Thunderclap in the Palm

Jiang Che faced the violent strike with no expression on his face.

He did not even bother to shift his feet, merely raising his right hand with his five fingers spread, his palm facing the lethal energy wave head-on.

A faint red light pulsed within his palm, dancing between his fingers like a flickering flame.

"Hah!" he let out a low shout, and the red light suddenly erupted.

A searing beam of light shot from his palm, instantly condensing into a barrier that met the energy wave directly.

A heaven-shaking roar echoed as the energy wave collided with the red light, sending ripples of air blasting outward. The ground beneath them cracked, the fissures spreading like a spiderweb across the surrounding area.

The energy wave was like a beast slamming into an invisible wall; it could not advance a single inch. It trembled and distorted before Jiang Che, struggling uselessly as if bound by iron chains.

Jiang Che suddenly clenched his hand, pulling his five fingers together.

The red light in his palm contracted, firmly enveloping the entire energy wave and crushing it like a giant pair of pliers.

"Bang!" With a dull thud, the energy wave was crushed to pieces by his bare hand.

Fragments scattered everywhere like shattered stars. Each piece left a deep crater upon hitting the ground, kicking up clouds of dust. In an instant, dozens of smoking holes appeared in the area, and the air grew thick with a choking, scorched scent.

He stood at the very center of the explosion, his robes snapping in the wind, yet he did not have a single scratch on him.

Baby froze at the sight.

His pupils shrank to pinpricks, his eyes nearly bulging from their sockets, and his initial rage was entirely replaced by shock. "This... how is this possible?!" His voice trembled as he stepped backward, cold sweat pouring uncontrollably down his forehead.

He stared fixedly at Jiang Che. That energy wave, which could have shattered an entire mountain, had been crushed by Jiang Che as easily as one might crush an egg. It was inconceivable!

"There are plenty of impossible things," Jiang Che said faintly, the smile at the corner of his mouth deepening.

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Che's figure flickered.

Only a residual image remained in place, and the air shrieked as it was torn apart. He surged toward Baby like a phantom, moving with a speed that the eye could not track.

Alarm bells rang in Baby's mind. He hurriedly raised his arms to block, crossing them in front of his chest, his muscles tensed to their limit to withstand the blow.

But Jiang Che was too fast—he gave Baby no time to react at all.

A knee strike slammed into Baby's abdomen like a thunderbolt.

"Puh-ah!" The force of the knee strike made Baby feel as if he had been hit by a meteorite.

His eyes widened, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, staining his clothes.

His body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing uncontrollably into the ruins behind him.

Jiang Che did not let him catch his breath.

He twisted his body in mid-air and pursued him, moving so fast he left a trail of red light.

Clasping his hands together and interlocking his fingers, he raised his arms high and brought them down on Baby's back like a heavy iron hammer!

"Boom!" A heavy sound erupted, like the earth collapsing.

Baby's body slammed into the ground like a meteor. Dust billowed into the sky, rubble rolled, and a crater dozens of meters in diameter and at least five or six meters deep was carved into the earth.

The bottom of the pit was covered in spiderweb-like cracks. Baby lay in the center, blood spilling from his mouth, his body twitching. Blood stained a patch of the ground, and his spine seemed to groan in agony.

Debris flew everywhere, and the smoke was as thick as fog, obscuring half the sky. The air was filled with the pungent smell of sulfur and scorching heat.

The cracks in the ground spread endlessly, and wisps of white smoke rose from the fissures, as if the earth itself were mourning.

In the distance, Gohan stared, his legs trembling slightly, unable to utter a word.

The Baby within him had been purged, and his body had returned to normal, but the memories of being controlled remained vivid—every movement, every attack, and every painful roar was branded into his mind.

He clenched his fists, sweat streaming down his forehead and evaporating into a small mist the moment it hit the ground.

"That boy... how can he be this strong..." Gohan muttered to himself, filled with shock and awe.

He replayed the moment Jiang Che threw his punch in his mind; the air had been torn apart, exploding with a deafening sonic boom. The Saiyan instinct within him trembled. "Baby didn't even have a chance to fight back against him... This kind of power, it's like a god's..."

In the crater, Baby struggled to crawl up. His entire body was covered in bloody lacerations, the deepest one running diagonally from his shoulder to his waist, flesh torn open to the bone.

Blood flowed from the corners of his mouth, the wounds on his forehead, and the countless gashes on his body, staining the rubble beneath him a dark red.

His breathing was ragged and chaotic, and every inhalation produced a rattling sound in his throat, as if he might expire at any moment.

He looked up and stared at Jiang Che, his eyes trembling with fear and resentment.

His former arrogance was long gone, replaced by overwhelming apprehension and despair.

His fingers clawed desperately into the rubble, his nails breaking and bleeding, yet he still tried to prop up his broken body.

"Who... who exactly are you?" Baby roared, his voice so hoarse it was nearly a scream, like the final struggle of a beast. "A Saiyan cannot be this strong! Who are you?! Are you a god? Or a monster?!"

Jiang Che slowly descended in front of Baby, his feet kicking up a circle of fine dust as they touched the ground.

His boots crunched against the rubble.

He lowered his head slightly, looking down at Baby with an indifferent, calm gaze, as if observing an ant.

Sunlight poured down from behind him, casting a divine halo around his silhouette.

"My name is Jiang Che," he said, his voice soft yet exceptionally clear, every word imbued with an irresistible majesty.

"As for why I am so strong—when you go to hell, ask those gods. They might be able to give you the answer."

Jiang Che slowly raised his right hand, fingers splayed, palm facing upward.

An invisible pressure instantly descended from the air, causing the surrounding rubble to shatter into even finer dust with a series of sharp, crackling pops.

A sphere of red energy slowly coalesced in his palm; it was only the size of a fist at first, but its scarlet glow was blinding, pulsing like a beating heart.

The energy sphere rotated with a low hum, the surrounding air distorting and blurring from the intense heat. Waves of heat rippled outward, and even from dozens of meters away, Gohan could feel the scorching intensity.

Baby's pupils constricted to pinpricks, and the hair on his arms stood on end.

He could feel the power swirling within that energy sphere—it was not only immense, but carried a lethal aura capable of erasing all life.

He stumbled backward in a panic, his feet kicking up debris as he teetered, his body too weak to keep its balance.

"No—don't!" Baby's voice was laced with desperation, bordering on tears. "I still have so many secrets! I know the locations of every powerhouse in the universe! I can help you conquer it! I'll be your slave! Anything, just please, spare me!"