satan to deal with the cameras, Zaiko turned around and began to walk slowly towards the group of Z Fighters.
As he advanced, his long, furry tail wagged gently from side to side in a relaxed manner.
He placed both hands behind the nape of his neck, interlocking his fingers as he relaxed. However, as he got closer, Zaiko narrowed his eyes.
A few meters away, Goku was chatting animatedly with Piccolo and Gohan, laughing out loud and maintaining the exact same posture—relaxed, with both hands interlocked behind his neck.
Realizing the undeniable physical resemblance, Zaiko pulled his hands away from his own neck.
He quickly dropped his arms to his sides and coughed softly a couple of times into his fist, genuinely embarrassed.
«I'm not even the real, original Zaiko... I shouldn't resemble this guy at all, let alone physically,» he thought to himself, frowning slightly. «He's only my biological father because I reincarnated... or rather, transmigrated? into this body, but look at me, here I am, adopting his exact same damn pose without realizing it.»
Honestly, Zaiko had always preferred Vegeta over Goku...
He liked the kid Goku from Dragon Ball more than the Goku from Dragon Ball Z.
On the other hand, he had always liked Vegeta, perhaps because they were more alike, both having a serious and somewhat aggressive personality.
Although he certainly wasn't as aggressive as him.
Besides... Ultra Ego looks so much better than Ultra Instinct, and no one is going to change my mind!
When the group finally noticed he was approaching, Goku's expression changed. His smile widened even more, if that was even possible, and he raised an arm, waving at him energetically and amicably.
Zaiko stopped in front of them, crossing his arms, and observed them one by one before breaking the ice.
"I suppose we have a lot to talk about," he told them in a calm tone.
Future Trunks stepped forward, opening his mouth to be the first to ask... but before he could utter a single word, Goku beat him to it.
Closing the distance in a rush, Goku grabbed Zaiko firmly by both shoulders, with an expression that mixed desperation and absolute terror.
"You have to help me calm Chi-Chi down!" Goku pleaded, shaking him slightly. "I'm terrified of how she's going to react when she finds out you're my son and she's not your mother! She's going to kill me!"
Zaiko didn't change his expression or move a single centimeter.
He simply glanced sideways into the distance and raised a hand, pointing his thumb over his shoulder toward where the group of reporters and their cameras were, without even looking at them.
"Chances are she already knows," Zaiko replied matter-of-factly. "Everything those guys have been recording has been broadcast live all over the planet since the Cell Games started."
Goku froze, letting go of Zaiko's shoulders.
His face turned completely pale and he looked at him completely shocked, his mouth slightly open.
His death sentence had already been signed, and he hadn't even realized it until that very moment.
Gohan, seeing his father's state of panic, slowly approached him and placed a hand on his back.
"Don't worry, Dad..." Gohan told him in a soft tone. "I'm sure Mom is really angry right now, but if we all sit down and explain it to her carefully, maybe she'll come to understand."
Trunks nodded, feeling sorry for the man, and decided to offer his support.
"Gohan is right. If you want, I can accompany you myself to explain everything to your wife, Mr. Goku," the time traveler offered with utmost seriousness. "After all, it's not your fault that in another timeline you're an adulterer."
The silence that followed that statement was rather awkward.
Vegeta snapped his neck around so fast you could almost hear it crack.
He looked at Trunks, his son, wide-eyed and with an expression of sheer disbelief. 'Is this kid an idiot?' he thought, wondering who he had inherited such a lack of tact from.
He certainly didn't inherit it from him...
Miraculously, Goku seemed to ignore Trunks's choice of words, or perhaps he didn't even hear him.
He managed to get past the idea that Chi-Chi already knew everything and lunged at Trunks, grabbing his hands and thanking him with a big, relieved smile.
"Really, Trunks?! Thank you so much for your help, you're a lifesaver!" Goku told him, though his smile faltered a bit and he dropped his voice to a fearful whisper. "Although... I think it's best if we don't go near the house for a couple of days to give her time to calm down... my wife is really scary when she gets mad."
A few steps away, Gohan listened with a giant sweatdrop and laughed nervously while scratching his head, silently agreeing entirely with his father.
Not even he wanted to see his mother angry right now... she was truly terrifying.
Trunks freed himself from Goku's grip, regained his composure, and finally turned toward Zaiko.
"Leaving that aside..." Trunks began, looking him in the eyes with respect and curiosity. "Could you tell us more in-depth about your situation? I'd like to understand your timeline and how you got here."
Upon hearing Trunks's request, Zaiko uncrossed his arms and put on a thoughtful look.
He frowned slightly, evaluating those present as his mind worked at full speed, seriously debating which parts of the story he should tell them, and which secrets were better kept hidden.
Zaiko wasn't going to talk about the events that would occur in the future; after all, revealing too many details could bring about changes he didn't want.
Finally, after thinking for a few seconds, Zaiko decided to start speaking.
"In my timeline," Zaiko began, crossing his arms again and adopting a serious posture, "the only significant change compared to yours is that my mother, Lila... was a total bitch."
Everyone present looked at him in absolute disbelief, frozen in place for a few seconds.
It was Goku who broke the ice, frowning with a reproachful tone.
"Hey, Zaiko! You shouldn't say bad words, much less use them to refer to your own mother!" Goku scolded him.
Zaiko simply snorted in amusement, shaking his head.
"I'm just calling a bitch a bitch, I'm not insulting anyone," Zaiko replied before continuing with his explanation, not giving Goku the chance to tell him it was wrong again.
"First you need to understand how the world we live in works. The universe we are in is known as Universe 7," Zaiko revealed, capturing the full attention of the group, especially Piccolo. "And we are not alone. There is a total of twelve universes, all of them overseen from the very top by Zeno-Sama, the Omni-King. An incomprehensible being who instills terror even in the Gods of Destruction themselves—deities whose sole job is to maintain cosmic balance by destroying planets, stagnant civilizations, and threats that impede the proper development of the universe."
Reaching this point, Zaiko turned his head slightly, locking his gaze directly onto Vegeta, and pointed an accusing finger at him.
"Speaking of Gods of Destruction... you personally met the God of Destruction of our Universe 7 when you were just a kid, didn't you, shorty?"
Vegeta, upon hearing about Beerus—a name that had been buried in his worst nightmares for decades—completely and subconsciously ignored the fact that Zaiko had just called him "shorty."
His face paled slightly, and a visible, tense lump moved down his throat as he swallowed audibly.
Future Trunks was genuinely surprised to see his always-proud father react with such a level of fear at the mere mention of a name.
On the other hand, Goku's eyes widened like saucers, but his reaction was the exact opposite... he felt his heart race with excitement at hearing that there were gods in charge of destroying planets.
That sounded like incredibly strong opponents!
Not to mention the countless opponents that could exist in the other universes!
Just thinking about it got him excited! He was already getting the urge to start training again!
"I've explained all this to you..." Zaiko continued, picking up the thread, "...because my mother, Lila, belongs to a very select group that works as the direct counterpart to the God of Destruction. They are the Supreme Kais, Gods of Creation, whose duty is to protect, guide, and oversee the birth of life throughout the universe."
Making a brief pause, Zaiko added...
"My mother, Lila, was the West Supreme Kai, in charge of governing and protecting the western quadrant of the entire Universe 7."
Trunks, deeply confused by the direction of the story, couldn't help but timidly raise his hand.
Zaiko rolled his eyes.
Was he a teacher giving a class to a bunch of students? You don't have to raise your hand at all!
"Excuse me, but... how exactly does being a Goddess of Creation make your mother... a bitch?" Trunks asked.
Immediately, noticing that everyone was looking at him—especially his father, who was now glaring daggers at him for interrupting with such a stupid question—he grew nervous. "I-I was just repeating what he said..." he muttered, averting his gaze, deeply embarrassed.
Zaiko slowly shook his head, smiling.
"Don't be impatient. I was just getting to exactly that."
Clearing his throat, Zaiko began to detail the system of the creator gods.
"The Supreme Kais are a group of five in total... well, at least there were five of them in the past."
Piccolo, with his sharp intuition always on high alert, intervened immediately, frowning.
"Are you saying that the Supreme Kais you're talking about... are dead?" the Namekian asked.
Zaiko nodded, his expression hardening for the first time.
"That's right. All of them died approximately five million years ago. My mother Lila in this timeline—your timeline—also died at that time."
Goku, his eyes wide open in surprise, couldn't help but ask with genuine curiosity.
"Huh?! But what kind of being could possibly be capable of killing such powerful beings?!"
Zaiko let out a heavy sigh, lazily scratching the back of his neck.
His mouth was getting dry from so much talking...
He really didn't need to explain all of this, but he thought it was important to share it with them.
Maybe he should have just asked Zen-Long to shove all the information into their heads at once?
At least that way he would have saved himself this whole conversation.
'I want to go home with Broly...' Zaiko sighed in his mind.
"I can't tell you about it in detail, or it would drastically change the course of the future... although I'm going to change it anyway, I just don't want you to change it. I'll just give you a small warning: it's best if you keep training without rest. Sooner or later you'll have to face the exact same monster that killed the Supreme Kais... and I assure you, that creature is hundreds, if not thousands of times, more powerful than Cell."
Vegeta, Goku, and Piccolo widened their eyes, feeling a shiver run down their spines upon hearing the magnitude of the threat.
Vegeta clenched his fists tightly, a new and burning conviction shining in his eyes.
He already planned to lock himself away and train like a maniac to get much stronger than Kakarot, to achieve this so-called Divine Ki and the transformation Zaiko had mentioned earlier, at all costs.
Goku, true to his Saiyan nature, was simply thrilled.
His heart was beating too fast now to focus on anything else. His blood burned with pure anticipation.
He already wanted to run out of there and start training...
Piccolo, on the other hand, was simply worried.
A being hundreds or thousands of times more powerful than Cell was nothing but an absolute monster.
He hadn't even been of any help against Cell, who could have wiped him out as if he were an insignificant insect...
«What the hell am I supposed to do against something thousands of times worse?» he thought bitterly.
Noticing Piccolo's expression—the only one truly aware of the real danger—Zaiko offered a small, enigmatic smile.
"Hey, Piccolo..." Zaiko called out, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Visit me whenever you have some time. I need to talk to you about something important."
Piccolo merely raised an eyebrow, completely confused, not having the slightest idea what he would want to talk to him about.
Zaiko just looked at him with amusement, keeping his lips sealed and acting mysterious, which only made Piccolo click his tongue in annoyance before nodding slightly in agreement.
What would happen if he helped Piccolo achieve his Orange Piccolo state ahead of time...?
Just how powerful would he become in the future?
Zaiko felt curious.