"Pseudo–Ultra Instinct!"
That was right—what Dales had just used was Ultra Instinct, though it was quite different from the method Whis had used to teach Son Goku and Vegeta in the original story.
In the original story, Whis, the angel of Universe 7, had taught Son Goku and Vegeta the angels' method of training: Ultra Instinct. Son Goku had also used Ultra Instinct in Dragon Ball Super to transform into his silver-haired form and fight Jiren, whose strength had already reached the level of a God of Destruction. He had even won.
Ultra Instinct was the angels' method of training. It required the practitioner to remain calm, free their mind of distractions, and separate their body from their consciousness. Their body parts would then move reflexively, without the brain having to think, achieving the ultimate in reaction speed. It was a "Divine Skill," a standard ability of the angels.
While training in the Gravity Chamber, Dales had constantly worked backward from the moves used by the Z Fighters in the original story, drawing on what he remembered. Especially after realizing that some of the ideas from his previous life could offer important insights in this Dragon Ball World, he became even more motivated. Solar Flare and the Destructo Disc he had taught Broly were both techniques he had developed this way.
Whis had called Ultra Instinct a divine technique that even God of Destruction Beerus had failed to master completely. Dales certainly wasn't going to let it pass him by. But perhaps because there was still a gap in their power, he hadn't mastered Ultra Instinct. Instead, he had developed a move suited to his own circumstances, and that was—
Pseudo–Ultra Instinct!
Through mental simulation training, Dales focused his mind to an extreme degree and visualized every detail of a battle in his mind. He calculated every possible attack there, as if he had equipped himself with a supercomputer.
With this "supercomputer," Dales could simulate all of his opponent's attack paths in his mind, then use the results of those calculations to guide his body's attacks and evasions.
Today was the first time Dales had used the move in a real battle, and it seemed to be working pretty well.
"I think I've figured something out."
After dodging another one of Broly's attacks, a glint flashed in Dales's eyes. He seemed to have realized something.
The Pseudo–Ultra Instinct state seemed to greatly enhance Dales's mental abilities, allowing him to notice something in Broly's attacks.
Dales didn't rush to deal with Broly's problem. Instead, he kept dodging Broly's attacks while constantly observing his physical condition, even deliberately moving in close to him at times.
Broly kept attacking Dales, while Dales dodged every attack by the narrowest margin. It wasn't that Dales didn't want to attack Broly; his attacks simply had no effect on him. The boost Broly received from his Great Ape Transformation was just too great.
Another ten minutes passed. Dales confirmed once more that Broly's transformation hadn't been affected at all by his severed tail. He stopped dodging and charged straight at Broly's attack. As he neared it, he used the Afterimage Technique.
Four afterimages appeared around Broly, one in each direction, disrupting his vision. Like Dodoria before him, Broly couldn't sense ki, so he had no choice but to attack each afterimage. But all his efforts were in vain, because Dales had already slipped quietly behind him, to the spot where his tail had been severed.
Dales extended his right hand and concentrated a small amount of energy at his index finger, then touched it to the wound where the tail had been severed.
The energy was tiny, but Broly reacted as if he had been severely wounded. His massive body shuddered, and a piercing howl burst from his mouth. Then, like a kite with its string cut, he plummeted from the sky toward the ground.
Seeing that his guess had been right, Dales finally breathed a sigh of relief. His eyes rolled back, and he fell after Broly.
When Dales woke up again, he found himself in the Medical Room, still immersed in the healing liquid inside a Healing Tank.
He wasn't surprised. Of the four Saiyans currently on Red Stone Planet, Dales was undoubtedly the one who used the Healing Tank most often.
"Gurgle!"
Seeing that Dales had woken up, Carl quickly signaled her people to shut down the system and open the Healing Tank.
Dales climbed out of the Healing Tank and asked Carl, "How many days has it been?"
"My lord, it's been three days," Carl replied at once, standing nearby.
"Three days? Not bad. Where's Broly?" Dales repeated, then asked another question.
"Lord Broly recovered on the first day. He's been waiting outside the Medical Room this whole time. Should I call him over?"
"No need. I'll go find him." Dales started toward the door, but stopped when he reached it, as if he'd just remembered something. "Did you retrieve the tail Broly lost?"
"His tail?" Carl asked, surprised.
Saiyans' tails grew back within a month of being severed. So even though losing a tail was rare, Saiyans didn't usually collect them afterward.
Seeing her reaction, Dales immediately ordered, "Send someone to find Broly's tail. Have Raditz lead the team."
"Yes, my lord!" Carl never slacked off when it came to Dales's orders.
Dales nodded and left the Medical Room. He still had something to discuss with Broly.
As soon as he stepped out of the Medical Room, he saw Broly in the corridor, staring anxiously at the door.
The moment Broly saw Dales come out, he grew excited. He hurried over and pulled Dales into his arms.
Dales hadn't been prepared for it and was stunned by Broly's sudden embrace. It took him a while to come to his senses.
"Broly, I'm fine!"
Dales patted Broly's arm to reassure him, signaling for him to let go. There was nothing he could do about it—he wasn't as tall as Broly.
After letting Dales go, Broly turned back into that honest, simple young man. A flush crossed his face as he scratched his head and said, "Dales, I'm so glad you're okay!"
"Heh." Dales chuckled, feeling a little wistful. Broly was still that same young man. He hadn't changed one bit—except when he was fighting, of course.
"All right, Broly. This was just an accident. Don't blame yourself." Seeing that Broly still felt guilty, Dales reassured him. "If I'd warned you beforehand, you wouldn't have transformed into a Great Ape. This was my fault."
Broly still seemed uneasy, so Dales had to change the subject. "By the way, there's something I need to discuss with you. Come to the lab with Paragus in a little while."
As simple as ever, Broly was successfully distracted by Dales's words. He looked confused and asked, "You want me and my dad? Is something wrong?"
"I'll explain later. Go get Paragus first. I'll wait for you in the lab."
Dales left Broly wondering and turned toward the lab, not giving him a chance to ask anything else.
As soon as he shut the lab door, Dales couldn't hold back any longer. He rubbed his temples repeatedly, feeling as if someone had clubbed him over the head. It took a while before he recovered.
That was the flaw in Dales's Pseudo–Ultra Instinct. Although he used his extraordinary Psychic Power to visualize all kinds of data in his mind, there was simply too much of it, especially during a battle.
Every change in the data required Dales to recalculate and make constant adjustments, all of which relied on his Psychic Power. So every use of the move put tremendous strain on his mind. He couldn't maintain it for long, and it also came with side effects afterward.
Still, using Pseudo–Ultra Instinct this time had brought Dales a huge surprise. He hadn't expected that this move alone would let him, with a battle power of only 100,000, hold his own against Broly, whose battle power was 10 million. Broly hadn't been in a state where he could bring his full 10 million battle power to bear, and Dales couldn't keep it up for long, but even so, it was a tremendous boost.
And in the Pseudo–Ultra Instinct state, that way of thinking, resembling "mechanical reasoning," let him notice details he would have struggled to spot under normal circumstances. It would also provide a subtle boost to his combat experience in the future.
"The side effects are pretty bad, though!"
Sitting in his chair, Dales rubbed his head and thought about how to deal with the side effects of Pseudo–Ultra Instinct.
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