Angry Counterattack

Vegeta still wanted to fight.

He gritted his teeth, his muscles bulging, desperately trying to wring out every last bit of strength.

Alas, his body had reached its limit.

With every movement, his limbs felt as heavy as lead, his bones creaking as if they would fall apart at any second.

The parasitic cells were still multiplying madly within him, like a nest of vipers, constricting his nerves and gnawing at his last vestiges of will.

His vision began to darken, the world distorting and swaying, his ears filled with a buzzing noise.

His consciousness was like a flickering oil lamp, barely alight, being swallowed by the darkness bit by bit.

Just then—

A beam of red light suddenly split the sky, as thick as a tree trunk, its momentum like a divine punishment.

The red light tore through the dark clouds, its edges wreathed in golden lightning, carrying an irresistible pressure as it struck Great Ape Baby's tail!

"BOOM—!!!"

The explosive roar ripped through the air, the ground shaking violently. Flames seemed to burn through the sky, blasting a mushroom cloud from the ground.

The inferno surged skyward like a red tyrannosaur, consuming everything around it.

Great Ape Baby staggered, thrown back several steps by the explosion. Each step it took left a deep crater, the earth groaning in protest.

Half of its tail was blown off, blood and charred flesh flying everywhere, splattering the ground with a pungent stench of burning and sulfur.

"Who!!"

Gohan turned sharply, his gaze as sharp as an ice blade, roaring in the direction of the red light.

Shock and anger were etched on his face. His hands were already poised, a blue energy sphere forming between his palms, a dangerous aura radiating outwards.

A figure slowly descended from the sky.

Even the wind grew heavy, the air feeling compressed as if by an unseen force.

It was a man in black armor.

His red hair swayed in the wind like flames, his pupils a crimson hue, unnervingly quiet yet deep and sharp, as if piercing all secrets.

A faint crimson divine aura enveloped him. It wasn't overwhelmingly powerful, but it possessed an innate, irresistible majesty that made one want to bow their head, daring not to look directly.

It was Jiang Che.

He hung there, as straight as a javelin, his clothes fluttering in the wind.

The sheer aura he exuded caused dust and debris to automatically part around him.

His gaze swept across Gohan and Great Ape Baby, a smile of unknown meaning playing on his lips.

"I'm not too late, am I?" His deep, resonant voice shattered the silence, freezing the entire battlefield in an instant.

The air seemed to be held captive, the wind stopped.

The dark clouds stilled.

The dust on the ground hung motionless in the air, time itself seeming to halt. Even a half-suspended rock in the distance was frozen.

Great Ape Baby roared, a sound like a thousand armies charging, making the very ground tremble.

It slammed its massive arms down, instantly cracking the ground, sending shards of rock flying like rain.

The foul blood from its severed tail dripped into the earth, easily corroding the surface into smoking pits, the boiling, pungent stench of burning filling the surroundings.

Its eyes were filled with killing intent, its blood-red pupils locked onto Jiang Che, as if wanting to tear him apart and devour him.

"You dare to break my tail..." Baby's voice was low and hoarse, rough like grinding stones, each word chilling.

"A Saiyan like you, appearing from nowhere, to interfere with my plans?"

It sneered, revealing its fangs, still stained with blood.

It slowly straightened its body, blocking out a large portion of the sky. Its heavy breaths sounded like bellows, each one carrying a wave of heat.

Gohan and Goten turned at the same time, their movements identical, like puppets on strings.

The red light in their eyes was bizarre, not ordinary light at all, but a faint glow emanating from their pupils, like hellfire.

Black patterns appeared on their battle armor, those lines writhing slowly, identical to the aura emanating from Baby.

There was no doubt they were completely controlled, their souls lost.

Gohan raised his hand, a ki blast expanding in his palm.

It started fist-sized, then moments later, it was like an inverted water basin, emitting a piercing hum.

Black and red ripples pulsed, like a violently beating heart, each beat tightening one's chest.

The surrounding air churned into transparent ripples, veins bulging on his arm, clearly indicating he was giving his all.

"Lord Baby said he wants to kill you." His voice was devoid of emotion, a cold, mechanical tone.

His lips moved as if he were a programmed robot.

Goten crouched nearby, gathering his strength, his legs tensed like a leopard before a hunt.

Golden ki coiled around his hands, flickering like fire and scorching the very air.

Their gazes were locked onto Jiang Che's throat; the prey was clearly already marked.

Yet Jiang Che didn't even look at them. His eyes were fixed on Vegeta, treating Gohan and Goten as if they were nothing more than flies.

He watched the hovering Vegeta, whose body had become nothing but an empty shell. His eyes were reduced to black voids with blood-red pinpricks, the red bleeding into the ink-black like a stain, enough to make one's scalp crawl.

Black, parasite-like veins covered his entire body, spreading from his neck to his extremities and writhing slightly beneath his skin, looking for all the world as if he were being devoured from within.

Jiang Che watched with a hint of disgust, his brows knit tightly together as a cold smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Truly unsightly. Is this the standard of the Saiyan Prince? You spent your childhood as Frieza's dog, and now you've let yourself be possessed by low-level parasites. You've thrown away the entire Saiyan bloodline."

Before his words had even faded, Gohan and Goten lunged forward!

Their figures vanished in a flash, leaving only the sound of air being torn apart and two clouds of dust rising from the ground.

The next second, the two of them had already closed in on Jiang Che from both sides!

Gohan swung his right fist, hurling a massive ki blast at Jiang Che, its swirling energy wreaking havoc.

The air shrieked as the ki blast tore through it, carving a deep trench into the ground. Debris and dust were kicked up by the shockwave, forming a long, grey-yellow dragon.

The power contained within the blast was like a caged beast, struggling frantically, ready to tear everything in its path to shreds the very next moment.