Chapter 21 – The Number One Martial Artist in the Universe
After leaving Planet Gurin's atmosphere aboard the Golden Flash, Tachibana Kyūjō turned back one last time to gaze upon the ravaged world…
It was on this very planet that he had first transformed into a Super Saiyan. Although most of its life energy had been drained by the Demon Star, Kyūjō believed that billions of years from now, Planet Gurin would once again flourish with vibrant life…
As long as another creature like the Demon Star never appeared again.
As for reviving the lives that had already perished, Kyūjō had no intention of using the Namekian Dragon Balls for such a thing.
Mass extinction events were common throughout the universe. Every day, countless worlds were destroyed, and countless civilizations vanished within the flow of history.
If he truly tried to be too "pure-hearted," then his entire existence would be spent reviving the dead. Besides, even the Namekian Dragon Balls didn't have the capacity to handle such an astronomical task…
Unless the destruction was caused directly by him—only then would Kyūjō feel obligated to bear that karmic burden. But this time… it wasn't his fault, was it?
— — —
In the blink of an eye, Kyūjō returned to Galactic Patrol Headquarters aboard the Golden Flash.
— — —
The Golden Flash traveled using wormhole-based space-time technology—a system deeply intertwined with quantum mechanics.
Instant Transmission, on the other hand, worked by locking onto a coordinate through Ki detection and warping to the target instantaneously.
But if the distance was too great, sensing the target's Ki would be extremely difficult. Everything depended on the user's mental strength and endurance.
— — —
Upon arriving at HQ, Kyūjō and Merus immediately met with Captain Zoffy to report the successful elimination of the Demon Star—and to reveal that Kyūjō was of Saiyan origin.
At the same time, Merus spoke up:
"Captain Zoffy, the reputation of the Saiyan race in this universe isn't exactly good, but I believe… not all Saiyans are evil."
"I witnessed the entire battle between Kyūjō and the Demon Star. You know well how powerful that creature was. Yet Kyūjō fought bravely, not for glory, but for justice and the stability of the universe."
"In the end, by relying on his courage and unwavering resolve, he defeated the threat on Planet Gurin. As a member of the Galactic Patrol, I believe Kyūjō has shown exceptional performance. I hope to continue serving alongside someone like him."
Hearing such high praise from his right-hand man, Zoffy simply nodded. Truthfully, he didn't mind Kyūjō's Saiyan identity too much.
But protocol still required him to report this to the Galactic King. With Kyūjō's power now among the very strongest in the Galactic Patrol—the current Number One Martial Artist—only the Galactic King could decide his fate.
Besides, the ties between the Saiyan race and Frieza ran deep. If someday Kyūjō worked with Frieza to sabotage the Galactic Patrol from within…
That would be catastrophic.
Although Zoffy thought the possibility was low—after all, Kyūjō openly confessed his identity and actions—he still had to follow procedure. The final decision rested with the Galactic King.
As for Merus, being a trainee Angel, his strength far exceeded what the Galactic Patrol could comprehend. They all knew Merus was powerful—just not how powerful.
Thus, aside from Kyūjō, no one knew that a true giant had been quietly standing among them, smiling warmly behind the scenes.
And if Kyūjō turned out to be dangerous, Merus alone could deal with him effortlessly.
— — —
The three of them then traveled to the special planet under the jurisdiction of the Galactic King.
The Galactic King resembled an octopus-like creature from Earth, except his entire body shimmered with a glossy green color.
After hearing their report, the Galactic King was deeply shocked. He knew of the Saiyan race… but a Saiyan this strong? It was the first time he had ever encountered such a thing.
Yet surprisingly, the Galactic King placed great trust in Kyūjō.
Not only did he allow Kyūjō to continue serving justice in the universe—he even offered assistance. If Kyūjō knew of any other Saiyans with righteous hearts, he said he'd happily provide "employment."
The Galactic King's enthusiastic and open attitude left Zoffy speechless.
If he'd known it would go this way, he wouldn't have bothered coming. Now it made him look as though he distrusted Kyūjō…
But the Galactic King's reasoning was clear—he knew full well how terrifying Frieza was.
If Frieza truly wanted to destroy the Galactic Patrol, he wouldn't use roundabout schemes like this.
In fact, Frieza and other top-tier criminals likely had personal reasons for not attacking directly…
As for Kyūjō's fellow Saiyans, they certainly still existed. But whether they aligned with justice—that was another matter entirely.
Vegeta, for example, was currently busy helping run Frieza's real estate empire with two of his subordinates…
Convincing them to "switch jobs" would be nearly impossible.
Kyūjō had no intention of doing so anyway. As for Son Goku—that might be possible… but right now he was just a child, growing up peacefully on Earth.
Kyūjō didn't want to interfere with Goku's natural growth. Let him develop on his own path.
— — —
After completing all administrative procedures, Kyūjō resumed his role in enforcing justice throughout Universe 7.
For the next three years, his days were filled with battle after battle.
With the Golden Flash gleaming like a streak of gold across the cosmos, Kyūjō traveled to every corner of the universe.
Before long, that ship had become a nightmare for criminals everywhere in Universe 7.
Every fugitive with a Power Level above 500,000 became a target of Kyūjō's operations—and he made no exceptions.
If an enemy was too weak, he would deliberately suppress his power to fight them on equal footing.
Even so, Kyūjō cut down criminals as effortlessly as slicing through vegetables. Among the top 500 most-wanted fugitives in the galaxy, more than half had already been eliminated by his hand.
His opponents couldn't defeat him, and running was pointless.
Once intelligence reached him, the Golden Flash would immediately streak toward the location. After that, with his Infinity Sensory System and Instant Transmission, not a single fugitive could escape.
— — —
A small footnote.
During these three years, besides the Demon Star, eight more members of the Primordial Demon Race had fallen to Kyūjō—even including the fourth-ranked fugitive, "Demon Abys," the strongest among them.
Even King Cold, Frieza's father, met his end.
The arrogant Cold King considered himself the "Emperor of the Universe." He publicly issued a challenge, daring Kyūjō to try capturing him—the galaxy's number one fugitive.
Naturally, Kyūjō did not decline.
Calmly, he traveled to King Cold's private planet and, without any pleasantries, transformed directly into Super Saiyan 2 and obliterated the old ruler—along with the entire planet—in a single blow.
The battle ended too quickly, and every witness died instantly. So the details never spread, but one thing was absolute:
King Cold was no match for Tachibana Kyūjō.
Since King Cold's death, the security of Universe 7 had improved dramatically. Social order became "civilized," "harmonious," "peaceful," and even "democratic."
Rumor had it that Frieza's interplanetary real-estate empire had started shifting into the intergalactic entertainment business.
At that time, Kyūjō was only fifteen years old.
Yet he had already been officially recognized by all Level-2 civilizations and above as:
The Strongest Martial Artist in the Entire Universe.
Level-1 civilizations were still too primitive—still playing in the mud on their native planets. They had no connection at all to interstellar systems. Earth, for example, was currently at that stage.
But in the midst of this golden age, Kyūjō remained unaware that someone who should not have awakened…
Had now opened his eyes.
Someone far stronger than him. Someone whose gaze had already turned toward him.
That person was—
The God of Destruction of Universe 7—Beerus.
Beerus, who hadn't slept long enough, was extremely annoyed. His nap was supposed to last decades… centuries, even. Yet it had only been a few years—and something had already disturbed him?
The culprit was none other than an overachieving Galactic Patrolman so diligent and effective that he had unknowingly disrupted the balance between justice and destruction in the universe. As a result, the number of planets destroyed in recent years had dropped drastically below the expected cosmic "quota."
Under such circumstances, Whis, his Angel attendant, could hardly let Beerus continue sleeping peacefully.
Because of Tachibana Kyūjō, Beerus was forced to "go back to work" much earlier than scheduled. Naturally, the God of Destruction held a silent grudge against him.
Fortunately, Beerus was exceptionally efficient at his job.
On the very first day after waking, he destroyed three hundred planets.
On the second day, while lounging lazily and sampling gourmet dishes from across the universe, he still managed to destroy another one hundred and fifty planets.
On the third day, with slightly elevated motivation, Beerus destroyed four hundred more.
But on the fourth day… he utterly lost interest.
This job was far too boring.
At that moment, Beerus suddenly remembered someone—one of his most reliable "agents" from the past.
King Frieza, the ruler who once served as his de facto extermination officer.
— — —
Somewhere in the universe—
"Whis, is that Frieza fellow still alive?" Beerus asked while casually scratching his ear.
He shifted his gaze toward Whis, looking bored as always.
Whis closed his eyes briefly, using his extraordinary perception. After a mere second, he opened them and shook his head gently.
"No, Lord Beerus. Frieza is still alive."
Beerus gave a small nod. "Whis, take me to him."
"Very well, Lord Beerus," Whis replied with a wide smile, lifting his sacred staff. "But… you still haven't finished today's workload. When will you complete the rest?"
Beerus immediately frowned, irritation flaring on his face and in his voice.
"I know, Whis! Just take me to Frieza first!"
"As you wish. As long as you don't forget," Whis answered lightly.
He tapped his staff against the empty space below them.
In an instant, both the God of Destruction Beerus and Whis vanished from sight.
— — —
At that exact moment, Lord Frieza was reclining arrogantly in his luxurious pod-like throne, furious as he shouted at a trembling subordinate:
"Dodoria!"
"I still have 365 planets under my domain! Didn't I tell you to take care of them immediately?! Why aren't they handled yet?!"
Before him stood a shaking, red-skinned, frog-like alien with a plump body. He stammered out a response, voice trembling:
"M-My… My Lord… Th-The planets… there are too many… And now the Galactic Patrol is patrolling so strictly… Almost no one dares engage in planetary trade anymore…"
"Hah…" Frieza exhaled slowly, calming himself. His voice became flat—but carried an unmistakable pressure behind it:
"Fine… then recall our forces from those planets. Tell them to lie low for now. Don't cause unnecessary trouble."
Though known to be cruel, Frieza was relatively "polished" in how he spoke to his subordinates—or at least pretended to be. But today, his patience had reached its limit.
Because—
The Galactic Patrol was simply too terrifying now.
Frieza just wanted to quickly sell his entire interplanetary real-estate empire and escape that business before suffering the same fate as his father.
He knew exactly how strong King Cold had been.
Although slightly weaker than Frieza in raw power, King Cold's combat experience was overwhelmingly superior. Frieza himself wasn't entirely confident he could defeat his father in a direct fight.
Yet—
His father had been effortlessly killed by a single man—Tachibana Kyūjō, that suspiciously named Galactic Patrolman.
Thinking about it made Frieza's skin crawl.
"Father… Father… You were retired already, why did you have to show off in the first place…"
"Look what happened… you got completely annihilated… Father, don't blame me… It's not that I don't want to avenge you—our enemy is simply too strong. I'll train… and someday, when my power is enough, I will avenge you…"
"But… didn't you always say? That aside from the Legendary Super Saiyan, Majin Buu, and Lord Beerus, no one in the universe could oppose our race…"
"Turns out your words weren't reliable after all… But even so, your death wasn't meaningless. At least now I know… there really are beings that powerful out there… Hehehe…"
Frieza chuckled quietly, concealing his ambition.
Retreating and staying under the radar was only a temporary strategy. He understood his own potential very well.
Even if he couldn't match that strength now, give him a few years—he believed he could surpass Tachibana Kyūjō and reverse the situation.
Yet at that very moment—
A soft clearing of the throat echoed beside his ear.
Frieza turned immediately—and when his gaze landed on the figure standing calmly beside his throne…
His entire body trembled violently.
"L-Lo… L-L-Lord Beerus!!"
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