A bone-chilling cold instantly seeped into every inch of the spaceship.
There was no gale, no explosion, not even a tangible blast of energy.
Yet every muscle in Lin Chen's body, every cell, screamed a frantic, top-level warning of imminent death.
It was the absolute suppression of a superior over an inferior, the indifferent killing intent of the Universe Emperor looking down upon ants.
A mere lock-on with his divine sense made the small scout ship shudder violently. Red warning lights flashed wildly, and piercing mechanical alarms blared without pause.
[Detected lock-on by extremely high-level evil energy!]
[Enemy combat power exceeds detection limit!]
[Ship engines overloaded. Shields on the verge of collapse!]
The cold system alerts mingled with the mechanical alarms, making his scalp crawl.
Lin Chen sat in the pilot's seat, his back already drenched in cold sweat, his pupils constricting.
Frieza!
It really was him!
Planet Vegeta had just been completely destroyed. Billions of Saiyans had turned to ash in an instant. Amid such an immense scene of destruction, Frieza had precisely detected the energy signature of his tiny, insignificant escape pod!
At that moment, Lin Chen truly understood the terror of the Universe Emperor.
His vision, perception, and control were all far beyond the understanding of an ordinary Saiyan.
"A mere stray ant dares flee right under my nose?"
The indifferent voice pierced through space once more. It drifted lightly into Lin Chen's ears, yet carried the chill of a death sentence.
In the depths of space, a black energy sphere large enough to blot out the sky floated slowly.
It was the world-ending energy bomb that had just obliterated Planet Vegeta.
Its energy had yet to dissipate. Black streams of power coiled around it, devouring all light nearby. It was silent, cold, and utterly destructive.
A petite yet awe-inspiring white figure floated motionlessly in front of the energy sphere.
He was short, with pale skin and a purple crystal headpiece. An aura of despairingly immense power swirled around him.
Frieza.
The universally acknowledged emperor of the cosmos, ruler of more than half the star regions, an absolute powerhouse who regarded billions of living beings as weeds.
He tilted his head slightly. His narrow, icy, slit-pupiled eyes fixed precisely on the tottering little ship, though it was tens of thousands of meters away across the stars.
His gaze held no fury, no surging bloodlust.
Only utter indifference, as if he were looking at a speck of dust about to be crushed underfoot.
"Such a weak energy signature, barely fifteen hundred in combat power... A worthless Saiyan from the lowest depths of Planet Vegeta?"
Frieza murmured softly, a hint of amused curiosity in his voice.
He knew exactly how devastating his attack had been.
The entire planet had exploded from its core. The surface, the underground, every hidden space had been annihilated. Low-class Saiyans had no chance of surviving, and even a warrior like Nappa would never have lived through an explosion of that magnitude.
And yet this lowly grunt, with his pitiful combat power, had survived—and was secretly trying to flee the star region in a spaceship.
"How interesting."
Frieza raised a fingertip slightly. A slender black thread of energy slowly took shape.
It was an annihilation beam he had casually formed, weak and utterly insignificant.
But it was more than enough to erase a mere low-class Saiyan with a combat power of fifteen hundred.
In the starry void, a black beam shot forth at the speed of light, locked straight onto the heart of the ship!
Lin Chen's heart clenched. He had no time to think.
With death pressing down on him, the razor-sharp rationality he had honed through ten years of endurance and training kicked into overdrive.
He couldn't dodge!
There was no way he could block it head-on!
The difference wasn't a matter of being outmatched by some multiple. It was an absolute gulf between dimensions!
Frieza's casual strike had to carry hundreds of thousands in combat power, or even more.
With his own combat power barely above fifteen hundred, the instant it touched him, he would be reduced to ash.
"System! Evade all threats! Minimize the damage as much as possible!"
Lin Chen roared inwardly almost instinctively.
[Beep! Detected a fatal attack! Host's desperate survival mechanism activated!]
[Temporarily unlocked: Micro-level Ultra Instinct Reaction!]
[Physical capacity overdrawn. Evading lethal attack!]
In an instant, Lin Chen's thoughts and physical reactions were forcibly pushed to their limits.
The deadly beam hurtling toward him seemed to slow by half in his eyes.
His hands moved at blinding speed over the ship's controls, fingertips leaving afterimages. He pushed the engines to full power, and the ship abruptly rolled sideways just before the light-speed attack arrived!
Boom—!
The black beam skimmed the ship's hull and struck the field of stellar wreckage behind it.
The floating planetary fragments and meteorite debris were instantly annihilated, not even leaving behind a trace of dust.
The terrifying shockwave slammed into the ship's stern. The small craft spun and tumbled wildly as if struck by a giant hammer. Dense cracks split across its metal hull, and several engine conduits burst apart.
Flames scattered through the interior, and smoke billowed in an instant.
"Cough!"
Lin Chen slammed hard into the cockpit's protective panel. His chest lurched, and a bloody sweetness surged up his throat. He forced it back down.
Pain stabbed through several of his bones. His arm muscles had begun to twitch from the high-speed maneuvering and violent shaking.
He was alive.
He had come within a hair's breadth of dying in the depths of space.
But that had only been one of Frieza's casual attacks.
It hadn't even counted as a warm-up.
Across the void, Frieza raised an eyebrow, genuine surprise entering his eyes.
"Oh? You dodged?"
"A mere low-class Saiyan, yet your reflexes are rather impressive."
He had assumed that strike would be enough to erase his target completely. He hadn't expected a lowly grunt to dodge it by the skin of his teeth.
An overwhelming instinct to survive, astonishingly fast reflexes, and a weak but exceptionally refined energy signature.
Frieza's icy eyes flickered slightly, his interest growing.
"An ordinary weakling couldn't have survived the planet's explosion, much less dodged my attack."
"You have a secret."
He didn't attack again immediately. Instead, he hovered motionless in space, watching the badly damaged little ship teeter on the verge of breaking apart.
"Stay."
The single, quiet word carried an imperial will that allowed no refusal.
"Submit to me and reveal your secret. I can spare your life and grant you a position in my army."
Among the low-ranking warriors, Frieza had never made such an offer to one in ten thousand.
He valued talent, and he valued the unusual even more.
A low-class Saiyan who could survive such a desperate situation and dodge his attack was surely hiding something.
If Frieza made him submit, perhaps he could uncover something entertaining.
If the Saiyan proved insolent, Frieza could always kill him with a casual strike.
Silence filled the starry void, and Frieza's voice echoed slowly through the ship.
Lin Chen panted heavily, staring at the white figure beyond the screen, his gaze icy.
Submit?
Become Frieza's lackey?
Ridiculous.
He knew Frieza's nature all too well.
Cruel, suspicious, bloodthirsty, merciless.
Frieza was making the offer because he had noticed something strange about him.
If Lin Chen truly submitted and Frieza discovered the truth, wrung every last bit of value out of him, then Lin Chen's only reward would be an inevitable execution.
Frieza had slaughtered the Saiyans wholesale. What chance did an unknown nobody from another world have?
Surrender meant certain death.
Resist, and he had a one-in-nine chance of survival.
But at least there was a chance.
"In your dreams."
Lin Chen uttered the three words in a low voice, unwavering.
He steadied the violently bucking ship with one hand. Fighting through the pain, he forced the crude control system back online. The battered engines sputtered blue flames once more as the ship hurtled with all its might toward the jump point at the edge of the star region.
Only by leaving this stretch of space and entering the turbulence belt would he have any chance of escape!
"You refuse?"
Frieza's eyes turned cold, his last shred of patience vanishing completely.
"Wretched ant, you dare defy me again and again?"
"If you won't obey, then I'll crush you completely. I can search your soul myself and uncover your secret all the same."
As the words fell, the temperature across the entire starfield plunged to freezing.
Terrifying energy, dozens of times greater than before, began to gather in his palm.
A huge sphere of energy, black with purple radiance, slowly took shape, warping the space around it.
This was no longer a casual test strike. It was a true killing blow, meant to destroy him utterly!
The asteroids, debris, and remaining traces of energy across the entire star region were swallowed up.
The pressure of annihilation once more enveloped Lin Chen.
[Warning! Extremely high-risk energy approaching! Fatal-level attack!]
[Ship structure on the verge of total collapse! Cannot withstand! Cannot evade!]
The system issued warnings frantically as the screen turned completely red.
Lin Chen's expression darkened.
He couldn't dodge.
Frieza was serious now.
With his current strength, he had no room to maneuver against Frieza's killing blow.
"System! Do I have any emergency means of staying alive?"
Lin Chen immediately asked in a low voice.
[Beep! Host on the verge of death! All temporary potential can be consumed to activate [Desperate Burst]!]
[Combat power will instantly triple! Duration: ten seconds!]
[Afterward, host will be weakened for three days and base combat power will temporarily decrease!]
Three times his combat power!
That would raise him instantly to more than 4,700!
Lin Chen's eyes lit up.
The price afterward would be steep, and his combat power would drop, but right now, this was his only way out!
"Activate it! Now!"
[Desperate Burst activated successfully!]
Boom!
Terrifying power erupted inside him. The energy flooded his aching, battered body, and his aura surged violently. White energy burst through the ship's cabin and kicked up a visible wave across space!
An aura of 4,700 combat power burst forth in full!
The force shattered most of the ship's damaged hull. The glass panels exploded, leaving Lin Chen half-exposed to space.
The freezing chill of the void and the turbulent cosmic radiation washed over him, yet neither could suppress his surging power.
With his thoughts accelerated tenfold, he fixed his eyes on the incoming giant energy bomb.
Ten seconds!
He had only ten seconds at his peak!
"You want to kill me? Then try it!"
Lin Chen brought his hands together swiftly as the cosmic energy around him rushed into his palms.
A pale energy sphere rapidly took shape. It was pitifully small beside Frieza's world-ending attack, but it was concentrated to the utmost, without a trace of wasted energy!
Kamehameha!
After ten years in hiding, he had long since memorized the principles behind Earth's martial arts techniques. By combining them with the Saiyan method of wielding energy, he could now use the technique on his own!
"Hah!"
With a low shout, a white beam shot through space, charging head-on into the black sphere of destructive energy!
The next instant, the two forces crashed into each other!
Rumble—!
A thunderous boom that seemed to echo through eternity shook the entire star region!
Blinding black-and-white light engulfed everything, swallowing up all sight!
Terrifying energy currents raged wildly. Countless planetary fragments were instantly annihilated, and the entire starfield shuddered violently!
The feeble Kamehameha was crushed, swallowed, and shattered in an instant before the world-ending energy.
But it had still managed to cancel out most of the impact!
That fleeting instant of resistance!
It was enough!
Lin Chen seized the recoil from the energy collision and sprang away from the wrecked ship, stepping into open space. Using the turbulence to propel himself, he hurtled at full speed toward the nearby interstellar jump current!
Behind him, the spaceship was instantly blasted into nothingness, vanishing into the starry void.
"Hm?!"
Far away, Frieza's pupils contracted, surprise written all over his face.
He had never imagined that a low-class Saiyan could unleash resistance of this caliber—and even use the momentum to escape!
"Interesting. Very interesting!"
Frieza wasn't angry. His smile only widened, and greed surfaced fully in his eyes.
"A low-class physique, yet you can grow stronger in a desperate situation. You possess a special martial art, and you have some bizarre means of escape..."
"You're hiding secrets more interesting than the Super Saiyan transformation!"
He moved, instantly turning into a streak of white light as he chased after Lin Chen.
"Run. Run as much as you like!"
"I'd like to see just how far you can get!"
"Once I catch you, I'll make sure to study you thoroughly!"
An all-out chase through the stars had begun!
Lin Chen pushed himself to his absolute top speed, his body threading through the cosmic turbulence. Layers of energy burst across his skin, barely holding back the currents that threatened to tear him apart.
His muscles tore and healed, only to tear again. Agony spread through his entire body, but he didn't dare slow down.
The terrifying presence behind him clung to him like a leech, drawing ever closer!
The distance shrank rapidly!
Five thousand meters!
Three thousand meters!
One thousand meters!
The distance between him and death dwindled to almost nothing!
Lin Chen could even feel the cold breath behind him.
In another instant, he'd be caught!
"I have to reach the jump current ahead! If I can get into a space corridor and travel at random, I might be able to shake him!"
Lin Chen gritted his teeth and forced himself to accelerate. His energy was burning away, and his vision had begun to darken.
At the brink of despair, space ahead suddenly twisted violently, and a pitch-black rift snapped open!
A random interstellar jump corridor had formed ahead of schedule!
"Now!"
With the last of his strength, Lin Chen charged forward and plunged into the dark rift.
Behind him, Frieza's killing blow arrived in an instant, grazing the edge of the rift before missing completely!
"An interstellar jump?!"
Frieza stopped abruptly before the rift, watching the spatial opening slowly heal. At last, his expression turned completely cold.
"A random interstellar jump... The trajectory can't be tracked..."
He stared at the rift for a long moment, fingers curling slightly as murderous intent mingled with fascination in his eyes.
"You may escape for a while, but you can't escape forever."
"I've already memorized your energy signature and the fluctuations of your bloodline."
"No matter what corner of the universe you flee to, I'll bring you back."
"Next time we meet, let's see if you can escape again!"
The spatial rift slowly healed, and the starry void fell silent once more.
At that moment, Lin Chen was being swept along by endless spatial currents, his body tumbling wildly as his consciousness began to fade.
The burst of power had completely worn off. His strength vanished all at once, pain engulfed his body, and his combat power plunged.
He struggled to hold on to the last trace of consciousness, watching unfamiliar coordinates for a star system flicker before him.
He had no idea where he was being sent.
Would it be a safe star system, or a dangerous, uninhabited death zone?
Just as his consciousness was about to sink into darkness, the system's icy prompt rang out in his mind once more.
[Beep! Host has escaped certain death! Main quest complete!] [Desperate Escape quest rewards calculated! Rewards issued!] [Congratulations, Host: Super Saiyan—Basic access unlocked!] [Congratulations, Host: You have received a massive number of combat power points! Combat power permanently increased by 1,200!] [Congratulations, Host: You have received a random bloodline talent—[Near-Death Super-Speed Recovery]!]
The enormous rewards arrived one after another, and a warm current surged through his battered body.
But before Lin Chen could even feel happy, an unfamiliar, vast divine consciousness—far more terrifying than Frieza's—suddenly pierced the spatial currents and gently swept over him.
A detached female voice echoed in the depths of his mind, tinged with confusion.
"An unfamiliar Saiyan bloodline... Escaped across star systems... An interesting mortal presence..."
"Has a new variable finally appeared in Universe 7?"
Lin Chen's heart shook!
Beerus?
No!
This divine consciousness was more ancient, profound, and unfathomable than a God of Destruction's!
What terrifying being lurked in this unknown star system?!
Before you continue