Chapter 143: Time Flies, The Androids Are About to Appear
But when it came to Angels, it was exactly as that fat slob Martinu from Universe 12 had said—he didn't even stand a chance against a single move.
Unknowingly, time flew by in a flash.
In the blink of an eye, another five years passed, bringing them to the time when the Androids would appear.
Taking advantage of the moment when Vados and Champa went to share delicacies with Whis, Lin Qi made a quick trip to Earth.
Earth.
Lin Qi's first stop was Kami's Lookout, and the most excited ones upon seeing him were Nappa and Raditz.
The two of them had completely adapted to life on Kami's Lookout by now.
Every day consisted of sparring, sleeping, and eating Senzu Beans. They fought several rounds a day, or else they'd feel restless and off-kilter.
The two shot forward and rushed to Lin Qi, each trying to outshine the other by bragging about their combat strength.
"Lin Qi! Thanks to your method, my combat power's easily over ten million now!" Nappa beamed, a wide grin tugging at his lips.
Raditz, not to be outdone, scoffed, "You've got some nerve saying that. I can fight you to a draw now! Your combat power used to be way higher than mine!"
"Oh?" Lin Qi responded flatly, then looked at the two and asked, "So… have you guys achieved Super Saiyan yet?"
As soon as the words left Lin Qi's mouth, both of them instantly wilted like deflated eggplants, visibly dejected.
Raditz sighed heavily. "Ugh… we just can't seem to get past that threshold!"
"Don't stay cooped up here all the time. Go down to Earth now and then, live among humans, make a few Earthling friends!" Lin Qi advised, then turned his gaze to Kami and Mr. Popo.
"Old Kami…" Lin Qi greeted casually.
This guy would probably end up fusing with Piccolo when Cell appeared—not much time left for him…
The next Earth Guardian would soon be the newbie, Dende!
With Nappa and Raditz once again struck down by Lin Qi's blunt words and quickly returning to their sparring, Lin Qi scanned the area for power levels and then made his way over to Vegeta.
As in the original storyline, Vegeta was living at Bulma's house.
When Lin Qi arrived, he happened to witness Vegeta in the nursery, holding a loudly crying infant in his arms, clearly at a loss as he tried to calm the baby down.
"You… why are you here?" Vegeta backed away several steps, nearly tossing the baby in his panic.
"Bulma's child?" Lin Qi glanced at the baby's tail in Vegeta's arms with detached curiosity.
With Lin Qi's arrival, the baby slowly calmed down and soon drifted back to sleep.
Vegeta was baffled. He stared at Lin Qi in disbelief. "You… how did you know?"
"It's not that surprising. That blue hair is exactly the same as Bulma's." Lin Qi leaned casually against the doorway.
"Come on, tell me—how did your fight with Frieza go?"
Lin Qi didn't show any interest in the baby in Vegeta's arms, but Vegeta sure did. He quickly placed the baby back in the crib.
"Let's talk outside!" Vegeta walked out first, almost as if fleeing in embarrassment.
"After Kakarot and I went to Namek, we split up," Vegeta said as he stood by the man-made lake outside, gazing up at the blue sky.
"I took out Zarbon and the rest first. Then the Ginyu Force—I killed all of them. Eventually, I confronted Frieza."
"Huh… the Ginyu Force arrived at the same time?" Lin Qi's lip twitched slightly. Did that random beating he gave Frieza end up making him more cautious?
Vegeta didn't notice Lin Qi zoning out and kept talking. "Yeah, they arrived together."
"Kakarot brought the Namekians from Earth with him. We ran into some trouble when it came to taking out Frieza…"
"Trouble? Don't tell me you ran into his brother, Cooler?" Lin Qi raised an eyebrow.
That didn't make sense. If they had run into Cooler, how would Goku and Vegeta have survived?
"Frieza has a brother?" Vegeta looked stunned. "We didn't see him!"
"Then what was the trouble?" Lin Qi didn't speculate further and simply asked.
Vegeta didn't respond at first. He clenched his fists in frustration before saying, "Frieza, that bastard, when he realized he couldn't beat us, he targeted Namek…"
Lin Qi nodded. That was pretty typical—members of the Frost Demon race had that twisted little habit. If they couldn't win, they'd just destroy the planet along with their enemies.
"After we killed Frieza, with the planet about to explode, we loaded all the Namekians onto Frieza's ship…"
"Wait, Frieza's ship was still usable? What about the Namekian Dragon Balls? Didn't you use them?" Lin Qi asked, confused. That didn't match the original plot.
"You sent us there, and Frieza arrived later!" Vegeta narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Lin Qi kept interrupting like he already knew everything that had happened on Namek. Vegeta hesitated, then asked cautiously, "Did you already know Frieza would go to Namek?"
"Yeah… I had my own intel," Lin Qi admitted without hesitation. "With the Dragon Balls on Namek, it'd be strange if Frieza didn't go."
"Because they were worried Namek might face danger again, after transferring to Earth, the Namekians used their Dragon Balls to summon the dragon…"
"To transfer to a new planet? That's already two wishes!" Lin Qi stroked his chin. One to request a new planet, and another to transfer the Namekians there.
"Hmph…" Vegeta snorted, looking displeased. "Other than Frieza's death, I feel like everything we did was a waste of time…"
"The Dragon Balls on Namek can't even grant immortality. The most they can do is extend life for ten thousand years…"
"So you're waiting for me to come back and give you an explanation?" Lin Qi didn't care about Vegeta's pride. "Ten thousand years is already as long-lived as a turtle. What more do you want?"
"That's not the only reason…" Vegeta muttered, pursing his lips with an awkward expression.
What was he supposed to tell Lin Qi? That he had nowhere else to go besides Earth?
And that damned woman kept getting drunk and taking it out on him?
Lin Qi could tell what Vegeta was thinking and said flatly, "Honestly, it's not bad. You've got a wife and kid here on Earth. Tsk tsk… you owe me a red envelope!"
"Like you need money," Vegeta shot him a look and said seriously, "You didn't show up just to talk about this, did you?"
"Well… seeing your kid confirmed it for me. The Androids should be showing up around this time, right?" Lin Qi crossed his arms and shifted to a more comfortable position.
Vegeta smirked, clearly expecting that answer. "So you really do know a lot…"
"Of course. I even know you're a permanent number two," Lin Qi teased. "Your current combat power is enough to handle the Androids without much issue."
"Other than Dr. Gero turning himself into Android 20 and Number 19, those are just appetizers. The real threats are Androids 17 and 18!"
"That many?" Vegeta frowned. Lin Qi knew even more than that mysterious boy.