Chapter 173 – Goku's Disappearance, Lin Qi's Refusal
The two figures flashed through the air, sometimes exchanging punches and kicks on the ground, and other times launching energy blasts at each other atop a mountain peak.
"Tch..." Lin Qi gave a disdainful glance. "Goku must be so worked up he's forgotten he's already dead."
"Heh heh… That's it! Get serious, Majin Buu! Hurry up and kill them! Wipe out these pests!"
Not far away, Babidi was jumping up and down in excitement as he watched Buu's furious assault.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself," Lin Qi said coldly as he suddenly appeared behind Babidi.
Startled by the voice, Babidi shuddered. He spun around and saw Lin Qi standing behind him without him even noticing when he got there. Gritting his teeth, he tried to sound threatening.
"You bastard… When did you get so close?! Don't think I won't have Majin Buu kill you!"
"Oh… With your measly 1000 battle power?" Lin Qi smirked as he released his aura.
The pressure hit Babidi like a crashing wave. His eyes bulged in terror as he hastily threw up a shield to block the overwhelming force.
"Go reseal Majin Buu—now!" Lin Qi had no intention of waiting for Goku to finish the fight.
Otherwise, Goku would just run out of time, return to the afterlife, and leave behind a mess with Earth plunged into chaos.
Lin Qi couldn't be bothered to clean up, and he certainly wasn't interested in training Gohan or anything like that...
Once you're strong enough, you get lazy about everything.
Unless it's a truly worthy opponent, nothing interests him anymore. Just look at those mighty Gods of Destruction—when they're not sleeping, they're eating.
"Hmph… Don't talk nonsense. All of you are going to die at Majin Buu's hands soon enough!" Babidi snarled, refusing to cooperate despite the crushing pressure.
He mistakenly believed his shield would be enough to hold off Lin Qi. Spouting more threats, he barked, "You think I won't have Majin Buu deal with you in the cruelest way imaginable?"
Lin Qi chuckled. "So you're hiding behind someone stronger than you now? That's pitiful."
Babidi clearly had no idea—Majin Buu could wipe him out anytime he wanted.
"You… what did you say? How dare you provoke me?! You've got guts. As soon as Majin Buu finishes off that nuisance in the sky, you're next…"
"You really think you can kill me? That I'd be intimidated by your threats? Ridiculous…"
"There's no way you can break my shield, you piece of trash—"
Lin Qi had heard enough. His aura surged again, utterly obliterating Babidi's shield—and Babidi along with it, reducing him to dust.
"Oops… looks like you didn't even get a chance," Lin Qi said with a sigh, shaking his head. "You couldn't even withstand my aura. And you call that a shield?"
There hadn't even been time for Babidi to call for help—not that Buu would've bothered anyway.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Supreme Kai Shin looked at Lin Qi in disbelief. "How could you kill Babidi? We needed him to reseal Majin Buu!"
"That's way too roundabout. Completely unnecessary," Lin Qi said with a shrug as he looked up at Goku, who was still locked in combat with Buu.
Goku's body was starting to fade… gradually becoming transparent.
"Ugh…" Shin clutched his head in despair. "What now? There's no way we can defeat Buu!"
But then, he looked toward Goku, clinging to a shred of hope. "Goku… we're counting on you!"
Right at that moment, Majin Buu's fist passed straight through Goku's body.
"Huh?" Buu turned and stared at the fading Goku, utterly confused. "You… what's going on?"
Goku's Super Saiyan 3 form flickered out as his body could no longer remain in the world of the living.
"What… what's happening?!" Gohan asked anxiously. "Dad, what's wrong?!"
"It's the time limit," Piccolo said grimly, pointing at the halo above Goku's head. "He doesn't have any time left in the mortal realm!"
"Wasn't it supposed to be 24 hours?!" Vegeta said with a dark expression. If Kakarot returned now…
Who was going to clean up this mess? Would Lin Qi step in?
"Probably because of Super Saiyan 3—it consumes too much energy. Maintaining that form must've rapidly shortened his time here," Lin Qi offered calmly, giving a logical explanation.
"It's over… this world is finished… Babidi's already been killed by Lin Qi!!" Shin said miserably to Kibito.
"Buu can regenerate endlessly… and he keeps learning Goku's techniques…"
"He's practically immortal! Supreme Kai, you have to escape! We can't lose you too!" Kibito's voice was full of despair.
In the sky, Buu swung a few more punches at Goku, but every strike passed harmlessly through him, which only made Buu more enraged.
He didn't understand what was happening to Goku and assumed it was just another one of Goku's tricks.
Furious, Buu gritted his teeth, steam pouring from the pores across his body. His previously goofy, childlike appearance twisted into something far more menacing and monstrous.
Goku could feel that his time was up. He looked down at his nearly transparent hands, then smiled at the people below.
"Everyone… I'm counting on you now. Lin Qi, protect Earth for me! I'll be watching from above!!"
Whoosh!
And just like that, Goku… really did disappear.
"Dad…" Gohan called out sadly, lips pressed together, unsure what to say.
Vegeta turned his gaze to Lin Qi. With more and more eyes falling on him, Lin Qi frowned and stared back at them. "Why are you all looking at me?"
"I already helped you once!!"
That's what he said—but his gaze was already locked on Majin Buu, who now had no target in the air and was staring menacingly in their direction.
"Damn it… if Lin Qi won't help, we'll have to do it ourselves!"
Piccolo clenched his fists and unleashed all his power, launching himself toward Buu.
The ground cracked under the force of his leap, but before the dust even settled, he was already slammed back down into an even bigger crater.
As smoke billowed upward, Gohan let out a shout and surged into Super Saiyan 2, flying up into the sky.
Vegeta wasn't far behind—he roared and powered into his own Super Saiyan 2 form to join the battle. Even the relatively weak Supreme Kai Shin and Kibito gritted their teeth and followed suit.
Boom! Boom! Boom!