Zhaermu studied the scrape on his index finger for a long time, then raised his head and looked at Ji Ming as if reassessing him. "Crimson-Gold Ultra Instinct—good name. If you'd put even half a percent more force into that punch, my finger bone would have shattered. But you held back."
"You're not an enemy." Residual crimson-gold arcs still danced across Ji Ming's right arm. He shook his hand, letting the energy disperse from his fingertips into the air. "And you still haven't finished what you wanted to say."
Zhaermu nodded slightly, drew his scorched cloak around himself again, and turned toward the depths of the ruins. "Follow me. The entrance to the dimensional rift is at the lowest level of these ruins. It's a long way. We'll talk as we walk." He paused as he passed Whis. The two angels' gazes met in the air for an instant. There was no conversation, no visible exchange of any kind, yet the fingers around Whis's staff tightened slightly. Zhaermu withdrew his gaze and continued onward.
After passing three broken colossal pillars and a crushed section of dome rubble, they came upon a staircase slanting downward. The stone of the stairs was identical to the pure white material in the sealed chamber beneath Kami's Lookout. Even the symbol of an inverted triangle with a vertical prism set into its center was exactly the same. Ji Ming raised a hand, lighting the divine ki of the Crimson-Gold Light Core at his fingertips and using the core's resonance to sense every minute fluctuation in the surroundings. Vegeta's Silver Blue aura flickered dimly behind him. Piccolo and Nail landed silently several paces behind and to either side of him, while Goku's footsteps remained astonishingly light. The other accompanying warriors quickly drew closer and formed a