WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Dragon Ball Super Chapter #67, by Akira Toriyama, Toyotarou, Caleb Cook and Brandon Bovia, available now in English from Viz Media.
Thanks to a powerboost from Uub, Goku finally defeated Moro in Dragon Ball Super Chapter 66, unlocking a new power level in the process. However, the Dragon Ball franchise is one that revolves around combat and ever-increasing stakes, with each new villain getting replaced by someone even more powerful than before. It's no surprise then that Dragon Ball Super Chapter 67 uses its final pages to tease just who Goku is going to find himself up against -- or fighting beside -- next.
During Goku's battle with Moro, the Galactic Patrol successfully rounded up the various escaped prisoners the energy-absorbing villain set free with help from the Namekian Dragon Balls. However, as the Galactic Patrol investigates the battle site more, it's unable to find the body of Seven-Three, the powerful villain capable of copying the abilities of others by touching the back of their necks.
As Dragon Ball Super soon reveals, Seven-Three's head was stolen by an alien named Master Goichi. Using Seven-Three's head, Goichi's scientists were able to copy Seven-Three's significant abilities to various other versions of him, as he's an artificial being. Goichi remarks, "We never expected OG73-i to be powered up to this extent. A pleasant payoff for our efforts." Soon, Goichi makes clear his intent to "rule this universe" with help from an army of powered up Seven-Threes, which he calls the OG Soldiers.
However, that's not how things go for Goichi. Soon, a being named Granolah and his AI companion, Oatmeel, approach and board the villain's ship. Granolah then proceeds to lay waste to the crew using his blaster. In response, Goichi activates his OG Soldiers. However, when the OG Soldiers attack Granolah, the mysterious alien uses a ki blast to shatter their forehead gems, thus knocking them out or killing them. After dispatching most of the OG Soldiers, Granolah finally finds his target: OG73-i, the same version of Seven-Three that fought alongside Moro and was used to power-up the rest of Goichi's army.
Just why Granolah wants Seven-Three isn't totally clear, and it's entirely possible his intent is villainous. However, the fact he's fighting Goichi -- who is clearly signalled as a villain -- indicates that Granolah might be on the side of good. Still, it's not at all clear why Granolah might want Seven-Three, and, for its part, the title of the new arc, "Granolah the Survivor Saga," doesn't provide much to go on in this regard.
That being said, Granolah proved himself immensely powerful in just a few short pages. While Seven-Three was more than a match for pretty much every Z-Fighter except for Goku and Vegeta, Granolah dispatched an entire army with the same powers and abilities. So if Granolah does end up being a villain, Goku and Vegeta might find him a worthy opponent. However, if Granolah needs Seven-Three to stop some other threat, whatever he's facing must be magnitudes stronger than the OG Soldiers, and that could also prove a major challenge for the Z-Fighters going forward.
Dragon Ball Super Chapter 68 releases Jan. 20
