Chapitre 60: Chapter 60: Trapped in Thought.
I was trapped. Stuck. Stuck in a pose while nude. My body was also back to normal, so that's good, but I'm still nude and stuck. I mean, my pose is nice enough to cover the important bits, but I'm still nude. I mean, I wouldn't mind being placed in the center of a museum exhibit. I clearly am better looking than any statue alive, including David or even Atlas with the world on his shoulders.
I'd be a big seller. Not the issue here though. I'm stuck. Unable to move. Nude. In the middle of nowhere. A crater. A wasteland. With no idea how long, it would take for someone to appear. At least I wasn't underwater, I'd likely drown.
Scary how that isn't even a joke. I can't even use ki. I'm stuck. Here. In. The. Nude. WITH NO KI! I'd probably be fine if someone poked me with a knife. I was already breaking Doc's scalpels normally when she wanted to test my durability. Also, my eyes were shut. I wanted to have a photo perfect look. Now I can't move my eyes or mouth. Can't see or sense, touch, only hear!
At least I can breathe from my nose, smell seems fine too…Breathing is unhampered, no deviated septum or other issue. I can get a sliver from my mouth, but it's very minuscule. I can't take huge breaths. My lungs are moving, miracle that, but my chest won't move. I'm like a fucking statue!
Should have expected that…
Fuck… I'm going to be here awhile.
I sigh… or try to… I can't. Wonderful.
I try to focus on something else. Not on my total body numbness or how I can't feel anything. Nope. None of that. Can't even muster any kind of action beyond thinking. My body is just done. Not that I blame it.
Right, focus on something else…
What exactly happened? It feels strangely clear, and also… oddly foggy. I remember having that absolutely amazing peak. Then, I kind of felt like it was an out of body experience the whole time. It wasn't quite me moving and attacking. No, it was an amalgamation of the three of us. With my personality taking the reins primarily.
It wasn't a full thing, more of a partial fusion, symbiosis, a very intimate threesome? Some extra fancy words thrown in to make me sound smarter than I am. But, when we fused, I saw something. Visions. In cultivation novels, bloodlines tended to have something known as ancestral memories. A kind of mark left spiritually on bloodlines and such.
That is what it felt like. The moment was clear. The moment we slammed past the redline, the whiteness took over.
I was blinded. Floating. Suddenly I was in the air above a jungle. I saw a pair of Oozaru standing apart from each other. In the distance I could see their packs cheering them on. Quite far. I didn't think much of it. Ancient Oozaru, my ancestors, blabla.
Only, one of them suddenly cried out. I felt a shiver. A keening in my blood as the Oozaru went fucking Super Saiyan! THEY CAN DO THAT!? I had a feeling it might be possible, but seeing a normal brown, red eyed monkey goes blonde and blue eyed, well, hell, I didn't know that to think.
The other monkey roared in turn and screamed, only, this time I felt something different. A crawling under my skin and fingers flittering just underneath. The monkey changed. Its body grew pitch black. Its tail grew and thickened. Huge black bat wings burst form its back…
FUCKING FLYING MONEKYS!? Is this Oz now!?
I mean, praise Akira Toriyama! For golden apes! Although are black demon apes a thing? Seems off somehow. Almost like, nah. Can't be made up. right?
The pair dueled. The blonde one focused on energy blasts and power hits. Whilst the black one seemed physically superior. A blood red and black mist swirled around it enhancing it as it fought back. When their energy clashed it seemed to suck each other in and explode out. The black energy was almost physical where the golden energy was, uh, more magical.
For some reason, as they fought. No, as they tussled and wrestled on the ground. I saw it clear as day. Yin, Yang. Shortly after my realization, the scene faded. A new scene showed. An Oozaru stood beside a waterfall and lake. They looked at themselves and snarled.
They stepped ack and cried out. Scaring away countless animals and birds as it focused its energy. I wasn't sure what it was doing, but… no, was it? Condensing itself? I could hear bones crackling as the Oozaru forced itself smaller and smaller. Hair receded until… eventually it became a sort of modern Saiyan. It looked at itself and hollered in monkey speak. Doing a monkey dance as it did so. It punched the earth and it quaked as if hit by a full-sized Oozaru despite being so small. Oddly, its hair wasn't black, but green. Energy wafting out of it. Its body was bulky and large, almost primal.
With a final cry of triumph, the new Saiyan paused. A loud snarl echoed out as it beat its chest, its form slowly reverting. It screamed once it was once more an ape. It raged and beat down the local wildlife to vent its anger before settling down and staring at its reflection. A forlorn look, a thoughtful look, and then, a determined look.
Flashes went forward. Days, weeks, years. Eventually the Oozaru managed. The hair was no longer green but black. A scarred and older face, yet still somehow young. A wide smile adorned his face. With this, civilization began. Others copied it, shrunk themselves in turn. Cities were erected and laid to waste. They didn't transform with the moon, but only when they wished it.
I watched in awe as the figures went by. Generations flew by. Then, a flicker. An understanding flowing through me. A true Saiyan needed the complete mastery of your primal form. Not just control it, but to completely subjugate it. To make it merge with you wholly. To become the beast and yet, remain human. To essentially contain the full primordial energy contained inside the Oozaru, into a puny human frame.
Except, it had a different term Legendary Saiyan was what it was called after all those years. Due to genetic drift, or perhaps the slow degeneration of genes over the centuries or millennia. Perhaps it was simply a skill Saiyan's lost due to staying human more often than not. Control was slowly lost and the radiation from the moon might not be a natural trigger for the transformation, but instead caused by tampering to prevent the loss of our original form.
Saiyan's were never technologically advanced, but… It wouldn't be hard to teach people to alter their body to respond to a certain stimulus, carry it over generations and the body would adapt. Normally, such a thing wouldn't take, but Saiyan's were adaptable. Their bodies likely took to the stimuli rather easily.
Though, it was Darwinism at its finest.
Meaning, it would be possible to induce a change without those strange radiation waves. But… That won't happen anytime soon. I was closer to Super Saiyan, but nowhere near legendary Saiyan. Super Saiyan was a transformation that improved the body, but legendary Saiyan was a complete rework from the bottom up. The missing link, so to speak.
Perhaps it had become nothing more than a mutation after generations? The exact evolution lost in the sands of time. Somehow though, the strange mist, likely a mutagen combined with all the other factors had managed to form the link. If only temporarily. My body was changed for the better, but not enough to undergo the full transformation.
I would need to bring my S-cells to the absolute limit. Then… I would need to absorb monkey and the shadow. The monkey was obvious, they weren't even a real thing, not originally, but having mixed the bestial sides of both me and the shadow it had changed. The shadow though… the answer itself was obvious. To bridge the gap, I would need to consume or absorb another Saiyan at the absolute limit.
… they very thought was disturbing. I had a notion that Saiyan's likely had power sharing methods to pass around. Groups gather round in a circle to empower a singular person to make a Super Saiyan, but having to consume or totally absorb another Saiyan to reclaim my heritage? The missing link?
Some people were perhaps born with it. Making it almost considered a mutation. But like how cultivation protagonists awaken legendary bloodlines despite being related to some random schmuck. Perhaps the sheer potency of the Saiyan bloodline let it happen naturally. Even if the genetic drift had made such a transformation nigh impossible. Even without the mutagen, I might have been able to achieve it, but I'd need to not only master my Oozaru to completion, but there was likely some odd step. Maybe a fourth stage of the super Saiyan form that could be considered a bastardized legendary form?
Like a humanoid ape form. For some reason I imagine me with an ape mug, large arms and tiny lower body… Ugh… please no.
From there, I'd likely need to absorb another Saiyan with this as of yet seen fourth form to be able to bridge that gap.
Perhaps it may not work like that. Or, perhaps it was survival of the fittest in full. Some kind of Highlander bullshit. Where I need to eat and consume numerous Saiyan's that had hit the limit before the change takes place. But if that was the case, then the mutagen had forced my cells to partially adapt as if I had absorbed multiple max capacity Saiyan's. Not that it changed my overall power level much, or at all. If anything, my current situation was likely caused by my body gaining a rapid boost in strength, only for it to fade away. Leaving me completely and totally unable to move. Like a wrung-out sponge.
I was likely physically above what I was before, and yet… even having tasted that power. Even if it was just a smidgeon, a teeny bit of what truly lies before me. All I would need to do, is probably consume or absorb just one more at capacity Saiyan, if true. Which didn't change the overall issue. I needed to kill another Saiyan, or have them willingly give me everything, and thus crippling them for life. If not worse.
Considering that, I would likely never become a legendary Saiyan. And… I'm fine with that. I'd settle for super Saiyan one through three. I mean, unless I conveniently found a true blooded Saiyan that fully mastered their form wandering the galaxy when I needed it. A Saiyan I wouldn't mind killing.
What concerns me more for now, is… another term. Evil Saiyan's. Especially since becoming Legendary… Wow, that sounds so weird. Comes off as so out of left field I doubt I would hit that level anytime soon. Evil Saiyan though? That was an immediate issue.
At least, that's what I want to call them. Evil Saiyan's that is. The monkeys duking it out made me consider a lot. It also put some stuff together. It felt like two paths of cultivation. I couldn't take both, I had to choose and… I felt like that choice would mean a lot in the near future.
S-cells. E-cells. Saiyan cells, Evil cells. Both functioned similarly. But also, in the opposite manner. The comparison is rough, but… Super is energy based. Evil appears to be physically based. Like, matter and energy. The two are in direct conflict. Total opposites and yet, I wonder… is one side good, just because someone says their good?
I believe, at one point. Akira Toriyama, praise be to his name, mentioned, only a Saiyan with a pure heart can achieve Super Saiyan. What did that mean though? I remember reading a banger of a story once, before it was shut down thanks to censorship. It had many names, but I remember it fondly as Reverend Insanity.
Specifically, I remember later in the novel, a question brought up.
What was a demon?
A cruel person? A monster in the skin of a man? Someone who consumes infants and drinks the blood of virgins?
No. Apparently not. A demon was simply a person with a goal. A simple, pure hearted wish to achieve said goal. A wish, that they would accomplish, no matter what lay between them and it.
What then separated saints from demons? People who would willingly die for others, or people who would willingly kill for their goal.
To condemn a thousand to save one. Or to save a thousand and condemn one. The Emiya question.
Is either wrong? Right? Who can judge it? Who has the authority to judge it?
Goku was considered pure hearted, simple, but a decent character overall. Shit father though. Vegeta managed, well, probably through his pure hearted wish not to be a loser. Which led to the point. I had a feeling, that with the right stimulus I could become a Super Saiyan right this instant. Or maybe not right this second, but I was lacking a pure heart, so to speak. At least, I thought I was.
What then determined a pure heart? A wish, a single-minded desire and if so… What was my wish? My pure hearted desire?
Power? Control? Acknowledgement? Friendship? Family?
None of them felt right. And in a way, I couldn't say I felt entirely nothing killing people. I could almost feel them sometimes grasping at me. No, it was more obvious now. A cloak of shadows clinging to me, condemning me. The same shadows that had been condemning the original Rettas now clung to me.
Before… had she been drawing their ire? The ire of all those killed? Me confronting them, demanding them to look at me, had I condemned myself? Or was it something else? A situation with all the sins of the past nonsense. I carried not only my own sins, but the sins of the original Rettas, of our people upon my shoulders. Or so I thought.
I wasn't going to lie to myself. Saiyan's were dicks. Absolute bastards. Frieza did the universe a solid killing them all and frankly I wouldn't be surprised if the Saiyan race killed themselves off. Family values had completely fell apart. Tradition gone. Values gone. Even their constant desire for strength had faded into nothing more than empty bravado.
As feared as they were… modern Saiyan's were almost like those rich young masters you'd find at every corner in a cultivation novel. Which was honestly a hilarious thought. I wanted to smirk. To laugh. I couldn't, I was stuck fast, nude, in the middle of nowhere.
Could I live with myself knowing this? Knowing I was a monster? A murderer? And related to a race of genociders that would likely put Hitler to shame? I mean, look at the resort world! I was certain it was nothing more than a tomb world at this point. My last skill had wiped out the remnant imperial forces, but I couldn't exactly be discerning with the time ticking down. I'd likely killed countless surviving civilians as well. Only sparing familiar ki signatures and those around them.
I had done as my skill advertised. I had committed planetary genocide. The squids had been less intentional, and more… goal oriented. A mass sacrifice to kill a greater threat. Overall, the ends justify the means kind of thinking. The bridge of children may have been monstrous, but… meh, people make mistakes.
It was easy enough to brush off the responsibility for all of it. I could blame other people. I could even say something as crass as they had it coming for being lesser. I didn't want to. I wanted to take it, embrace it. To own it. Their accusations, their condemnation would be my strength. Or at best, it would keep me centered on what truly mattered.
Power? Control? Acknowledgement? Friendship? Perhaps Family?
None felt right, yet… it felt so close.
Yet, what bothered me more was… why hadn't I heard of Evil Saiyan's before? The legendary Saiyan had golden hair, and Vegeta thought it was the ultimate form, but that was cultural drift. It made sense. I had thought it was normally achieved through multiple Saiyan's joining forces, but our ancestors were really something, weren't they? But, legendary Saiyans had originally green hair. Not golden. Nor was there ever a mention of an Evil Saiyan…
Although… the destruction of Planet Vegeta was supposedly caused by a battle between two forces. Both were supposed to be Saiyan's from what I remember. Something like the legendary Saiyan fighting off another Saiyan. An evil Saiyan, perchance? It fits the narrative honestly.
Only, I'm curious… what had prompted the war? I thought back to what I knew. The original planet Vegeta was blown up, I think, when a war between Saiyan's broke out.
A war between evil and super? Or as simple as us and them.
It seemed fitting. Only, who won? Clearly, it had to be Super, but… thinking back to it. Goku and his kids, barring extenuating circumstances, primarily being Akira Toriyama, praise be to his name, got tired of drawing tails at some point hence why nobody had tails at some point.
Biologically… why is it they had no tails when born? Well, other than Gohan. But, after Gohan, the other children were fairly calm. Normal even. No strange urge to get in fights with animals or people. No desire to one up each other or compete. No, just… calm cooperation.
It didn't fit with what I knew of Saiyan's. Goku being different can be explained with head trauma. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. But, what of Vegeta? The two paired up, mostly due to fans demanding it, cough, or so I heard, cough.
But… Mm… Nappa is also different, and… uh… that… uh… fuck… Goku's brother that's never mentioned again. I forgot his damn name! This is going to bother the hell out of me now…
Well, whatever. I'll remember it later. No, Radish? No… Fuck. Whatever. Continuing on.
Something is different. Trunks was normal. I don't think he had a tail, but I don't remember. Gohan did, but uh, the other kid didn't. Gohan also had a vastly different growth rate than Goku, said to be more powerful than his father. Evidenced by him kicking cells butt when he went Saiyan 2.
He also had no desire to fight. Until Goku essentially forced him into one and healed Cell, jackass. If I have a kid that doesn't want to fight… Mm… I'd honor it, but I'd want to make sure he knew how to fight. The world is a scary place.
No, I digress. My mind is wandering way too much. Point is, Evil Saiyan's must have won. It only made sense, but… why did none of our records have that transformation in them? Only hints of golden Saiyan's nor green Saiyan's?"
Rather curious. Was it perhaps expunged from the records? Our history erased? But why? Why go so far? Hell, who would even think of going so far. Saiyan's weren't exactly forward thinkers. But there had to be a reason why Evil Saiyan's weren't known.
I mean, after their fight planet Vegeta blew up, or something. They migrated around until they found a new planet… and then what? They stuck around on the new planet for some time rebuilding… and then they met Frieza?
Assume the migration took a very long time. Enough time for culture to change ever so much. Especially since the survivors would have survived what could be classified as an extinction event. Had something changed over that time? I'd need to mull it over. But I might get an answer in time.
Really, I wasn't getting any closer to an answer at this moment and it was beginning to hurt my brain something fierce. I wasn't stupid, but I liked simple responses. Especially since dealing with politics and people is utter bullshit. Which brings me to the most important question. Where the hell is everyone!? I'm still here! STUCK!
Right, lets, uhm… Wheels on the bus go round and round!
I sang. Mostly to keep me from spiraling mentally. I put my whole heart and soul into it. To drown out those intrusive thoughts.
Hours passed before someone came to get me. Master came blazing in. Oh, thank the almighty Akira Toriyama! Praise be! I could tell it was him, only after he spoke. I can't sense a damn thing!
"Rettas! Are you okay!" He stopped short. Locked eyes with me, how I knew… I wasn't sure. "You're clearly alive…" He muttered. "Can, you, not move?" He stared and I did my best to make a noise. My throat wouldn't cooperate. At best I made a strange whistling noise from my mouth.
"I'm going to take that as a yes. We'll have a shuttle get you to Cammy soon enough." I wanted to nod. I couldn't. He also was terrible company. Especially when he realized I was naked! He backed off and I went back to singing in my head, trying to stave off the madness.
I felt myself get lifted at some point.
"Woah, she's like one of them, marble statues." Oh, wow, his voice.
"Right? It's kind of weird, but I guess the Captain's really built different, eh?"
Wow... just, wow. He really said that unironically.
"Say, think she'll notice if I cop a feel?"
THE FUCK!? You got a death wish!?
"You got a death wish or something?" He spoke my thoughts out…
Yes… do you? Because if you do, and I find out, which I will. I will find you and I will kill you.
"Oi! Don't drop her you idjit!"
The hell are you doing to my body!? I sorely wished I could open my eyes and berate these absolute morons!
"Sorry, I uhm, I felt really cold all of a sudden. Like, I was under ice."
For fucks sake. Who are these guys!? I need a professional here! I mean seriously!? Who the hell put them in charge of lifting me!?
I heard a shuttle in the distance. Oh, sweet salvation! The sound of a ramp hitting the dirt was music to my ears!
"Right, heave ho! Aight, she's real heavy now. Didn't notice before."
Excuse me!? I'm not that heavy! Have some candor, you bastard…
"Probz all that food she eats. Heard she can eat out a dozen men easy."
Are… you calling me fat? He is… isn't he? I'm all muscle! Muscle and sexiness!
"Mm… sounds bout right."
I think… I might just kill you. Like, seriously!? Why would you agree!? Do you think I'm unconscious or something?
"Shivers again?"
"Yea, really strange." Wow… I mean, they can clearly sense my killing intent. Yet they brush it off!? Who are these guys! Clearly they're too stupid to live. How is it they breathe? They forget how to? Is this a joke? A prank?
"Huh… well let's get to it."
That sounded good, boots on metal. Right, right. Maybe its not a joke. Maybe they just are shorthanded. Right. I was totally safe.
"Hey, why do you get to cop a feel?"
…excuse me? Is that a joke? I can't tell. Obviously, I don't have any feeling in my body right now!
"Hm? Ah, needed a better handhold is all. Really heavy, that she is."
You… I will remember this. I swear. Calling me fat and feeling me up!? I mean, fuck…
"Woah! The fuck!? You almost dropped her head on the fuck'in ramp there."
…help me. please. These guys are clearly not good for the job. Maybe, maybe I can use telepathy! I think, I've used it before!
"I got that weird chill myself. Nearly spooked me out of mah skin."
It didn't work. Rather, I seem to be totally helpless… I NEED AN ADULT! MASTER! SOMEONE! I'M BEING KIDNAPPED!
Ignoring my plight, they somehow managed to bring me aboard.
"Right, so, uh, we toss her in with the luggage."
I wanted to cry. This isn't how you treat your captain!
"No, put her, uh… lap?"
I'm dead. Truly dead. I didn't care anymore. Just… please let me get back home safely.
"No way, you daft? I'd lose the circulation in my legs before we get off the ground!"
"Huh, yea… ground then?"
"Sounds good. We can prop her up when we are near the ship. Nobody'll know."
I was crying now. But before long I heard the telltale signs of us moving.
Somehow… Someway… I got on the ship and was wheeled into the medical facility. They placed, or I assume they placed inside the weird chamber. Bailey spoke, but… I wasn't in the mood to listen.
"Oh, wow. Every single muscle in your body has locked up. Shriveled up like jerky. Almost like they were totally wrung dry of energy. A miracle they hadn't snapped or broken, but… really, I think its due to your absurd durability. The muscles have clearly stretched to their absolute limit. But instead of breaking they are holding on like a steel cable.
You're entire body is… well frankly its not just your muscles. You're whole body looks like a single solid piece of carved stone. Skins absolutely white. And frankly, a lesser species would have found themselves mummified, but it seems whatever the mutagen did to you hadn't caused any notable drawbacks. At least… immediately.
I'll need a bodily sample later, but as you are… I don't think I can. You probably can't tell, but your blood shouldn't even be considered blood at this point. Perhaps it was due to your training, but your heart is still pumping away. Just barely enough to both keep you conscious and alive.
Mentally though, you seem aware. A plus at least. I'd like to get an IV in you, but… I can't do so with how thick your blood is and I doubt I have any needles that can pierce your skin right now. Not without causing a serious pressurized spray from ejecting out and likely killing you instantly.
If anything, I noticed a severe lack of ki in your cells. If anything, you're totally ki-less. Not a single drop can be detected on my scanners. Whatever you did over drafted your cells to an absurd point. It's a miracle you even survived… although…"
She went quiet for a moment.
"As it is, I can't exactly state whats happening with your body. But… I imagine the mutagen screwed something up. I managed to get a hold of some of it for testing, but the others on the ground had to be fixed up. Luckily they were smart enough to shield themselves with their ki and mitigate the worst of its effects. You however, got more than just a dose of that stuff."
That was a worrying prognosis, but I wasn't too concerned.
"Now, I think… honestly the only thing I can do is let you passively absorb ki to offset the deficit."
Oh, much wow, very great. Stick me in a vacuum tube without ki and prescribe ki. Fucking fantastic is what it is!
"Right, let's see if this works."
I hear a loud hiss. She killing me now? Subjecting me to horrible torture?
Those thoughts fled the second I felt it. Like cool rain in the desert. A refreshing lemonade on a hot day. Ice cream on the couch after a rough day of work! It was everything good in the world and I couldn't help, but moan!
But I couldn't. I was stuck.
"Looks like it's working, wonderful. Ah, and luckily you have your eyes closed so I don't have to administer eye drops to keep them wet. Good, good.
Well, since you can't see what happening I'll explain. It's a rather strange phenomena, but I noticed that nearly everyone practicing your little technique passively exudes Ki, I ddi some research and found that was a little odd. What you're doing is passively creating energy in your body and utilizing it somehow.
Your ki is somehow both different and similar to those used by those called cultivators. Normally, people only generate minute amounts of ki, but as time passes and their cultivation improves, they passively generate more. Even then, it's barely enough to increase their own power, let alone awaken others. You however are a veritable engine of ki. Your ki is so, robust it not only massively empowers whoever you awaken, but makes it so they too can awaken others. Which is why you can do it so easily, when even the highest ranked masters would hesitate to do so.
Every breath you exhale holds more ki than the average person can produce in their lifetime. Aspa has also begun to produce more ki, quickly overtaking his fellow masters at a prodigious rate, as well as his appetite. Realizing this, I noted a steady increase in ambient ki on the ship. Which is improving the overall health and cultivation speed of our soldiers and staff. Naturally, the staff haven't been awakened yet, but they are gathering quite a bit.
Noticing this, I experimented a bit and noticed that those who used the gravity chamber when it was filled with ki tended to grow in power quicker. Whereas when you and Aspa train, especially with both of you having S-cells suffer from abundant of ki. If anything, you do better when deprived of ki as it puts your body under greater duress to produce ki."
Was that why it felt like the air was so dry sometimes? Fascinating, I admit, but… the hell does that affect this?
"Now, you must be thinking, great, fascinating, but how exactly are you putting ki in this chamber for my body to absorb?"
Eh, close enough.
"Simple really, ki, is heavier than air. As such, can be gathered. I harvested the ki, put it under pressure in some spare air tanks and you get ki tanks! I'm still experimenting, but with this we can create our own cultivation rooms for our people and thus improve cultivation speed of our soldiers."
Oh… huh… Wonderful.
"Now, do enjoy yourself. I have work to do."
Right, will do. It almost feels like I am under water. A soothing hot spring. Just at the right temperature. I let it fill me. My cells drank in the energy as I drifted off to sleep.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone