20demayo Page 169
Page 169
The surrounding air froze instantly. The robot contestants from Universe 3 creaked and groaned as they turned their joints, the Supreme Kai of Universe 10 turned pale, and even the usually boisterous Bulma fell silent, quietly tugging at Vegeta's sleeve.
[WARNING! Abnormal fluctuations in the Omni-King's energy field have been detected, posing a 7% risk of rule tampering.]
A blinding red light flashed across the system interface, and Lin Ye's gaze snapped to the position in Universe Eleven. Jiren sat cross-legged on the ground, his eyes closed, the gray aura surrounding him like solidified lead, causing the surrounding space to wrinkle slightly. The two team members closest to him subconsciously moved away, as if afraid of being crushed into powder by that pressure.
"Hey, you bastard." Vegeta suddenly leaned over, arms crossed, a smirk on his face. "Don't drag us down later."
"You should worry about yourself, Your Highness." Lin Ye raised an eyebrow. "Who was it that got kicked out of bounds by Caulifla during the last simulation training?"
Vegeta's face flushed red, and just as he was about to retort, the High Priest's voice boomed through the palace like a bell: "Round One, the free-for-all begins!"
Before he could finish speaking, a purple energy wave grazed past Lin Ye's ear and slammed into the energy barrier behind him, exploding into a dazzling rain of light.
"Quick reaction!" Caulifla's laughter came crashing down with a whooshing sound, her red flames crackling with tiny lightning bolts, her fist aimed straight for Lin Ye's face. "I didn't get enough of a fight in Universe Six last time, so I won't hold back this time!"
Lin Ye lightly touched the ground with his toes, his body drifting backward like a leaf blown by the wind, a distance of three zhang. Kalifra's fist grazed his nose, missing its mark, the force of the blow making his cheek numb.
"What? All you can do is hide?" Caulifla frowned as she caught up, sweeping her elbow across the ground. "Or are you scared?"
"We're afraid you'll demolish the Omni-King's Palace, and the Seventh Universe can't afford to compensate you." Lin Ye suddenly lowered his body, his palm brushing against her ribs, his fingertips precisely tapping the seams of her combat suit.
"Bang!" Califra staggered back two steps, touching her waist in surprise. "How did you know..." That was the weakest point in the combat suit's defense, even Gabe didn't know.
"Just guessing." Lin Ye shrugged. The system was rapidly scrolling through data on his retina: "[Detected 3% energy leakage in Caulifla's Super Saiyan form, usable]." But he didn't intend to press his advantage. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of several familiar figures crouching down and reaching towards Goku.
They were remnants of the Ginyu Force. The leader was missing an arm, which he had replaced with an energy arm, and he was grinning and rubbing his hands together.
"It's you rats from the gutter again." Lin Ye's golden aura suddenly surged, and silver ultimate light swirled around his fist. The scene of crushing them in the Sixth Universe three years ago suddenly flooded his mind. Back then, he had to rely on the system to analyze their weaknesses bit by bit, but now his body had long since memorized where to punch for maximum pain.
[82% compatibility with Ultimate Skill, triggers skill: Instantaneous Movement?]
Lin Ye's figure flashed back and forth among the Ginyu Force members. He didn't even look down to see his target, relying entirely on the flow of his qi to determine their position. Each punch landed precisely on the opponent's joints, producing a series of crisp cracking sounds.
"You're asking for death!" the one-armed captain roared, unleashing an energy blast, only to have it slapped back by Lin Ye, hitting him squarely in the chest.
"Didn't I hurt you guys enough last time?" Lin Ye kicked him in the back, watching the guy fly out of the arena like a kite with a broken string. "Tell Frieza that if he sends any more trash next time, I'll dismantle his spaceship for parts."
When the last player was kicked off the field, Lin Ye suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck, as if he were being stared at by a venomous snake.
He whirled his head, meeting Jiren's open eyes. Those grey pupils held no emotion, and the aura surrounding him suddenly condensed into needle-like points, piercing straight at him.
“Interesting.” Jilian’s lips didn’t move, but his voice seemed to resonate directly in Lin Ye’s mind. “You’ve improved since the qualifiers.”
Just as Lin Ye was about to speak, the arena suddenly trembled violently. A cloud of black mist rose from the fourth universe's position, and several black vines emerged from the ground, like living snakes, and "whoosh" wrapped around Kai'er, who was fighting someone. Purple poisonous smoke was also rising from the vines, and the tighter they wrapped around, the weaker Kai'er's aura became.
"This is against the rules! This is against the rules!" the Supreme Kai of Universe 6 screamed.
The Omni-King has raised his chubby hand, golden energy swirling in his palm, clearly preparing to eliminate the violator directly.
"Wait!" Lin Ye instantly teleported to Kai'er's side, his golden aura transforming into a sharp blade that severed the vines with a "crack." Black sap seeped from the severed vines, sizzling and smoking as it fell to the ground.
[System notification: Dark magical energy detected, originating from the same source as Babidi's spell]
Lin Ye stared at the pool of black liquid and suddenly remembered the gear symbol in the Dapu Cave. The Fourth Universe's actions were not just simple violations; they wanted to use the competition to eliminate the main force of the Sixth Universe.
“Mind your own business,” Jiren’s voice rang out again.
Before Lin Ye could react, the gray aura surged across the barrier of Universe 4 like a tidal wave. The seemingly indestructible vines melted away instantly within the gray aura, like ice and snow meeting fire. Jiren didn't even look at the contestants from Universe 4; he just stared at Lin Ye through the crowd: "Being distracted here is no different than jumping down on your own."
"It's better than watching others resort to underhanded tactics." Lin Ye mobilized his Ultimate Energy, silver patterns flowing across his arm. "Or are the contestants from Universe 11 only daring to defy the rules?"
Jiren's brow twitched, and the gray aura suddenly surged by three points, causing the energy barrier at the edge of the arena to hum. "You can try and see if you can last ten moves against me."
"Why don't we give it a try now?" Lin Ye laughed, his fighting spirit ignited like gasoline. "Anyway, the Omni-King didn't say we couldn't have a one-on-one duel beforehand."
The fighting around them had stopped at some point, and all eyes were now on the two of them. Goku scratched his head and chuckled, Vegeta crossed his arms and snorted, while Caulifla pulled Kale closer, clearly not wanting to miss this good show.
The King clapped his hands and shouted, "Great! Let's fight! Let's fight!"
The high priest coughed lightly and tapped his golden scepter on the ground: "Attention all contestants, the melee continues."
Lin Ye didn't move, and neither did Ji Lian, but the air between them was already twisted into a pretzel, as if it were about to explode at any moment. Looking into Ji Lian's calm eyes, Lin Ye suddenly felt that the win rate data given by the system was completely useless... Some things, you only know after you've fought them.
For example, what's burning so fiercely in his chest right now—is it the desire to win, or something else that's even hotter?
Chapter 377: Deep Blue? The Flame of Bonds
Vegeta's fist slammed into the energy shield of the Universe 10 fighter, the crisp sound like tempered glass shattering on an alloy plate, echoing throughout the arena. Deep blue flames swirled around him in a spiral vortex, each stream carrying a scorching heat wave from 15000 times the force of gravity training. When they struck the energy shield, they sizzled and burned. The energy barrier, which had been glowing white, was instantly crushed into shimmering powder, as if corroded by strong acid, and fell onto the smooth surface of the arena.
"You dare to participate in the Tournament of Power with such meager skills?" Vegeta scoffed, his tail sweeping across the ground behind him, the resulting shockwave slamming into the Universe 2 contestant who was attempting a sneak attack. The guy had just gathered a purple energy blast when the force of the gust sent him flying sideways, tracing a pathetic arc in the air, about to crash through the energy barrier at the edge of the arena. "Get lost! Don't dirty my eyes!"
His gaze swept past the chaotic crowd, landing on the direction where Lin Ye and Ji Lian were facing off. A hint of disdain flashed in his emerald green pupils, but his lips were pressed tighter than a blade. That bastard dared to look the gray warrior in the eye; he was practically courting death. But for some reason, that familiar restlessness in his chest resurfaced, like magma churning beneath the rock, even more intense than when he had just beaten down his two opponents, making even his fingertips tingle slightly.
The images from the gravity chamber three days ago suddenly flashed into his mind. The golden flames that lit up when Lin Ye shared the weight, the energy resonance generated when their fists collided, and the moment when the "Double Divine Break" tore through space... These images, which he had categorized as "boring entanglements," now made the flow of qi within his body flow more smoothly, like a long-blocked water pipe suddenly being cleared, and even his blood vessels felt a long-lost lightness.
"Prince Vegeta, getting distracted can lead to defeat." Android 18's voice came from the side, with just the right amount of teasing. She had just used an energy wave to knock down the captain of the Mechsun team from Universe 3, and there was still some machine oil on her blue hair.
Vegeta whirled around and saw the android using energy waves to restrain the remaining cyborgs. A blue beam of light, crackling with tiny electrical currents, condensed in her palm. It was her "Infinite Energy Cannon," modified based on the energy principles of the gravity chamber. White smoke billowed from its muzzle; its power was three times greater than during the Cell Saga. A hit on the cyborgs could directly paralyze their core programming. Just now, two unlucky ones had been blasted into sparks, their joints stuck in mid-air, unable to move.
"Who's distracted?!" Vegeta's ears turned bright red, as if they'd been branded with a hot iron. He whirled around and unleashed a ki blast, the deep blue energy ball grazing Android 18's shoulder. "This kind of trash isn't even worth getting distracted by!"
His attack landed precisely on the joint of the robot behind Number 18, and the shockwave from the explosion cleared the obstacle on her left side like an invisible hand. Number 18 raised an eyebrow, and as she retracted the energy cannon, she casually ripped off the metal shards from her shoulder. The metal fragments spun between her fingers: "Oh? Who was staring blankly at Lin Ye just now? Even their tails were perked up in a wary state."
"I was just watching him make a fool of himself!" Vegeta's arrogance surged by half a foot, the deep blue light making his face turn pale, like a hedgehog whose secret had been exposed. "Once he's knocked out of the arena by Jiren, I'll personally take care of that gray bastard and show him who the strongest Saiyan is!"
Suddenly, the robotic arm on number 18 flashed a rapid red light, and the data stream on the screen poured down like a waterfall, even reflecting warning symbols in her blue pupils. Her brows furrowed, and her voice carried an unusual urgency: "Stop being stubborn. Lin Ye is really in trouble. Jiren's energy has started to go berserk, and his energy level has broken through the initial stage of a God of Destruction. My scanner is almost shattered."
Vegeta looked up abruptly, his heart clenching as if gripped by an icy hand.
In the center of the arena, Jiren's gray aura had expanded to tens of meters high, resembling a churning mushroom cloud with black spatial rifts around its edges. Lin Ye's golden figure flickered within it, like a small boat in a raging storm. Each time he was engulfed by the gray aura, he had to exert tremendous effort to break free again, seemingly on the verge of being completely swallowed up at any moment. The system's warning exploded in his mind, even more piercing than the last time in the gravity chamber: [Jiren's combat power has exceeded the limit, reaching the level of a God of Destruction. Immediate evacuation is recommended.]
"Tch." Vegeta's deep blue aura suddenly surged, and the air around him was compressed into a pale blue band of light, crackling and popping. Even the arena floor beneath his feet cracked with spiderweb-like fine lines. "That bastard dared to challenge a strong opponent before me. He deserves a beating."
The moment he charged towards the center of the battlefield, Number 18's voice came again, crackling with static: "Wait! Lin Ye just sent a system notification that Jiren's weakness is..."
“I know without you saying it!” Vegeta interrupted her, his speed increasing even further, leaving a blue afterimage in his wake on the arena. But just a second before reaching Jiren's gray aura, he suddenly changed direction at an incredible angle, not attacking the gray warrior, but instead circling behind Lin Ye. The deep blue aura and the opponent's golden light instantly intertwined into a spiral, like a rapidly spinning coin, with silver sparks of Ultra Instinct flying from its edges.
"Hey, you scum, remember what the gravity chamber felt like?" Vegeta growled, his ki clashing with Lin Ye's, the resulting shockwave sending nearby fighters staggering backward. Several weaker fighters were thrown more than ten meters away. "Don't let me down!"
Lin Ye's ultimate instincts instantly understood his intention. The two synchronized their energy within 0.1 seconds, even more in sync than in the gravity chamber, like two swords honed for years finally finding their perfect sheath. Golden and blue energy waves surged like twin dragons emerging from the sea, accompanied by a whistling sound that tore through the air, crashing into Jiren's thick energy shield.
"This move is called 'Saiyan Twins Modified,' and it's much stronger than the previous crappy fusion technique!" Vegeta's roar was exceptionally clear amidst the intense light of the explosion, carrying an undeniable pride.
[Resonance of combined attack power detected; system has successfully copied Jiren's 'gravity control' ability.]
Lin Ye's pupils flashed with surprise. He could clearly feel the surrounding gravity field changing according to his will, sometimes as heavy as lead, making his bones creak, and sometimes as light as a feather, as if he could float into the sky at any moment. This was the key technique that Ji Lian used to suppress his opponent. No matter how he analyzed it before, he couldn't find a clue. But now it was as natural as breathing.
When Jiren took a half step back in surprise, Lin Ye suddenly understood Vegeta's intention. This guy wasn't trying to defeat his opponent at all; he was clearly using the most awkward way to show him the path to victory.
"Looks like you guys are finally cooperating properly." Number 18's laughter came from the stands, crisp and metallic. Her mechanical arm had stopped alarming and was leaning against the energy barrier with interest, watching the golden and blue beam of light in the center of the arena. "Much better than in the gravity chamber."
Vegeta turned his face away, but his ears turned a deeper red, as if dyed by the sunset, and he did not refute it again.
Lin Ye watched the intertwined energy between the two and suddenly remembered the system's previous notification: [Saiyan bonds can increase energy synchronization rate]. Those emotions that the prince considered "weak" were now transforming into the sharpest weapons, tearing a dazzling crack in Jiren's seemingly indestructible energy wall, with golden and blue sparks emanating from the crack.
"Stop grinning like an idiot, you piece of trash." Vegeta's voice was muffled, as if squeezed out from between his teeth. "This move will only last ten seconds. Use whatever you have on hand! Stop dawdling like a woman!"
"Then let him taste the power of gravity." Lin Ye's silver Extreme Instinct patterns climbed up his cheeks, perfectly blending with Vegeta's deep blue aura, even their breathing was synchronized. "You take the left side, I'll go the right side, let's leave him with a souvenir."
For the first time, a look of seriousness appeared in Jiren's gray pupils. He could feel his gravity control being shattered. Within those two intertwined auras lay something more dangerous than the "Double God Break"—not just pure power, but a bond that could move even the strongest. That tacit understanding, where hearts could communicate without words, was more frightening to him than any energy wave.
At the edge of the arena, Goku chuckled, scratching his hair, his tail swishing merrily behind him: "That Vegeta guy, he clearly cares about Lin Ye, but he's still being stubborn."
Bulma rolled her eyes, but the monitor in her hand marked the energy peak of the previous move in red. She couldn't help but smirk: "That idiot prince has finally figured it out. If he keeps going like this, he might even surpass Kakarot."
In a corner unnoticed by everyone, the Supreme Kai of Universe 4 quietly clenched his fist. Black incantations seeped from between his fingers, writhing like living snakes and crawling into eerie symbols on the back of his pale hand. His eyes were fixed on the golden-blue pillar of light, and his voice was as soft as a sigh: "It seems we must activate the backup plan ahead of schedule... We can't let Universe 7 succeed."
As soon as he finished speaking, the black incantation on the back of his hand suddenly lit up, and something seemed to be awakening in the shadows of the arena.
Chapter 378: Jiren's Obsession
Jiren's fist stopped three inches from Lin Ye's throat, gray energy enveloping the two like solidified cement. The noise of the arena seemed to be sucked into a vacuum, even the sound of the Omni-King's clapping became distant. Lin Ye could clearly hear the heartbeat in the other's chest... slow, heavy, each beat carrying suppressed rage, like the muffled roar before a volcanic eruption.
“You are very much like him.” Jilian’s voice came from behind the mask, deep as if it had been dug from the depths of the earth, and Lin Ye’s astonished reflection was seen in his gray pupils. “The ‘god’ who made me lose everything.”
[Jilan's emotional fluctuations detected, unlocking memory fragment: The Destruction of Universe Eleven]
Suddenly, a blinding red light flashed across the system interface, like an alarm exploding on the retina. Blurred images flashed by like fragments: a burning planet looked like a piece of charred bread, its surface cracked with spiderweb-like fissures; Jiren, a boy kneeling in the ruins, clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, his nails digging into his palms; and in the sky, there was a figure wearing the crown of the God of Destruction, its tail swaying lazily behind it, the energy dripping from its fingertips striking the ground and creating craters a hundred meters deep.
"Beelzebub?" Lin Ye's voice trembled with disbelief. Although the face of the God of Destruction in the image was unclear, the frequency of the tail's swaying was exactly the same as that of the lazy cat god of Universe Seven.
Jiren abruptly withdrew his fist, and a surge of gray energy erupted with a deafening roar, like a sudden sandstorm. A cold, stern smile curved his lips beneath his mask: "Shut up!"
A shockwave swept across the arena like a tsunami, sending several contestants who couldn't dodge in time flying, tracing desperate arcs through the air. A robot from Universe 3 crashed into the energy barrier and disintegrated with a loud bang; a female contestant from Universe 6 screamed as she flew off the edge of the arena, seemingly about to be eliminated.
"That's not a god of destruction, that's an executioner in the guise of a god!" Jiren's roar shook the arena, and black lightning surged from the gray air. "He watched our planet be destroyed, watched my master be torn apart by monsters, and he just sat there drinking!"
Lin Ye's extreme instincts kept him in a defensive stance, the golden flames in his palms slightly burning. But within the other's aura, he suddenly felt a familiar pain, the despair he felt when he heard his mother's heart stop beating in the hospital corridor before he transmigrated, like two drops of ink of the same color slowly merging into one in water.
[System Notification: Jiren's anger stems from a sense of powerlessness; his combat power can be weakened through resonance.]
“I have also lost important people.” Lin Ye’s golden aura suddenly softened, and a faint blue color mixed into the silver ultimate light. That was the energy mark of number 18, which formed a small circle in his palm. “Before I transmigrated, my mother lay in a hospital bed for three years and finally passed away. At that time, I felt like the sky had fallen, and I hated myself for not being able to save her.”
He paused, looking at Jillian's tense shoulders, and lowered his voice even further: "But I won't take my anger out on others. Hatred doesn't solve problems; it only turns you into the very thing you hated most in the past."
Jilian's pupils contracted sharply, and his gray aura momentarily became turbulent, like water rippling in the wind. He looked at the blue-gold light in Lin Ye's palm and suddenly remembered his master's dying words: "A true strong person is not someone without weakness, but someone who dares to admit weakness and then continues to move forward with that weakness."
"Now!" Vegeta's roar came from the side, accompanied by a sharp whooshing sound.
Deep blue flames shot towards Jiren's blind spot like sharp arrows, while Android 18's energy wave simultaneously blocked all escape routes. Blue beams wove a diamond-shaped net in mid-air. This was a tactic that the three had practiced a hundred times in the gravity chamber: Lin Ye attracted attention, Vegeta launched the main attack, and Android 18 was responsible for restraining them. Their coordination was like a precise machine.
Jiren, however, teleported backward at the last second, creating a crater ten meters in diameter behind him with gray energy. After regaining his footing, he glanced at Vegeta and Android 18, his tone softening for the first time: "Your teamwork is good, but not enough."
His gaze suddenly shifted to the audience, like two gray laser beams: "Did you see that universe?"
Lin Ye followed his gaze and saw that Champa, the God of Destruction of Universe 6, was secretly winking at Caulifla. Golden energy was swirling in his palm through his chubby fingers, clearly preparing to violate the rules and attack the contestant from Universe 7.
"Champa! You dare try cheating!" Beerus jumped up as if his fur had stood on end, the hairs at the base of his tail bristling. "Believe me or not, I'll tear you apart right now, you fat pig!"
"I was just stretching my fingers!" Xiangpa immediately put his hands behind his back, his eyes darting around. "Don't you dare make false accusations!"
"Is this the god you protect?" Jiren's voice was filled with undisguised sarcasm, and his gray aura surged again. "You'd abandon your dignity for survival. What's the difference between you and that executioner who sat on a cloud drinking wine back then?"
Lin Ye suddenly smiled, and his golden aura surged half a foot higher, protecting the contestants from Universe 7 behind him. Tien Shinhan, who had been knocked down by the shockwave, was struggling to get up. Lin Ye reached out and helped him up, saying, "We're not protecting gods, we're protecting each other."
His gaze swept over Goku and Bulma at the edge of the arena, then fell back on Vegeta and Android 18 beside him. His tone was as firm as steel: "Even without the Omni-King's wish, even if the universe disappears tomorrow, we will fight to the end. Not for the gods, but to avoid disappointing the people we care about."
[Host belief value detected to have exceeded the threshold; Suiyi Extreme compatibility increased to 91%]
A silvery light instantly enveloped Lin Ye's entire body, as if he were coated with moonlight. His movements became as fast as lightning. As he weaved through Jilian's aura, he could even see the trajectory of the opponent's aura. There was a slight stagnation in the gray energy near the heart, a flaw that Jilian himself had not noticed.
Just as his fist was about to touch Jiren's chest, it suddenly changed angle, not to attack, but to gently brush the dust off the other's shoulder.
“You…” Jilian’s gray aura was completely disrupted, fluctuating violently like a punctured balloon. He stared into Lin Ye’s eyes, which contained no anger, no fear, only a calm determination.