"The third reason... is to kill Vegeta!"
The moment Piccolo said that, Gran's face instantly darkened.
So many people wanted to kill Vegeta.
That guy really was a master at making enemies.
Then again...
Thinking back to the early parts of the original story, Vegeta and Piccolo had never gotten along in the first place.
Viewed that way, it wasn't surprising at all.
"And the fourth reason..."
Piccolo hesitated.
His expression became complicated.
Finally, he clenched his fists and said quietly:
"The fourth reason... is that only by becoming stronger can I make sure Gohan never gets hurt!"
As he spoke, memories of the days he had spent with young Gohan flashed through his mind.
His gaze immediately softened.
"Huh?"
Gran's eyes widened.
This was an answer he had never expected.
It wasn't that he didn't understand the bond between Piccolo and Gohan.
Back when he had first asked Piccolo why he wanted to become stronger, Gran had already sensed that Piccolo wanted to say this reason as well.
The only difference was that Piccolo had hidden his feelings extremely well at the time and never voiced it.
But now...
He had actually said it aloud.
"Interesting."
The smile on Gran's face grew even brighter.
The Son Family's babysitter was becoming more and more qualified.
"Lord Gran... Mr. Angel... are these four reasons acceptable?"
Piccolo asked cautiously.
If he had been speaking to anyone else, he would never have revealed that fourth reason.
But this was Gran.
Since Lord Gran was testing his conviction and willpower, Piccolo had chosen to face his true feelings.
He no longer wished to hide that conviction.
Merus remained silent and looked toward Gran again.
Gran nodded.
"They are."
The surroundings suddenly fell silent.
The next second—
Piccolo's usual calm demeanor vanished completely.
He jumped into the air in excitement.
After a while, once the excitement finally settled down, he bent deeply toward Gran.
"Thank you, Lord Gran, for granting my wish!"
After bowing, he suddenly felt that thanking only Gran was inappropriate.
He quickly turned and bowed to Merus as well.
"Thank you, Mr. Angel, for granting my wish!"
"It's nothing."
Merus waved his hand.
"This guy was already sentenced to life imprisonment. As Gran said, for someone like Slug, that's practically no different from death."
"If you want to assimilate him, then go ahead."
Hearing Merus' words, Piccolo shook his head slightly.
He knew perfectly well that the only reason he had obtained Slug was because Merus was giving Gran face.
Otherwise, his request would never have been granted so easily.
Without saying anything further, Piccolo immediately moved into action.
Since both of these great beings had already agreed, he needed to assimilate Slug as soon as possible.
The longer he waited, the more likely something unexpected might happen.
He walked over to Slug and crouched beside him.
Just as he was about to begin the assimilation—
"Wait."
Gran suddenly spoke.
Piccolo turned around in confusion.
"Lord Gran?"
"You're going to assimilate Slug just like this, without any preparation?"
Gran crossed his arms.
"Do you really think that after the assimilation, you'll still be you?"
"Huh?"
Piccolo didn't understand immediately.
With his arms folded, Gran explained calmly:
"I told you to visit the Lookout before. You should have met Earth's Kami there, right?"
"Yes."
"And since you met him, you must have suggested fusing back together as well."
Before Piccolo could respond, Gran continued:
"The fact that you didn't fuse means he refused."
"And you didn't force the issue because you were worried he might resist during the assimilation process."
"If that happened, the dominant consciousness after the fusion might not be yours."
"It's the same situation now."
Gran looked at the unconscious Slug.
"Don't be fooled by his old age. Compared to you, he's still incredibly powerful."
"And his willpower is nothing to underestimate."
"Then what should I do, Lord Gran?"
Piccolo finally understood and immediately grew anxious.
Merus couldn't help but sigh.
"If his will is stronger than yours, then weaken it until it's weaker than yours."
"Wouldn't that solve the problem?"
"Oh!"
Piccolo smacked his forehead.
Being in the presence of two godlike beings had made him so nervous that he hadn't even considered such a simple solution.
Immediately, he rose from his crouch and pointed his hand at Slug.
Then he unleashed a relentless barrage of energy blasts.
BOOM!!
BOOM!!
The scene resembled an entire weapons depot detonating.
Flames soared into the sky.
Gran: "..."
Merus: "..."
The method was admittedly rather crude.
But it was surprisingly effective.
Slug was completely unconscious and incapable of defending himself.
After enduring such merciless bombardment, his aura weakened significantly.
And naturally, a weakened body could not maintain a powerful will.
Under the watchful eyes of Gran and Merus, Piccolo crouched down once more.
He placed his hand on Slug's forehead.
As a Namekian, he naturally knew the process of assimilation.
"Hah!"
Piccolo let out a sharp shout.
A sphere of white light appeared in his hand and instantly enveloped Slug.
Slug's body began to distort.
Soon, it became translucent and ethereal.
At the same time, Piccolo's body started glowing as well.
A powerful suction force emerged from him, pulling Slug's fading form toward his own body.
"Gran, how strong do you think he'll become after the assimilation?"
To Gran's surprise, Merus sounded genuinely interested.
Even he could tell that Piccolo possessed considerable talent.
"Using the universe's power-level measurements, Piccolo is currently around 3.6 million."
Gran folded his arms and thought for a moment.
"As for Slug, he's roughly around 30 million."
"They're both Super Namekians. Their assimilation definitely won't be as simple as one plus one equals two."
"So my guess is that Piccolo's power will exceed at least one billion after the fusion."
Gran's reasoning wasn't baseless.
In the original story, when Piccolo first assimilated Nail, his power had already surpassed the million mark.
Then, during the Android Saga, after fusing with Kami, he became strong enough to fight Android 17 evenly and even defeat Imperfect Cell.
Although he eventually lost to Semi-Perfect Cell, it still demonstrated just how terrifying his strength had become.
Gran estimated that Piccolo at that time had probably reached around 700 million in power.
And Slug was far stronger than either Nail or Kami.
More importantly, Slug himself was also a Super Namekian.
The fusion between Piccolo and Slug should produce an even more astonishing result.
END OF CHAPTER
Disciple of Beerus - MrBehringer's Secret
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