Just as the others had no time to react, Taro moved his thoughts, and with the force of his telekinesis, he clad everyone present in space suits with an unquestionable will.
"This..." The king and the others were utterly bewildered.
"Let's go." With a wave of Taro's hand, everyone in the room vanished from the office.
In the next instant, several figures appeared high above Earth. The king and a dozen others, now in their bulky space suits, looked down at the miniature cities below, their faces filled with shock.
"What just happened?"
"How did we end up in the sky?"
Of course, Taro and Tam didn't need such protective suits. Their bodies were more than capable of surviving in the vacuum of space, not to mention they were still technically within Earth's atmosphere.
Taro's voice resonated in the minds of the king and his entourage: "I don't want you thinking this is just an illusion, so we'll take things slowly..."
Whoosh— they vanished from the high-altitude location.
The next moment, they appeared in outer space, beyond Earth's atmosphere.
Beneath their feet was an impossibly beautiful blue planet.
"It's truly breathtaking..." Tam, supported by Taro's telekinesis, silently admired the dreamlike view of the planet below. In space, everything was silent—no air, no sound, just an eerie stillness.
"You... you..." The king and his officials finally realized something was off. While they were still struggling to process the sudden teleportation, what shocked them even more was that Taro and Tam stood exposed to the vacuum of space, without any protective measures at all.
Whoosh.
The group vanished from Earth's orbit once more.
In the next second, they appeared on the Moon's surface.
A barren world of silver craters stretched before them. The king and his entourage stared in disbelief. Was this truly the Moon? Had they really arrived here in the blink of an eye? Their minds refused to believe it, but when they looked down, the unmistakable blue Earth was right there. And when they looked up, the sun burned brightly in the vastness of space.
Whoosh.
They disappeared from the Moon's surface again.
The next moment, they appeared near the Sun.
A massive, burning fireball roared in the cold void of space, an eternal inferno in the darkness.
The king and his men felt as if they had stepped into a dream.
Yet, the scorching heat was all too real. Looking at the gigantic inferno that seemed to fill the universe itself, they could feel the intense radiation pressing against them, as if they were being roasted alive. A suffocating panic surged through them.
Having been mentally influenced by Taro before, the king initially thought this was just another illusion. But then—
The force controlling them disappeared.
"AAAAHHHHH!!"
"HELP!!"
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!!"
The dozen or so officials in their space suits were instantly pulled toward the Sun by its overwhelming gravity. In the vacuum of space, their acceleration increased at an alarming rate, faster and faster, until they became nothing more than tiny black specks against the Sun's colossal, fiery backdrop—on the verge of being swallowed by its flames.
"Dad, isn't this a bit too much?" Tam silently communicated to Taro. Though no sound was produced, he knew Taro could still "hear" him. He himself had no power; he was only resisting the Sun's pull thanks to Taro's telekinetic support.
"If I don't give them a real scare, they'll just think this is all a dream." Taro replied nonchalantly. His lips moved, but no sound came out—the words echoed in Tam's mind instead.
Satisfied that they had been frightened enough, Taro "blinked" from existence, vanishing and then reappearing in the same spot. When he returned, the dozen government officials were already on the verge of collapse, paralyzed by sheer terror.
The king, shaken to his core, no longer dared to believe this was just some illusion or hallucination. The relentless alarms inside their space suits, triggered by their proximity to the Sun, had sounded like the grim reaper himself calling for their souls.
"What… what exactly do you want?" One of the men struggled to move, his flailing limbs looking comically awkward in zero gravity. Facing Taro, he finally voiced the question that was on everyone's mind, his tone more reverent than ever.
"What I want is beyond your understanding, and I don't need you to understand." Taro's nearly indifferent voice echoed in their minds. "The only reason people like you still exist is because I haven't bothered to change the social structure of Earth… but if you continue to stand in my way, I won't mind making such 'obstacles' disappear."
Well said! Tam silently listened, nodding in approval. He had always felt that his old man possessed incredible power, but lacked the "human touch". Always calm and indifferent, desiring nothing, unbothered by anything—wasn't that a bit boring?
"T-This…" They didn't quite grasp what Taro was implying.
Taro gazed toward the sun, his voice deep and profound. "This universe is vast… Do you really think Earth is the only planet with life? That's impossible. Life in the universe has existed for billions of years… Do you think Earth is the only place where technology has developed? No, there are countless civilizations in the Milky Way alone that have mastered space travel… Do you think Earth is the only place where martial arts exist? No, on certain planets beyond Earth… there exist beings who, through sheer individual strength, could destroy your entire world."
"Destroy Earth? Through individual strength?!"
Someone dared to interrupt Taro's words. Tam frowned and glanced at him. The man flinched under the stare, instinctively shutting his mouth, but after an awkward pause, he couldn't help but force a laugh and mutter, "You mean… ki? Heh, that… heh, that doesn't seem possible, does it?"
Tam glanced at the others. Their expressions, visible through their helmet visors, were more or less the same—skeptical and disbelieving.
"Not… possible…?"
Taro's quiet sigh reverberated inside their helmets. Then, in an instant, the sun before them vanished. The next moment, another "sun" appeared in its place. But as they glanced around, scanning their surroundings, they noticed something terrifying—there were no planets orbiting this star.
This… wasn't the solar system.
In the blink of an eye, they had left the solar system?!
Who exactly was this so-called Muten Roshi?
Or rather… was he even human?
Could a human truly survive in the vacuum of space using just their physical body?
Though their minds were flooded with countless questions, the king and the others dared not utter a single unnecessary word. If they displeased Taro and his son, it wouldn't even take an act of violence to end them. The two of them could simply abandon them here in space, leaving them to die alone in the void.
"Watch closely. This star you see before you is roughly three hundred light-years from the solar system… There is almost no life in this region, so… I will show you the thing you call 'impossible.'"
Taro's voice rang out in their minds, each word making their hearts sink further.
What was this Muten Roshi about to do?!