The other universes reacted the same way. They had no idea what that divine aura was, but they had noticed it came from Universe 7.
Then, Universe 7 announced that someone had inherited the position of Candidate God of Destruction—and it was a little brat.
The gods had still been wondering where that divine aura came from, but Universe 7's announcement made them laugh.
Champa, the God of Destruction of Universe 6, mocked them outright. Was Universe 7 so short on people that they had to make a little brat their Candidate God of Destruction?
Quitela, the God of Destruction of Universe 4, also spoke up. If Universe 7 was that desperate, he could spare them a few people. Having a little brat inherit the position of Candidate God of Destruction was so ridiculous it would make anyone laugh their head off.
All eleven Gods of Destruction reacted the same way. Not a single one stood by Beerus; they all mocked him.
But that was only natural. Ever since the hide-and-seek incident back then, few people had thought well of Beerus.
Faced with the other Gods of Destruction's mockery, Beerus didn't stand up to argue. That sent them into a frenzy, and they laughed even harder.
Given Beerus's personality, if someone mocked him, he would definitely mock them right back. He might even cross universes and pick a fight with them in person.
But now Beerus wasn't reacting at all. That meant they must have been right.
Universe 7 was in decline. Beerus couldn't find another strong person to inherit the position of Candidate God of Destruction, so he had to find a little brat and raise him from childhood.
The Gods of Destruction were all overjoyed.
Little did they know, Beerus genuinely had no time to pay attention to them. Right now, Louis had frightened him.
The God of Destruction Realm of Universe 7.
It had been a month since Beerus brought Louis back. At that moment, a little boy stood in the middle of the lake, enveloped in a silvery glow.
The gusts of energy he released made the surrounding divine trees rustle. Beerus and Whis stood nearby, cold sweat streaming down Beerus's forehead.
"Kid, is that Autonomous State?"
"Lord Beerus, what's Autonomous State? I don't know," Louis said, swinging his little arms with a pout.
"..."
Beerus was dumbfounded. He had just asked Whis to summon an image of his younger self to fight Louis, but Louis had beaten it to a pulp in just a few moves!
How was that possible?
He was a God of Destruction!
He had fought countless battles in his life, both as a child and after becoming a god, and he had never once lost to someone at the same level.
What's more, the image Whis had summoned was a few degrees stronger than Louis.
Louis had won despite being weaker!
And he'd beaten Beerus, a God of Destruction!
It was unbelievable!
"Whis, did I win?"
Louis turned to look at Whis.
Whis wiped the sweat from his face and smiled. "Louis, you won."
"Hahaha, Lord Beerus is no match for me!"
Louis put his hands on his hips, in high spirits.
In truth, he owed his victory over the young Beerus to the Rudimentary Autonomous State.
It wasn't that "Immunity" was useless. Rather, "Immunity" was only a passive skill. It kept him from taking damage, but it couldn't help him hurt anyone else.
The Rudimentary Autonomous State was different!
When he entered this state, his fighting power increased significantly, and he gained the ability to act freely and respond naturally.
That reaction was astonishing. It let him sense how his opponent was going to attack ahead of time.
It wasn't that he could see the future. Instead, his instincts picked up on the other person's muscles twitching, allowing him to react accordingly.
This state would have let him beat not only Beerus as a child, but even the Beerus of today. If Louis's strength were close to his, the Rudimentary Autonomous State would let him beat Beerus until he coughed blood.
Louis laughed loudly with his hands on his hips. A dark line appeared on Beerus's forehead.
"Brat, are you done laughing yet?"
"Hahaha!"
"Do you want me to beat you up?"
"Bleh! Lord Beerus can't hurt me. I'm not scared."
Louis was a child now, and he was making the most of it. He scrunched up his nose and stuck out his tongue at Beerus.
"You little brat!"
Beerus chided him with a laugh.
During the month since he had brought Louis to the God of Destruction Realm, he had already learned that Louis's body was unusual.
It could ignore every negative effect in the world!
He had asked the little brat Louis what was going on, but Louis said he didn't know anything.
The brat wouldn't tell him, and Beerus couldn't do anything about it. Beerus glanced at Whis beside him and recalled what Whis had said on Planet Vegeta.
"That divine aura seems to have burst out near Planet Vegeta. Louis's origins aren't simple..."
That was also why Beerus had started thinking about taking Louis on as a Candidate God of Destruction.
There were two reasons.
First, Louis was special. If he did anything strange, keeping him by Beerus's side would let Beerus react right away.
Second, the other universes' Gods of Destruction weren't wrong. Universe 7 really was in decline.
Its average mortal level was low, for one thing...
As far as Beerus knew, the strongest person in Universe 7 was that loser Frieza.
What a failure.
His enormous universe had come to rely on a loser with a fighting power of only 120 million as its strongest.
In truth, Frieza wasn't the strongest person in Universe 7. There were plenty of hidden bosses who had yet to appear.
When the later stages arrived, any one of those bosses would be beyond comparison with the other universes.
But Beerus didn't know any of that. All he wanted was for a capable fighter to emerge in his universe.
And Louis was the one he had chosen.
Louis was incredibly talented, and he might also have something to do with the divine aura from a month ago.
If such a genius grew up without a hitch, Universe 7 would be set.
"All right, Whis, make sure you train him properly. I'm going to sleep."
Looking at Louis's antics, Beerus couldn't help wanting to give the little guy a beating.
But he couldn't even make Louis feel pain. That was a headache.
Whis asked, "Lord Beerus, are you trying to avoid them?"
That divine aura that had erupted near Planet Vegeta must have been noticed by every god in the Zeno Universe.
They would definitely come to investigate!
"If you already know, why say it out loud?"
Beerus yawned and vanished from the lakeside. He had no interest in entertaining those Gods of Destruction!
After Beerus disappeared, Whis walked over to Louis and patted his little shoulder. "All right, Lord Beerus is gone. You can stop laughing now!"
Louis stopped laughing and realized that Beerus really had disappeared.
"Where did Lord Beerus go?"
"He went off to slack off. Anyway, now that you've become a Candidate God of Destruction, you'll have to undergo the training that comes with the position."
Slacking off?
Going to sleep?
It seemed the Dragon Ball story was about to begin.
Louis narrowed his eyes. The Dragon Ball story could be said to start when Beerus ordered Frieza to wipe out the Saiyan race.
But... now, because of Louis's influence, Planet Vegeta hadn't been destroyed. Would Son Goku still be sent to Earth?
Before you continue