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

Page 118

Congratulations on breaking the cycle of reincarnation!

Rumble——!

The entire Tree of Origin, from its roots to its top, trembled violently! The false dome of the data stream collapsed first, transforming into a sky full of fluorescent light. Strange materials—walls and floors, a massive matrix of cultivation chambers, a floating throne… everything rapidly became transparent and illusory.

A real, dazzling, and boundless starry sky, displayed before your eyes without any obstruction! Cold and magnificent, full of infinite possibilities.

"Lin Ye! Look over there!" Liu Nan excitedly pointed into the distance.

Against the backdrop of a deep, starry sky, a sleek research vessel, its shield shimmering with soft blue energy, hovered silently. Alice's familiar figure was clearly visible by the porthole! She waved vigorously, a radiant smile of relief spreading across her face. Beside her, Number 18 stood with her arms crossed, her blonde hair gleaming in the porthole light. Though she didn't wave wildly, a faint, genuine smile played on her lips, and she nodded slightly, her presence clearly conveyed. Liu Nan was also squeezed by the window, jumping and waving excitedly.

An indescribable warmth washed away all of Lin Ye's weariness, sorrow, and heaviness. He bowed his head and clutched the fragment of creation to his chest. The fragment was warm, no longer just Alice's final gift, but also contained fragments of memories belonging to "Lin Ye" in 9999 parallel universes—painful struggles, despairing descent, and mad destruction, but more than that... it was a glimmer of light shining in the face of adversity: friendship, family, love, protection, sacrifice, and never giving up resistance! It was proof of the existence of countless "him," the source of strength that had sustained him until now.

Lin Ye looked up at the spaceship waiting for him, and at the smiles of his companions through the porthole. A completely new power, immeasurable by system levels, naturally awakened and surged within his body!

No system prompts, no skill guidance. Purely powerful and unique!

A pure, blazing white light erupted from his body! Unlike the dazzling and holy White God, it was more restrained and profound, bearing the imprint of Earth's resilience, Saiyan wildness, Namekian wisdom, and the beliefs of all his comrades! It coalesced and rose behind him, as if he were draped in a cloak woven from the will of the stars!

"We..." Lin Ye's voice was more relaxed and firm than ever before. He leaped into the air, transforming into a blazing white meteor that streaked across the starry sky, and rushed toward the spaceship that carried his future home.

"go home!"

Behind him, the last vestiges of the Tree of Origin vanished completely, turning into cosmic dust. The observers' whispers faded into nothingness, while the light igniting on Lin Ye, like a newborn star, illuminated this starry sky that had broken free from the shackles of reincarnation. His legend, needing no system definition, had just begun to write a new chapter.

Chapter 276: A New Beginning

Outside the porthole of the research vessel, the starry sky of the Seventh Universe slowly spread like spilled blue ink. Stardust churned in the dark matter stream, and occasionally, tiny specks of light brushed past the porthole—the remnants of energy from a supernova explosion. Lin Ye leaned against the alloy railing, his fingertips tracing the strawberry-flavored energy bar in his palm—the wrapper was Alice's favorite bright pink, with a crooked smiley face made of pixels, the right corner of her mouth higher than the left, perfectly mirroring her expression whenever she succeeded in a prank.

"The peak energy fluctuation across the universe has been detected to have dropped to a safe threshold, and the quantum entanglement remaining with the observers has been completely broken." Android 18's voice came from behind, carrying the steady tone characteristic of an android, but with a hint of relaxation than usual. The silver instrument in her hand was humming softly, and the green waveform on the screen was leveling out like a dormant electrocardiogram. "Bulma said this 'de-systemization detector' has an error rate of less than 0.03%. It's now confirmed that all soldiers bound to the system have regained their self-awareness."

When Lin Ye turned around, he saw Number 18 stuffing the equipment into the pocket of her lab coat. Today she was wearing a light gray, fitted combat suit, and the zipper at the collar was not fully zipped up, revealing a pale pink scar on her collarbone—an old wound from the Cell Games, which had always been covered by the energy membrane of the android device, but now it was finally showing like a medal.

"Vegeta dismantled the third gravity machine in the training room?" Lin Ye raised an eyebrow, his gaze falling on Android 18's eyes. Those eyes, once covered by a layer of data-laden ice, now reflected the starlight from the window, so gentle it could drown you.

“To be precise, it’s two and a half.” Number 18 walked to his side, her fingertips unconsciously tapping the railing. “The core components of the third one are still usable. Liu Nan is squatting on the ground, haggling with him, saying she wants to exchange ten boxes of Senzu Beans for the right to repair it.” She suddenly chuckled. “Do you remember? The system used to always remind me to ‘maintain combat readiness and suppress ineffective emotions.’ Now that I think about it, those things that were blocked were the most interesting.”

Lin Ye grasped the hand she used to tap on the railing, his fingertips able to feel the thin calluses on her palm from holding a gun. He had always thought Number 18's hands should be cold, after all, she was an artificial human, but at this moment, the temperature of her palm was like melting snow in spring: "Like what?"

“For example, during the Cell Games, you got a hole punched in your back, and I was squatting in the rubble bandaging you. The system warned me that ‘wasting 3.7 seconds could lead to mission failure.’” Android 18 grabbed his wrist with a firm grip. “And during the Tournament of Power, I deliberately lost to Goku. The system lowered my rating from S to B+, but watching you secretly stuff Senzu Beans into your energy tank actually felt more satisfying than getting a perfect score.”

The sea breeze, carrying the distinctive salty smell of Turtle Island, drifted in from somewhere, causing the ends of Number 18's hair to brush against Lin Ye's hand. Lin Ye suddenly recalled the first time he met her, when she was wearing a black combat suit and crushed a robot's head. Who could have imagined then that this woman, who could flatten a mountain range with a single punch, would talk to him about the grievances in the system rating years later?

"So, without the system, how about doing something that 'ineffective emotions' allow?" Lin Ye shook the energy bar in his hand, the wrapper making a soft crunching sound. "Like teaching me to make your best strawberry cake? Last time on Kame-sen Island, when you smeared cream on Krillin's nose, didn't the system warn you about wasting ingredients?"

Number 18's earlobes flushed crimson at a visible speed, yet she abruptly pulled his wrist back: "Beat me first." Her aura rippled with pale blue light from her fingertips, previously limited by the system to "70% output power," but now flowing freely like water breaking free of a dam. "Don't think you're so great just because you have divine power. I recently mastered recruitment—"

"Boom!"

A sudden explosion came from the direction of the training room, and the entire research vessel shook violently as if gripped by a giant hand. Lin Ye staggered and grabbed the railing, while No. 18 had already been propelled three meters away by stepping on the wall, his combat boots sparking as they scraped against the metal floor: "Those two lunatics!"

As they rushed into the training room, turbulent energy surged towards the ceiling like a tsunami. Liu Nan's buzz cut stood on end, whipped around by the shockwave. He spread his arms in a cross shape, and the crimson energy in his palms transformed into countless arms—his newly created "Martial Arts Secret Technique: Thousand-Armed Guanyin." Vegeta, meanwhile, hovered in mid-air, his deep blue aura condensing into a spiral, his tailbone slightly upturned—a sign that a Saiyan was entering an excited state.

"Deep Blue? Time Impact!" Vegeta's roar shattered three observation screens, and the energy wave, carrying ripples of time distortion, crashed into Liu Nan.

"Stop!" Lin Ye's shout still carried the lingering pressure of divine power, and a golden halo spread from his body. The two energy waves that were about to collide were as if they were being held back by an invisible hand, twisting into a pretzel shape in mid-air, and finally "poof" dissipating into specks of light.

Liu Nan covered his cheek, reddened by the shockwave, but grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth: "Lin Ye, look! Without system restrictions, my ki can find its own trajectory!" He ran to the nearby alloy pillar and slammed his fist down, accompanied by a pale golden turtle-shaped aura. With a muffled "thud," clear Kamehameha patterns appeared on the pillar. "This is a combination of the 'Martial Arts Profound Truth' and the essence of Master Roshi. I call it 'Turtle Seal Thousand Hand Fist'!"

Vegeta snorted, crossed his arms, and turned around, a smirk playing on his lips. "Barely passable. Next time we fight, I'll give you a three-move handicap—provided you can survive the first one." He walked toward the control panel, his fingers flying across the screen, trying to fix the parameters of the damaged gravity machine, but the bulge in his tailbone remained stubbornly in place.

Liu Nan moved closer to Lin Ye and nudged his waist with her elbow: "See? Vegeta's smug look is exactly like the cat next door that wags its tail when it gets praised."

The communicator suddenly started beeping incessantly, and Bulma's screams nearly pierced the receiver: "You bunch of bastards, get back to Earth! Something terrible has happened! Something catastrophic!"

When the holographic projection popped up, Bulma's hair was a mess, and she was still clutching a piece of Senzu Bean Cake that she hadn't finished eating: "Look at the sky!" The scene switched to Earth's synchronous orbit, and the sky that had been repaired cracked open again with countless fissures. But this time, what poured out was not monsters, but a dense swarm of spaceships.

"That's... a Saiyan ship from Universe 6?" Lin Ye narrowed his eyes. The ship at the front had a trident symbol on its bow, the very ship Caulifla and Kale's. Further away, the remnants of Frieza's army were flying the purple skull and crossbones flag, while the silver-gray fleet undoubtedly belonged to the Pride of Universe 11.

“They said they wanted to thank you.” Bulma’s voice trembled with tears. The scene suddenly cut to the rooftop of Capsule Corporation. Goku was sitting cross-legged on the ground, feeding Zeno a piece of Senzu Bean Cake, while Whis, Zeno’s guardian angel, elegantly cut the cake with a fork. “Lord Zeno said he’s going to hold a ‘System-Free Martial Arts Tournament’ on Earth, and people from all universes can participate!”

Suddenly, Goku's large face appeared in the projection, his mouth stuffed with cake, shouting indistinctly, "Lin Ye! Vegeta! Come quick! I just had a match with a Saiyan from Universe 6, and it felt so good without the system!"

Lin Ye's gaze passed over the projection, looking towards the starry sky outside the porthole. There, a pale green planet was slowly taking shape, its surface still bearing the patterns of the Tree of Origin. That was Dende's new home, pieced together from fragments of the Super Dragon Balls and remnants of the Tree of Origin, specifically to house aliens who had lost their planets in the war.

"The real adventure has only just begun." Lin Ye clenched his fist, the fragment of creation in his palm slightly warm. It contained the memories of all the system hosts—struggles, laughter, and the real emotions that had been obscured by data.

Number 18 lightly touched his fist with her fingertips, and her breath and his breath intertwined in mid-air: "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go see what we can do in a world without a system."

As the research vessel broke through the atmosphere, Lin Ye peered out the porthole. The blue outline of Earth grew clearer, and the continents were dotted with shimmering lights—the cheers of people from different universes. On the plains of North America, Saiyans from Universe 6 were arm-wrestling with Earth warriors; atop a European castle, Jiren from Universe 11 was racing Goku to see who could climb the spire faster; even the remnants of Frieza's army had set up barbecue grills on a small island in the Pacific, with the lead henchman waving beverage bottles at the research vessel.

"Look over there!" Liu Nan pointed in the direction of Capsule Corporation. Bulma was standing on the rooftop directing the robots to set up the venue, Goku was spinning around with Zeno in his arms, and Vegeta's youngest son, Bra, was pulling on his tail and shouting, "Daddy wants to play too!" Vegeta, though with a stern face, didn't pull his tail back.

A pale blue light suddenly flashed before Lin Ye's eyes. The last vestiges of the system panel were fading away; there were no more mission prompts, no more energy values, only a line of gradually blurring text: [Congratulations, host, you have become your own god].

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Number 18 handed him a bottle of strawberry-flavored energy drink with a crooked smiley face drawn on the packaging, exactly the same as the one Alice left him.

Lin Ye took the drink, her fingertips touching hers: "I'm thinking, without a system navigation, which way should I go?"

"Let's head towards where there are opponents." Vegeta appeared behind them at some point, holding a half-eaten Senzu Bean Cake in his hand. "The martial arts tournament starts in three days, and I won't hold back."

Liu Nan suddenly jumped up, pointed to the sky, and shouted, "Look! What's that?"

Everyone looked up and saw countless spaceships descending from the starry sky, their bows bearing a variety of symbols—there was the Namekian dragon totem, the angel wings of the Supreme Kai, and even several familiar figures jumping off the spaceships: Krillin waved to them while holding Maren, Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu stood on the clouds adjusting their ki, and even Yamcha, who hadn't appeared in a long time, rode over on a flying motorcycle, followed by a group of reporters holding cameras.

Number 18 tugged at Lin Ye's arm, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Let's go, let's have a real fight, one that's not being watched by the system."

Lin Ye gazed at the bustling Earth below, then looked at his companions—Android 18's smile shone brighter than starlight, Vegeta turned his neck impatiently, and Liu Nan had already impatiently unbuttoned his battle suit. He gripped the energy drink in his hand, the smiling face on the bottle seemingly winking at him.

There is no system, no observers, only themselves.

A new beginning has just begun.

Chapter 277: Martial Arts Tournament Without a System

The Earth's sky was awash in a kaleidoscope of colors, like an overturned palette. In the Eastern Hemisphere's stands, the cheers nearly overturned the makeshift protective shield. Lin Ye stood on the New Namekian crystal arena, feeling a warm sensation beneath his feet—Dandy had specifically enhanced the crystals' healing properties. During the preliminary rounds, a cosmic lizardman had been knocked away, rolled twice around the edge of the arena, and then fully recovered, getting up and now cheering on the team while holding an energy drink.

"Hey Lao Yang, how many rounds do you think Lin can last?" Master Roshi, munching on a Senzu Bean-flavored lollipop, nudged Walter beside him. The old guy was wearing a floral shirt with the word "Martial Arts" printed on it today, a gift from Liu Nan.

Walter adjusted his glasses, his gaze fixed on the arena: "He never uses his full strength, but this time..." Before he could finish speaking, the holographic speaker suddenly blared.

"Attention, everyone!" Bulma's voice crackled with electricity as her holographic projection spun in the center of the arena, her newly styled curls adorned with a tortoise-shaped hair clip given to her by Liu Nan. "The first Universal Martial Arts Tournament without a System is now officially in session!"

The audience erupted in cheers. In the Universe 7 audience section, Krillin waved vigorously while holding his daughter Maren, Android 17 leaned against the railing chewing gum, and Android 18 adjusted her headband in Lin Ye's direction—it was the light blue one Lin Ye had picked out for her yesterday, perfectly matching her battle suit.

"First up is Lin Ye from Universe 7, facing off against Gabe from Universe 6!"

Gabe landed on the stage, his Saiyan battle suit still covered in bits of grass from his training. He clenched his fists, his knuckles white, and each breath he took was heavy—without a battle power detector, he could only sense his opponent's presence through his skin, and this primal tension made the hairs on his body stand on end.

"Mr. Lin Ye, please give me your guidance!" His ears were still red when he bowed.

Lin Ye tugged at the collar of his Turtle Hermit Style martial arts uniform, where a strawberry badge, sewn in size 18, was pinned to his left chest. The stitches were crooked but sturdy. "Don't hold back. I also want to see how much you've improved lately."

The referee was a three-eyed guy from Universe 9. A second before he blew the whistle, Gabe suddenly moved! His fist, whistling through the air, was aimed straight at Lin Ye's face. Lin Ye, who was dodging to the side, suddenly stopped—there was no attack prediction popped up by the system, but his muscles seemed to have their own consciousness, automatically completing the evasion according to the memories etched in countless battles.

“That’s it!” Gabe’s arrogance exploded, his blond hair shining brightly in the sunlight. “This is the real battle!” His elbow grazed Lin Ye’s waist, his moves incorporating the time techniques Lin Ye had taught him, but with an added touch of the wildness unique to the Saiyans of Universe 6.

The sounds of fists colliding echoed through the arena. Lin Ye deliberately concealed his divine aura, only using basic Saiyan power to respond. As Cabba's knee strike grazed past his chin, he suddenly smiled: "Not bad, much stronger than when we met in Universe Six last time."

Gabe's cheeks flushed even redder, but he stubbornly turned his head away: "I'll definitely beat you next time!" Before he finished speaking, he suddenly felt a light pat on his lower back. He staggered back two steps and realized that Lin Ye had somehow gotten behind him.

"There won't be a next time yet," Lin Ye said, spreading his hands.

Gabe stared at his fist for two seconds, then suddenly burst out laughing: "I lost!" He wiped his face, turned and ran off the stage. As he passed the contestants' tunnel, he bumped into Vegeta and was glared at by the Saiyan prince.

"Useless." Vegeta's voice wasn't loud, but it reached Cabba's ears precisely.

“Yes, Mr. Vegeta!” Gabe stood at attention and saluted, his eyes shining with an astonishing light.

In the center of the arena, Bulma's holographic projection popped up again: "Next up is a special match—Liu Nan from Universe 7 versus Dyspo from Universe 11!"

Liu Nan skated out of the tunnel on her skateboard, her pink hoodie emblazoned with the large character "悟" (enlightenment). Tespo, already warming up on stage, raised an eyebrow when he saw the skateboard: "Using a toy like this to compete?"

"That's better than all you can do is run." Liu Nan stomped on the skateboard, and pale blue energy suddenly burst from his palm. "Try this—the World-Shaking Palm? Dimensional Version!"

Countless energy palm shadows overlapped in mid-air. Tespo's speed was indeed ridiculously fast, but some palm shadows seemed to have eyes and kept chasing after him. Finally, the two of them exhausted their energy and fell onto the stage at the same time. Tespo covered his arm and laughed: "Your move is much more powerful than the one you used at the Panorama Conference last time."

"That's right, I practice every day." Liu Nan reached out and pulled him up, and the sight of the two with their arms around each other drew cheers from the crowd.

Vegeta spat on the contestant's bench, the energy drink in his hand making a sizzling sound as he squeezed it. Bulma walked over and pinched his arm: "Last time you trained with Cabba, you beat him so badly he couldn't get out of bed for three days. What are you pretending for now?"

"Shut up, woman. I'm just watching these losers make a fool of themselves." He crushed the drink can, but his eyes glanced in the direction where Gabe was sitting—the kid was writing furiously in a notebook, probably jotting something down.

"The next match is absolutely amazing! Universe 7's #18 versus Universe 3's machine warrior!"

When Number 18 stepped onto the stage, the entire audience fell silent for two seconds. The mechanical warrior's metal head turned halfway around, and its electronic eyes scanned her body: "Combat power level detected is below standard; surrender recommended."

Number 18 cracked his wrists, making a crisp sound: "Let's talk after we're done playing."

Just as the mecha warrior's laser cannon was charging, Number 18 suddenly vanished. The audience only heard a series of clanging sounds, and when they looked closer, the mecha warrior's joints were covered in dents. As Number 18 twisted off its last mechanical arm, the mecha warrior's electronic eyes were still flashing: "Data anomaly...does not conform to combat logic..."

As she stepped off the stage on the 18th, she clutched the towel Lin Ye handed her tightly in her hand.

"Played well."

“That’s right,” she raised an eyebrow, “better than some people who keep it to themselves.”

The following matches saw some major upsets. A green octopus-man from Universe 4 managed to entangle the ankle of God of Destruction candidate Toppo with his tentacles; Chiaotzu from Universe 7 used his superpower to lift a burly man from Universe 6 into the air. Most surprisingly, Master Roshi, the old man who somehow infiltrated the preliminaries, used his Kamehameha to blast the rock giant from Universe 5 into rubble, and was chased and beaten by Bulma as he left the arena.

"You old geezer! Who told you to participate in the competition without telling us!"

"Miss Bulma, this was supposed to be a surprise for everyone..." Master Roshi ran away, clutching his head, his white beard flying up.

As the setting sun bathed the arena in a golden-red hue, the final match finally began. Lin Ye stood in the center of the stage, while Goku opposite him stretched his shoulders. His Super Saiyan aura was like a leaping flame, but with a purer, more intense heat than when he was enhanced by the system.

"Lin Ye, I won't let you off this time!" Wukong grinned, revealing two small tiger teeth.

"I'm ready anytime." Lin Ye adopted the starting stance of the Turtle Hermit Style, a move that caused Master Roshi in the audience to suddenly jump up, his mustache sticking out.

"It's the Turtle School! That's the starting stance I taught you!" He shouted, slapping Krillin on the shoulder, almost knocking him into the audience.

There were no system notifications, no pop-up combat power stats, only the clash of two hearts yearning for battle. Goku's Kamehameha, accompanied by the winds of Earth, swept in, while Lin Ye's counterattack contained combat insights from seventeen universes. In the light of the colliding energy waves, everyone saw—the most genuine passion of warriors, hidden behind the system interface.

"Such strong ki..." Gohan clenched his fist, and Videl quietly took his hand beside him.

As the dust settled, the two knelt on one knee simultaneously, their fists still clenched tightly together. The cheers from the entire stadium were deafening, and the King's laughter, like silver bells, rang out from the top of the stands: "Fantastic! We must have this again next time!"

The high priest, who was taking notes, smiled slightly, a rare occurrence on his lips: "Your Highnesses, perhaps this could be made a regular event."

Looking at the smile on Wukong's face, Lin Ye suddenly understood something that observers would never understand: the meaning of power is never about domination, but about protection; the true essence of battle is not victory, but seeing each other's brilliance in the clash.

As the fireworks of the martial arts tournament exploded in the night sky, Number 18's hand quietly slipped into Lin Ye's palm. Her fingertips were a little cold, probably because she had just drunk too much iced soda.

"Shall we go see the sea tomorrow?" Her voice, mingled with the booming of fireworks, was like a feather gently brushing against my heart.