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

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"I don't know either, but the energy fluctuations here are strange, like they're made up of countless fragmented data." Lin Ye crouched down, reaching out to touch the edge of the crack. Suddenly, the Eye of Time and Space emitted a bright light. "Wait... this is the remnant of data deleted by the system! Those images are memories and possibilities deleted by the system!"

"The remnants of deleted data?" The Supreme Kai stared in astonishment at the crack. "Could this be the space formed by the erased data after the system crash?"

Lin Ye nodded, his consciousness beginning to connect with this space. Suddenly, a terrifying image appeared in his mind: a gigantic black shadow floated in the universe, without a fixed shape, seemingly composed of countless distorted fragments of spacetime, constantly devouring the surrounding planets and spacetime rifts. At the center of the shadow, Lin Ye sensed a chilling will surpassing even the Omni-King's palace, filled with a hunger and a desire for destruction.

“Chronos...the Chaos Devourer…” Lin Ye muttered to himself, cold sweat breaking out all over his body. “Is that its true form? It’s terrifying.”

"What did you see?" Vegeta noticed Lin Ye's unusual behavior and stepped forward to ask.

Just as Lin Ye was about to answer, he suddenly sensed a familiar fluctuation of consciousness. Following the fluctuation, he discovered a faint point of light floating within the crack, containing a fragment of consciousness—it was the consciousness of his mirror image, Lin Ye!

"It's a mirror image of me!" Lin Ye exclaimed, trying to grab the fragment of consciousness. Just as his fingers were about to touch the point of light, an extreme fear suddenly surged from within, as if he had encountered the most terrifying thing imaginable.

"Master...no...don't come any closer..." The fragments of Lin Ye's consciousness in the mirror image cried out weakly before beginning to dissipate.

"The Mainframe?" Lin Ye was stunned. This was the first time he had heard this name. "Could it be that the fear in Mirror Lin Ye's mind comes from this 'Mainframe'?"

Just then, the entire abandoned industrial area suddenly began to shake violently, and the suction force within the cracks grew stronger and stronger. The shattered images began to spin wildly, merging together to form a gigantic black shadow. The shadow gradually solidified, resembling an Omega, but its entire body was covered in fragmented data, exuding an evil aura.

"Oh no! This space is about to collapse!" the Supreme Kai shouted, erecting a protective shield. "This monster is formed from data debris and resentment. Prepare for battle!"

Vegeta erupted in a dazzling blue light, throwing a punch at the monster: "Whatever you are, disappear!"

Lin Ye also prepared for battle, his Eye of Time and Space warily scanning his surroundings. Suddenly, he sensed a familiar energy rapidly approaching; the energy fluctuations were very similar to those of the Time and Space Administration agents.

"Someone's coming!" Lin Ye shouted, "And...it's people from the Time and Space Administration!"

The words had barely left his lips when a figure descended from the sky, landing steadily a short distance away. The man wore a tattered Time and Space Administration uniform, was covered in wounds, and clutched a black box tightly in his hand. He looked up, revealing a weary yet resolute face—it was Rex, the Special Agent Captain of the Time and Space Administration.

"You...you've finally arrived..." Rex gasped for breath, looking at Lin Ye and the other two. "Quick...get out of here...Kronos's power has already begun to permeate this space...if we don't leave now, it'll be too late!"

Vegeta frowned, looking at Rex: "Who are you? Why are you here?"

Before Rex could answer, the monster resembling Omega suddenly roared and lunged at the four of them. At the same time, the suction force within the rift intensified, the surrounding space began to shatter, and countless black fissures spread through the air.

"No time to explain! Deal with this monster first, or we'll all be trapped here!" Rex shouted, pulling an energy gun from his pocket and firing at the monster.

Lin Ye, Vegeta, and the Supreme Kai exchanged a glance and charged at the monster simultaneously. The four figures darted through the shattered space, engaging the monster in a fierce battle. Behind them, the black rift within the fissure widened, and an even more terrifying aura slowly awakened.

Chapter 421: The Administration's Legacy

The energy gun beam grazed the edge of the data monster, blasting a deep crater in the ground. Rex staggered back two steps, bright red blood seeping from the gaps in his damaged armor; he was clearly at his last gasp.

"Stop hitting it! This thing can't be killed!" Rex roared, grabbing Lin Ye who was about to rush forward. "It's an aggregate of resentment from the Echoing Corridor; as long as this space exists, it will keep regenerating!"

Vegeta's fist slammed into the monster, but it was like hitting cotton; his fist passed right through the monster's body. "Damn it! What the hell is this thing?!" Vegeta roared, the blue light surrounding him growing even brighter.

"Retreat first! Let's get back to the surface!" The Supreme Kai erected a protective shield, protecting everyone inside. "This space is collapsing; if we don't leave now, we'll all be swept into the spacetime turbulence!"

Without further hesitation, the group followed Rex upwards towards the top of the rift. The monster behind them let out a shrill roar, its body swelling and countless data fragments flying from it, as if in its final struggle.

As they finally climbed to the surface, a deafening roar echoed behind them. The entire abandoned industrial area suddenly collapsed, the cracks vanishing completely, leaving only a massive crater.

"Phew...finally escaped..." Rex collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, sweat mixed with blood streaming down his face.

Vegeta stepped forward, grabbed Rex by the collar, and glared at him fiercely: "Tell me! Who are you? Why are you there? And what exactly is this 'Chronos'?"

"Vegeta, let go of him." Lin Ye grabbed Vegeta's arm. "He's already injured, let's talk this out."

Rex gave a wry smile, struggled to his feet, and pulled an identification card from his pocket: "I am Rex, the captain of the Time and Space Administration's special agents. I believe you have already sensed the terrible changes taking place in the universe."

"The Time-Space Administration Bureau? The organization that's been hunting Lin Ye?" The Supreme Kai frowned, clearly disliking the organization.

“That’s right, but it no longer exists.” Rex’s eyes dimmed. “Three days ago, the power of Kronos suddenly corrupted the Bureau headquarters. Most of the members were either assimilated or went insane; only a few escaped.”

"What exactly is Kronos?" Lin Ye pressed, the terrifying black shadow resurfacing in his mind.

Rex took a deep breath and slowly said, "It's not a life form in the traditional sense, but rather an 'embodiment of entropy' arising from the imbalance of the universe's rules, feeding on spacetime itself. The universe has been expanding since its birth, with entropy constantly increasing, and Kronos is the embodiment of entropy."

"The embodiment of entropy?" Vegeta frowned, clearly not understanding. "Speak human language!"

“Simply put, it’s synonymous with ‘chaos’ and ‘destruction,’” Rex explained. “It will continuously devour spacetime, returning the universe to its primordial state of chaos. And its power will grow stronger with each wave of spacetime it devours; once it consumes the entire multiverse, there will be no way to stop it.”

"What about the system? What does Omega have to do with all this?" Lin Ye recalled Alice's last message and a bad feeling crept into his heart.

Mentioning the system, Rex's expression grew even more serious: "The system's creation was actually an accident. The original host's wish was for a powerful being to protect the universe. This wish inadvertently triggered the universe's rules, creating the system. Initially, the system did slow down Kronos's devouring speed because it was maintaining order in the universe."

"But later the system became Kronos's tool, right?" Lin Ye interjected, having already grasped the gist of it.

Rex nodded. "That's right. After Kronos discovered the system's existence, he began to subtly influence its core program. In the end, the system not only provided Kronos with the coordinates of various universes, but also weakened the universes' resistance, making Kronos's absorption much easier."

"What about the 'mainframe'?" Lin Ye recalled the fear in the fragments of consciousness from the mirror image of Lin Ye. "What is the 'mainframe' that the mirror image of Lin Ye mentioned?"

“We’re not sure either,” Rex shook his head. “Based on the information we’ve gathered, the ‘Main Brain’ might be a proxy or projection used by Kronos to interfere with lower dimensions. It can control life forms assimilated by Kronos and even affect the system’s operation. Mirror Lin Ye must have come into contact with the ‘Main Brain’ to be so terrified.”

Lin Ye fell silent. He hadn't expected things to be so complicated. The system's disappearance, Kronos's threat, and the mysterious "mainframe"—it was all like a giant net, trapping him within.

“Oh, right, I have something here that might be helpful.” Rex seemed to remember something, pulling a black box from his pocket. Inside was a fragment shimmering with blue light. “This is a fragment of the ‘Key of Origin.’ Legend says the Key of Origin was created by an ancient civilization and possesses the power to stabilize spacetime; it might be used to fight against Kronos. I came out this time to deliver it to a safe place.”

"The Key to Origin?" The Supreme Kai stared at the fragment in astonishment. "I've read about it in ancient texts; it's said to be able to reshape the rules of the universe. I never imagined it actually existed."

“Now is not the time to talk about this.” Rex closed the box. “Kronos’ pursuers will find us soon; we must leave as soon as possible. Also, Lin Ye, your energy has become very chaotic because of the system’s disappearance. I have some equipment from the Administration here that can help stabilize your energy.”

Lin Ye nodded. He did indeed feel the energy within his body was like a wild horse, difficult to control. "What about Alice's remaining messages? 'Warning...higher dimension...anchor point...fluctuation...' What do these mean?"

“‘High-dimensional anchor points’ should refer to the energy nodes that Kronos sets up in higher dimensions to fix its projection in lower dimensions,” Rex pondered. “By destroying these anchor points, we can temporarily stop Kronos’s erosion. But I still need to use the Bureau’s equipment to decipher their exact locations.”

“Okay, let’s go back to Bulma’s lab first,” Lin Ye decided. “It has excellent equipment and is relatively safe.”

The group immediately set off, flying towards Xidu. Rex's flight speed was slow due to his injury, so Lin Ye and Vegeta flanked him, while the Supreme Kai led the way.

Back in Bulma's lab, Bulma was startled to see Rex, but after hearing Lin Ye's explanation, she immediately arranged treatment for him and granted him access to the lab.

Rex wasted no time, immediately taking a silver device from his backpack and connecting it to Bulma's computer. "This is the Bureau's 'Spacetime Analyzer,' which can interpret energy fluctuations and residual information," Rex said to Lin Ye while operating the device. "Come here, I'll help you stabilize your energy first."

Lin Ye walked to the device, and Rex placed two metal contacts on Lin Ye's temples. The device activated, and a soft light enveloped Lin Ye. He felt the chaotic energy within his body begin to calm down, and the perception of the Eye of Time and Space became clearer.

“Alright, the energy has stabilized.” Rex retracted his tentacles and began deciphering Alice’s remaining message. “Now let’s see where the ‘higher-dimensional anchor point’ is.”

Complex code began flashing on the device screen, and Rex's fingers flew across the keyboard. Lin Ye, Vegeta, and the Supreme Kai gathered around the screen, anxiously awaiting the result.

Suddenly, the device emitted a piercing alarm, and a red warning popped up on the screen: "High-intensity spacetime fluctuations detected. Energy signature matches Kronos. It is rapidly approaching Earth!"

Rex's face turned deathly pale: "Damn it! It's Kronos's pursuers! And this energy is more condensed and sharper than before; it must be its vanguard!"

Vegeta immediately stood up, unleashing a powerful aura: "They've finally arrived? Let me see just how strong these guys really are!"

"Don't be impulsive!" Rex pulled Vegeta back. "This energy is incredibly powerful; we're no match for it right now. We must quickly pinpoint the location of the 'higher-dimensional anchors' and find a way to counter them!"

Lin Ye watched the approaching red dot on the screen and knew that a greater crisis was imminent. Their only hope now was to find the "higher-dimensional anchor point" as soon as possible and stop Kronos's invasion.

Chapter 422: The Devourer's Touch

Air raid sirens ripped through the sky in the western capital, and on the holographic screen in the laboratory, a black streak of light was crashing into the atmosphere at an illogical speed. Rex's fingers, gripping the detector, turned white, and the rapidly fluctuating energy readings on the screen made his pupils shrink: "The energy density has exceeded the Bureau's S-level alert threshold! This thing is definitely Kronos's vanguard!"

"Finally, a worthy opponent!" Vegeta kicked open the laboratory door, his body surging with blue light. "Perfect, let me test whether this kid can really stand on his own without that damn system!"

Lin Ye ignored Vegeta's taunts, a pale golden light swirling in his Eye of Time. He could clearly see the distorted spacetime trajectory around that stream of light, churning like water encountering a reef: "He's manipulating time, and... the will within him is exactly the same as the chilling feeling in the Echoing Corridor."

"Watch out!" The Supreme Kai suddenly raised his hand, creating a pale purple protective shield. The words had barely left his lips when a deafening explosion echoed from the central plaza of the Western Capital. As the dust settled, a figure clad in dark-patterned armor hovered above the ruins. He removed his mask, revealing lifeless gray eyes. His gaze swept over the panicked fleeing crowd, a cruel smile playing on his lips.

"I am the Time Raider, ordered by Lord Chronos to harvest the fragments of this spacetime." His voice seemed to be squeezed out from rusty gears. With each word he spoke, the surrounding air aged a little more, and the streetlights at the edge of the square instantly became rusty, their glass lampshades shattering into powder.

"Stop pretending!" Vegeta's roar ripped through the sky as he transformed into a streak of blue light and charged down, his fist, imbued with earth-shattering force, slamming into the Raider. "Take this Super Blue Heavy Punch!"

Faced with a strike powerful enough to shatter mountains, the Time Raider simply raised his hand slowly. Then, something bizarre happened: Vegeta's fist suddenly stopped ten centimeters from his face, the energy dissipating rapidly like dried water. Even more terrifying, the muscles in Vegeta's arm began to atrophy, and his skin became dry and wrinkled.

"How is this possible?!" Vegeta was shocked and furious. He desperately tried to activate his internal energy, but found that some of his energy flowed backward along the plunderer's palm, turning into black energy and merging into the plunderer's body.

"Useless." The Raider sneered, flicking his finger. Vegeta was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, crashing through three tall buildings before barely coming to a stop. "Your power is nothing but fleeting dust before the passage of time."

"That's too much!" Goku's body shone with golden light, and he instantly transformed into Super Saiyan Blue. "Kamehameha!" The golden energy wave surged towards the predator like a rushing river, but it began to age rapidly upon contact with the black aura surrounding the predator, eventually turning into a wisp of powerless blue smoke.

Lin Ye's heart sank to the bottom. He stared at the black core throbbing in the Raider's chest, suddenly remembering Rex's words: "Kronos's power comes from entropy increase, and the energy of order can suppress it!" He turned sharply to Rex and shouted, "Can you still access the data stream of the Echoing Corridor? There's energy of order in those deleted data fragments!"

"Trying! But it takes time to stabilize the data channel!" Rex's fingers flew across the console, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "This bastard's time interference is too strong; the equipment could crash at any moment!"

The Time Raider seemed to have sensed their plan, its gray pupils turning towards Rex: "These annoying bugs need to be dealt with." It raised its hand and aimed it towards the laboratory, unleashing a beam of black light.

"Don't even think about it!" Piccolo instantly spread his arms to block the laboratory, and a green protective shield suddenly unfolded. But the moment the black beam touched the shield, the crystalline shield began to crack and age. Piccolo groaned, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth: "What kind of hell power is this... It's even dissolving my protective shield."

"Dad!" Gohan roared as he transformed into Super Saiyan 2, surrounded by golden lightning. "Everyone, attack together! Use a combined attack to hold him back!" Krillin, Tien Shinhan, and Yamcha launched their attacks simultaneously, while the Namekian magicians chanted incantations, conjuring a rain of green energy arrows.

However, none of these attacks managed to get within three meters of the raider. Time formed an invisible barrier around him, causing all attacks to either freeze and dissipate or be forcibly aged into dust. Yamcha's ki blast even turned into a pile of rust in mid-air, leaving him pale with fright: "There's no way to fight this!"

Taking advantage of the predator's distraction, the Supreme Kai secretly gathered divine power, transforming it into a spear of light, and thrust it towards the opponent's core from the side. However, the spear of light suddenly changed direction halfway through its flight, instead flying towards Gohan. "Not good!" Lin Ye's pupils shrank sharply, and he instantly activated Instant Transmission to block in front of Gohan, forcibly distorting the trajectory of the spear of light with his Eye of Time.

The spear of light grazed Lin Ye's shoulder, blasting a deep crater in the ground. He clutched his bleeding shoulder, cold sweat pouring down his face: "He can reverse-control attacks with elemental properties... I can't fight him head-on."

"Data channel is stable!" Rex shouted, and a blue torrent of data shot out from the transmitter on the top of the laboratory. "Lin Ye, catch it!"

Lin Ye reached out and grasped the data stream, causing the Eye of Time to blaze with light. He suddenly recalled the desperate scenes of being devoured by Kronos from the fragments of memory left behind in Mirror Lin Ye; the chaotic folds of spacetime were the weak points of the entropy-increasing power. An adventurous plan took shape in his mind.

"Wukong, help me hold him off for three seconds!" Lin Ye shouted, wrapping the data stream around his arm. "Use teleportation to constantly disrupt his senses!"

"Leave it to me!" Goku immediately activated Instant Transmission, constantly flashing around the Raider. Each time he appeared, he unleashed a ki blast. Although it couldn't cause any damage, it successfully disrupted the opponent's rhythm.

Enraged, the Time Raider unleashed a burst of black energy, attempting to trap Wukong within its time-stopping domain. In that instant, Lin Ye transformed into a streak of blue light and rushed behind him, his data stream suddenly erupting with dazzling brilliance, temporarily suppressing the Time Raider's abilities.

"You're asking for death!" the raider roared and turned around, only to find that Lin Ye hadn't attacked at all. Instead, he grabbed Lin Ye's arm and used teleportation.

The next second, the two appeared in front of a spacetime fold above Antarctica. The space here was twisted into a spiral shape, with spacetime turbulence constantly overflowing from the pale purple cracks, even the light was twisted into a pretzel shape.

"You think this place can trap me?" The raider grinned maliciously, trying to use his abilities to break free, only to find that the data stream was disintegrating his core energy. "What the hell is this?!"

“It’s the order energy you hate the most.” Lin Ye’s voice was tinged with weariness, yet unusually firm. “The spacetime folds here will amplify the instability of the entropy increase power… Goodbye.” He exerted his strength, pushing the raider into the spacetime folds.

"No...!" The raider's scream was swallowed by the turbulent currents, his body gradually disintegrating in the distorted spacetime. But just before he completely disappeared, he suddenly pulled a black, rhomboid object from his pocket and hurled it fiercely toward Earth.

The object exploded in mid-air, leaving a huge black mark on the atmosphere, like an eye stalking its prey. Lin Ye's heart sank instantly. He immediately flew back to the laboratory, just in time to see Rex slumped on the ground, his face ashen.

“It’s over…” Rex pointed at the flashing mark on the screen, his voice trembling, “That’s a spacetime beacon… It will keep sending coordinates to Kronos, and it won’t be long before his main fleet finds this place!”

The laboratory was deathly silent. Vegeta clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white; Goku frowned, his usual smile gone; the Supreme Kai stared at the black mark outside the window, his gaze grave. Lin Ye touched the fragment of the Key of Origin on his chest; the fragment was slightly warm, as if responding to some distant call.

“We still have time.” Lin Ye took a deep breath, breaking the silence. “Since the beacon cannot be dismantled, we will proactively seek a way to counter Kronos. Project Ark must be initiated ahead of schedule.”

Chapter 423: The Cosmic Ark Sets Sail

The black beacon above West City hung like the Sword of Damocles, its oppressive force growing stronger with each passing second. In Bulma's laboratory, a holographic projection magnified the Ark's blueprints to fill an entire wall, its intricate network of pipes and magic circles shimmering with a chilling blue light.

"Three days! It should be finished in three days at most!" Bulma patted the control panel, her eyes bloodshot. "The core engine was debugged last month. Now we just need to embed the Namekian space magic array into the hull and install the weapon systems."