Is This a Proper Dragon Ball?

It was fortunate that the ship didn't come to a sudden, jarring halt; otherwise, not to mention Karochi and Tights, even the ship itself would have been torn apart by the terrifying inertia.

After the ship stopped, it began to drift in a direction away from its original trajectory. It was less like it was traveling and more like it was being dragged along by something.

"What is this?" Karochi looked at Tights, puzzled. Even the two of them inside the ship could feel this pulling force, which spoke volumes about how terrifying it truly was.

Tights didn't answer, instead running quickly toward the control room, with Karochi following close behind.

Alarms were already blaring throughout the control room.

"It seems the ship is being pulled by some massive force!" Tights said, unable to believe it.

This ship had been specially modified; its cruising speed was absolutely faster than light, having even reached warp speed.

It was pushed forward by the spatial structure of the universe itself, meaning that even if it encountered a black hole, it should have been able to escape easily as long as it didn't fly straight into the center.

But now, not only was it unable to travel normally, it was being captured.

"Is there a way to leave?" Karochi wasn't particularly worried. Why would he be afraid? He still had [Instant Transmission] and could take the ship with him, so it wasn't a problem at all.

Besides, he was curious about black holes; it was said that if one could pass through a black hole, they could reach different time and space, though he didn't know if that was true.

Tights glanced at the carefree Karochi, not knowing what to say. Could you at least be a little nervous?

"I'll try!" Tights felt that they should be able to get away.

With a flurry of keyboard clacking, all of the ship's thrusters were activated, pushing in the opposite direction of the pull.

"Warp Engine activated, preparing for jump!"

The electronic voice made Tights relax a little; as long as they entered a spatial jump, escaping this place wouldn't be an issue at all.

"Phew~ that should do it!" Tights let out a heavy sigh of relief!

But immediately after, the ship shook violently and failed to enter the spatial jump! Even the thrusters cut out, and the shrill, piercing alarm never stopped.

"H-how... how can this be?" Tights was stunned. What was going on? Even if they had encountered a supermassive black hole, they should have been able to escape.

Looking at the damaged ship, Tights couldn't help but exclaim, "What on earth is happening?"

"Uh, Tights, why don't I just use [Instant Transmission] and we can leave?" Karochi suggested, no longer wasting words.

Karochi could clearly feel that terrifying gravitational pull, and more importantly, he sensed a very peculiar aura.

It was indescribable; just feeling it made him feel incredibly uncomfortable.

Of course, he didn't activate [Instant Transmission] immediately because his [Sixth Sense] hadn't issued a warning, which proved that their lives were not yet in immediate danger.

"Hmm, I suppose that's the only way," Tights sighed. It seemed the ship really couldn't escape!

To be honest, she couldn't quite understand it, but she supposed the universe was vast and full of wonders, filled with unknown dangers everywhere.

Karochi didn't waste any more time; he grabbed Tights's arm with one hand and touched the ship's console with the other.

He couldn't just leave it here. Although Dr. Brief could build ships on his own, wouldn't that be too much of a bother for the old man?

He could just take it back for repairs. Besides, Karochi also planned to head to the Lookout to officially begin his training to break through his current limits.

Karochi closed his eyes and began to sense the spatial coordinates of Earth.

10 seconds... 20 seconds... one minute!

Watching the ship being pulled faster and faster, Tights panicked and spoke up: "Little Chi, is it not ready yet?"

In the past, whenever Karochi used [Instant Transmission], it was instantaneous; he would close his eyes and be at his destination the next moment! Why was the preparation time so long this time?

Karochi's expression was a bit flustered as he opened his eyes: "T-Tights, [Instant Transmission] isn't working!"

"What? Why?" Tights was bewildered. The only reason she had been able to remain calm before was because Karochi was her "teleportation crystal." You're suddenly telling me the crystal is broken?

"T-the spatial structure in this area has shattered for some reason, and I can't lock onto our coordinates!" Karochi said bitterly.

Kidd's [Instant Transmission] wasn't something that could be activated just by sensing a planet's coordinates.

At the same time, the spatial structure where he was located had to be intact so he could swap his spatial position with the one on the planet.

But just now, under Karochi's perception, the surrounding spatial structure had been pulled into a mangled mess. If he tried to use [Instant Transmission] in such a structure, the two of them might fall directly into a spatial rift.

There was one more thing Karochi didn't mention: he sensed a very evil aura. It wasn't a matter of strength, but of pure evil—bloody, viscous, and suffocating.

"Then, what do we do?" Tights finally panicked. The portal she had always used so easily was suddenly on strike, especially at such a critical moment!

No way, no way? Was she, this young lady, going to perish before she could even become a best-selling author on Earth? A wave of sorrow washed over Tights; she could clearly feel that pulling force tearing at her body.

If it weren't for the protection of the ship, she might have already been reduced to paste.

"Ah, this..." Karochi was also at a loss. Unless he possessed overwhelming strength, he probably couldn't shake off this powerful gravity.

Creak... creak!

At that moment, the ship began to emit strange, groaning sounds, as if it were about to fall apart! The powerful attraction was already more than the ship could withstand.

"Tights, quickly activate the defensive functions!" Karochi shouted when he saw the situation.

Tights snapped back to reality and began to operate the controls. If the ship was destroyed, they would be finished! Well, Karochi could survive in space, but she couldn't.

A light barrier formed outside the ship, and the hull, which had been on the verge of breaking apart, stabilized. However, the alarms inside the cockpit continued to shriek.

The speed at which the ship was being pulled was increasing even further, well on its way to exceeding the speed of light.

The light barrier outside the ship grew increasingly dim, showing clear signs that it could shatter at any moment.

At this very moment, Karochi and Tights finally saw what exactly was emitting such infinite gravitational pull.

It wasn't a black hole at all, but a massive crystalline object! It was at least a hundred meters long, standing there motionless.

The entire structure was purple, and the light drawn into it caused its central section to glow a golden yellow. The object radiated a bizarre, blood-red aura.

Merely looking at it made Karochi feel nauseated. If he had to describe the indescribable sensation, it felt as though trillions of living beings had perished because of it.

"Ugh!" The moment Tights saw it, she retched violently; the eerie aura was so potent it knocked her unconscious instantly.

Karochi wrapped his arm around Tights' slender waist, pulling her close while his body erupted with a yellow aura.

Though not fully enveloped, even a few wisps of this energy made Karochi's own power surge tenfold.

He could clearly sense that the spaceship's energy shield was on the verge of collapse. In his base state, he could protect himself and Tights, but adding a ship of this size was simply too much to handle. He could survive in the vacuum of space, but Tights could not.

And abandoning Tights was something Karochi could never do.

"Haa!" A powerful aura enveloped the entire ship, and in an instant, the vessel stabilized.

Watching the crystal draw closer, he knew that a collision would surely destroy the ship and kill them both. But Karochi truly couldn't spare a hand to attack the crystal right now.

He could only watch helplessly as it drew nearer, the oppressive atmosphere growing heavier with every step. That blood-red aura was truly sickening.

"What the hell is this thing!?" Karochi felt a sense of familiarity, yet he couldn't quite place what it was.

He began to doubt himself again: was this Dragon Ball world he'd transmigrated into even legitimate?

Everything was something he'd never seen before! First the Yitai Wonder, and now this bizarre crystal.

This didn't look like any Dragon Ball he knew!

Just as the ship was about to collide with the crystal, a massive purple vortex appeared on its surface—large enough to swallow an entire planet.

The ship flew straight inside.

Karochi instinctively raised his arms to protect his head; it was a reflex.

"This..." Karochi was dumbfounded. Was this actually a pocket of space?

What was going on? Karochi immediately closed his eyes to sense Universe 7.

But he was quickly disappointed; his consciousness seemed blocked by a solid wall. To put it simply, what used to be 4K resolution was now 480p.

It was like having severe presbyopia; he would need an eight-times scope just to see clearly.

It was as if they had been trapped in a cage. Karochi was truly shocked: "What is this situation? A new universe being born!? That can't be right, there was never any mention of this in the original story!"

Although Karochi hadn't watched every single episode of the entire Dragon Ball series, he knew the general plot. But this situation—whether in Z, GT, or Dragon Ball Super—had never been mentioned. Damn it, this was completely absurd.

Furthermore, he really did have some impression of that strange crystal, but he just couldn't recall it.

"Ugh!" With the interference of the eerie aura gone, Tights slowly regained consciousness, looking around in confusion.

"Big Sister Tights, how are you feeling?" Karochi decided to stop thinking about the damn crystal and leaned down to help her up.

"Little Chi!? Did we survive?" Tights, still dazed, saw the surrounding space on the screen and remembered everything in an instant.

Just a moment ago, merely seeing that strange red aura had made her head swell and feel unbearably nauseated, followed by a wave of dizziness.

Karochi could only offer a bitter smile. "I suppose you could say we survived, though we've been sealed inside that giant crystal." And I can't even use Instant Transmission, he added bitterly to himself.

He had originally thought that with Instant Transmission, he could go anywhere without fear, but this? It was incredibly disappointing.

The limitations were just too severe.

"What? That crystal has such a massive interior? Isn't this outer space?" Tights' eyes widened, and she cried out in disbelief.