The Spiritual Fruit Tree

The planet before them could be described as utterly lifeless; vast stretches of barren, yellow earth lay exposed, devoid of even a hint of greenery, and not a drop of ocean water was to be seen.

"This... this shouldn't be!" Tights pulled up the images of Taluya Planet from the spaceship's database.

Well, Karochi suddenly felt that "catfishing" wasn't just a thing in his past life—it was clearly a trend in this Dragon Ball world, too!

In the pictures, Taluya was lush and verdant, teeming with countless forests and lakes. The landmasses were divided into three major continents, with the rest of the surface covered by vast oceans.

It was more habitable than Earth, a veritable Eden. But compared to the barren, bald rock before them? Damn, that was truly a case of "expectations versus reality."

"Big Sister Tights, is there any chance that we're just in a place that looks similar to the East Galaxy?" Karochi asked cautiously.

After all, this meant they were effectively without a lead; whether they could even leave was now in question.

Tights didn't pay Karochi any mind, instead staring at the two images on the screen, comparing them incessantly. "No, Little Chi, this has to be Taluya Planet! Look, the distribution of the continents is exactly the same as in the data."

Karochi leaned in to take a look. Huh? Is it? How on earth did Tights make sense of these geographical maps? Karochi was completely bewildered.

He looked at Tights with a sense of wonder, feeling as if they had both slacked off on their studies, yet she somehow managed to get a perfect score every time. Did you cheat or something?

Honestly, Tights hadn't stepped foot in a school since she was eleven! Was the basic education in the Dragon Ball world really that abysmal? It wasn't like Son Gohan was a scholar, either.

"Fine, you wouldn't understand this. Just know that this planet is definitely Taluya." Tights didn't give him a hard time; in her eyes, Karochi really had never been to school.

It was normal for him not to know these things. As for her? Hah, she had finished her entire education by the age of eight!

"Right, then what exactly is going on here?" Karochi conceded; after all, women were always right, even if they were just girls.

Tights didn't answer immediately; she was still conducting further scans.

"Li—Little Chi!!" Tights shouted, her voice trembling as if she had discovered something incredible.

Karochi turned around in curiosity. What is it? What did you find? "Big Sister Tights, what did you—!" It was as if invisible hands had gripped his throat; Karochi was rendered speechless.

Gulp!

He swallowed hard. On Taluya, a planet twice the size of Earth, there stood a tree of impossible proportions.

Even from deep space, one could clearly see its branching foliage. It was of such immense scale that if one were standing right next to it, they might not even be able to tell what it was.

It stretched endlessly, with no visible boundaries to the left, right, front, or back.

"The... the Tree of Might!! The Fruit of the Tree of Might!!!" Karochi's voice carried a hint of disbelief; yes, even his tone was shaking! This tree was far too famous.

Tights looked at Karochi, equally shocked. "This is the Tree of Might? The thing Brother Frieza was looking for!!? It's so massive!"

She hadn't expected this thing to actually exist, let alone be in a place like this!

At that moment, everything finally clicked for Karochi, including the purple crystal that had sucked him in!! That was clearly a Time-Space Fragment.

This thing didn't appear in the main storyline, but it showed up frequently in the game Dragon Ball Xenoverse! He had played that game too; you chose a race, created a character, and traveled through altered history to restore the original timeline.

But why would this thing appear in the entire universe? Wasn't this under the jurisdiction of the Time Nest!!? What about those Time Patrollers? If you guys keep this up, Zeno is going to get annoyed and wipe you out with a flick of his wrist!

Karochi didn't know that the Time Nest wasn't under Zeno's command.

Moreover, Karochi finally understood why something that didn't belong in the official history had appeared in this world: this world itself had been created by those two from the Demon Realm! It had nothing to do with whether it was "official" or not. If this galaxy expanded to the North Galaxy, the plot of the movie The Tree of Might would unfold.

The story of Turles bringing the seeds of the Tree of Might to Earth and Goku having to stop him!! Of course, if the plot really expanded that far, it certainly wouldn't end with Goku winning, because this world had already been tampered with!! It wouldn't follow the original script.

"I finally understand why Taluya is so different from the records!!" Karochi took a deep breath and said slowly.

Tights still hadn't caught on, looking at Karochi in confusion. "Why!!?" Did this have anything to do with the Tree of Might?

"The Tree of Might bears fruit that can make people stronger and even extend their lifespan!! In the universe, every power and gain comes with a price. Big Sister Tights, care to guess what this tree uses for fertilizer?" Karochi looked at the tree with complex emotions; he had a sudden desire to claim it! After all, the fruit was truly useful, but this thing was far too cruel.

"C—could it be the life on the planet!!?" Connecting the fact that Taluya was once a planet that had birthed intelligent life, and seeing it in its current state, combined with the tree's unnatural size, she realized the truth.

Karochi nodded slowly, then shook his head. "You're half right. It doesn't just absorb the living beings on the planet; the planet itself is its nutrient source!!"

If Karochi really planted this thing in the universe, even if the main cast didn't wipe him out, Beerus would definitely step in to destroy it!

Tights covered her mouth in shock, her eyes wide. "How... how can such an evil plant exist in the universe??"

Such a heretical thing deserved to be destroyed!!

"Let's go, Big Sister Tights! Setting everything else aside, we're taking the fruit on that tree." Karochi recovered from his shock. He would definitely destroy the tree—he wasn't about to lose his humanity for a bit of power! But destroying the tree didn't mean he had to destroy the fruit, right? That stuff was a treasure.

Tights couldn't quite follow his train of thought. "Shouldn't we destroy the tree??" Such a bizarre and evil thing ought to be eradicated!

Tights looked at Karochi with a scrutinizing gaze. Don't tell me my bratty little brother has developed some twisted ideas!! Like planting seeds across the universe for the sake of power.

"Uh... Big Sister Tights, what's with that look!! The tree definitely has to be destroyed, but the fruit on it is already ripe—wouldn't it be a waste to destroy it?" Karochi put on an expression of someone who hated wasting food, then leaned in toward Tights with a cheeky grin. "I heard that if you eat one of these fruits, not only does your strength increase and your life extend, but it also has beauty and anti-aging effects."

At this moment, Karochi looked just like a devil trying to tempt Tights into hell!!

Would she fall for it? As a righteous girl with a strong moral compass, of course she would! "Really? Really!!? Will I become like Rielbea?"

Tights was so envious of Rielbea; her skin was truly flawless, so tender it felt like it would drip water if you squeezed it!! Although Tights had grown into a beautiful young woman with a lovely complexion, she had to admit there was still a significant gap compared to Rielbea.

Hearing Tights' request, Karochi felt it was a bit much!! Even if you gathered the seven Dragon Balls and asked Shenron, he'd have to say: I can't do that, my lady!

"S—something like that!!" Karochi wiped the sweat from his forehead. The fruit could improve one's complexion, but it couldn't perform a total rebirth or change one's face!!

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!!" Tights was already impatient to eat one and test the results.

I'm telling a white lie. Foolish Tights, she still can't see reality~ Amen. Besides, what was the point of comparing herself to those "cheating" elves? They represented perfection!! They didn't have a single flaw, delicate as dolls.

Karochi actually felt that was less beautiful; everyone had flaws!! This was definitely not because Karochi was too shy to even speak to Rielbea.

The Taluya Planet had likely been drained not long ago; the atmosphere remained intact, though the ground was completely fractured. Upon entering the atmosphere, those winding, massive tree roots came fully into view.

The exposed roots alone were over a hundred meters thick, making it easy to imagine just how colossal the main body must be!

At this moment, Whis and the Supreme Kai of Time, Chronoa, who were outside the Time-Space Crystal, were at a loss as to where to begin.

Since this Time-Space Crystal did not belong to the orthodox timeline, the most appropriate course of action was to completely eliminate the evil entity within before bringing it back to the Time Nest to be sealed away.

After all, there were trillions of living beings inside; destroying it outright would be a violation of the natural order!

"In that case, Mr. Whis, I shall head inside! I will purify it completely and then bring it back to the Time Nest," Chronoa said helplessly. If this were an orthodox timeline, it wouldn't be nearly this much trouble! She could have purified the evil aura from outside the Time-Space Crystal, and the corrective force of history would have dragged it back onto its original temporal track.

But things were different now; this thing was essentially a miniature world copied by those from the Demon Realm, modeled after the galaxy! The original world line did not accept this segment of space-time.

"Oh my, that is truly a bother for you, Supreme Kai of Time! By the way, two little friends from my universe seem to have been sucked inside. If it's not too much trouble, Lady Chronoa, please do your best to bring them out as well!" Whis had not forgotten Karochi and Tights, though, naturally, whether the two lived or died was of no consequence to him originally.

As the highest-ranking deities in the universe, they did not concern themselves with the lives or deaths of mortals. This was not because they were heartless, but because their duties did not lie there.

To use an analogy: if you could save ten thousand people by killing one, would you do it or not?

Deities like Whis and Beerus were responsible for the entire universe! Narrow concepts of justice and evil were, to them, nothing more than a joke.