Loren stood there calmly, both hands tucked into his pockets.
He didn't use high-speed movement.
With only the smallest motions, the simplest shifts of his body, and even a leisurely step forward, he effortlessly dodged the Super Saiyans' torrential assault.
Fists.
Feet.
Elbows.
Knees.
Countless golden afterimages completely swallowed Loren's figure.
Yet not a single strike truly touched him.
To the Z Fighters watching from afar, the scene was unbelievably bizarre.
Goku's and Vegeta's attacks looked as if they were passing straight through an illusion—through something that wasn't really there.
But this wasn't an illusion.
It was pre-cognition.
Perfect pre-cognition—one that surpassed raw neural reaction speed.
"Is that all?"
Loren's sleepy, lazy voice clearly reached the ears of the two frantically attacking Saiyans.
"Your coordination is a mess."
"Bastard!"
Vegeta roared, forcibly pulling back. He slammed his hands together in front of his chest.
"Disappear!"
"Galick Gun!"
A beam of energy, thicker and more violent than the one he had used against Goku, roared toward Loren.
At the same time—
Goku appeared on Loren's other side.
"Kaio-ken!"
Even while in Super Saiyan form, he activated Kaio-ken again.
The overlapping aura caused the golden flames around Goku to take on a crimson sheen.
"Kamehameha!"
Two ultimate energy attacks, coming from opposite directions, sealed off all of Loren's escape routes.
"It seems that if I don't get a little serious," Loren said lazily, "I won't be able to go back to sleep."
Before his words finished—
Loren activated Kaio-ken as well.
And he did it while transformed.
Boom—!
An aura far more terrifying than the combined pressure of Goku and Vegeta erupted instantly.
"Wh-what is that?!"
"Super Saiyan… and… Kaio-ken?!"
"Ten Times… Kaio-ken."
Loren spoke calmly.
To end it instantly, he directly activated Ten Times Kaio-ken.
There were no side effects anyway—so why hold back?
The next second—
Loren vanished.
Not because of speed.
He simply disappeared.
Vegeta's Galick Gun and Goku's Kamehameha were both punched away by Loren, their trajectories forcibly altered as they blasted into the sky.
Rumble—!
A far more terrifying explosion than before detonated in the air.
The entire world shook violently.
And Loren had already appeared in front of Vegeta.
Vegeta had no time to react.
A punch landed squarely on his abdomen.
Puff.
A dull, soft sound.
Vegeta's expression froze.
In that instant, it felt as if his body was about to explode.
An incomprehensible force—like a catastrophic flood—smashed through every defense inside him.
Vegeta was instantly forced out of his Super Saiyan state.
The overwhelming power turned him into a black dot, vanishing into the distant sky.
Almost simultaneously—
Loren appeared behind Goku.
The same punch.
Puff.
Goku's body convulsed violently. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.
The crimson-gold flames around him vanished instantly.
The light in his eyes faded.
His body went limp and crashed to the ground, completely unconscious.
Only a few seconds had passed.
The battle was over.
Loren returned to his normal state, casually clapping his hands and stretching his wrists.
"Alright. Finished."
Silence.
Aside from the sound of the wind, the battlefield was utterly quiet.
Piccolo.
Krillin.
Tien Shinhan.
Chiaotzu.
Yamcha.
All of them were frozen in shock.
Loren had unilaterally crushed Goku and Vegeta.
"Ah… finally quiet."
He turned around and started walking away.
"If I don't head back now, I'll miss the golden hour for my nap."
"Oh, right."
"Give Goku and Vegeta two Senzu Beans."
"These are for you."
Loren tossed two Senzu Beans to Krillin.
Then his figure vanished.
All that remained was the devastated land—and a group of Z Fighters whose understanding of the world had been completely rewritten.
After a long moment, Krillin was the first to react.
He rushed over to Goku, who was lying unconscious on the ground.
"Goku! Goku! Are you alright?!"
"Piccolo… where's Vegeta?" Tien Shinhan asked.
Only then did everyone remember.
There was still one more person.
Vegeta had been punched away and completely disappeared into the sky.
Not even a trace of his aura could be sensed.
"First, give Goku a Senzu Bean," Piccolo said.
Krillin hurriedly stuffed the bean into Goku's mouth.
Goku's body jolted, and his eyes snapped open.
He stared around blankly as memories flooded back.
"I…"
Goku looked down at his hands, his expression filled with confusion and loss.
He had lost.
Completely.
Even teaming up with Vegeta, they couldn't so much as brush Loren's clothes.
"Loren… he…"
"He went back already," Krillin said.
Goku stood up and brushed the dust off himself.
The blazing fighting spirit he'd had earlier was gone, replaced by an unprecedented calm.
"Let's… go find Vegeta."
A desolate Gobi Desert.
A massive, human-shaped crater marred the land.
At the center of it, Vegeta's eyelids trembled as he slowly regained consciousness.
Pain.
Overwhelming pain.
What… happened?
Fragments of memory slowly pieced themselves together.
Loren.
That terrifying punch
Puff.
Vegeta suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
The memory was complete.
"Heh…"
"Heh heh heh…"
Vegeta lay at the bottom of the crater, laughing bitterly.
There was no anger.
The gap was simply too vast—even jealousy couldn't exist anymore.
All he felt was… ridicule.
He had thought that becoming a Super Saiyan meant surpassing Kakarot.
He had even believed he might be able to challenge Loren.
He never imagined the difference would be this overwhelming.
Just then—
Several familiar auras approached rapidly.
Kakarot.
And those Earthlings.
Vegeta slowly turned his head with great effort.
At the edge of the crater stood Goku, Piccolo, Krillin… all those familiar faces, looking down at him.
"Vegeta…"
Goku jumped down into the crater, walked up to him, and extended his hand.
"Are you alright?"
Vegeta stared at the outstretched hand.
Then, with the last of his strength, he slapped it away.
"Get lost!"
"I don't need your pity, Kakarot!"
...
Author's Note:
The fanfic Dragon Ball: I Became Invincible by Being a Lazy Salted Fish! Part 1 & 2 (Dragon Ball Z & Super) is now fully completed.
The entire story has been uploaded on Patreon as a dedicated collection:
📚 Dragon Ball (Chapters 1–343)
Organized into 42 posts, with multiple chapters per post for easy binge reading.
🔗 patreon.com/Shadow_demon_007
Thank you all for your continuous support and love for this story 💙