In Dragon Ball: A brutal beating of Frieza at the start

Page 99

laugh--!

The hatch slammed shut and locked tight. The cold metal shielded him from the hellish sights and malicious prying eyes of the outside world, but it couldn't quell the turmoil in Lin Ye's heart. The spaceship suddenly shuddered violently, violently rising into the air, ruthlessly tearing through the Namekian purple clouds, the intense thrusting feeling like a heavy hammer pressing down on Lin Ye. He endured the discomfort, scrambled to his feet, and rushed to the observation window, where the swamp below rapidly shrank and blurred.

"Vegeta! Your forehead!" Lin Ye gasped, his heart pounding, pointing to the back of Vegeta's head, "Just now... when the door closed! There seemed to be something... black! Moving near your hair!"

Vegeta sat firmly in the pilot's seat, his hands moving swiftly and precisely to set the course on the control panel, without even turning his head. His back was as straight as steel. When questioned, his fingers seemed to pause for an extremely subtle fraction of a second before pressing the button down even harder.

"Mind your own business, you piece of trash!" Vegeta's voice was as cold and hard as iron, filled with impatience and contempt. "You've lost your power, and your brain's gone mad too? Or are your eyes filled with mud? Stop spouting nonsense!" His tone was resolute, as if it were just an illusion. However, beneath his thick black hair, at the edge of the pulsating dark gold halo on his forehead, a barely perceptible, cold and filthy black line, like a living thing, quietly reappeared, greedily probing and spreading along the edge of the rune. Under his powerful willpower, it was forcibly suppressed, like a startled venomous insect, slowly and reluctantly disappearing beneath his skin, leaving only a faint, chilling aura lingering in the cramped cockpit. That aura was so weak and imperceptible, yet it made the uneasy Lin Ye feel a strange unease.

Chapter 244: The Hungry Universe

In the deepest underground strategic command center of the Capsule Corporation, the piercing alarm was no longer a monotonous hum, but the wail of a dying beast, frantically tearing at everyone's nerves. The enormous holographic star map almost occupied the entire circular wall, and the once brilliant galactic lights were now dimming and extinguishing one after another, as if being swallowed by an invisible maw.

Bulma's hair was disheveled, her eyes fixed on a corner of the star map where a massive star labeled Alpha Scorpii was being rapidly enveloped by a writhing, living, dark membrane. Her knuckles were white from pressing hard on the edge of the control panel, and she roared in a hoarse voice, "Look! That wormhole... it's not traversing space, it's fucking 'eating' something!"

All eyes focused instantly. The eerie, dark membrane, like a greedy stomach, suddenly contracted! The massive star encased within it, before it could even fully unleash its struggling light, collapsed inward at a visible speed amidst suffocating despair. There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a chilling, silent groan of space being forcibly twisted and crushed. In just three seconds! That colossal fireball, burning for billions of years, was compressed before everyone's very eyes into a cold, lifeless black singularity, from which even light could not escape, before being completely swallowed by the writhing dark membrane, leaving only a spreading purple vortex marking the void on the star map.

"Ugh..." Someone couldn't help but gag. The scene brought not only a visual shock, but also a pollution and fear on a spiritual level.

“Miss Bulma!” Number 18’s voice was more grave than ever before. She strode over and shoved a freshly printed report, still damp with toner, into Bulma’s hands. A faint arc of electricity flickered uncontrollably at the interface of her robotic arm. “The situation is worse than the energy crash we’ve been monitoring! Weather satellites and deep space probes outside Earth’s orbit have transmitted the latest data… plants! Globally, the photosynthetic efficiency of plants has plummeted by 70 percent in just a few minutes! And it’s still declining! This isn’t a localized disaster; it’s… it’s the fundamental laws of the entire universe 'degrading'! The underlying physical rules that support life are crumbling!”

Bulma grabbed the report, quickly scanning the alarming curves and data. Her face turned deathly pale: "Photosynthesis... oxygen cycle... degradation of fundamental laws... This isn't a war at all... This is the entire universe slowly dying!" She looked up sharply at the dark wormhole that was still expanding and devouring its next target, her eyes filled with despair.

"boom--!!!"

With a deafening roar, the expensive alloy walls of the command center caved in and tore apart as if made of paper! Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, a purple figure burst in, radiating a furious rage. Beerus, the God of Destruction! His usual languid arrogance was completely gone; his purple fur bristled, his golden pupils contracted into dangerous vertical lines, and while the destructive aura emanating from him was far weaker than in his prime, it was even more ferocious.

"Shut up, Bulma! What are you insects up to now!" Beerus roared furiously, slashing his cat paw. With a "boom," the priceless control panel in front of Bulma was instantly smashed to pieces, parts and sparks flying everywhere. He flicked his paw in annoyance, and a weak, egg-sized ball of dark purple destructive energy condensed at his fingertip. This energy was extremely unstable, its light flickering as if it might go out at any moment. Beerus looked at the pitiful energy in his paw, and for the first time, his face showed a mixture of astonishment, anger, and a hint of...unbelievable fear.

“This feeling…this damn regression…” He stared intently at the faint ball of light, his voice low and echoing like the sounds of hell, “It’s not that there’s not enough energy…it’s that the level of the rules of ‘destruction’ itself…has been forcibly lowered! Even my divine power is failing! And your technology…ha…” He glanced at the arcs of electricity flickering on Number Eighteen’s arm and the black smoke billowing from the surrounding instruments, his meaning clear.

His gaze abruptly shifted to the dark wormhole on the holographic star map that was relentlessly devouring stars. His pupils contracted sharply, as if he recognized something extremely ancient and terrifying: "It's the 'Star Eaters'! The legends from the beginning of the universe... those monsters that feed on the 'laws' themselves! They don't destroy planets... they're gnawing at the very foundation of the universe! According to records, they should have been extinct long ago... Damn it! This regression... could it be the signal that they're awakening?!"

Lin Ye stood at the edge of the crowd, his face equally grim. His gaze was fixed on the wormhole monitoring screen, on the surface of that writhing, seemingly alive, dark membrane, flowing with extremely complex and eerie patterns. These patterns… he knew them all too well! That distorted geometric structure, that cold, data-flowing texture…

"Not a legendary monster..." Lin Ye's voice, carrying a chilling penetrating force, interrupted Beerus's low growl and drew everyone's attention. He pointed to the flowing patterns on the dark membrane, enunciating each word clearly: "Look at those patterns! They're exactly the same as the core data stream that flickered on Omega's mechanical shell before it was destroyed... This is... a remnant of the system!"

“Lin Ye is right.” A slightly tired but unusually firm voice came from the entrance of the command center. The hatch of the time machine opened, and Future Trunks stepped out. He was in bad shape; one of his mechanical arms was severely damaged, and exposed pipes hissed with sparks. His face was covered in the dust of battle and deep worry. “I tracked the last trace of the Omega Core data’s escape. When it was annihilated by that golden torrent, it didn’t completely disappear… A tiny fragment, or rather… a ‘data ghost,’ underwent an unpredictable mutation in the dimensional rift. It escaped, and… it seems to have found a new carrier and a new way of expression. This so-called ‘Star Eater’ is its mutated physical form! It’s imitating, it’s evolving… and it’s… ‘feeding’!”

Vegeta remained silently leaning against the corner, arms crossed, the dark gold rune on his forehead flickering in the red glow of the alarm. He listened to the others' analysis, watching the points of light on the star map being swallowed up, his face expressionless, only a near-violent calm burning deep within his eyes. He suddenly raised his hand and ripped off the old-fashioned power detector on his ear, which had been wildly fluctuating in readings after the energy plummeted and had finally completely shut down.

"Power level index?" Vegeta scoffed, his fingers tightening until the detector shattered in his palm with a crisp "crack," tiny parts falling through his fingers. "This thing is garbage now!" His voice was low, yet carried a resolute certainty.

He stopped looking at anyone, turned abruptly, and strode toward the alloy gate leading from the command center to the external platform. Sensing his approach, the heavy gate slowly slid open to both sides, revealing the chaotic sky of Xidu and the enormous, gaping wound in the distance—the dark wormhole.

"In the most primal way!" Vegeta's voice was muffled by the rushing wind, yet it reached everyone's ears with unusual clarity. He stopped at the gate, glanced back, his gaze sharp as a knife, and finally fixed on a certain direction. The wind whipped his short black hair, and the Saiyan tail that was always tucked at his waist was now unconsciously taut, like a steel whip ready to be unleashed.

"Kakarot!" Vegeta roared at the rolling dark cloud, his voice like thunder, drowning out the piercing alarm. "Stop fucking hiding! Haven't you played dead enough?! If you don't come out, this damn planet won't even have any dust left!"

It was as if it were a response to his shout.

"Hey, Vegeta, don't get so angry!"

A laugh, with its signature hearty tone yet strangely reassuring, suddenly came from above the clouds.

call--!

A golden streak of light tore through the thick, dark clouds, and the Somersault Cloud, like a golden meteor, swooped down and landed steadily on the platform outside the command center, whipping up a gust of wind. Sun Wukong (Kakarot) sat cross-legged on it, one hand casually resting on his knee, the other... surprisingly carrying a multi-tiered food box emitting an enticing aroma! He wore his signature, slightly goofy smile, seemingly completely unaware of the apocalyptic crisis devouring the star above him, or rather... he chose to face it in his most familiar way.

"You can't fight on an empty stomach. Bulma said the alarms here are so loud they could wake a dead person. I stopped by and bought some steamed buns. They're fresh out of the oven and still warm!" Goku grinned and shook the food box in his hand. The rich aroma of meat instantly filled the command center, which was filled with the smell of burnt meat and the tense atmosphere, creating an absurd contrast.

Vegeta, seeing his expression, felt the veins on his forehead throb visibly, and he forced out a "...idiot!" through gritted teeth. But the barely perceptible tension in his eyes seemed to relax slightly with Goku's arrival. At least, the strongest fighter... had arrived.

Lin Ye's gaze remained solemn as he stared intently at the edge of Vegeta's hairline, which swayed slightly in the wind. He swore he'd seen it again the instant Vegeta turned and roared! Beneath the veil of the dark golden runes, a tiny, writhing, jet-black line flashed by! That thing… it wasn't an illusion!

Just then, the holographic star map suddenly emitted an even more piercing alarm! The purple vortex representing the dark wormhole suddenly expanded, and from the writhing dark membrane inside, countless pitch-black tentacles, formed from pure data streams and the laws of degeneration, like giant octopuses, slowly emerged, locking onto their next target with a hunger to devour everything and pure malice—the asteroid belt closest to Earth!

Bulma's voice trembled with tears and a final, resolute tone: "It...it's coming this way! The next...it could very well be...Earth's orbit!"

Inside the command center, there was a deathly silence. Only the wailing of alarms, the crackling of short-circuited instruments, and… the increasingly incongruous, warm aroma emanating from the steamed buns in Sun Wukong's food box.

Without another word, Vegeta kicked the edge of the alloy gate in front of him, which was not yet fully open!

"Boom——!"

With a deafening roar, the heavy alloy gate was twisted and deformed by his violent force, tearing open a huge gap large enough for one person to pass through! A fierce gust of wind instantly rushed in, making everyone's clothes flutter wildly.

"No time to wait for the door!" Vegeta's voice was ripped apart by the gale, leaving only a resolute figure and an icy statement, "Those who want to live, follow me! Or... wait to be digested as a 'snack' for the universe!"

Before he finished speaking, his figure was like a black lightning bolt tearing through space, carrying an unstoppable and violent momentum, as he charged out of the command center and headed against the current towards the huge dark wormhole in the sky above the city, which resembled the mouth of hell! His resolute posture made it seem as if he wanted to transform himself into a javelin and pierce the abyss maw that devoured the laws!

Lin Ye's pupils contracted sharply, and his heart pounded wildly. The instant Vegeta burst through the gap, the light of the dark gold rune on his forehead seemed to be forcibly activated by some force, blazing brightly for a moment! And at the edge of that dazzling golden light, several jet-black lines, clearer and more ferocious than before, like living curse marks, clearly appeared and twisted for a moment! Then they were fiercely suppressed by the even stronger golden light and disappeared.

That's definitely not as simple as a power regression! The chill in Lin Ye's heart instantly reached its peak. Wormholes, Planet Eaters, regression crisis... and the strange and unpredictable black markings on Vegeta's body... all of this points to the unfathomable and terrifying aftershocks brought about by the seemingly liberated smile of the host left behind after Omega's destruction!

"Wukong!" Lin Ye suddenly turned his head to look at Sun Wukong, who was still sitting on the somersault cloud, his voice filled with unprecedented urgency.

"Huh? Oh!" Sun Wukong seemed to finally snap out of his daze from the aroma of the steamed buns. The smile on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a pure and intense battle excitement. Golden flames erupted from his body with a "boom," though far less dazzling and vast than at his peak, they still carried an indomitable and burning fighting spirit! He shoved the food box into the arms of the stunned Krillin beside him: "Hold this for me! I'll eat it later!"

The next second, Flying Nimbus let out a rousing hum, transforming into a golden streak even more dazzling than Vegeta's, chasing closely after the black lightning, and rushing headlong into the writhing dark abyss that was devouring the light!

Lin Ye took a deep breath, suppressing his surging blood and the turmoil in his heart, and charged without hesitation towards the opening Vegeta had kicked open. The battle had begun, no matter what. Facing this "hungry" monster that fed on the laws of the universe, they had no way out. And the secrets of Vegeta… could only be explored after they survived!

Inside the command center, only Bulma's desperate cries, the frantic alarms of the instruments, and Krillin's bewildered face as he held the still-steaming box of buns in the shadow of impending doom.

Chapter 245: Primitive Hunting

A cold vacuum, a deathly silent graveyard.

The near-Earth orbit is now unrecognizable. The satellite array that once shone with the glory of human technology is now nothing but twisted metal debris, silently floating and colliding like cosmic junk, surrounding that despairing core—the Star Eater.

Its massive, wrinkled, jet-black surface, like a living, writhing abyss, greedily envelops the moon. Each silent "gnawing" causes a visible piece to be missing from the silvery celestial body, and scattered rock dust is pulled by invisible gravity, merging into the dark vortex around the Star Eater that devours all light.

"Kamehameha!!!"

Sun Wukong's figure darted through the wreckage at high speed, his golden hair burning like flames in the vacuum of space. He gathered his hands at his waist, condensing terrifying energy powerful enough to destroy a planet. A dazzling blue sphere instantly formed, blasting towards the darkness that was devouring the moon with a piercing shriek that tore through space!

However, the beam of light, powerful enough to pierce through stars, vanished without a trace upon touching that writhing layer of darkness. There was no explosion, no shockwave, not even a ripple. That pure darkness, seemingly capable of annihilating everything, merely trembled slightly before silently swallowing the energy that would make stars tremble.

"Holy crap! Ki...ki doesn't work?!" Goku's pupils constricted sharply, his face filled with disbelief and shock. In that instant of his stunned silence, several enormous tentacles, formed from pure darkness and tipped with suckers, shot out silently from the shadows behind him!

"Idiot! What are you spacing out for!" Vegeta's roar boomed like thunder in Goku's ears (through his headset). A purple figure, wreathed in violent energy, stomped hard on a sharp spike that had suddenly emerged from the metal wreckage and was aimed at Goku's ankle! Debris flew everywhere.

Goku executed a backflip, narrowly missing the deadly tentacles, a bead of cold sweat beading on his forehead. "Thanks, Vegeta! This thing… it eats energy!"

"Nonsense! Even a blind man could see that!" Vegeta spat, his eyes blazing with the ferocity of a wild beast. He had just torn off a thick tentacle wrapped around the main body of the abandoned space station, and thick, crude oil-like black blood spurted out, splashing onto his arm armor. It immediately emitted a teeth-grinding "sizzle," and the sturdy Saiyan battle armor visibly corroded, creating holes! "Damn it, the blood's poisonous too! Don't get any on me!"

"Then don't use your ki! Smash it with your fists!" Vegeta roared, using the half-tentacle still dripping black blood in his hand as a flail, smashing it hard against another attacking tentacle. The dull thud couldn't travel in the vacuum, but the part of the tentacle that was hit was clearly dented inward, and even developed tiny cracks!

This scene was keenly observed by Lin Ye, who was not far away. He was using his aerial agility to leap nimbly among the floating wreckage of the spaceship, dodging the attacks of the ubiquitous tiny tentacles. "Physical attack...effective?!" His mind raced, his gaze sweeping over the massive metal fragments floating around him. Without hesitation, he gathered his strength, grabbed a piece of spaceship armor plating the size of a small car, and, using his waist to propel it, hurled it like a javelin at the writhing surface of the Star Eater!

"Bang-click!"

The heavy metal plate slammed solidly into the dark folds! This time, there was no annihilation, no absorption. The area struck emitted a dull thud, the hard metal edge even embedding itself! What invigorated Lin Ye even more was that the writhing darkness around the struck area instantly hardened and crystallized, exhibiting a texture similar to obsidian. Although it lasted only a brief moment before resuming its writhing state, the damage caused by the armor plate was clearly visible!

"It works! Pure physical impact works!" Lin Ye shouted excitedly, his voice carrying through the communication channel to everyone's ears. "The spot that was hit will temporarily harden! Hit it while it's hard!"

"Oh? Interesting!" Vegeta's lips curled into a bloodthirsty smile, his eyes growing even more crazed. "Then smash it! Smash it into a pile of mush!" He no longer cared about energy consumption, relying purely on the Saiyan's terrifying physical strength. He transformed into a purple lightning bolt, his fists, feet, elbows, and knees becoming weapons of primal violence, raining down on the extending tentacles and approaching body surface like a storm. Each heavy blow was accompanied by a dull thud and a brief hardening effect.

Wukong immediately adjusted his tactics, his golden aura receding, relying purely on physical strength and combat skills. "Alright! Let's see who can break it faster!" He dodged the sweeping tentacle, grabbed its end with his backhand, and with perfect coordination of his waist and stance, swung the tentacle, which was several times thicker than his body, and slammed it hard into the other tentacle! The two tentacles tangled and tore apart, black blood gushing out.

"Watch out for blood!" Lin Ye warned again, while simultaneously grabbing a sharp metal rod and, like a knight wielding a lance, fiercely stabbing it into a hardening tentacle.

"Roar--!!!"

Just as the three of them had managed to regain their footing and were tearing at the tentacles with brute force, a sudden change occurred!

The massive core of the Planet Eater, which was gnawing at the moon, suddenly cracked open with a huge fissure! It wasn't a rift, but... it opened!

Thousands upon thousands of compound eyes, densely packed and layered, instantly opened in that core area! Each eye flashed with a cold, chaotic, and hungry dark red light, like the myriad eyes of hell opening to gaze upon humanity! An indescribable mental shockwave, accompanied by intense malice, swept out like a tangible tsunami!

"Ugh!" The closest boy, Trunks, was hit first. His brain went blank as if struck by a hammer, and his body stiffened. The ZSword he was holding flew out of his hand, spinning and landing squarely in the tiny gap between the two enormous compound eyes!

laugh--!

A strange, soft sound rang out. The viscous black blood on the blade, upon contact with the delicate, seemingly more fragile, wrinkled skin around the compound eyes, reacted as if encountering strong acid, boiling and bubbling violently, emitting an even louder "sizzling" sound! Even more bizarrely, the ancient runes engraved on the sword seemed to come alive, faintly glowing and greedily "sucking" the boiling black blood!

"Ah! My sword!" Little Te cried out in alarm, clutching his throbbing head.

"No! Little Trunks! Look!" Future Trunks (Big Trunks) fought off the dizziness from the mental shock, his mechanical eyes precisely catching the tiny anomaly. He pointed to the sword stuck in the gap of his compound eye, his voice trembling with excitement: "Its eyes! The skin around its eyes! It's afraid of this! Afraid of the runes on the sword! Or... afraid of the sword itself?!"

He stared sharply at the pulse drill cannon, gleaming with energy, mounted on his arm. Just moments ago, he had attempted to fire at a compound eye, but the core energy circuit within the drill cannon had suddenly malfunctioned, the light rapidly dimmed, and the energy gathered at the muzzle dissipated instantly! "Damn it! My weapon... it's disintegrated! It's that black mist! It's corroding the energy circuit!"

Da Te instantly understood, his voice resounding across the battlefield through the communication channel: "We can't use energy weapons! Technological weapons will be decomposed and rendered ineffective if they get close! Use melee weapons! Use physical weapons! Use something like that sword!"

Almost simultaneously, confirming his words, a little further away, on a high vantage point atop the floating ruins of a massive antenna tower, Number 18 was carrying a heavy rocket launcher salvaged from a decommissioned military satellite. She aimed at a huge compound eye below and pulled the trigger sharply!

Click... Sizzle... Sizzle...

The anticipated massive explosion did not occur. Inside the rocket launcher, there was only a muffled jamming sound and the crackling of short-circuiting electricity before it went completely silent, with a wisp of black smoke with a burnt smell even rising from the barrel.

"Damn it!!" Enraged, Number Eighteen slammed the heavy rocket launcher against the metal wreckage at her feet, creating a deafening crash. With the speed of a cheetah, she drew a high-strength alloy tactical straight knife from behind her back, its blade gleaming coldly in the dim light reflected from the distant Earth. "Bulma! Did you hear that?! All the energy weapons are useless! We need melee weapons! Lots of them! Sturdy ones! Quickly!"

Bulma's hurried, static-filled voice came through the communication channel: "I...I heard it! Damn it...the interference is too strong...Hold on! I'm delivering your 'package'! Celestial Armory...Activate! Coordinate lock...Fire!"

Deep underground within the headquarters of West Capsule Corporation, on Earth, Bulma slammed her hand on a scarlet button on the control panel, her forehead beaded with sweat. She yelled at Yamcha beside her, "Quick! Connect the backup power! The interference is too strong; the transmission can't be interrupted!"

Yamcha frantically operated the controls: "Understood! Bulma, can they hold on?"

"We have to hold on, even if we can't! My son and husband are up there!" Bulma stared intently at the progress of the energy transfer bar on the screen.

In space, in a relatively safe airspace a little further from the center of the battlefield, a huge missile launch bay, painted with the Capsule Corporation logo, was "pushed" up from below Earth's orbit by an invisible force, like a depth charge.

The capsule adjusted its attitude in the vacuum, its sharp nose pointing towards the fiercely battling Star Eater. Indicator lights on the capsule's surface flashed frantically, clearly resisting the intense energy interference emitted by the Star Eater.

"It's here!" Lin Ye, with his sharp eyes, spotted the rapidly approaching bright spot.

Om-!

A deep, resonant hum, as if the very fabric of space itself was vibrating, resounded. The missile bay reached its designated position, and the massive hatches sprang open to both sides!

No missiles.

Only light.

That was the cold, gleaming light reflected from thousands upon thousands of uniformly styled, alloy-forged samurai swords! Each one shimmered with a meticulously polished edge, its hilt wrapped with a non-slip black cord.

Like the arsenal of a god in mythology being overturned, or like a deadly rain of metal falling from the universe! Countless samurai swords, densely packed, burst forth in the weightless space, forming a shimmering torrent of death that poured down on the Star Eater and the warriors fighting around it—or rather, on the space where the warriors were!

"The weapons are here!!" Wukong was the first to react, shouting excitedly as he charged towards the rain of swords. With lightning speed, he accurately caught the hilts of two flying samurai swords.

"Hmph! Bulma, that woman, finally did something reliable!" Vegeta snorted, but his movements were anything but slow. With a graceful mid-air spin, he clamped a huge piece of debris between his legs to steady himself, and reached out to catch two longswords that were hurtling towards him at high speed. He weighed them in his hands; the blades were heavy, the edges sharp, and the material was top-grade space alloy. "Barely usable!"

"Little Te! Catch your sword!" Big Te controlled the mechanical arm, accurately grabbing the future sword that was still stuck in the gap of the compound eye, its runes glowing faintly from being corroded by black blood. He pulled it out forcefully and threw it towards his younger brother.