Laba

"Of course. You can call me Laba."

Laba smiled confidently. "Because today, I, Laba, am destined to destroy you here!"

"Oh."

King Cold responded indifferently.

His face remained expressionless, but inside, it was as if ten thousand wild horses were stampeding through his mind.

What the hell?!

Raditz and Nappa actually fused!?

Was I seeing a ghost or something...?

King Cold was utterly shocked.

Fellow countryman, fellow countryman...

Look at what you've done. You've turned the Dragon Balls world into a complete mess...

Though he was deeply shaken inside, King Cold did not believe he would lose to his opponent.

The aura Laba, the fused warrior, was currently unleashing was only on the same level as his own. The outcome was still uncertain.

Besides, even if he could not win.

King Cold did not believe he would die here.

In his view, with his strength, dragging things out until the other party defused would be effortless.

Seeing King Cold's calm expression.

Laba was somewhat displeased. "Looking at you, it seems you don't take me seriously at all. Looks like unless I teach you a lesson, you won't understand how powerful I am!"

"Yes..."

Just as King Cold was about to speak, his expression changed drastically.

Laba raised two fingers.

The next second, white light flashed.

Boom!

With the two of them at the center, everything within several miles was leveled to the ground.

After the explosion, smoke and dust filled the sky.

King Cold, protected by an energy barrier, was completely unharmed.

But Frieza, who had been lying beside him moments earlier, had already been reduced to ashes.

"Damn it, you bastard! You actually have no honor at all!"

King Cold glared furiously at Laba.

"Hmph!"

Laba snorted. "What honor is there to speak of with someone like you? Next, it's time to send you down there too."

"Arrogant!"

King Cold was genuinely angry now.

He suddenly erupted with energy.

Countless purple bolts of lightning swirled around him as he charged toward Laba in a fury.

Laba neither dodged nor retreated, meeting him head-on.

Their figures clashed continuously in the air.

Golden and purple auras intertwined, and every collision unleashed a visible shockwave that tore the surrounding clouds to shreds.

They moved too fast for the naked eye to follow. All anyone could see were two streaks of light chasing, crossing, separating, then chasing again through the sky.

Laba's fists carried the full force of his Super Saiyan state, every blow aimed directly at King Cold's vital points.

King Cold's dark purple arms were like iron pincers, precisely neutralizing every attack with each block.

Bang—

Another exchange of fists.

Both were sent flying backward, sliding through the air for nearly a hundred meters before barely managing to stop.

The ground below had long since been riddled with holes from the battle's aftermath, and the terrain for dozens of miles had been completely reshaped.

"This guy is more troublesome than I imagined..."

Laba shook his slightly numb wrist, his emerald-green pupils locked tightly onto King Cold across from him.

He had already lost track of how many times they had exchanged blows.

His opponent's combat experience was unbelievably seasoned. Whenever Laba's fist was about to strike a vital spot, that dark purple body would always evade from an inconceivable angle, followed immediately by a counterattack that clung to him like a shadow.

King Cold was not having an easy time either.

He lowered his head and glanced at the wound on his arm, still giving off wisps of smoke. Laba had left it there with a chop of his hand just moments ago.

Purple blood slowly seeped from the wound before being evaporated by his aura.

King Cold raised his head, blazing fighting spirit burning in his golden eyes. "You truly aren't on the same level as those people from before."

Neither of them wasted any more words.

They charged at each other once more.

On the ground below.

On a relatively intact rocky platform, the spectators stared unblinkingly at the battle overhead.

"That guy called Laba... was he really formed from Raditz and Nappa fusing together?" Krillin's eyes were wide with disbelief.

"So strong..." Tien Shinhan's three eyes were fixed on the sky. He did not even dare blink.

Yamcha opened his mouth, wanting to say something, only to realize that he could not find the right words to describe what he was seeing.

He had once believed that after training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, he had caught up to the universe's strongest warriors.

But everything that had happened today made him clearly realize just how weak he truly was before real power...

The three of them had witnessed with their own eyes how Raditz and Nappa had fused into one.

Although they could not understand why.

Those two Saiyans, whom they had once barely managed to drive back on Earth after risking their lives, had now become one and were fighting King Cold to a standstill.

"How are Goku and the others?" Krillin came back to his senses and turned his head worriedly.

As soon as he spoke, three figures flew over from the distance.

Son Goku took the lead and landed on the ground.

He held a cloth bag in his hand, while his martial arts uniform was torn to pieces, his upper garment almost entirely ruined.

Yet his aura remained at its peak.

Son Gohan and Piccolo followed close behind. Their injuries and stamina had been completely restored by the Senzu Beans.

This was all thanks to Yajirobe.

While Laba was fusing and fighting King Cold, that guy had sneakily made his way to the edge of the battlefield.

He brought Senzu Beans to Goku, who had been sent flying by King Cold at the time, then immediately slipped away without looking back.

The cloth bag in Son Goku's hand contained Senzu Beans.

There were only a few, but they were just enough.

No one said anything more. They all silently watched the battlefield.

Son Gohan looked at the golden figure in the sky, his face full of disbelief.

Piccolo stood with his arms folded, his gaze never leaving the battle.

He said nothing, but stormy waves were crashing through his heart.

Raditz and Nappa—those two opponents he had once defeated—now possessed such terrifying strength after fusing.

Even if he activated the tenfold Kaio-ken, he probably would not last a single move against this Laba.

"Hmph."

A cold snort came from beside them.

Vegeta had landed on the platform at some point, and his expression was uglier than his injuries.

He looked up at the golden figure, his clenched fists creaking.

First Kakarot, then Kakarot's brat, followed by that Namekian.

And now even Raditz and Nappa—those worthless underlings he had once despised most—had left him far behind.

Damn it...

Vegeta ground his teeth until they creaked.

He did not know that fusion had a time limit. If he had, perhaps the resentment in his heart would have been a little less.

"Don't make that face, Vegeta."

Son Goku suddenly spoke, his tone unusually serious.

"It's a good thing that my brother and the others have become this strong. What we should be thinking about now is how to become stronger together."

As he spoke, he tossed a Senzu Bean toward Vegeta.

"Hmph!"

Vegeta snorted, glared at Goku, and said nothing. He caught the Senzu Bean steadily and swallowed it.

In the sky, the battle continued.

King Cold's tail lashed out like a whip, carrying enough power to split mountains as it swept toward Laba's waist.

Laba did not dodge. Instead, he grabbed the tail, golden aura surging wildly around his arm.

"Got you!"

Laba roared, swung King Cold's massive body around, and smashed him viciously into the ground.

Boom—

The ground was smashed into a crater hundreds of meters wide, and shattered rocks shot in all directions like cannonballs.

Yet King Cold only paused on the ground for an instant before shooting into the sky again, his right fist aimed straight at Laba's face.

Laba twisted aside to evade, driving his knee toward King Cold's abdomen.

King Cold pressed down with his left elbow to block it, while his other hand seized Laba's shoulder.

Their strength erupted at the same time, neither willing to give up even half a step.

"I have to admit, you are indeed strong."

King Cold's voice was low and hoarse. "But you are still far from defeating me."

"Is that so?"

Laba suddenly smiled.

That smile made King Cold's heart tighten.

The next second, Laba's aura surged violently.

The golden aura that had merely surrounded his body instantly withdrew, completely absorbed into him.

His hair became even more radiant, and his muscles grew more streamlined.

Super Saiyan Full Power!

"This is..."

King Cold's pupils suddenly contracted.

This bastard had been holding back!

Before he could react, Laba's fist had already struck his abdomen.

The force of that punch was completely different from before, as if a star had exploded inside his body.

"Gah!"

King Cold doubled over, purple blood spraying from his mouth.

Laba gave him no chance to catch his breath.

The second punch followed, smashing into his face.

The third hit his chest.

The fourth landed on his shoulder.

Every punch was precise and lethal, every one carrying terrifying force far beyond what came before.

King Cold's body crashed into the ground like a meteor, kicking up a towering cloud of dust.

When the dust cleared.

King Cold was kneeling on one knee in the crater, gasping heavily in utter disarray.

His face was covered in blood, his right arm hung at an unnatural angle by his side, and his chest had caved in deeply, with no telling how many ribs had been broken.

The golden markings on his body had dimmed, and his aura had weakened to its lowest point.

He no longer had the ability to fight.

Laba floated in the air, looking down at the crater below.

His right hand slowly rose, golden energy gathering in his palm and condensing into a constantly compressing sphere of light.

The energy within was enough to erase King Cold completely from this world.

"It's over."

Laba's voice was calm and cold.

Golden light slipped from his hand and drifted toward King Cold.

However, at that moment.

Suddenly!

A hand appeared out of thin air and gently caught the beam of light.

The light silently dissipated in that hand, as though it had never existed.

Laba froze.

"That's enough. Spare his life."

An Xiu's voice came from beside him.

"B-Boss?!"

Laba turned his head and saw that all-too-familiar face, along with those eyes as calm as a still lake.

He had not even noticed when the other person had appeared, much less how he had blocked that attack.

"You did well."

An Xiu looked at Laba, a trace of approval in his voice.

"Leave the rest to me."

As he spoke, he reached out and gripped Laba's wrist.

A strange white light lit up in An Xiu's palm.

It was a kind of energy fluctuation Laba had never seen before.

It was neither ki nor any kind of power he could understand.

That power flowed from An Xiu's palm into Laba's body. Laba could feel his body being torn apart by some force on the level of rules.

—Not harmed, but separated.

He wanted to resist, but the power was too overwhelming, leaving him no room to fight back.

A blinding flash of white light passed by.

When the light faded, the fused warrior standing there had vanished, replaced by Raditz and Nappa.

The two stared blankly at their hands, as though they had yet to process what had happened.

"Boss An Xiu? How did you..." Raditz had just begun to speak when An Xiu raised a hand and cut him off.

"We'll talk later."

An Xiu offered no further explanation.

His figure flashed, and he was already in the deep crater below.

King Cold struggled to raise his head. He still wanted to resist, but his body would not obey him.

His vision had already blurred, and he could only barely make out a hazy silhouette.

That silhouette slowly walked toward him, every step seeming to stomp on his heart.

"You..."

King Cold wanted to speak, but a palm was already pressed against his forehead.

An irresistible force surged into his consciousness.

His vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness.

An Xiu withdrew his hand and carried the unconscious King Cold back to the platform where the others stood.

Raditz and Nappa followed close behind him.

He casually tossed the massive body onto the ground, then dusted off his palms as if there were dirt on them.

"An Xiu!"

Son Goku was the first to step forward. "When did you get back? What are we doing with this guy?"

"Not long ago."

An Xiu swept his gaze over everyone present, letting it linger on each of them for a moment. "I have something to ask this person. Spare his life."

Everyone exchanged looks.

"You vanished for so long, only showing up after we finished fighting, and now you want to spare this guy's life... Tch, whatever. Do what you want!"

Vegeta crossed his arms and snorted. He only grumbled a little and did not actually object.

Piccolo, standing nearby, frowned slightly as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, he remained silent.

Raditz opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Nappa nudged him with an elbow, and he swallowed his words again.

An Xiu withdrew his gaze, then, as if remembering something, turned to look toward a distant mountain peak.

"Oh, right. There's someone else I want to introduce you to. He came from the future, and I think you should meet."

He waved in that direction. "Come over!"

Everyone followed his gaze.

A figure rose from the mountaintop and hurried toward them.

It was a young man with a longsword strapped to his back. His purple hair fluttered in the wind, and his face was filled with unease and apprehension.

Son Goku narrowed his eyes slightly.

He could sense a familiar aura from this young man—the aura of a Saiyan.

He was not the only one. Everyone present felt it.

The purple-haired young man took a deep breath, flashed forward, and landed steadily before them.