Tell Her Who I Am

They took those words as nothing more than passing noise. Then they turned and plunged back into the gravity chamber, sweat falling like rain, their breathing heavy as drums...

Three years flowed past like a rushing stream, and Lin Feng's growth had quietly reached a critical point—he was due to set out on a mission.

That day, Xuesaiya, Xuesaili, and Palanti did not train. All three waited at the edge of Planet Vegeta's spaceport, silently watching Lin Feng enter the small silver spherical spacecraft. It shot into the sky, carving a blazing arc as it pierced the deep, boundless sea of stars.

No one worried about him.

If Barros, with a combat power of 49,000, could not even keep himself safe on a mid-level planet, that would be utterly ridiculous!

The ceiling for combat power on mid-level planets was only around 5,000. Forget Lin Feng—even Palanti, whose combat power had now steadily surpassed 5,200, could flatten an entire planet alone. And with her earth-shaking Dragon Elephant Prison-Suppressing Art, she could even confront certain high-ranking adult Saiyans whose foundations were still shallow!

In the blink of an eye, the spacecraft shrank into a speck of starlight and vanished completely into the vast void.

Only then did the three slowly withdraw their gazes.

"Tch—" A cold snort erupted behind them. "That coward Barros actually waited until the full three years were up before setting off? What a disgrace to the Saiyans!"

Xuesaiya and Xuesaili frowned slightly and turned around together.

Palanti, however, wrinkled her nose, her almond eyes widening as she stared straight at the speaker. "Who are you? What gives you the right to badmouth Cousin Barros?"

"Me?" The still-boyish Vegeta threw back his head and laughed, glancing sideways at the tall and short attendants beside him. "Tell her who I am."

The burly, shiny-bald Saiyan looked down at Palanti, his voice deep and heavy. "Listen carefully—this is the supreme Prince Vegeta of our Saiyan race!"

"Prince Vegeta?" Palanti looked him over twice, curling her lip. "Oh... that 'once-in-a-thousand-years genius' Cousin Barros left eighteen streets behind?"

Her words were like a red-hot needle piercing straight into Vegeta's heart.

He could not say he hated Lin Feng, but that casual remark still made the veins on his forehead bulge. "You—say that again?"

Palanti did not back down. Her little face tightened, and her gaze turned blade-sharp. "I said, you will never catch up to so much as Cousin Barros's shadow in this lifetime."

"You're courting death!" Vegeta roared, throwing a punch straight at her with a fierce gale wrapped around his fist!

Xuesaiya and Xuesaili exchanged a glance and lightly shook their heads without intervening.

Vegeta's combat power was indeed five hundred higher than rumored—2,700—but in their eyes, that level was still no more than fireflies before the moon.

As for Palanti? She merely stood there coldly, completely unmoving, without even blinking.

BANG!!!

A thunderous metallic clash rang out. Vegeta's fist froze in midair, and his whole body went rigid with shock.

Nappa and Raditz sucked in sharp breaths, their mouths hanging wide enough to fit an entire egg as they stared at Palanti as though they had seen a ghost.

Vegeta was about to move again when Palanti drawled, every word icy cold. "With that little bit of strength, you think you deserve to compare yourself to Cousin Barros?"

"Bullshit!" Vegeta's eyes turned bloodshot as his blood boiled. His combat power surged like an erupting volcano—shooting straight up to 3,000!

Xuesaiya and Xuesaili's eyes flickered. They nodded and sighed softly.

Now that was more like it.

A rise of three hundred combat power in a fit of rage—he truly was worthy of the Saiyan royal bloodline.

But that was all. For it to genuinely move the two of them? He was still far from it.

"Hm?" Palanti gave Vegeta a slightly surprised look.

This little prince, whom she had casually placed in the "not worth worrying about" category, was actually somewhat interesting.

But 3,000 combat power? It still was not enough for her to spare him a second glance.

Unfortunately for him, Vegeta caught the flash of disdain in her eyes.

His anger burst its banks. His palms spun rapidly, and two blazing white energy blasts formed in an instant. He leaped into the air, thrust both arms downward, and smashed them viciously toward the ground!

Palanti lowered her eyes to watch the two whistling spheres of light descend, not moving her heels even half an inch.

BOOM!!!

Dust and smoke surged up around the outer edge of the spaceport, blotting out the sky.

Vegeta hovered in the air, looking at the rolling gray haze as he laughed wildly. "Hahaha—looking down on this prince? This is the price!"

"You're proud of that little commotion?" Palanti's cold voice rang out, dripping with undisguised mockery and even a touch of boredom.

To Nappa and the other low-ranking Saiyans, those energy blasts were indeed terrifying—condensed from 3,000 combat power, they were enough to make even underage high-ranking warriors' scalps tingle, much less the lower-class warriors responsible for directing spacecraft.

But to Palanti, their force was not even as substantial as the flick of a finger Cousin Barros used to tap her forehead.

HAH!!!

She let out a sharp cry and flung both arms wide—like they had been struck by a giant hammer, the dust waves filling the sky exploded apart!

Palanti looked up at Vegeta, who hung frozen in the air with his mouth stretched to his ears, and the corner of her lips lifted. Then her figure abruptly vanished.

"Where is she? Where?!" Vegeta looked around in panic.

The instant he instinctively looked up—a small pink fist, carrying a shriek sharp enough to tear through the air, was already smashing toward his face!

BAM!!!

Vegeta fell to the ground like a shooting star with its string cut.

Palanti's figure flashed, already intercepting him in the midst of his fall. She steadily raised her right hand, palm facing upward, waiting for him to crash into it.

Bang!!!

Vegeta, who should have crashed into the ground, was sent flying skyward again by that heavy punch!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The series of dull impacts made the eyeballs of the watching Saiyans in the distance tremble wildly, nearly popping from their sockets.

What had they just seen?

Prince Vegeta, the hope of the Saiyan race, was being swung back and forth like a punching bag by Palanti, Lord Xuesaili's daughter!

After several breaths, Palanti seemed to grow bored and stopped.

She reached out, seized Vegeta by the nape, and lifted him into the air. Her voice was icy. "You can't even beat me, yet you dare bring up Cousin Barros's name?"

Vegeta's face was as pale as paper. He had no words to offer; only a pair of eyes burned with dark flames, as though he wished to reduce the entire world to scorched earth.

Just then, an adult Saiyan suddenly sprang into action. Like a black shadow tearing through the air, he forcibly snatched Vegeta from between Palanti's fingers, then whirled around and drove a heavy fist into Palanti's unsuspecting cheekbone!

Xuesaili had just been about to leap forward when Xuesaiya grabbed her wrist.

A mere high-level Saiyan, without using an energy blast and relying solely on brute strength, could not possibly shake Palanti to the bone!

Besides, the man had clearly held back by thirty percent—he was not truly trying to hurt her, merely venting some anger on Vegeta's behalf!

After all, Palanti had fought Lin Feng, Xuesaiya, and Xuesaili in no fewer than a hundred battles. Actual combat had long since been carved into her instincts.

The instant that fist tore through the air, her arms had already crossed before her chest like iron gates!

Boom!!

The force of the impact burst outward, sending dust rolling into the air.

The high-level Saiyan was knocked back dozens of meters before steadying himself. Palanti staggered back seven or eight steps, then stomped her right foot down hard, scattering shattered stones as she finally dispersed the full force of the blow.

She glanced up, surprise flashing in her eyes. The man was also briefly stunned before quickly stepping forward and bowing toward Vegeta. "Your Highness, are you all right?"

"Cough... cough!" Vegeta spat out two mouthfuls of saliva that tasted of rust. His blade-sharp gaze remained fixed on Palanti as he slowly shook his head.

The man's eyes darkened. Turning toward the Xuesaiya sisters, who had walked unhurriedly to Palanti's side, his voice abruptly turned cold. "Xuesaili! You allowed your own daughter to strike Prince Vegeta so viciously. What are you plotting?!"

The corner of Xuesaili's lips lifted, while a frigid light filled her eyes. "The prince attacked first. He was beaten flat by a little girl because he lacked the skill—are we supposed to applaud him for it?"

"You—!" The adult Saiyan with the messy curls flushed crimson at once, yet he could not force out a single word of rebuttal.

Vegeta had been the one to provoke her first, only to be utterly suppressed by a girl barely over ten, unable to fight back at all.

If word of this reached the royal palace, King Vegeta would at most shake his head and sigh, "You brought this humiliation upon yourself." He would never blame Palanti in the slightest—

After all, she had held back. Vegeta's skin was split and bleeding, but he had suffered no internal injuries, and not a single bone had been broken!

Just as the man was left speechless and prepared to let the matter rest until King Vegeta made a personal judgment, an unexpected turn occurred.

"Mom, he sneak-attacked me!" Palanti raised her little face and tugged at Xuesaili's hem, shaking it. A few beads of sweat still clung to the corners of her eyes. "Hit him for me too!"

"Fine." Xuesaili agreed without hesitation. She rubbed the top of her daughter's head with her fingertips, then lifted her eyes to stare directly at him. Her voice cracked through the air like torn silk. "Kesa! Did you hear her? Take a punch from me!"

Kesa had never expected Palanti to ask her mother to fight for her, much less for Xuesaili to truly agree and attack!

"Wait—"

But the confidence forged through strength had long made Xuesaili and the others less tolerant toward the outside world, and far more decisive.

Before Kesa could finish speaking, Xuesaili had already become an afterimage and closed in. Her fist carried an explosive burst of energy like muffled thunder as it struck directly beneath his ribs!

With a thunderous boom, Kesa flew sideways like a kite with its string cut, streaking across several hundred meters of sky before crashing heavily into a distant mountain hollow and kicking up a sky full of dust.

Without even sparing him a glance, Xuesaili took Palanti's hand. Together with Xuesaiya, she turned and walked calmly toward Lin Feng's residence, leaving behind nothing but wreckage and silence.

To them, wasting energy on these old guards who had nothing but seniority and no fighting spirit was far less worthwhile than going home to practice horse stance and breathing exercises.

"Bastard! Bastard!!" Vegeta knelt amid the scorched earth, pounding the ground madly with both fists. His knuckles split open, blood and dirt smearing across the backs of his hands as a beastlike roar rolled from his throat.

Nappa and Raditz stood silently nearby. Neither tried to persuade him, nor did either try to stop him.

Yet when they both looked toward the horizon—where Palanti, Xuesaili, and Xuesaiya had long vanished—a faint dark flame quietly ignited in their eyes, burning bright and unextinguished.

Prince Vegeta, whose talent surpassed that of the entire race, had still been beaten to his knees and made to vomit blood before Palanti;

Kesa, likewise a high-level Saiyan, could not even withstand a single punch from Xuesaili.

That trace of unwillingness, that trace of humiliation, slowly burned through their laziness and wishful thinking, forging the words "become stronger" deep into their bones.

Time flew, and another year passed.

That year, Vegeta nearly tortured himself: seeking out masters everywhere to be beaten, training bitterly through his injuries, falling and rising again, then falling again, then rising once more.

And Palanti had become the undisputed leader of Planet Vegeta's younger generation!

That crushing defeat from a year ago had been branded into every Saiyan's memory. Over the following three hundred and sixty-five days, she had crushed Vegeta nearly every day.

Vegeta's prestige had not collapsed, but Palanti's brilliance had quietly pierced through the clouds, eclipsing the glory of the former king.

Now, all of Planet Vegeta was spreading the same tale:

The one with the greatest talent was neither Vegeta nor Barros, but that girl whose battle power had been under one hundred at birth and who now stirred the winds and clouds—Palanti.

A year was enough to change far too much.

Barros had ventured to alien worlds and vanished without a trace. Though Xuesaiya and Xuesaili had not shed their doubts, they had never slackened in their training, advancing step by steady, resolute step.

Palanti alone saw her combat power's growth suddenly stagnate.

A year had passed, yet she remained stuck at 899 points, unable to advance another inch.

Xuesaili and Xuesaiya exchanged glances, their disappointment plain to see.

Without Barros hanging over her like a blade, Palanti gradually lost herself in the praise and adulation surrounding her. That old ruthless drive to grit her teeth, chase the light, and battle her limits to the death was slowly being boiled away in lukewarm water.

In stark contrast, Vegeta had grown at a terrifying pace after being knocked down, humiliated, and stripped of his dignity by Palanti time and again.

In just twelve months, his combat power had skyrocketed from one thousand to 5,200. The entire Planet Vegeta fell silent, and even the older generation of warriors held their breath.

A year had passed, yet Barros was still nowhere to be found.

To cut off the arrogance growing in Palanti's heart, Xuesaiya and Xuesaili finally decided to take her to the interstellar battlefield, where she could rediscover reverence amid blood and fire.

This time, they would not intervene.

Even if Palanti's combat power was only 899, even if she practiced the Prison-Suppressing Dragon Elephant Art—if she could not shoulder a high-level planet mission on her own, then they would rather let her fall on the battlefield than lend a hand!

This was the ironclad rule they had set themselves.

Yet they knew perfectly well that, with Palanti's strength, completing a high-level mission was not impossible.

Would she suffer a little? Of course.

But that was exactly what they wanted—pain was the best wake-up call.

If Barros had not delayed his return for so long, they would never have needed to go to such lengths.

With him around, Palanti's fleeting pride would have long since been crushed into dust.

Unfortunately, this time, Barros seemed to have been swallowed by the universe. For an entire year, he had not set foot on Planet Vegeta even once.

The three boarded their spacecraft. Engines roaring, it tore through Planet Vegeta's gray-blue skies and headed for an unknown starfield.

On the same day, Vegeta also accepted a slightly easier high-level planet mission. He piloted his ship alone and vanished into another stretch of deep space.

That day, Nappa and Raditz each accepted low-level planet extermination missions. One after the other, they entered the cosmic routes and completely left Planet Vegeta behind!

Xuesaiya, Xuesaili, Vegeta, and the others had no idea—at the moment they turned and departed, the gears of fate for the entire universe had already meshed together. The first wave of a cataclysm destined to sweep across countless worlds and shake all ages was quietly beginning to rise!

Meanwhile!

Lin Feng—Barros, as he would henceforth be known by his Saiyan name—had spent a full year fighting abroad without returning, not because his missions were too perilous.

Rather, his cultivation had struck an insurmountable barrier—his aura had stagnated, his stellar core had dimmed, and he could advance no further.

So he simply tore through the void and leaped directly out of this universe!

Ten months earlier, a mysterious powerhouse had suddenly appeared on the mid-level planet Barros was conquering. His combat power had soared to 22,300 points, his aura sharp as a blade and his killing intent chilling.

Barros could not even be bothered to ask the man's name—he went straight for the kill the moment they met. Other than Frieza's hounds, who else would do such filthy work?