Absolute Strength
He stared intently at Qi Heng's retreating figure.
That figure looked casual, but was actually as steady as a mountain.
His eyes were filled with frustration, resentment, and a gratitude he himself didn't even realize.
"That bastard..."
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, gritted his teeth, and whispered, "I will remember this favor."
On the other side, Super 17 hovered low in the air, its arms crossed over its chest.
His artificial skin shone coldly like metal under the energy.
The scarlet electronic eye scanned everyone, finally stopping on Qi Heng.
A mechanical smirk curled at the corner of his mouth.
"Have you finished saying your last words?"
His voice was filled with synthesized sounds and static. "One Saiyan trash fell, and another one came in his place. What can you inferior beings do besides take turns dying?"
Qi Heng completely ignored him and just kept walking forward, his pace slow and even leisurely.
The soles of my boots crunched on the scorched earth and gravel.
He didn't have Vegeta's ferocious aura; all his power was hidden within his straight and upright body, like a dormant volcano that could erupt at any moment.
"Super 17," Qi Heng stopped ten meters away, his voice calm, "Your opponent is me."
"Ridiculous!" Super 17 sneered, but before he could finish speaking, the ground beneath his feet suddenly exploded!
He transformed into a blurry, purplish-black lightning bolt, tearing through the air. His right fist, compressed with destructive energy of black lightning, hurtled head-on towards Qi Heng!
Qi Heng still didn't dodge.
They didn't even make a defensive move.
As the fist approached, he casually raised his left hand, fingers naturally spread, palm facing the incoming attack.
"Bang------!!!"
It wasn't a crisp sound, but a deep, muffled explosion! Fist and palm collided, and a shockwave of black and gold rippled outwards, expanding like a sphere!
The ground seemed to have been turned over by an invisible giant plow, cracking layer by layer, swirling up debris, and rushing into the airflow, where it was torn to pieces!
A strong wind blew, sand and stones flew everywhere, Gohan, Pan, and the others in the distance had their clothes and hair blown into a mess.
At the eye of the storm, Qi Heng stood ramrod straight, the ground beneath his feet cracking inch by inch.
He was rooted to the spot, not even the hem of his clothes fluttered.
His left hand steadily blocked the punch, his five fingers tightening like an iron clamp, firmly locking down Super 17's attack.
Super 17's red eyes flashed violently, and the artificial muscles on his face twisted.
"Impossible! The energy readings... no change?! How could he just...?"
"Your power output, at its peak, is approximately thirty trillion energy units," Qi Heng's voice pierced the roar, calm as if he were reading instruments in a laboratory, "about twice as strong as Vegeta. But for me—"
No one noticed when his right fist was tucked back to his waist.
Without charging up his strength or roaring, he simply threw a punch forward.
--Still a long way off.
"Boom--!!!"
The punch landed squarely on Super 17's abdomen.
There was no deafening explosion, only a deep, heavy thud.
Super 17's electronic eye suddenly froze, and it spat out black coolant mixed with broken mechanical parts.
His upper body twisted up in a bizarre way, with his abdomen as the axis, and a sickening metallic groan came from his spine.
The force of the punch passed through his body, leaving a clear fist mark on his Battle Suit on his back, and the dissipated energy plowed a deep trench in the ground behind him.
Qi Heng released his left hand.
Super 17, like a skeleton stripped of its skeleton, slumped limply to the edge of the hole it had dug, kicking up dust, its body still twitching, sparks crackling from its joints.
Dead silence.
Only the mournful sound of the wind remained; the battlefield was silent.
Piccolo stood frozen in place, his antennae trembling.
Gohan held his breath, and Pan covered her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.
Vegeta's hand fell limply to his side. He stared intently at the deep pit, then suddenly looked at Qi Heng's calm profile.
Shock was like a bucket of cold water poured over my head, followed by a chilling envy—envy of that effortless power.
Yet, beneath the surface of jealousy, a tiny bit of awe, which he himself didn't want to admit, crept into his heart, impossible to shake off.
"This is... his true... strength?"
His words were carried away by the wind.
"Cough... Crack..."
Strange sounds of metal rubbing and liquid flowing came from the deep pit.
A broken hand gripped the edge of the pit.
Super 17 struggled to his feet, swaying unsteadily.
His abdominal armor was dented, with exposed wiring and sparks flying everywhere. Several tears were torn in the artificial skin on his face, revealing a sophisticated metal structure.
His pair of red electronic eyes shone as if they were about to bleed, churning with rage and a frenzied killing intent born of humiliation.
"You... must... die!!!"
The black flames, like boiling oil, suddenly erupted, staining half the sky black.
Super 17's arm muscles bulged, his palms facing Qi Heng, hellish energy gathered wildly, emitting a piercing buzz that even distorted the air.
"Hell Energy Blast--!"
He roared and shoved his palms out.
A black energy sphere, more than ten meters in diameter, shot out with a roar. Its surface was covered with dark red patterns, like flowing magma. The sphere seemed to contain countless wailing souls. Trailing a long black tail, it was like a black sun, crashing towards Qi Heng with the momentum to destroy everything.
Qi Heng remained standing in the same spot, not even moving a muscle.
Just as the black sun was about to engulf him, he slowly raised his right hand, pointed his index finger at the giant ball, and flicked it gently.
"Bang--!"
It wasn't very loud, but it was exceptionally crisp.
The energy ball was as if it had been hit head-on by a hammer; its surface was instantly covered with spiderweb-like cracks.
Then, it spun back at an even faster speed than it had come, like a ball kicked with all its might, hurtling towards Super 17.
Super 17 had no time to react.
"BOOM--!!!"
The explosion was deafening.
Black energy and crimson flames intertwined to form a lotus of destruction, which then burst open in mid-air.
The shockwave spread wildly, leaving nothing but a deep, smooth, black crater in its wake, as if the devastated earth had been swept away by an invisible giant hand.
Super 17 was blown away like a kite with a broken string, crashing into five weathered rocky mountains before finally plunging into a sixth mountain, where it was buried under rubble, leaving only a human-shaped crater and a cloud of dust.
The strong wind ruffled the stray hairs on Qi Heng's forehead. He slowly withdrew his hand, the movement as elegant as casually brushing away a fallen leaf.
Those golden eyes reflected the distant flames and smoke, yet remained calm as if nothing had happened, as if what had just been deflected was not a city-destroying attack, but merely a speck of dust.
"Is that all you've got?"