Laila I

This was a desolate region of space, its surroundings pitch-black. Only occasionally did faint starlight filter past planets and meteorites to illuminate the void.

And in this lifeless void, an eight-year-old boy was floating.

Though he was covered in blood, the rise and fall of his chest proved he was still alive.

As the boy breathed, a shaft of starlight in the distance fell upon his face, as if the universe itself were grateful for his existence and had brought life to this void.

Under the starlight, his face could now be seen clearly.

The boy had black hair and a delicate face. His eyes were tightly shut, and his furrowed brows seemed to reflect the pain in his body. But none of that was the strangest thing about him. No matter the circumstances, his hair remained half upright.

His features made it clear that this boy was none other than Kast, who had fought Frieza earlier.

But why was Kast now covered in wounds, unconscious and drifting through space? What had happened?

Only Kast could answer that once he came to.

Before long, as the starlight fell upon him, Kast's eyelids began to twitch. It was a sign that he was about to wake.

"Where am I?!"

In his daze, Kast could only feel that he was floating quietly in the void.

"Hiss!"

Kast opened his eyes and tried to sit up, but suddenly sucked in a sharp breath. A searing pain shot through his left arm.

"What?!"

Looking at his left arm, Kast's pupils contracted. His arm was gone, replaced by a gruesome stump streaked with crimson blood.

The wound was also blackened with heat-scorched carbon.

Kast furrowed his brow at the injury. Enduring the intense pain, he struggled upright, then sat in the void.

"I almost died."

Looking at the charred stump, Kast couldn't help feeling fortunate. If the wound hadn't been cauterized, he would have bled to death.

"But it was worth it!"

Recalling what had happened earlier, Kast couldn't help smiling.

During his battle with Frieza, Kast had concentrated all his ki into a single point and fired a blast at him.

Frieza had also unleashed his full power and fired back.

In his Super Saiyan Mimicry state, Kast's battle power had been around 125 million, while Frieza's at full power was 120 million.

Their strength had been nearly equal.

So, as the two clashed in that fierce beam struggle, they kept pouring more and more ki into their attacks, and the area affected by the collision grew larger and larger.

On top of that, they had been standing close to each other.

In the end, both were caught in the energy waves, and the energy sphere engulfed them.

The energy was so immense that the moment Kast tried to resist it, his left arm was swallowed up. The intense heat melted it instantly, despite his ability to withstand temperatures of thousands of degrees, leaving the wound cauterized.

Soon, the energy sphere reached its limit. At last, a violent explosion sent them both flying.

The instant he was sent hurtling away, Kast passed out from the powerful impact. He had only just woken up.

Kast reached out with his right arm and fumbled awkwardly inside his clothes.

Before long, his fingers seemed to find something. He pulled it out.

Opening his hand, he saw a green bean. It looked ordinary, but to Kast, it was a lifesaving treasure.

This was none other than the Senzu Bean he had obtained at Korin Tower. As long as someone was still alive, it could instantly heal any injury, no matter how severe—a "super healing medicine."

Looking at the Senzu Bean in his hand, Kast smiled and swallowed it without the slightest hesitation.

"Crunch, crunch." After a few bites, Kast gulped down the chewed-up bean.

Boom!

The moment he swallowed it, Kast's body suddenly swelled, and his injuries healed in an instant.

At the same time, the charred remains at the stump of Kast's left arm began to fall away. Buds of flesh emerged and writhed incessantly, while the bone beneath them grew back at a visible pace.

Soon, the new flesh enveloped the bone and intertwined around it. At last, Kast's left arm had grown back.

Kast flexed his left hand. Feeling that it was just as it had been before, he couldn't help smiling.

But his smile soon faded. His expression returned to its usual calm as he turned toward a patch of empty space in the distance.

"How long are you going to keep watching?"

As soon as he spoke, the space in the distance began to distort, and a figure slowly appeared where there had been no one.