Ken studied Temat more closely through the crystal.
Then he noticed something else.
Beside Temat were two more men who looked almost exactly like Rohl.
Seeing three identical faces at once, Ken was left utterly speechless.
He dragged Amarella over again and projected the image outward so Bulma could see it too.
Amarella: "..."
"This is getting really strange," Amarella said. "If you don't have siblings, then what are they supposed to be?"
"I'm asking you to help me analyze the problem," Ken said irritably. "Not throw more questions at me."
"I'm completely lost too..." Amarella said. Even she could not make sense of it.
"Hey, Ken... what if it's something like this?" Bulma suddenly offered.
"What is it?" Ken asked, turning to her.
"Time," Bulma said. Then she elaborated, "Every one of them is you. But each of them was sent into a different timeline, like Trunks. Time changed. And now they've all come back."
Ken's eyes widened slightly as he stared at Bulma.
Even Amarella was stunned.
"Bulma... your imagination's pretty wild," Ken said.
But after thinking about it...
That idea actually could work.
The only problem was that it should have taken a god at least on the level of a Supreme Kai to do something like that.
But who the hell used me as an experiment?
Was I some kind of lab rat?
Ken's face darkened.
Because if Bulma's guess was correct, then Temat, Rohl, and the other two beside Temat...
They were all him.
Versions of him from other timelines.
"That can't be right," Amarella said, shaking her head. "Ken is supposed to be a unique existence across time."
"Then that still fits," Bulma said firmly. "Ken is unique across time. That one's called Temat, right? And this other one's called Rohl." She pointed at the other two beside Temat. "And those two don't seem to be named Ken either."
Amarella: "..."
That argument was so reasonable she genuinely did not know how to refute it.
"By that logic... then yes, Ken is still unique across time," she admitted at last.
Ken thought it over carefully and, for the moment, decided to treat Bulma's theory as if it were true.
That would mean only I stayed in this timeline.
Then I crossed over into this body and happened to take the place of this version of me, while Planet Vegeta's naming system just happened to bug out and give me the name Ken.
As for Temat and Rohl and the others...
Bulma's theory really did explain them.
After all, if time changed each time, then Planet Vegeta's naming system might have changed each time too.
That would explain why they all had different names.
"Someone's here," Bulma suddenly said. Then she sounded even more surprised. "It's a masked woman... and wow, she's got an incredible figure. Ken, look—she's wearing angel clothes and carrying a staff. Is she an angel? No wonder her body looks that good."
Ken glanced toward the projection.
A female angel with a complexion similar to that of a Saiyan or an Earthling had appeared in it.
She wore full angel attire, held a staff in one hand, and had a white veil covering her face.
"Which universe's angel is that?" Ken asked, turning to Amarella.
"I don't recognize her..." Amarella said, shaking her head. Then she narrowed her eyes. "But her eyes... I feel like I've seen them somewhere before."
As the two of them were talking, the masked angel slowly turned around and looked directly toward where Ken and Amarella were.
"Wait, can she see us?" Bulma exclaimed.
When Bulma cried out, the angel's gaze shifted briefly onto her as well.
That single look made Bulma feel as if she had fallen into an ice pit. She hurriedly hid behind Ken, shivering.
Ken's expression grew much more serious.
"Amarella, it's been a long time," the masked angel said. Her voice was no longer especially cold. If anything, it sounded unusually gentle.
"Y-You... are you the Grand Priestess?" Amarella asked, stunned and delighted at the same time.
"Yes," the woman said with a slight nod.
"I heard you left our timeline..." Amarella said excitedly. "Have you come back now?"
"It was time to come back and deal with some unfinished matters," the Grand Priestess answered. Her tone was already turning cold again.
Ken looked her over from top to bottom.
So this was the Grand Priestess?
The one said to be the mother of Vados and the others?
If Amarella was right, then her level should have been above 90.
"Grand Priestess... where are you right now?" Amarella asked eagerly.
"We should speak face to face," the Grand Priestess said.
Then she flickered and appeared in the room in an instant.
Whoosh!
Ken felt a faint fragrant breeze as the Grand Priestess stepped straight out of the projection and into reality.
It had to be said, her figure really was extraordinary.
That said, he still could not see the Grand Priestess's face and had no idea what she actually looked like.
A great body was one thing.
If the face didn't match, that was another matter entirely.
"My respects, Grand Priestess!" Amarella said at once, dropping to her knees in a respectful bow.
Ken did not kneel.
Why was the Grand Priestess together with Temat and the others?
He intended to understand the situation first.
"You may rise, Amarella," the Grand Priestess said expressionlessly.
"Yes," Amarella replied, standing again, though she kept studying the Grand Priestess with visible confusion.
"You want to ask why I look like this now, don't you?" the Grand Priestess asked. She had already guessed what Amarella was wondering.
Amarella nodded without denying it.
The Grand Priestess calmly removed the veil, revealing a face so beautiful it could topple kingdoms.
Ken silently evaluated it.
As expected of the Grand Priestess.
Her beauty had to be somewhere around 99.99.
The only reason I'm not giving a full 100 is because I don't want you getting arrogant.
Had the universe gathered all the best possible features together when it formed her body?
He genuinely had not expected a woman this perfect to exist.
How does the Grand Priest manage to have luck like this?
Vados, Kusu, and Marcarita had each inherited part of her beauty. They were around 99.
The Grand Priestess, on the other hand, felt like all three of their best features gathered into one.
No... wait.
Something feels off.
Her face did not actually look much like Vados, Kusu, or Marcarita at all.
The only real similarity was in the eyes.
Or rather, in the expression inside them.
Facially, they shared almost nothing.
"Y-You... how did you end up like this, Grand Priestess?" Amarella asked in shock.
Ken quietly sharpened his focus and listened.
So she really had changed.
No wonder she didn't resemble Vados and the others.
"I was reborn," the Grand Priestess said with a faint sigh.
"Reborn?" Amarella repeated, stunned. "How did that happen?"
"Although this body still hasn't allowed me to return to my former peak, it's already exceptionally good," the Grand Priestess said dismissively, giving a small smile. "I've gradually started to like this body. It feels like I'm truly living as a woman."
"And this body belongs to..." Amarella began. She did not pursue the earlier question and instead asked the one that mattered now.
"The Saiyan princess of Planet Sadala," the Grand Priestess replied honestly.
"I see..." Amarella said at last.
That explained the skin tone.
So it made sense after all.
Then Amarella turned another doubtful look toward the three men beside Temat.
"You still want to ask what's going on with them, don't you?" the Grand Priestess said, looking at her. "Wasn't that young woman's guess a very good one? That's basically what happened."
Her gaze shifted briefly toward Bulma.
Bulma jumped and immediately hid behind Ken again.
Ken said nothing, but his eyes narrowed.
So you really did use me as an experiment.
You changed time four separate times?
No wonder you had to be reborn.
You really did it to yourself.
"Y-You were the one who changed time?" Amarella asked in astonishment.
"Yes," the Grand Priestess said without hesitation. "To recover my angel power at its peak, I needed to gather immense energy and divine power. And from everything I learned, Ken was the best choice."
Amarella froze, completely speechless.
This was nothing like the Grand Priestess she thought she knew.
"Surprised?" the Grand Priestess asked with a small smile. "People change. Gods change too."
"So... is that why Ken's angel power developed so quickly? Because of you?" Amarella asked, suddenly realizing something.
"Yes," the Grand Priestess said with a nod. "I'm the one who gave him the ability to wield angel power."
Amarella fell silent.
Several seconds passed before she finally let out a deep sigh.
"So that's what it was... The Grand Priest and I always thought Ken's angel power formed because of my influence. I never imagined it was because of you."
No wonder the Grand Priest's expression had looked so strange back then.
He had probably already guessed it was connected to the Grand Priestess.
He just never said it aloud.
"All right, explain it clearly," Ken said.
The Grand Priestess looked at him. Her face showed very little, but after thinking it over, she decided there was no harm in telling him.
"Then I'll explain," she said calmly. "I vanished because of an accident, and only two strands of angel power remained from me. One of them landed in the body of the Saiyan princess of Planet Sadala, and I successfully took control of it. But in the end, it's still a mortal body. Even after a hundred years, and even though I've recovered most of my angel power, I still haven't returned to my former peak."
Ken said nothing. He simply listened.
"The other strand of angel power landed in your body," the Grand Priestess continued, watching him.
Ken: "..."
So my angel power really does trace back to her?
And not to my own training at all?
"Originally, I intended to absorb that angel power from you immediately," she said. "But after thinking about it, I suddenly came up with a far more interesting idea."
"So you split me into several versions and changed time over and over?" Ken asked. He had already pieced together the basic outline.
"You are clever. In each timeline, I influenced your emotional makeup and divided you into several incarnations," the Grand Priestess said with a nod. "Joy, anger, sorrow, desire, fear, love, and hatred."
Ken: "..."
You really went all in.
"Take Temat, for example," the Grand Priestess said, pointing with her staff toward the projection of Temat. "He is the incarnation of anger. On the surface he appears calm, but once he transforms, he loses all reason and becomes pure fury. Larte is the incarnation of sorrow. His heart is always steeped in endless grief. He even wants to gather all seven Super Dragon Balls just so he can rid himself of it. Unfortunately for him, no dragon could ever grant a wish like that."
"And him?" Ken asked, pointing at Larde.
"He is the incarnation of desire," the Grand Priestess replied. "His heart is full of ambition and craving. With my help, he killed the God of Destruction of Universe 4, Quitela, because he wanted to become the new God of Destruction there."
Ken: "..."
Quitela's dead?
What an unlucky little rat.
"What about this one?" Ken asked, projecting another image of Rohl from Violet Star.
"He is Rohl, the incarnation of joy," the Grand Priestess said. "Look at him. His face is always full of delight, like spring sunlight warming the people around him."
"And me?" Ken asked. "Which one am I?"
"I left the best one in this timeline and let him cultivate angel power," the Grand Priestess said.
"And which emotion am I?" Ken pressed.
"You should be able to guess that yourself," the Grand Priestess said coolly. "Don't you find yourself rather... loving? You've got so many women around you."
Ken: "..."
"Love?" he repeated.
"Yes," the Grand Priestess said with a nod. "I left the incarnation of love in you. That's why you're so generous with your affections and want several wives."
Ken had no response.
That really has something to do with love?
I had that idea in my previous life too.
What does that have to do with her "love incarnation" at all?
Amarella stood there speechless.
Bulma quietly wiped sweat from her forehead.
"So besides the five of us, there are still two more incarnations out there?" Ken asked.
"Yes," the Grand Priestess said. "They're in Universe 11 and Universe 10. You helped me locate Rohl. Then I gathered the versions of you from the different timelines, returned them to their respective universes, and left them there. That's how things stand."
"Then how exactly do you return to your peak?" Ken asked, his tone turning stranger.
"Sacrifice," the Grand Priestess said slowly.
"Sacrifice? You mean Ken has to disappear?" Amarella cried out, her face going pale.
At some point, she had stopped calling the Grand Priestess by title at all.
She was just speaking to her directly now.
"If they offer themselves to me, it should be considered an honor," the Grand Priestess said with a smile, giving Ken a meaningful look.
Ken remained calm.
Inside, he felt nothing.
If anything, he almost wanted to laugh.
You tell me to sacrifice myself, and I'm supposed to just obediently do it?
Ridiculous.
"Originally, I meant to find the other three first and only come for you last," the Grand Priestess said coldly. "But you helped me locate Rohl, and then you used your angel staff to look at me. That forced me to move ahead of schedule."
"Grand Priestess... do you really have to do this?" Amarella asked, frowning.
"Amarella, once my angel power returns to its peak, I can restore you too. You won't have to stay this small anymore," the Grand Priestess said with unusual softness.
"I don't need restoring. I like how I am now," Amarella refused at once.
"Do you stay this way because of Ken's love?" the Grand Priestess asked with a cold smile. "Don't forget—your feelings only exist because Ken is the incarnation of love. Without my angel power inside him, how could you ever have been affected at all?"
Amarella fell silent.
The more she thought about it, the more it sounded as though the Grand Priestess might be right.
Was it really because of the Grand Priestess that she had become attached to staying close to Ken?
"Since I'm already here, we may as well begin the sacrifice early," the Grand Priestess said, her tone making it clear this was not up for discussion. "Once I absorb your angel power, I should recover at least seventy percent of my former strength. Then I'll raise the other six to higher levels and have them sacrifice themselves as well. At that point, I should reach level 100 and surpass the Space-Time God of Destruction."
"How?" Ken asked.
"Ken! Are you being controlled or something?" Bulma cried out, grabbing his arm anxiously.
The Grand Priestess did nothing to Bulma.
In her eyes, Bulma was only a weak mortal and posed absolutely no threat.
In fact, even Amarella as she was now could not affect her much.
"According to my research, the most primitive method humanity possesses is also the fastest way to perform this sacrifice," the Grand Priestess said.
Then she lightly waved her staff through the air.
Smack!
A white cube instantly appeared in the sky overhead.
The Grand Priestess pointed her staff toward Ken.
Whoosh!
Ken vanished from the spot.
In the next instant, he found himself inside a strange room.
It had been arranged warmly, and everything around him glowed with a soft pink light.
And at the center of the room stood a large round bed.
Ken: "..."
He suddenly remembered what the Grand Priestess had said.
Humanity's most primitive method.
This...
What exactly are you trying to do?
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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