"What… what's going on?"
Macki was in shock, but it took her only a breath to recover and launch a counterattack.
If I take action now, there's a slight chance of victory. Hesitation will only cost me my life.
"Damn it, this guy was just pretending to be dead."
Seeing her second brother's fate, Macki was filled with a mix of shock and anger. Ki rays erupted from her fingertips as she rushed toward Granolah with all the speed she could muster.
Granolah, struggling to keep his eyes open, saw Macki charging at him. On instinct, he swung his right fist.
Puff.
His fist penetrated Macki's chest, but at the same time, her Ki rays struck his own chest. The sensation, however, was off—she couldn't feel anything.
Macki looked down, her pupils dilating in disbelief. Her head tilted to the side as life left her body.
Granolah tightened his grip, and the heart in his hand exploded, blood splattering everywhere. With a swift motion, he jerked his arm back.
Without his support, Macki's body slumped to the ground, trembling as if to show how elastic her lifeless form still was.
Granolah shook off the bloodstains from his hand, just as shocked as Macki had been. He hadn't been pretending to be dead earlier; he had truly died. His body had been pierced by Gas's spear, his heart shattered—he shouldn't have survived.
But… I'm alive.
Not only that, but his strength had increased several times over.
Fully awake now, Granolah touched the scabbed wound on his chest, marveling at his rapid recovery.
Could it be the Dragon Ball? Granolah thought.
His sudden resurrection, the enhanced self-healing, the surge in strength—all of it had occurred after he swallowed the one-star Dragon Ball.
He was almost certain that his physical changes were related to the Dragon Balls.
With this realization, Granolah felt fully alert. He clenched his fists, hearing the sound of crackling bones, and tore off the tattered remnants of his upper clothing.
"Grandpa!" Granolah looked over at Monaito, unconscious in the corner. He kicked Macki's body aside and quickly made his way over.
"Grandpa, wake up, wake up." He gently rested Monaito's head on his lap, trying to rouse him.
After a few attempts, Monaito finally opened his eyes, seeing Granolah's face above him.
He quickly sat up, his movements so agile that Granolah briefly wondered if his grandfather had regained his youthful vigor.
"G… Granolah, you… you're not dead?" Monaito asked in astonishment.
After all, he had seen Granolah's chest get pierced and watched him lie lifeless in a pool of his own blood.
"No, Grandpa, I'm not dead," Granolah replied, a rare smile on his face.
It was a relief beyond words that his grandfather was still alive. Despite all the twists and turns, the outcome was good.
The two of them shared a moment of happiness, grateful that the other was still alive.
As he accepted the fact that Granolah was not dead, Monaito looked around and asked, "Where are the Heeter brothers?"
Before Granolah could respond, Monaito's gaze landed on the headless body of Oil and the lifeless form of Macki.
"Dead… they're dead?"
Granolah retrieved the glasses-shaped robot, Oatmeel, and placed it back over his left eye. "Yes, when I woke up, Elec and Gas were gone. Only Macki and Oil were left… so I killed them both."
"Well done," Monaito said, uncharacteristically approving. In the past, he had been firmly against violence, but now he understood that some people couldn't be reasoned with. Sometimes, fighting violence with violence was the only way to solve a problem.
Granolah then asked Oatmeel, "Oatmeel, do you know where Elec and Gas have gone?"
Oatmeel responded that it didn't know, as it had been powered down during the events. However, it offered its own speculation: "Since Gas has become the strongest in the universe, Elec's first priority would be to eliminate any powerful warriors or forces that could threaten them. My guess is that they've either returned to the Heeter family base or are on their way to deal with other strong warriors."
Granolah nodded, agreeing with Oatmeel's reasoning. "Yes, that's very likely. As for Macki and Oil staying behind, it was probably to continue gathering the Dragon Balls for a second wish."
"That makes sense…"
At that moment, Monaito noticed something unusual. He stared at Granolah's forehead, his eyes widening in shock. "Granolah, why is there a Dragon Ball pattern on your forehead? What's going on?"
Monaito, who was getting on in years, hadn't seen the pattern before, as his vision wasn't as sharp as it once was. Now that he was more alert, he could clearly see the one-star Dragon Ball pattern etched on Granolah's forehead.
Granolah was momentarily stunned, unaware of the mark himself. But as he considered it, he realized it must be connected to the fact that he had swallowed the Dragon Ball.
"Grandpa, to tell you the truth, I swallowed a Dragon Ball earlier. After that, I suddenly revived from a severe injury, and this pattern appeared on my forehead. It must be related," Granolah explained.
"Uh… is that so? This is the first time I've seen anything like this," Monaito responded, surprised. After all, no one had ever swallowed a Dragon Ball before. Granolah was the first. He hadn't expected such a strange phenomenon to occur, and he couldn't guess what it meant. It only reinforced how incredible the Dragon Balls were.
Granolah continued, "But now, there's another question. If we find the second Dragon Ball, can we still make a wish? Will anything strange happen?"
Monaito frowned. "I don't know…"
"Granolah, do you feel any discomfort in your body now? I mean, any side effects after swallowing the Dragon Ball?"
Granolah shook his head. "No, I don't feel any discomfort at all. In fact, I feel stronger, and my body has an incredible self-healing ability. It's amazing… I'm even wondering what might happen if I swallow the second Dragon Ball as well."
"Don't be too reckless. Let's observe for a while. I'll do some research. Besides, the second Dragon Ball flew away after the wish was made, so it won't be easy to find," Monaito cautioned.
"Yeah, I understand." Granolah nodded.
Next, Granolah walked over to Macki's body and retrieved a communicator from her belongings. After examining it, he pocketed the device, then raised his hand and fired a Ki blast, reducing her body to ashes.
He then did the same to Oil's headless corpse, obliterating it with a Ki blast.
Now, only Gas and Elec remained of the Heeter Family.
Meanwhile, at the Heeter family base, Elec and Gas were still discussing their plans, completely unaware of what had transpired.
(TN: The idea of eating the Dragon Ball may be a reference to the Dragon Ball GT Shadow Dragon Saga, where Syn Shenron absorbed the other Dragon Balls into his body to become Omega Shenron. But this is just my theory…)
=========================
[Fanfic is in Hiatus on P@treon and already reach the latest Raw Chapter, the Last Chapter is chapter 260 and you can read up to it and many more on p@treon.com/goldengaruda]
=========================