Once the fighter lists were confirmed, they moved on to the next phase: hammering out the rules.
While the Gods argued back and forth, Beerus kept staring at Levos, his expression growing more and more impatient.
Frieza, too, was glaring at Levos with a very dark look.
Levos was baffled.
Why are you both looking at me like that?
No matter what rules they came up with, this tournament was basically already in the bag…
"Brat! This isn't a gym. At least show some respect in front of the Omni-King!" Beerus snapped, frowning.
Okay, to be fair, Cell Max was making quite a ruckus with his "training."
The Universe 7 platform was about to collapse completely.
Levos hurriedly ordered his clone to stop.
But Frieza's face was still black as ink, a vein twitching on his temple.
What, did my grinding in public hurt His Majesty's pride?
That would be a problem. They were all from Universe 7 if everyone started hard-grinding each other, that'd just be awkward.
Your Majesty, I'm begging you, have some self-control. As long as the power level is enough, we're good…
"Don't be so tense, Your Majesty. It's just a few push-ups. It's not like it'll skyrocket my power," Levos said casually.
"Levos, you misunderstand," Frieza replied, the corner of his eye twitching as he jerked his chin downward in a subtle signal.
"Hey! Three, Four, Five, Six! Don't pull on your Uncle Frieza's tail! And absolutely no biting!"
Levos' head started to throb. He had no idea how to discipline these little troublemaker Cell Juniors.
"Piccolo, can you help me keep them in line?"
Piccolo's face went dark. "I can't. I could communicate with them before, but that connection is now much weaker."
"So what do we do?"
If even their professional babysitter had no idea, Levos was even more helpless. He could only sigh.
Seeing the neat rows of tooth marks all over Frieza's tail, everyone on the team quietly turned their heads away, unable to bear the sight.
With no other options, Levos turned to Whis.
"Mr. Whis, is there any way to lock the Cell Juniors away somewhere for a while?"
"That's simple. I can store them in another dimension," Whis replied with a nod, just about to raise his staff.
"Wait. Can you take Cell Max along with them?" Levos quickly added.
"No problem," Whis said with a gentle smile.
The next second, the Cell Juniors and Cell Max were all drawn into the staff's inner space.
Levos' expression stayed calm, but inside he was delighted.
The joy of power-grinding in secret, right under everyone's noses most people would never know how good that felt.
Especially when the time flow inside the staff was seven times faster than outside, and the place was saturated with dangerous divine ki.
It was basically the perfect training ground.
Add in four built-in sparring partners, and the training efficiency was several times that of the outside world.
Levos closed his eyes and sank fully into the thrill of "remote grinding."
The link between his main body and Cell Max remained extremely tight. He could even feel the difference between the two time flows in the two spaces.
Maybe, just maybe, he could slowly comprehend the [Power of Time] this way.
At the very least, it would help him develop his personal, portable "Hyperbolic Time Chamber."
After all, the private space he'd opened within himself had already been infused with that mysterious power by the Supreme Kai of Time, Chronoa. He just hadn't mastered how to use it yet.
Training Cell Max was only part of the plan. Understanding the [Power of Time] and finding a way to absorb the divine ki inside were just as important.
Levos cheerfully drove Cell Max's training for a while, until the Grand Priest's voice rang out, announcing the rules.
"After discussion, the match format will be a free-for-all, divided into five rounds.
In each round, every universe will send one fighter. Four fighters will battle at once, and a winner will be decided for that round."
"After all five rounds, the universe with the most wins will claim overall victory."
The format had been proposed by Champa. He had clearly thought it through, doing everything he could to limit the influence of any single powerhouse.
By splitting things into five rounds, the contest would test not just one monster ace, but each universe's overall strength.
At the same time, a free-for-all practically guaranteed that fighters from multiple universes would gang up on one target.
In other words, this rule set had "aimed specifically at Universe 7" written all over it.
"That shameless fat cat!" Beerus exploded.
He of course strongly opposed the format, but the other Gods had already banded together. He couldn't overturn it alone.
Levos, on the other hand, wasn't worried at all.
With Puar as the hidden trump card, their side's odds were still excellent.
Besides, under this format, the ultimate winner would only realistically be either Universe 6 or Universe 7.
And since Earth could hop between those two camps whenever needed… they were about as safe as it got.
Then the Grand Priest began to add the specific restrictions.
Things like ring-outs, flying, killing, falling unconscious, or surrendering would all count as a loss.
The arena would be paved with the hardest metal in the cosmos "Crackle-Clang Steel."
The fighting platform was a perfectly square slab, the steel plates meeting with no gaps at all.
After that, the Omni-Kings began drawing lots to decide the fighting order.
"Draw lots, draw lots!"
The two Omni-Kings were as giddy as kids, fishing paper slips out of the box the Grand Priest had prepared.
A short while later, the lottery was done, and the groups for each round were set.
On the Universe 7 side, the order was: Frieza, Piccolo, Buu, Levos, Puar.
"Will the fighters for the first round please step into the arena."
The first-round fighters from the other universes were: Frost, Bergamo, and Murichim.
Thump.
Frieza landed lightly on the arena floor.
"Go for it, Frieza!"
"Frieza, don't you dare lose too fast!"
"Come on, Your Majesty! Show them the power of the Emperor of the Universe!"
A vein twitched on Frieza's forehead. He did not react to any of their cheering.
He clasped his hands behind his back and bowed slightly toward his opponents.
"I am Frieza. Please take good care of me."
"Hmph! There's no need for villains like you to play polite. You'll be lying on the ground soon enough!"
Bergamo, the eldest of the Trio of Danger, snapped coldly.
"As the side of justice, I propose we eliminate Frieza first," Frost suggested with a pleasant smile.
"Naturally!"
"I agree!"
Frieza straightened and smiled faintly.
"A pile of trash, even if it bands together, is still trash. And trash belongs under my feet."
"You !"
"You arrogant !"
The Grand Priest raised his hand.
"Let the match… begin!"
The instant the words left his mouth, the three opponents erupted with ki at once, surrounding Frieza from three directions.
"Frieza," Frost said sweetly, eyes half-closed, "I suggest you surrender now. My power is so great I can barely control it. With the rules in place, if I accidentally kill you, that would be such a shame."
"Just you?" Frieza's gaze turned amused, then he chuckled. "Ignorance really is fearlessness, oh hohoho…"
"Facing the three of us, and you still dare to laugh like that?"
"With that tiny body, you're not even up to my knee. Where do you get the confidence to talk like that?"
Murichim of Universe 10, a dark-skinned muscle giant, sneered.
Frieza's eyes instantly went cold, killing intent seeping out like ice.
The next second, he vanished.
"Ah !"
"So fast!"
"What?!"
Cries of shock erupted from the stands.
"Ugh !"
When everyone found Frieza again, he already had one hand clamped calmly around Murichim's throat.
"Brother Frost," Frieza said kindly, a bright smile blooming on his face, "how about I teach you how to inflict the maximum amount of pain… without actually killing someone? What do you say?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, you like the story? Wow, who knew. Go ahead, drop a review and throw some power stones maybe I'll be motivated to keep going.
"Want to stay ahead of the game?Advanced chapters are up on my Patron. If you're enjoying the ride, swing by and check them out."
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"