The surviving Marine warships, their formations shattered, turned and fled, desperately trying to escape the circle of hell they had entered. But Takero, who was reveling in the sheer pleasure of his newfound power, had no intention of letting them go.
"Trying to run?" the giant ape's thunderous, mocking roar boomed across the night sky.
His enormous, mountain-like head tilted back as his maw opened wide. A destructive, heart-stopping energy, a hundred times more terrifying than anything he could produce in human form, began to gather and compress in the dark abyss of his throat. An eerie crimson glow emanated from the high-density sphere of energy taking shape, like the core of an erupting volcano.
"ROAR—!!!!"
The next second, a thick, crimson energy beam—the Giant Ape Cannon—roared from his mouth like the wrath of a god, easily ten meters in diameter and powerful enough to swallow a warship whole.
BOOM—!!!
The destructive beam struck a fleeing Marine warship dead-on. There was no grand explosion, no violent eruption of fire and shrapnel. The massive vessel, a fortress built from the world's strongest steel, was simply… gone. It was instantly and silently vaporized under the terrifying heat and energy, like an ice cube tossed into a blast furnace. All that remained on the sea was a huge, empty hole, steaming with superheated vapor.
And that was only the beginning.
"ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!"
The Giant Ape Cannon began to fire again and again, turning into a horrifying machine gun of destruction. Streaks of crimson death carved through the night sky like guided missiles, hunting down the desperately fleeing ships. One after another, flowers of annihilation bloomed on the sea's surface, each flash of light marking the end of another warship.
Kizaru, in his form of golden light, zipped through the air, awkwardly dodging the shockwaves from the energy blasts. But in a moment of distraction, a gigantic, cloud-like palm covered in silver-white fur descended from above, swatting him out of the sky.
"Ugh—ah!!!"
Kizaru felt as if his body had been crushed between two colliding mountains. The sheer, overwhelming brute force of the blow shattered his elemental form, forcibly returning him to his physical body. He plummeted from the sky like a broken kite, crashing into the cold sea with a massive splash and disappearing beneath the waves.
As the echoes of the final explosion faded, the sea returned to a deathly silence. The once-imposing Buster Call fleet was now nothing more than a field of burning, sinking wreckage.
Takero, in his giant ape form, stood quietly in the center of the masterpiece he had created. He nodded with satisfaction. The rampage had been exhilarating, calming the agitation brought on by the transformation. He lowered his head, his crimson eyes sweeping over the few surviving Marines struggling to stay afloat in the water. In a voice like rolling thunder, he issued his victory declaration.
"Go back and tell your worthless World Government!" he bellowed. "Next time you want to bother me… remember to bring more ships!"
With that, he ignored the terrified soldiers and, with a slow turn, flew back toward Ambri Island.
At the island's port, Tesoro, Monet, and Robin watched with stunned expressions as the mountain-sized ape flew toward them. Even from kilometers away, the primitive, terrifying aura emanating from that colossal body made their very souls tremble.
"Gulp." Tesoro swallowed hard, his throat suddenly bone-dry.
The giant ape landed in the open space before the villa, the ground shaking from the impact. He lowered his huge head, looking down at the ant-like figures on the ground, and asked with some confusion, "What's wrong? With those silly looks on your faces, you'd think you don't recognize me."
Though his voice was still a thunderous boom, the casual, arrogant tone was unmistakably Takero's.
"No… it's not that…" Robin said, looking up at the ferocious ape face with a complex expression. "It's just… your current appearance is a bit… peculiar, Takero-san."
"Oh, this," Takero said, as if just noticing. He looked down at his own massive body and nodded. "Pretty cool, right?"
Then, to everyone's astonishment, he began to rein in the wild power surging within him. The mountain-like body began to shrink and change at a visible rate. A moment later, the terrifying giant ape was gone, replaced by the familiar, spiky-haired young man.
"Hoo~" Takero let out a long sigh, satisfied with his newfound ability to control the transformation. This was thanks to the system's optimization; he no longer needed to wait for the moon to set, nor was he forced to transform every time he saw it.
However, as he was congratulating himself, he noticed the atmosphere had become… strange. He looked down and realized that since his clothes had been shredded during the transformation, he was now standing completely naked in front of everyone. A certain part of his anatomy, much like his transformed state, was impressively… wild.
"Ah—!!!" Monet and Robin both let out a short gasp, their faces instantly turning a shade of red that would put a cooked shrimp to shame. They reflexively covered their eyes, but the wide gaps between their fingers betrayed their true intentions.
Tesoro's eyes, however, showed a hint of envy. If the boss was like this now, what would the future hold? It was a good thing Sugar was not present; the sight might have caused permanent psychological damage.
"Honestly, what's the big fuss about?" Takero said, completely unconcerned. He casually asked someone to bring him a new set of clothes and dressed himself without any hurry.
Once he was decent, Robin could no longer suppress her scholarly curiosity. She stepped forward and asked, "Master… are you from the Mink Tribe? I once read in an ancient text that a special warrior of the Minks can transform into a powerful form called 'Sulong' on a full moon night. Your appearance just now…"
"This again?" Takero groaned in annoyance. "How many times do I have to say it? I'm a Saiyan! From a pure combat race of Saiyans! Why does everyone keep mistaking me for some furry Mink?!"
"Then… where do Saiyans come from?" Robin pressed on.
"From space, obviously," Takero replied as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Seeing their still-confused expressions, he sighed and decided to explain it in a way they could understand. He pointed a finger at the large, full moon in the sky.
"See that?" he asked. "We come from another planet, one that is much, much farther away than the moon."
"A planet?!"
"People can… live on other planets?!"
They didn't doubt his words; Takero wasn't the type to lie about such things. The revelation left them speechless, their faces filled with wonder and a longing for that unknown world.
"Not the moon," Takero clarified. "A place countless times farther away."
"Then… can we go there someday?" Monet asked, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.
Her question made Takero smile. He looked at his subordinates, at their expressions of trust and curiosity, and the Saiyan blood in his veins stirred with the ancient ambition for conquest and adventure.
"Of course," he grinned, his voice filled with a heroic spirit. "Once I'm done dealing with all the messes on this backwater planet… I'll build the best spaceship in the universe. Then, I'll take all of you… and we'll go conquer the stars together!"
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