Time Stop

"Kill!"

At Ginyu's command, the entire Ginyu Force sprang into action.

Jeice and Burter closed in on me from either side, moving so fast they left afterimages. Though I had worn Recoome down with injuries all over, he roared and charged at me again. Only Guldo remained where he stood, no expression visible on that frog-like face.

"Vegeta is mine!" Ginyu went to meet Vegeta, and the two clashed in an instant.

On my side, it was three against one.

"Brat, you won't get away this time!" Recoome snarled through gritted teeth.

"Who said I was running?" I took up a fighting stance. "Come on."

Jeice and Burter attacked at the same time.

Fast.

Incredibly fast.

Jeice had the speed, Burter had the power, and their coordination was flawless. One kept me occupied head-on while the other ambushed me from the flank. An ordinary person would have been punched full of holes by now.

But I wasn't ordinary.

I was a transmigrator who had read the script.

"Burter, sweep kick." I jumped half a second in advance, evading Burter's low sweep. "Jeice, uppercut." I twisted aside to avoid Jeice's attack, then drove a kick into his waist.

Jeice grunted and staggered back two steps.

"You..." Jeice's eyes widened. "How did you know our moves?!"

"Talent." I shrugged.

Actually, I was gambling. In the original story, Jeice and Burter's combination technique, Purple Comet Crash, required them to stand back-to-back and charge for three seconds. As long as I interrupted them before they finished charging, I could break the move.

But this wasn't a one-on-one fight. Recoome was still watching like a tiger from the side.

"Enough talk!" Recoome charged in with a punch.

I blocked it, and the impact numbed my arm. Twenty thousand against forty thousand—trying to trade blows head-on really put me at a disadvantage.

"Hahaha!" Recoome laughed smugly. "Weren't you pretty good at dodging just now? Why aren't you dodging now?"

I ignored him and kept my eyes on Jeice and Burter.

They were slowly backing away, pressing their backs together.

They had begun charging.

Three seconds. I counted silently. I only need three seconds...

Recoome charged again, forcing me to split my attention. Jeice and Burter's coordination grew tighter and tighter, as though they were deliberately forcing me to retreat in their direction.

Oh no!

I realized I had fallen for it. They weren't coordinating with Recoome—they were forcing me into a fixed position. That position happened to be within the attack range of Purple Comet Crash.

"Now!"

Jeice and Burter erupted at the same time, their energy rising to its peak. Their back-to-back stance was complete, and an energy wave began gathering between them.

The purple glow grew brighter and brighter.

I couldn't move. Recoome blocked the way behind me, while Jeice and Burter stood before me. I was trapped with nowhere to advance or retreat.

It's over, I thought. I'm really going to take a beating this time.

Then the world froze.

Not figuratively.

It really froze.

Jeice and Burter's energy wave hung motionless in midair. Recoome's fist stopped three centimeters from my nose. Even the dust floating in the air had solidified.

Time had stopped flowing.

"Time stop..."

My entire body stiffened, unable to move. Dead silence surrounded me; I couldn't even hear my own heartbeat.

This was completely different from reading it in the manga.

When reading the manga, all the reader saw was Guldo shout "Time stop!", then the scene changed and the enemy was lying on the ground. But only when you were truly caught in it did you understand how terrifying that sense of oppression was.

You couldn't do anything. You could only watch helplessly.

Like an insect trapped in amber.

The time stop didn't last long, perhaps only five seconds. But to me, those five seconds felt longer than five years.

Then the world resumed.

"What?!"

My energy wave shot from my hand and struck Burter square in the face.

Burter screamed and was sent flying.

"You... how could you move?!" Jeice stared in disbelief.

"I really couldn't move while time was stopped." I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth. "But the instant time resumed, I was the first one to move."

In games, this move was called prediction. In their eyes, it was called cheating.

Guldo's expression finally changed.

"Kid, you're kind of interesting." Ginyu's voice came from nearby. His battle with Vegeta was still ongoing, but he had clearly noticed the disturbance here.

"Guldo, stop playing around!" Ginyu shouted. "Finish him already!"

"Understood."

Guldo raised his hand, preparing to stop time again.

But just then—"Guldo! Watch out!"

Jeice screamed.

Guldo turned around and saw Vegeta.

At some point, Vegeta had appeared behind Guldo.

Vegeta did not charge at him. He merely stood there with his arms folded, a cruel smile on his lips.

"Time stop is impressive, isn't it?" Vegeta said. "But have you ever considered something?"

Guldo frowned. "What?"

"When you stop time..." Vegeta's smile widened. "You're still inside time yourself."

Guldo froze for a second.

"So—"

Vegeta moved.

He did not rush toward Guldo. Instead, he flashed to the side. An energy blast tore through the spot where he had just been standing—the position Guldo had intended to attack.

"You thought I was going to sneak up on you?" Vegeta sneered. "Idiot. My target was always where I'd land."

The Saiyan prince's mind worked far better than anyone had imagined.

"Vegeta!!" Guldo roared, raising both hands again. "Time—"

But Vegeta was faster.

An energy blade flashed.

Guldo's head flew into the air.

"Time stop?" Vegeta looked coldly at Guldo's headless corpse. "A dead man's time is stopped."

Blood gushed out, staining the ground red.

"Guldo!!!" Jeice and Burter screamed at the same time.

Recoome stood there blankly, as though his soul had been ripped away.

Ginyu's expression changed as well. For the first time, gravity appeared on that face that had always worn an arrogant smile.

"Guldo... is dead?"

"Dead." Vegeta shook the blood from his hand. "Who's next?"

No one answered.

The atmosphere froze.

Ginyu drew a deep breath, then smiled.

"Interesting." Ginyu looked at Vegeta, his gaze gaining a measure of seriousness. "Saiyan prince, you really live up to your reputation."

"But—"

Ginyu's aura suddenly surged.

"Do you really think killing one Guldo can change the outcome?"

The aura of 120,000 battle power crashed down like an all-encompassing tide.

I found it hard to breathe.

Vegeta's injuries were worse. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, yet he still stood straight.

"Body change." Ginyu looked at Vegeta. "Your body is more suitable than that brat's."

He wanted to take Vegeta's body.

The body of a Saiyan prince with 120,000 battle power was simply too tempting.

"Don't even think about it!" I rushed forward, trying to interrupt Ginyu.

But Ginyu merely waved a hand, and a terrifying blast of energy sent me flying.

"Children shouldn't meddle." Without even looking back, Ginyu said, "Once I've switched bodies with Vegeta, I'll deal with you."

He walked toward Vegeta, extending that hand once more.

"Exchange!"

"Kamehameha!!!"

A blue energy wave shot in from afar, heading straight for Ginyu.

Ginyu was forced to interrupt his technique and dodge sideways.

"Who's there?!"

I looked toward the sound and saw two familiar figures: Krillin.

Tien Shinhan.

"Gohan!!" Krillin ran over, panting. "We're here!!"

"Krillin... Tien..." I pushed myself to my feet. "How did you—"

"The scouter showed an incredibly powerful energy approaching Namek. We thought it was Frieza, but..." Krillin glanced at the battlefield. "It was you and Vegeta fighting the Ginyu Force one-on-one?!"

"More accurately, we were fighting the Ginyu Force one-on-one, while Vegeta was fighting Ginyu one-on-one," I corrected him. "And Guldo is already dead."

"W-What?!"

Krillin and Tien Shinhan both froze.

"This energy..." Ginyu's pupils contracted. "Could it be..."

I felt it too.

A familiar energy was approaching at incredible speed.

That energy... powerful, blazing, brimming with fighting spirit.

"Piccolo?!" Krillin asked in confusion.

"No." I shook my head, the corners of my mouth curling up without me realizing it. "It's Dad."

"Goku?!" Krillin's eyes widened. "Isn't he still on Earth?!"

"That's why Dad came here in a spaceship." I looked toward the horizon. "And..."

I took out my scouter.

The number displayed on it made everyone fall silent, Ginyu included.

"Eight hundred thousand... a power level of eight hundred thousand."

I stared at the number still climbing wildly and laughed.

"Vegeta, my dad is here."

Vegeta said nothing.

But his eyes burned with a light unlike anything before.

"Son Goku... he's finally here..."

At the horizon, a golden streak tore across the sky.

Like a meteor.

Not hope.