After Buu

On the first morning after Majin Buu was destroyed, the whistle for morning training rang out across the beach of Turtle Hermit House once more. Nappa was doing squats with a broken pillar over his shoulders. Lapis said Nappa had smashed it himself last month, while Nappa stubbornly claimed it was trophy-weight training. Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu were still refining their combination technique—Chiaotzu's Paralysis Technique had become far more accurate in actual combat, while the window for Tien Shinhan's Third Eye Beam had been cut by nearly half. Piccolo used Qi Fractals to correct both of their movements at once. Dozens of pale golden tendrils extended from his arms, each one precisely pointing out a joint angle that needed adjustment.

Goku and Vegeta had maintained Super Saiyan 2 for a full ten hours without dropping the form. It was a limit forced out of them during the final battle against Buu, and they had decided to keep it up until they completely adapted to it. Their golden auras dyed the entire beach a pale gold. Krillin said he was starting to forget what the two of them looked like with black hair.

Lazuli sat on a reef with the Turtle Hermit School martial arts manual spread over her knees. She could already recite the entire book backward, but she still flipped through a few pages from the beginning before every morning training session. The black cat named Puar was curled up on her lap, dozing, its tail occasionally brushing across the pages. Krillin approached carrying two bowls of seafood porridge, handed one to her, and made some casual conversation. Lazuli accepted the porridge, glanced at him, then lowered her head and continued reading the manual, though the curve of her lips was much softer than before.

Master Roshi stood at the entrance of Turtle Hermit House, leaning on his cane as he watched the group on the beach. He removed his sunglasses. Old Master Zhao sat beneath a coconut tree with Talos's daughter in his arms. The baby waved her little hands at the two Super Saiyan Saiyans sparring over the distant sea and giggled happily.

"What comes next?" Bulma had somehow appeared beside Master Roshi.

Talos stood at the edge of The Lookout's plaza, gazing down at the boundless sea of clouds. The Lookout's purification array had cleared away all traces of Buu's magical residue, and Earth's sky had regained its prewar clarity. He extended his senses into the depths of the universe—not to search for enemies, but to feel an intuition that was growing clearer and clearer. Something in the universe was awakening. Not ancient magic like Buu's, nor a genetic monster like Cell, but a purer power—the power of a god.

Several images flashed through his mind, preview fragments that the system had quietly marked after the final battle with Buu: a purple-skinned, catlike figure floating among the stars, flicking a planet apart with one finger; an angel with long white hair, standing at the edge of the void with a staff in hand, calmly watching it all.

"Beerus." Talos silently repeated the name. The God of Destruction would soon awaken from his long slumber, and he was about two years away from descending upon Earth. Two years from now, the chapter of gods and gods would officially begin. It would be a brand-new battlefield, far beyond Majin Buu, far beyond Cell, far beyond Frieza. And they had to be prepared before Beerus awakened.

He turned and looked in the direction of Turtle Hermit House. Lazuli's Star Topology, Krillin's Qi Net precision, Goku's breakthrough in stabilizing Kaioken atop Super Saiyan, Piccolo's Qi Fractals inheritance brought back from Planet Namek—all the powers forged in the final battle against Buu would face their harshest test in the clash with the God of Destruction.

Footsteps sounded from deep within The Lookout. Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Krillin, Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu, Lazuli, Lapis, Nappa—at some point, all of them had gathered in The Lookout's plaza, looking in the same direction as him.

"A new enemy?" Goku asked.

"The God of Destruction. Beerus. One of the strongest beings in the universe. Each time he sleeps, it lasts decades. Every time he wakes up, he destroys a few planets. When he wakes next time—Earth will very likely be on his list."

"Stronger than Buu?"

"They aren't even in the same dimension."

Goku fell silent for a moment, then flashed a wide grin. "Then before he wakes up, I'll train Kaioken until I can sustain it for one minute in Super Saiyan form."

"Within half a year, I can raise the upper limit of my infinite energy output by another fifty percent." Lapis rolled his wrists.

"Star Topology can connect more nodes. The Lookout's sensory array can cover the entire planet. Give me three months, and I'll merge the sensory array with the Qi Net to achieve real-time deployment across the entire battlefield." Krillin formed hand seals, golden threads of qi flickering from his fingertips in the morning light.

"The precision of Third Eye Link can still be improved. Chiaotzu, we're doubling your Paralysis Technique training from now on." Tien Shinhan opened his third eye, and pale golden light flashed through its pupil.

"No problem." Chiaotzu nodded vigorously.

"Qi Fractals have more advanced applications. Among the combat memories the Grand Elder passed on to me is an ancient Namekian secret art called 'Qi Resonance'—its principles are similar to Krillin's Qi Net, but it is far older. Give me one year, and I'll fuse the two techniques together." Piccolo drew dozens of tendrils back into his body as pale golden qi slowly revolved around his fingertips.

Bulma adjusted her goggles. "There are only two vials of Cell factor extract left, but I found entirely new magical energy samples in Buu's cellular remains. Give me enough time and equipment, and I can develop a suppression device for God of Destruction energy—at least an initial version."

Nappa came over with the broken pillar on his shoulder. "God of Destruction, huh? Save a big one for me!"

For once, Lapis did not mock him. The corner of Vegeta's mouth lifted slightly. "Beerus... I heard my father mention that name when I was young. He said the God of Destruction was a being no Saiyan could afford to provoke."

"Now we can," Talos said.

Everyone smiled. It was not the smile of those who underestimated their enemy, but the smile that came from knowing they were growing stronger—and that the people beside them were growing stronger too. The orange battle uniforms of the Turtle Hermit School fluttered together in The Lookout's morning breeze, the black character for "Turtle" on each uniform turned gold beneath the dawn light.

Far away at Turtle Hermit House, Master Roshi lifted a bowl of seafood porridge and looked toward the few golden auras at The Lookout. In a quiet voice only he could hear, he said, "Teacher, did you see that? The God of Destruction. They say they're going to fight the God of Destruction. These kids... did I really teach them?"

Old Master Zhao rose with the baby in his arms. She waved her little hands toward The Lookout and giggled. Bulma closed her laptop, stood from the beach, brushed the sand from her skirt, and headed toward The Lookout—she still had plenty of research to do, plenty of equipment to build, plenty and plenty of sleepless nights ahead. But this time, she knew that outside her laboratory window stood that group in orange uniforms, growing stronger day after day on the beach. That was enough.