The sumptuous, almost luxurious banquet in the Briefs' estate dining room came to an end once again.
The mountain of empty plates and bowls on the table silently testified to the intensity of the recent "battle," a scene no less fierce than the showdown between man and god not long ago.
Beerus was sprawled unceremoniously in a large, comfortable chair, his golden eyes squinted in satisfaction. His long, thin tail tapped lightly on the chair's surface with a soft "pat, pat."
Whis, on the other hand, still maintained his unique elegance, though the hand holding his teacup seemed particularly lazy, and a contented smile hung on his face.
"Mmm... the delicacies of Earth truly never disappoint."
Whis covered his mouth and let out a comfortable burp, then spoke with a smile.
"Lord Beerus, Whitley, it's about time we returned."
Hearing this, Whitley immediately spoke up.
"Beerus, Whis, I might need to stay on Earth for a couple more days."
He paused and explained:
"My Instant Transmission can't directly sense Earth's ki from the God of Destruction's Realm. I want to improve it, maybe make a wish with Earth's Dragon Balls to see if I can evolve this ability, or set a coordinate between the two planets to make future travel easier."
But... his intention to stay with Bulma for a few more days was written all over his face.
Beerus waved his hand, an "is-that-all" expression on his face.
"Earth has wishing orbs too? But what you're suggesting is completely unnecessary. When I have time later, I'll just take you to the Sacred World of the Kais and have them personally teach you a more advanced form of Instant Transmission. It's much better than the one you have now."
Hearing this, an undisguised look of helplessness appeared on Whitley's face, and he retorted sharply.
"A beautiful thought, but reality is harsh. As far as I know, the current Supreme Kais..."
He deliberately stared at Beerus, ready to enjoy the God of Destruction's embarrassment.
"They probably don't even know you, a God of Destruction who has been asleep for decades, right?"
"Wh... what?!"
Beerus shot upright as if his tail had been stepped on, his golden, slit pupils filled with astonishment and disbelief.
"They don't know me? How is that possible! I am the God of Destruction! How could those Supreme Kais not know me?!"
Whitley couldn't be bothered to explain to him that the Supreme Kai lineage had been almost wiped out, or the messy business of him sealing the Elder Kai himself.
He just shrugged perfunctorily. "How would I know the specific reason? It's just some gossip I overheard on another planet. They said the current Supreme Kai is a pretty young guy."
Beerus narrowed his eyes and stared at Whitley for several seconds. Although he knew this guy was probably just spouting nonsense to put him off.
But... to turn hostile right after eating a grand meal prepared by the guy's girlfriend, such a shameless thing, he, the God of Destruction Beerus...
Well, he did it sometimes! But today's meal was so satisfying that he couldn't be bothered to argue with him for the time being.
However, Whitley's words did plant a seed of doubt in his mind.
After all, the Supreme Kais were important gods whose lives were linked to the God of Destruction. Although he himself had used some special means to circumvent the risk of a shared fate, the existence of the Supreme Kais was crucial to the balance of the universe.
If it was true, as this kid said, that the current Supreme Kai was a greenhorn who didn't even know his theoretical partner god, that would not be a good thing.
"Hmph, nonsense."
In the end, Beerus just snorted and temporarily suppressed his doubts.
"We'll find out about that later. In any case, your title as Apprentice God of Destruction is set. You can't run away."
Hearing that Whitley was about to leave again, Bulma immediately became anxious. Her large, sapphire-blue eyes quickly filled with tears. She hugged Whitley's arm tightly and looked at him with watery eyes.
"You only just got back... and you have to leave again? How long will you be gone this time?"
Seeing Bulma like this, Whitley's heart instantly softened.
He hesitated for a moment, looked at Whis and Beerus, and pleaded with them.
"Teacher Whis, Lord Beerus, is it possible to bring Bulma with us? She can bring a lot of delicious food, and her cooking skills... are really great! (She's very rich!)"
To sweeten the deal, Whitley told a white lie without hesitation.
Both Whis and Beerus could see through Whitley's insincere words, but neither of them cared.
Beerus had no objection. The God of Destruction's Realm was very empty anyway; one more or one less person didn't matter, as long as she brought more delicious food.
But he still pointed at Bulma.
"Bring her? Kid, do you want her to die? The environment of the God of Destruction's Realm is not something an ordinary human can withstand. Not to mention anything else, the gravity there is at least several hundred times that of Earth, maybe even higher! She would be crushed by her own weight the moment she arrived."
Only then did Whitley remember this crucial point.
He was so focused on being with Bulma that he had overlooked the most basic problem of environmental adaptation.
His own strength was immense, so changes in gravity had little effect on him, but Bulma was just an ordinary Earthling...
He immediately looked at Beerus for help, his eyes screaming "think of something."
Beerus awkwardly scratched his light purple cheek and looked away.
He was good at fighting and destruction, but when it came to problems that required fine manipulation and special knowledge, he was completely at a loss. This was within the angel's scope of business.
Whis watched Beerus's rare look of helplessness and covered his mouth, chuckling softly.
He waved his staff, and a soft, mysterious stream of light shot out, silently entering Bulma's body.
"There you go, Miss Bulma."
Whis smiled and nodded.
"You no longer need to worry about the environment of the God of Destruction's Realm. This power will protect you, automatically adapting and neutralizing the effects of the abnormal environment on you, be it gravity, air pressure, or radiation. you can now live safely in the God of Destruction's Realm, just as you do on Earth."
Bulma immediately felt as if her body had become much lighter, an indescribable feeling of comfort enveloping her.
She jumped in surprise and then happily threw her arms around Whitley's neck, planting a loud, heavy kiss on his cheek.
"This is great! Whitley! We can go together!"
But she immediately remembered something, let go of Whitley, and said quickly to Beerus and Whis:
"Please wait for me a moment! Just a moment! I'm going to prepare some things! Toiletries, a change of clothes, and my research equipment and computer..."
Beerus was getting impatient.
"Hmph! Foolish woman, do you have any idea how rude it is to keep a powerful god waiting? Whis, let's go immediate—"
Before he could finish his "let's go," Bulma added as if she had just remembered.
"Oh! Right, I also had them prepare that special case of top-grade tuna just for you, Lord Beerus. There's a lot of it!"
Beerus's words instantly got stuck in his throat. The words that were on the tip of his tongue took a sharp turn, and his tone changed completely.
"Immediate... ahem, out... go out and get it! It's fine to wait for you! After all, tolerance and patience are excellent qualities that a great god should possess!"
He said it with great righteousness, as if the impatient guy from a moment ago wasn't him.
Whis finally couldn't hold it in any longer. He covered his mouth, his shoulders shaking violently.
Whitley also quickly lowered his head and covered his mouth, but his shoulders were also shaking, and a muffled laugh inevitably escaped.
Beerus gave the two behind him a disdainful look.
He crossed his arms, trying to put on a majestic air, but his twitching nose and the way his eyes subconsciously darted towards the kitchen completely betrayed him.
Bulma moved quickly, rushing back to her bedroom and the warehouse like a gust of wind.
Before long, she came out, dragging two large, bulging backpacks that looked very heavy.
Whitley looked at the two huge backpacks and couldn't help but laugh. "Bulma, you..."
"Better to be prepared!"
Bulma said with a grin, handing a very heavy backpack to Whitley.
"Most of this is DynoCaps. They contain my three laboratories, two houses, various tools, and some ingredients, as well as a lot, a lot of already-made delicious food for you, Lord Beerus, and the others! It's enough to last for a while!"
With a helpless and doting smile, Whitley resignedly slung the heavy backpack over his shoulder and then held Bulma's hand tightly.
Whis, having finally managed to stop laughing, immediately waved his staff. "Well then, everyone, please get ready."
Whitley held Bulma's hand with one hand and placed the other on Whis's shoulder.
Beerus also came over and placed his hand on Whis's other shoulder.
"Let's go, Whis," Beerus commanded.
Whis nodded. The gem at the top of his staff glowed with a soft light, instantly enveloping the four of them.
Swish—!
With a flash of light, the four of them vanished from the living room, leaving only a mess on the table and an empty room.
A few minutes after they left, the doorbell of the Briefs' estate rang, followed by a "thump thump" of knocking.
"Hey—! Bulma! Whitley! I'm here to hang out!"
Son Goku, dressed in a slightly worn martial arts gi, stood outside the closed main gate, scratching his head with a strange look on his face.
"Is no one home?"
He waited for a while, then listened. The estate was now quiet.
Dr. and Mrs. Brief were also not at home today. After Whitley and the others left, only a few patrolling robots remained in the estate.
"That's weird, Whitley was definitely back..."
Goku muttered and, with an agile flip, easily vaulted over the high wall and landed on the lawn inside.
Wee-woo—wee-woo—!
A piercing alarm instantly sounded, and several security robots with flashing red lights quickly slid out from the corners, surrounding Goku, their cold gun barrels aimed at him.
Goku was startled and quickly assumed a fighting stance.
The red light in the robots' eyes scanned Goku a few times. After confirming his identity on the whitelist, the alarm immediately stopped.
They emitted a mechanical "identification-passed" voice, retracted their weapons, and then slid back to their original positions to resume their standby duty.
"What was that all about..."
Goku breathed a sigh of relief, scratching his head in confusion.
He strode into the main house, shouting as he went.
"Bulma! Whitley! Are you here?"
The living room, dining room, kitchen... apart from a lot of robots tidying up something, there wasn't a single person in sight.
"They're not home..."
Goku was a little disappointed, but when he wandered into the backyard, his eyes suddenly lit up.
On the open ground in the backyard, a new, sci-fi-looking, massive silver-white metal building had appeared at some point, with the Capsule Corporation logo on the door.
"Wow! Is this Whitley's new gravity room?"
Goku's curiosity was instantly piqued, and he temporarily forgot about looking for people.
He rubbed his hands together excitedly, found the switch on the door, and pressed it.
Hiss—!
The airtight door slowly slid open, revealing a spacious and high-tech training space inside.
"Hehe, let me give it a try!"
Goku zipped inside, and the airtight door slowly closed behind him.
The huge gravity room soon began to emit a low, powerful hum of activation, signaling the beginning of another, different but equally arduous, training session.
Almost at the same time as Goku entered the gravity room, they arrived at the God of Destruction's Realm, countless light-years away.
The multicolored stream of light dissipated, and the figures of Whitley, Bulma, Beerus, and Whis appeared on the familiar and strange land.
The air was filled with a rich, fragrant aroma, and the silhouette of the God of Destruction's palace in the distance looked magnificent under the strange sky light.
"Whoa—!"
The moment Bulma set foot on an alien planet for the first time, she was immediately captivated by the strange scenery around her.
The plants that emitted a soft glow, the strange-looking but seemingly gentle little animals, the soil under her feet that seemed to contain some kind of energy, and the never-before-seen, aurora-like, colorful sky above...
Everything here made the genius scientist in her incredibly excited.
"So this is an alien planet! It's amazing! What's the principle behind these glowing plants? The atmospheric composition seems to be completely different from Earth's too! And that animal, its biological structure..."
Bulma's eyes were shining, and she wished she could take out her instruments and start studying right away.
Beerus had been complaining to Whis:
"Whis, have you gotten slower lately? I remember you used to fly the same distance in only one minute and forty-five seconds. This time, it took almost two minutes! During the time I was asleep, were you just looking for delicacies in the universe and forgot to train?"
But after hearing Bulma's exclamation, he immediately turned his head, his chin held high, his eyes looking down on her with a lofty disdain.
"Hey, woman! This is the God of Destruction's Realm, where I, the great Lord Beerus, reside! It's not comparable to those other alien planets you speak of!"
Bulma, who was squatting on the ground, carefully observing a glowing plant, looked up at his words, blinking her big, azure eyes, her face filled with pure confusion.
"But, isn't this just another planet in the universe, outside of Earth? Isn't that still an alien planet?"
"Uh..."
Beerus was rendered speechless by her impeccably correct and straightforward logic. The desire to show off that he had just felt instantly vanished.
He flicked his tail in frustration, feeling that he had some communication barriers with this Earth woman.
He let out a big, bored yawn and then turned to look at Whitley beside him.
With a flash of purple light, his majestic God of Destruction attire instantly changed into a comfortable set of brown pajamas. He even put on a sleeping cap.
Beerus yawned and said sleepily:
"Mmm... I get sleepy after a full meal... Since you're already the Apprentice God of Destruction, I'll leave the cleanup of those useless, trash planets to you from now on. I'm a little full from just now, so I need to take a nap for a few decades to recover my energy... Haaah—"
As he yawned, he swayed and walked towards the depths of the palace, his voice growing softer and softer.
"As for how to use Destruction... let Whis teach you... ZZZZ..."
Before he could finish, his figure vanished with a "swoosh," clearly having gone straight back to his bedroom.
Whis and Whitley watched the direction Beerus had disappeared, shook their heads in unison, expressions of helplessness on their faces.
"This guy is a lost cause."
Whitley muttered under his breath.
Whis, on the other hand, had regained his nonchalant demeanor and looked at Whitley with a smile.
"Well then, Whitley, do you plan to start your new training immediately, or would you like to rest for a while? I personally suggest we start with a cup of afternoon tea."
As he spoke, an exquisite teapot and several teacups appeared out of thin air in his hand.
Just then, Bulma emerged from the nearby woods, a small notebook in her hand, on which she was rapidly scribbling something.
Hearing Whis's words, she immediately raised her hand and said enthusiastically:
"Leave the tea-making to me! I just so happen to have brought many different varieties of high-grade tea from Earth. I was just thinking of trying to see what it would taste like brewed with the water here!"
But Whitley shook his head and looked at Whis, his expression becoming serious.
"Let's have tea next time, Whis. I want to start training first. When are you going to start teaching me the power of Destruction?"
Although he was very unhappy with the position that Beerus had forced upon him, since he couldn't resist, he would master this power as soon as possible.
After all, it was a very powerful force.
Whis handed the teapot to Bulma, a profound smile on his face.
"Whitley, actually... you've already learned it."
"Huh?!" Whitley was stunned, his face filled with astonishment.
"I've already learned it? When? How do I not know?"
Whis calmly put down his teacup and explained:
"Just now, when you asked me how to train in Destruction."
He looked at Whitley's confused eyes and continued:
"'Destruction' is not just a form of energy; it is a manifestation of the authority of a divine position. Before, you did not identify with the identity of 'Apprentice God of Destruction' in your heart. You were subconsciously rejecting it, so this authority was closed off to you, and you naturally couldn't feel it."
"But when you proactively asked how to train in 'Destruction,' it showed that your heart has already accepted this new identity and responsibility, and you have begun to truly think from the perspective of an 'Apprentice God of Destruction.' This acceptance is the key to unlocking the authority. And your hard training in the other dimension has already allowed your body and spirit to accumulate enough divine power. Now, all that's lacking is a guide and a clear recognition."
Whis pointed to Whitley's chest and added:
"Now, what you need to do is not to learn some specific technique, but to constantly feel and temper your heart, so that your will, your resolve, truly matches the authority of 'Destruction.' When your heart is completely in tune with the God of Destruction, how to use 'Destruction' will become as natural as breathing."
Whitley fell into deep thought as he listened to Whis's words.
I've already learned it? Make my heart worthy of this power?
He recalled the feeling he had when facing Beerus's "Destruction" energy, recalled the stirring divine power within him, which carried an aura of finality and annihilation...
He seemed to have found a vague direction.
But just then, Whis interrupted his thoughts. The gentle smile on his face made Whitley feel a little uneasy.
"However, Whitley~ I must remind you. You only have about three months to familiarize yourself with and master how to effectively use the power of Destruction."
Whitley was instantly snapped out of his contemplation, his face full of resignation.
"Something else? When I was training in the God of Destruction's Realm before, I ran no shortage of errands for you!"
He remembered his "delivery boy" career, where Whis would randomly throw him to some corner of the universe with his angelic ability and then require him to return on his own using Instant Transmission.
Whis shook his head, his tone still gentle, but the content of his words made Whitley's scalp tingle.
"Don't worry, Whitley. This time, I'm not asking you to run errands or find people. It's just that before Lord Beerus went to sleep this time, he had not handled his official duties for a considerably long time. The list of planets that need to be 'destroyed' that has accumulated in the universe... well, it's not a small one."
He extended a slender finger and lightly tapped the empty space, and an invisible list was instantly generated.
"Since Lord Beerus has already handed this responsibility to you, and he has gone to sleep, then this work naturally needs to be taken over by you."
"Three months from now, if you still can't master Destruction and start carrying out your duties, I'm afraid the overall rating of our Universe 7... will drop again. It won't be easy to explain to Lord Zeno."
Whitley's eyes widened in an instant, unable to believe his ears.
"Are you serious?! I'm an Apprentice God of Destruction! And I've only been on the job for less than an hour! I haven't even passed my probation period! And you want me to start working already? Can you be any more ridiculous?!"
Whis comforted him with a smile.
"Now, now~ relax, Whitley. I'm not asking you to go right now. Don't you still have three months to prepare and practice? I believe that with your talent, you'll be fine."
Whitley looked at Whis's "I-believe-in-you" expression, then at the mountain of planets on the to-be-destroyed list, and finally could only look up at the sky and sigh, a look of utter despair on his face.
"Sigh—! I knew it! This whole Apprentice God of Destruction thing is a trap!"
Bulma, watching her boyfriend's frown but helpless expression, couldn't help but let out a "pfft" of laughter.
She walked over and encouragingly patted Whitley on the back.
"Go for it, honey! For the ranking and prosperity of our universe, work hard!"
Her tone was filled with the excitement of a spectator who loved drama and an absolute trust in him.
Whitley looked at his wife's radiant smile, then at the elegantly sipping Whis, who was actually a super black-bellied schemer, and then thought of the official God of Destruction who was now sleeping soundly and had dumped all his mess on him...
He took a deep, deep breath of the fragrant but incredibly heavy air of the God of Destruction's Realm.
The life of an Apprentice God of Destruction, it seemed, was far more boring than he had imagined!
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