He hadn't sensed anyone approaching at all! If the two people in front of him had wanted to kill him, he'd already be a corpse.
When Vegeta's gaze swept over Trunks's face, he only felt that the purple-haired boy looked vaguely familiar, though he couldn't remember why. But the moment his eyes landed on Son Gohan—or, more precisely, on the furry brown object wrapped around Son Gohan's waist—his pupils shrank to pinpricks.
"A tail?!"
Vegeta's expression changed dramatically. He pointed at Son Gohan's waist, his voice turning shrill with shock. "Who the hell are you? Apart from me, Kakarot, and Lin Fan, how could there be any other surviving pure-blooded Saiyans?"
Looking at the sorry state his father was in, Trunks felt a pang of sadness and instinctively started to speak. "Dad..."
But an arm barred his way.
Son Gohan stopped him and gave him a stern look.
Trunks gritted his teeth and swallowed the words that had been on the tip of his tongue.
Son Gohan stepped forward and faced Vegeta, who was on high alert. His voice was perfectly calm.
"Who we are doesn't matter." Son Gohan looked at him. "What matters is whether you want to become stronger."
Vegeta sneered, about to make a few sarcastic remarks.
Whoosh!
Son Gohan vanished from where he stood without warning.
Vegeta couldn't even catch a glimpse of his afterimage. His brain hadn't had time to tell his body to dodge when he felt his right shoulder suddenly sink.
A hand was already resting on his shoulder.
At the same time, a terrifying aura, tightly restrained yet as heavy as a collapsing star, forced its way into his body through that hand.
In that instant, every drop of blood in Vegeta's body seemed to freeze.
Cold sweat instantly drenched his back. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open, but no sound came out. He could feel it clearly: an immense, terrifying aura, as if he were facing the entire galaxy.
The gap was too vast.
So vast that he couldn't even bring himself to resist.
"How... is this possible..." Vegeta murmured, stunned, his eyes filled with incomprehension and fear.
Vegeta stood frozen in place, the hand on his right shoulder as heavy as a mountain. The overwhelming fear made it almost impossible for him to breathe.
Son Gohan withdrew his hand, and the terrifying aura that had crashed over Vegeta like a tidal wave vanished without a trace.
"Do you want to become stronger?" Son Gohan asked, watching Vegeta gasp for breath. His tone was matter-of-fact. "We can help you. The condition is simple: tell me everything you know about what's happening on Earth, especially everything about that 'Lin Fan' you just mentioned."
Vegeta clenched his teeth and stared at the two unfathomable strangers before him. Saiyan pride urged him to refuse, but his intense desire for power and his deep-seated hatred for the man named Lin Fan ultimately overcame his pride.
He took a deep breath and told them everything that had happened.
The timeline was just as Son Gohan had expected: the battle on Namek had ended not long ago. But the story had already been completely turned on its head.
Son Goku, who should have awakened as a Super Saiyan on Namek and defeated Frieza, had been completely upstaged. A Saiyan named Lin Fan had appeared out of nowhere, not only transforming into a Super Saiyan before him and blasting Frieza to pieces, but also humiliating everyone there—including Vegeta—by pinning them to the ground and giving them a vicious beating.
After learning everything, Trunks was furious. He couldn't believe his father and the others had been humiliated so badly, and he nearly rushed off to get justice for them.
Son Gohan, meanwhile, quickly weighed the situation in his mind.
Lin Fan had to be the source Popo had mentioned—the one responsible for throwing the world off course.
The guy was a transmigrator who knew the plot. The Original Dragon Balls were most likely connected to him, and might even be the physical manifestation of some kind of cheat ability or system he relied on to survive.
But some cheat abilities were completely unreasonable. Until they knew exactly what Lin Fan was capable of, charging in headfirst would be a foolish move.
They would stay hidden for now and use Vegeta to test Lin Fan's strength.
"From this moment on, you mustn't tell anyone about me or him." Son Gohan stared at Vegeta. "In return, we'll give you the power to kill Lin Fan with your own hands."
Over the next few days, Son Gohan and Trunks didn't rush to find the other Z Fighters. Instead, they first went to a nearby city.
Trunks picked a barren mountain, blasted open the earth with a single punch, and dug out several chunks of high-purity natural gold ore, which they exchanged for a large amount of cash. The two of them bought a supply of necessities, along with two black hooded cloaks that could conceal their figures and features.
West City, Capsule Corporation headquarters.
A nauseating air of decadence filled the enormous, lavishly furnished living room of Bulma's home.
A man who looked a lot like Vegito, with a bold, spiky hairstyle, lounged like a king on an oversized leather sofa. He was Lin Fan.
Lin Fan held Bulma tightly in his arms, his hands roaming over her body without restraint. Bulma not only made no attempt to resist, but leaned against his chest with flushed cheeks and a dazed look in her eyes, like a docile cat.
And Bulma wasn't the only one.
Beside the sofa, Mai wore an extremely revealing maid outfit and knelt on the floor, carefully peeling grapes and feeding them to Lin Fan. On the other side, the usually hot-tempered Blonde Launch was now exceptionally docile, diligently massaging his shoulders.
Even Bulma's mother stood nearby with a glass of red wine, gazing at Lin Fan with undisguised adoration and passion.
"Lord Lin Fan, is the pressure all right?" Launch asked in a saccharine voice.
"It's passable." Lin Fan chewed on a grape and gave Bulma's waist a hard squeeze, drawing a soft cry from her.
Lin Fan thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being above everyone else.
After transmigrating to this world, he had awakened the invincible Snatch System. As long as he stole opportunities and women from the original protagonists, he would receive generous rewards. He had not only stolen Son Goku's first Super Saiyan transformation on Namek, but had also used the system to exchange for an "Absolute Submission Aura" that had forcibly brainwashed these women.
"What Saiyan Prince? What savior of the universe?" Lin Fan sneered, his eyes full of disdain. "In this world, I'm the only god. I do whatever I want, and I surpass whoever I want!"
Bulma raised her head, her face filled with adoration. "Lord Lin Fan is the strongest. How could those worthless losers ever compare to you?"
Lin Fan burst into loud laughter. The sound echoed harshly through the empty living room.
Desolate Valley.
The howling wind whipped up gravel and sent it pelting against Vegeta's sweat-soaked back.
For the past few days, this valley had been Vegeta's personal hell. Son Gohan and Trunks had been relentlessly exploiting the Saiyans' ability to grow stronger after recovering from near-death injuries to help him boost his strength.
"Get ready." Trunks stood ten paces away and raised his right hand. A dazzling golden light flared at the tip of his index finger.
Bare-chested, Vegeta tensed every muscle in his body. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at Trunks's finger.
"Enough talk! Do it!"
Pfft!
A thin golden beam pierced straight through the right side of Vegeta's chest. Blood sprayed everywhere, and the stench of burned flesh filled the air.
Vegeta let out a piercing scream and dropped heavily to one knee. His features twisted from the intense pain. But he didn't hesitate for a moment: he crushed the Senzu Bean he'd been holding in his mouth and swallowed it.
The fatal hole in his chest rapidly healed before their eyes.
Vegeta gasped for breath as he rose to his feet, feeling the ki surging through his body.
"That's enough." Trunks looked at Vegeta and shook his head. "There's barely any change in your ki this time. You've completely exhausted your potential for the time being."
Son Gohan nodded from the side. "Stop here. There's no point in keeping this up."
They had gone through a total of eighty-eight Senzu Beans over the past few days.
In exchange, Vegeta's base power level had skyrocketed.
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