Chapter 7 — Planet Namek
After subduing the galactic pirate fleet, Tachibana Kyūjō took command of their massive warship and departed from Planet Arant—his new destination set clearly before him: Planet Namek.
— — —
When he examined the star map aboard the ship, Planet Namek was indeed listed there.
However, what slightly disappointed Kyūjō was that Earth was still nowhere to be found.
Even so, he managed to locate several star systems that bore an uncanny resemblance to the solar system.
Perhaps, he thought, Earth might be hiding in one of them.
"No wonder Lux chose to self-destruct," Kyūjō muttered to himself. "He must've planned to blow up Planet Arant along with this ship from the start. Good thing my power had already increased enough to stop him."
He leaned back against the command chair, gazing into the vast expanse of starlight reflected through the panoramic viewport.
As for finding Earth—Kyūjō was no longer in a hurry.
After all, Namek was said to hold the knowledge of many worlds. There, he could learn the planet's coordinates, gather the Dragon Balls, and use his wish to finally trace the path to Earth.
Thus, his course was set. His first stop: Planet Namek.
— — —
Interstellar travel was, without question, a long and monotonous affair.
The ship he now commanded was a battle-class dreadnought, built purely for warfare.
Heavily armed and laden with enough munitions to level continents, it was a terrifying weapon of mass destruction.
Its main cannon—the Star-Destroyer Energy Cannon—was said to possess enough power to annihilate an entire planet in a single shot.
(Of course, Kyūjō had sliced off its barrel with one finger the previous day. The ship's engineers were currently repairing it, estimating it would take a full month to restore.)
Beyond that, the vessel housed dozens of secondary turrets—each packing explosive force comparable to a nuclear warhead.
If not for the Saiyans' unique ability to transform into Great Apes, this pirate crew could easily have eradicated the entire Saiyan force stationed on Arant using this single warship.
Lux had spent decades amassing wealth to purchase this juggernaut.
And now, it belonged to Kyūjō.
The irony didn't escape him. But regrets were meaningless in the vacuum of space.
Still, there was one thing Kyūjō lamented: the ship's enormous weapons systems took up too much internal space, compromising its mobility. Its acceleration was slower than the smaller single-pilot assault craft used by Frieza's Army.
At this rate, the journey from Planet Arant to Planet Namek would take nearly an entire year.
— — —
Half a month later, the devastating news from Planet Arant finally reached Planet Vegeta.
Reports confirmed over twenty Saiyan warriors dead—including one High-Class Warrior who had even transformed into a Great Ape, yet still perished in battle.
The only survivor was Alec, the Mid-Class Warrior who had fled first and successfully returned to Vegeta.
Among the casualties listed was the name No. 9527—the brilliant Mid-Class Warrior also known as Tachibana Kyūjō.
By all logic, a defeat of this scale should have drawn the full attention of Saiyan leadership.
At the very least, King Vegeta himself should have launched an investigation or deployed reinforcements to retaliate.
But instead… something utterly absurd happened.
The king issued a new command to all Saiyan combat units across the planet:
Find the most comfortable pillow in the entire universe.
Yes. A pillow.
The proud warrior race, feared throughout the stars as galactic conquerors, was now tearing through worlds and razing civilizations—
for a pillow.
Driven by royal decree, the Saiyans once again rampaged across the galaxy, drowning countless planets in fire and blood, leaving cosmic devastation in their wake… all in search of the "softest pillow imaginable."
Had King Vegeta finally lost his mind?
To mobilize the might of the Saiyan Empire, to slaughter entire star systems—just to find something to rest his head on—was insanity even Frieza himself had never stooped to.
And yet, the universe was trembling once again.
Not from the birth of a Super Saiyan—
but from the madness of a king chasing after a pillow softer than the clouds.
Wouldn't King Vegeta be afraid that Frieza might be angered by such outrageous behavior?
In truth… Frieza didn't dare to complain at all.
He even went so far as to dispatch the Ginyu Force to assist the Saiyans with their ridiculous mission.
Because the "pillow" in question—wasn't for King Vegeta.
It was for one particular being.
A name that struck fear even into gods themselves—
Beerus.
And Beerus was no ordinary entity. He was the God of Destruction of Universe 7.
In the Dragon Ball cosmos, every universe is governed by two supreme deities who maintain the balance of creation and annihilation: the Supreme Kai and the God of Destruction.
(With the Angels standing even higher than both.)
The Supreme Kai creates.
The God of Destruction destroys.
Together, they ensure the universe's population and planetary systems remain in equilibrium. If too much life accumulates, imbalance spreads, and the universe itself begins to decay.
When the life cycle of a universe reaches its end, everything—including both the Supreme Kai and the God of Destruction—ceases to exist.
Thus, Beerus's divine duty was simple:
Erase whatever he deemed "excess."
Who decided what counted as "excess"?
Naturally, Beerus himself.
The Angels served as overseers—watching over each God of Destruction, guiding them, and ensuring that their power did not spiral out of control.
As for Frieza, the so-called "Emperor of the Universe"—
he was little more than Beerus's number-one subcontractor.
Every time Frieza annihilated a planet, Beerus had one less task to worry about. Over time, a silent agreement formed between the two—a cosmic business arrangement of destruction.
Frieza was well aware of Beerus's overwhelming might. His father, King Cold, had warned him before retiring:
> "There are two beings in this universe that our family must never offend, no matter what happens.
One is Beerus, the God of Destruction.
The other… is Majin Buu."
Unfortunately, King Vegeta had no such wise parent to warn him.
He was a frog in a well—ignorant of how vast the heavens truly were.
He believed Frieza was merely a bit stronger than himself, and that Beerus was only slightly stronger than Frieza.
But that "slight" difference…
was an unbridgeable chasm—wide enough to swallow entire galaxies.
And in his arrogance, King Vegeta made the gravest mistake of his life.
He decided to keep the softest pillow in the universe for himself—and offered Beerus the second most comfortable one instead.
A God of Destruction… fooled by a mortal?
Beerus's fury was unimaginable.
Within the royal palace of Planet Vegeta, he pinned the king beneath his foot, humiliating him in front of the young Prince Vegeta, who could only watch in terrified silence.
After thoroughly disgracing the Saiyan monarch, Beerus turned and departed with his angelic attendant, Whis, leaving nothing but a trembling silence behind.
That day would later be remembered as the spark that sealed the Saiyan race's fate.
While Frieza had long planned to destroy Planet Vegeta, the final order—the command that set the event in motion—
had come from Beerus himself.
This truth was revealed much later by Beerus to Vegeta during the "Universal Survival Saga."
— — —
Because of the chaos and humiliation that followed, the Saiyan elite grew careless.
A full year passed before they remembered the disastrous defeat their forces had suffered on Planet Arant.
Eager to reclaim their lost honor—or perhaps simply to vent their festering frustration—King Vegeta personally led over twenty Saiyan warriors to Planet Arant.
But when they arrived…
The planet was deserted.
Not a single pirate remained.
The surface was pristine—no sign of battle, no destruction, no life.
Surveying the silent landscape, King Vegeta's chest swelled with pride.
"Hmph. It seems those space pirates fled at the mere rumor of Saiyan might."
In truth, he had completely misunderstood the situation—
but his capacity for self-deception was nothing short of legendary.
Even among kings, Vegeta was a master of the "A.Q. mindset"—Absolute Confidence in Any Situation.
— — —
Meanwhile, after a year-long voyage, Tachibana Kyūjō finally arrived on Planet Namek.
The journey had been monotonous, the vast emptiness of space stretching endlessly around him.
The ship lacked a gravity chamber for high-intensity training, but Kyūjō refused to let that stop his growth.
Every day, he sparred with the surviving pirates aboard his ship—using only a fraction of his strength to keep the fights balanced.
Over time, the constant battles transformed his crew.
The average combat power of the pirates rose from 500 to over 1,000, and one particularly gifted member reached a staggering 5,600—more than ten times his original strength!
Even Kyūjō was surprised by their progress.
As for himself, his base combat power had climbed from 11,000 to 68,000 in just one year—a sixfold increase.
But he wasn't rushing anything.
He was only four years old.
Even for Saiyans—who matured faster than most species—there were natural limits to how far a child's body could develop.
For now, this power was more than enough.
And if he ever faced an opponent too strong to handle…
he still had his Great Ape transformation.
At that point, his combat power would multiply tenfold—reaching 680,000.
In the early Dragon Ball era, there was virtually no being in existence who could rival that.
— — —
Planet Namek lay on the far edges of the galaxy.
It was over ten times larger than Earth, its skies illuminated by three small suns orbiting in tandem—leaving it in perpetual daylight.
The world was covered in islands and wide plains, dotted with towering mushroom-like trees and luminous ponds.
Its beauty was tranquil yet alien.
The Namekians who inhabited it were a gentle race—low in birthrate, but blessed with long lifespans. They lived peacefully in small villages of roughly a hundred inhabitants each.
Their homes were round, low structures with smooth, shell-like roofs and circular windows—simple, organic, and serene.
Every village was guided by an elder, whose wisdom settled disputes and maintained harmony.
There was no central government, no standing army. Despite their advanced technology, the Namekians shunned greed and technological excess.
They valued spirit over matter.
And at the heart of their culture… were the Dragon Balls—
crafted by the Grand Elder himself and entrusted to seven village elders across the planet.
Each orb was guarded with devotion, and to earn one, a traveler had to prove either their wisdom, strength, or pure sincerity.
Only those acknowledged by all seven elders were permitted to gather the Dragon Balls and summon the Eternal Dragon.
— — —
When Kyūjō's ship finally entered Namek's atmosphere, a subtle tremor rippled through the planet.
Far away, within the Grand Elder's palace, the ancient Namekian who was teaching a group of children suddenly froze mid-sentence.
His spirit trembled violently as visions overwhelmed his mind—glimpses of a future far beyond mortal comprehension.
He saw a golden-haired man standing tall upon the soil of Namek, his arms folded calmly at his chest.
Above him, a torrent of destructive energy poured down from the heavens—
yet the man raised a single hand and dispelled it with ease, scattering the attack into the stars.
Then, with one finger, he pointed to the sky.
An entity wreathed in dark, malevolent energy disintegrated instantly before him.
The vision shifted.
Now the same man floated in the endless void of space, his hair turned pure white, his entire body radiating divine silver light.
He threw a single punch—
and an entire galaxy vanished into nothingness.
The Elder's consciousness shattered. His link to the future was severed.
In the physical world, both of his eyes exploded into blood and shadow, leaving only two gaping voids where they once were.
The young Namekians screamed in terror.
Guards rushed in, panic flooding the chamber.
"Elder! What happened?!"
"Quick—fetch Dende! The Elder is injured!"
But amid the chaos, the Grand Elder lifted a trembling hand, motioning for silence.
His voice was weak, but calm.
"I am fine… Do not panic. My eyes are lost because I witnessed what should never be seen. Even Dende's healing cannot restore them."
He paused, his tone growing solemn.
"Nail… pay no mind to me. Near Elder Naka's village, a guest has just arrived. The most distinguished guest ever to set foot on this planet."
"Go to him. Invite him here with respect. If he refuses… leave him be."
Then, with the last of his strength, the Elder pressed a bloodstained hand to Nail's forehead.
In that instant, an image filled Nail's mind—
the figure of a man, calm yet terrifying, cloaked in silver light.
The future form of Tachibana Kyūjō.
— — —
After Nail departed, the blind Elder sat in silence, his bloodied face tilted toward the distant sky.
He could sense it clearly—
that extraordinary presence now standing upon Namek's soil.
Though his power was still far from what the vision had shown, the Elder understood one absolute truth:
From this moment onward, the Namekian people must never become enemies of that man.
No matter what happens—
they must stand by his side.
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