...
"Alright, enough of the small talk."
Champa walked over to Gran and casually slung an arm around his shoulders.
"You brat didn't come all the way here with good intentions, did you? Go on—what do you want?"
Back during the Candidate God of Destruction Battle Royale, he had owed Gran a favor. If Gran needed something now, Champa wouldn't refuse.
"Lord Champa, I'm here to borrow something," Gran said directly, getting straight to the point.
"Borrow what?"
Champa and Vados exchanged a glance, both seeing the same confusion in each other's eyes.
"I'd like to borrow your Super Dragon Balls."
"The Super Dragon Balls?"
Champa and Vados both turned their heads sharply toward Gran.
"What do you want to wish for?" they asked in unison.
Their concern was obvious—if Gran intended to rely on an external force to enhance his martial path, it could jeopardize his future growth.
"You already know Broly's condition. I just want to use Super Shenron to fix his problem."
Hearing this, Champa and Vados finally understood—and relaxed.
As long as Gran himself wasn't relying on external power, it was fine.
"Broly's talent is indeed terrifying," Champa said, letting go of Gran's shoulder. "But he's not you. If he needs outside help, then so be it."
He waved his hand casually.
"Go ahead and use them. Once you're done, the Super Dragon Balls will return to Universe 6 anyway."
Then, turning his head aside with a huff, he added arrogantly:
"I'm only lending them to you, Gran. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't agree."
"Oh? What if Lord Beerus asked to borrow something?" Gran teased with a grin.
"That skinny bag of bones?"
Champa shrank his neck slightly, then snorted.
"Nope. Not lending!"
Vados curled her lips.
That was only because Beerus wasn't here—otherwise, would Champa dare say that?
Gran and Whis both burst into laughter.
These two brothers were truly something else.
At this moment, on the tenth floor of the Dimension Tower, aside from Roz and Hit enduring their torment, everyone else was in a rather good mood.
However.
Whis suddenly spoke.
"Sister, before Gran and I came here, we encountered one of those demons."
Vados frowned slightly.
"It's just a demon. It's not like we've never seen them before. Why are you two acting so strange?"
Champa nodded in agreement.
"You didn't know? During the half year you've been training in the Dimension Tower, there have already been two demon incidents in Universe 6."
Gran proceeded to recount the demon he encountered in Universe 7, along with what Jim had told him.
As his words fell—
The atmosphere inside the Dimension Tower turned unsettling.
After a while, Champa stroked his chin.
"I've been inside the tower this whole time, so I didn't know about those two incidents… but…"
He shook his head.
"Those things aren't that strong, and they don't even have intelligence. It's not a big deal, right?"
"No."
Vados frowned.
"Creatures like those demons usually only appear once or twice every million years. Now they're showing up so frequently… something feels off."
Whis asked quietly, "Sister, do you have any ideas?"
"I have a few leads, but I'm not certain."
"Oh?"
Whis narrowed his eyes. He had his own suspicions as well—and most likely, they aligned with his sister's.
Watching the two of them speak in riddles again, Gran knew they wouldn't say more.
He fell into deep thought.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Only the agonized cries of Roz and Hit echoed through the tower.
Finally, Champa couldn't take it anymore. He roared at the two of them:
"Can you stop whining like that? If you can't endure even this little pain, how do you expect to raise your dimension? How do you expect to extend your lifespan?!"
Gran snapped back to attention and glanced at Hit and Roz.
From his perception, their dimensional level had risen to roughly the same as that fat cat atop Korin Tower.
Still far from the level of a Guardian God.
Then again, it had only been half a year.
Reaching this stage was already impressive.
At this level, they would also gain around a thousand years of additional lifespan—enough to make up for what they had lost in the Time Chamber.
"Lord Champa, are you planning to train them as true Candidate Gods of Destruction?" Gran asked.
"Roz, yes. Hit, no."
Champa crossed his arms and said helplessly:
"The Grand Priest suddenly held that Candidate Battle Royale. No one knows if something like that will happen again, so Roz has to be trained and kept."
"Of course, if we encounter another genius like you, he'll still be replaced."
"As for Hit—he's an assassin. His talent lies in assassination. He doesn't have the potential to become a Candidate God of Destruction."
"I'm just helping him recover the lifespan he lost in the Time Chamber."
"I see."
Gran nodded. He was aware of the agreement between Hit and Champa.
"Gran, it's time to collect the Super Dragon Balls," Whis said, patting his shoulder.
"?"
Gran glanced at Whis, then at Vados.
Weren't they just discussing the demon issue?
Why had their expressions suddenly returned to normal?
"You go ahead. I won't join you," Champa waved his hand.
He still needed to keep an eye on Roz and Hit.
"Alright. Once I've gathered all the Super Dragon Balls in Universe 6, I'll come back and invite you, Lord Champa. We can all watch the summoning of Super Shenron together."
With that, Gran and Whis headed toward the exit of the Dimension Tower.
Just before leaving, however, Whis quietly transmitted a message to Vados:
I'll confirm this with Father when I have the chance.
Neither Gran nor Champa noticed.
After the two had completely disappeared—
Hit and Roz, enduring immense pain, slowly approached Champa.
"L-Lord Champa… is Lord Gran a born god… or did he cultivate himself into one?" Roz asked weakly.
"Only the Core People are born gods. Gran reached the godly dimension through his own cultivation."
Champa recalled the time when Gran was still just a kid.
Back then, he was already at the peak of the King Kai level—
Who could have imagined that in just eight years, he would break through to the peak godly dimension?
"What?!"
Veins bulged across Hit's forehead as he struggled against the pressure of the tenth floor.
"But how is that possible? I'm already suffering this much at just the tenth floor. If I stepped onto the hundredth floor, wouldn't my will be completely erased?"
Roz stared at Champa in shock.
"The hundredth floor?"
Champa scoffed.
"When I reached the hundredth floor, it took me tens of millions of years. You two really dare to dream!"
BOOM!
Like a bolt from the blue—
Hit and Roz were utterly stunned.
"In that case… how did Lord Gran become a god at such a young age?"
"Him?"
Champa deflated like a punctured balloon and said weakly:
"He's a monster. Don't compare yourselves to him."
At the side, Vados covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
However.
When she recalled Whis's final words before leaving—
Her expression gradually turned serious once more.