"Oh? That so?" Vegeta was a little surprised. He really hadn't expected Planet Sadala to actually exist.
"I'll investigate Planet Sadala properly," Raditz added again.
"Are you talking to your partner right now?"
A young boy's voice suddenly sounded right next to Raditz.
Vegeta's eyebrow twitched. He pressed the scouter closer to his ear to listen.
"If your partner is as vicious as you are, I don't mind throwing him into a top-security prison too," Cabba snorted. "We Saiyans will never allow you to run wild in space."
Vegeta: "…"
Nappa: "…"
"Uh, Prince Vegeta… this kid seriously claims he's a Saiyan," Nappa muttered, completely lost for words.
"Who knows?" Vegeta gave a disdainful little smirk. "Maybe my great-grandfather wasn't thorough enough and a few strays slipped through."
He had no idea they were already in a different universe.
And in this universe, the Saiyans really did live on a planet called Sadala.
Raditz fell quiet again.
"Forget what's happening on Sadala for now. Let's teach the guys in front of us a lesson first," Vegeta said coldly. "Once they see how far above them we are, that Kakarot won't be able to keep hiding."
He turned to Nappa with a faint grin. "Nappa, how many Saibamen seeds do we have left? Six, right?"
"Yes, Prince Vegeta. Just six," Nappa nodded.
"Saibamen? What's that supposed to be?" Piccolo and the others frowned. They all had a bad feeling.
Nappa pulled out a small vial without hurry.
The vial was made of clear material, with a divider in the middle, splitting it into two sections.
The upper half held something that looked like seeds; the lower half sloshed with nutrient solution.
"The soil here's perfect for growing Saibamen," Nappa said. He jabbed six holes into the ground with his finger, then dropped a seed into each one.
"Pop, pop, pop."
He poured the nutrient fluid over them.
All they could do now was wait.
"What is he doing?" Krillin had no idea what he was looking at.
The next moment, green creatures with big bulbous heads—like walking cabbages—broke through the soil one after another.
The monsters let out shrill, cackling laughs.
"So gross…" Bulma glanced toward Ken's projection. Her brows pinched tight together.
"Don't be like that, Bulma. They're actually kind of cute," Ken said with a small smile.
Bulma: "???"
"You call that cute?" Bulma honestly didn't know what to say to him.
"Look at their heads. Don't they look a lot like Hit's?" Ken said, and projected Hit's portrait beside them.
Bulma looked at Hit, then at the Saibamen, still a little lost. Her brows lifted as she put her hands on her hips. "What part is supposed to look alike?"
"This is the part where you try to spot similarities," Ken said, smiling mysteriously.
Bulma really had no idea what he was trying to do.
Still, after staring for a bit, she had to admit: those green little freaks really did resemble that guy called Hit in a few small ways.
The problem was… why did you make me look this closely in the first place?
Bulma's expression was pure question marks.
"Amarella, you look too. Don't just sleep," Ken said, patting her tiny shoulder to wake her inside his body.
Amarella yawned, turned her head toward him, and blinked her big eyes in a daze. "Look at what?"
"Take a proper look. Don't the Saibamen and Hit look a bit alike?" Ken asked.
"Now that you mention it… they kind of do," Amarella nodded.
"See?" Ken chuckled.
"No, I mean… did you seriously wake me up just to tell me that?" Amarella was half amused, half helpless. "You know how weak I am right now."
"Amarella, that's where you're being unfair," Ken said, sounding very justified. "For you, I even shrank down to your size to keep you company. Who else gets that level of treatment?"
"Yeah, yeah, but I want to sleep," Amarella mumbled. She yawned again, stepped forward, wrapped her arms around him, and leaned her head against his shoulder.
Ken: "…"
"Let me nap a little," she said in a soft, sleepy voice.
Ken went quiet.
"Hey, Ken, what's with you?" Bulma waved a hand in front of his face. "Talking to that little girl inside your body again?"
"Yeah," Ken nodded.
"It's still so weird hearing you say there's a little girl living in your body…" Bulma shook her head. "The world really is full of strange things."
"She was on the table eating last time. You didn't see?" Ken asked.
"Nope," Bulma said.
When he thought about it, it was perfectly normal no one had noticed Amarella.
She was only about the size of a thumb. If you didn't look closely, you'd never spot her.
"Bulma, get some more food ready. I want to invite a friend over to eat," Ken suggested.
"All right," Bulma said without objection, and sent the chef robots back to work.
Ken pointed his staff into the air and gave it a light wave.
"Pop."
A new image appeared above the staff.
"Merus, you still watching from over there?" Ken asked with a grin.
"Yeah…" Merus nodded, a little speechless.
Just now, he'd checked Goku's position.
One look had been enough to make his heart sink.
It would be hours before Goku made it back.
So why did I even come this early?
Merus really wanted to fly back, but just getting home would take hours.
There was no direct way to jump straight from here back to Universe 7.
From Earth in Universe 6 to Galactic Patrol Headquarters, then from Headquarters back to Earth in Universe 6…
By the time he finished that round trip, it would be about when Goku arrived anyway.
Pointless.
Honestly, Merus just wanted to head over to Ken's place and eat with him instead.
That had to be better than just waiting around.
The problem was, he'd just said he wasn't going. Turning around and suddenly asking to come over felt a bit embarrassing.
Right while he was hesitating, Ken called.
"By my estimate, Goku's at least three hours out," Ken said, thinking aloud. "No point suffering over there."
"Ken, are you inviting me over to eat?" Merus's face brightened immediately.
"Well, I am your best friend. Hurry up and come," Ken said with an easy smile.
"Thanks, Ken!" Merus said, overjoyed. He took off and shot into the sky.
In a matter of seconds, he left the battlefield and appeared in Bulma's home.
"Pop."
With a small movement, Merus swapped his Galactic Patrol uniform for his full angel attire.
A staff appeared in his hand at the same time.
"Merus, come sit," Ken said, waving him over.
Merus drifted down to land beside Ken and thanked him again.
"No need to be so formal with me," Ken smiled.
"Where are Buu and Broly?" Merus noticed they weren't around.
"They're probably at Satan's place playing," Ken said.
"Ken… do you think someday, somehow, those two will both end up as Satan's Gods of Destruction?" Merus asked, a little worried.
Ken: "…"
"Merus, you're an angel. Are you really getting jealous of a human right now?" Ken laughed.
"I'm just asking. I know it's basically impossible," Merus said, scratching his head with an awkward chuckle.
"If you said that to your dad, he'd beat you half to death," Ken said, taking a sip of his drink.
"I– I'm only talking with you," Merus panicked. "Of course I know it's not going to happen. You can't tell the Grand Priest about this."
"Relax. Why would I bring that up?" Ken said, patting him on the shoulder.
Merus finally let out a tiny sigh of relief.
Just then, a robot rolled over with plate after plate of food and set them down in front of Merus.
"Thanks, thank you," Merus said quickly, ready to dig in.
"So, who did you pick as your new God of Destruction?" Ken suddenly asked. "Can you tell me yet?"
The hand holding Merus's chopsticks trembled. Now he didn't know whether to eat or not.
He knew perfectly well: Ken was asking the question because he wanted a straight answer.
If he didn't talk… Ken probably wouldn't let him eat.
Shameless.
And I still call you my best friend.
"If I'm your best friend, do you really need to keep your new God of Destruction a secret from me?" Ken asked him with a pleasant smile.
Merus was completely stuck.
Wait… something feels off here.
Did he just read my mind?
"Can you… actually tell what I'm thinking?" Merus stared at Ken in surprise.
"I don't have to. Your face already gives it away," Ken said with a chuckle.
Merus blinked, summoned a mirror, and checked his reflection.
There was nothing written on his face, obviously.
"If you're not going to say it, I'll just guess," Ken said, pretending to think deeply.
"Go ahead," Merus said, nodding.
"A Saiyan from Universe 6—Kale?" Ken said.
Merus: "…"
He was completely stunned.
You got it that fast?
It was that easy?
"So it really is Kale," Ken said, sounding mildly impressed.
"H-How did you figure that out?" Merus didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"It wasn't hard. You saw how easily Broly grew once I started training him. So in Universe 6, you went looking for another Legendary Super Saiyan. If you raise her the way I raised Broly, she should grow just as well, right?" Ken said with a grin. "I've noticed for a while now—you've had your eye on my Broly for quite some time."
Merus wanted to cry.
You're the one who had your eye on my Buu…
How did this turn into me coveting your Broly?
Not that I don't… kind of want your Broly, actually.
"Give it up, Merus. That little girl can't compare to Broly," Ken said kindly.
"No way, I'm not giving up," Merus forced out a dry smile. "If you can train Broly that strong, then I will turn Kale into a fine God of Destruction. One day, she'll be the strongest God of Destruction out there."
"Then good luck," Ken said. He didn't press it any further.
He'd been guessing who Merus's candidate was for a while.
Kale had definitely been on the list.
Every time Merus saw Broly, his gaze burned just a little—like he was looking at an incredible beauty he wanted to steal.
Thinking it through, if that guy went out looking for a new God of Destruction, he'd almost certainly target a Legendary Super Saiyan.
And across all the universes now, the only Legendary Super Saiyan left was Kale in Universe 6.
"Let's watch the fight," Merus said with an embarrassed little smile.
He really had thought it was a big secret.
Turned out Ken had seen straight through it.
Ken looked back at the projection. Tien, Chiaotzu, and Yamcha had all arrived at the battlefield.
"Hah, looks like they've brought out quite a crowd," Vegeta laughed.
"A bunch of nobodies," Nappa snorted.
"Didn't they say there were two Saiyans?" Tien asked.
"The other ones were grown," Krillin explained.
"Interesting. Six of you over there, and six of my Saibamen," Vegeta said, amused. "Why don't each of you take one and make it a little game?"
"Game? You bastards," Piccolo snapped. "Enough nonsense. Let's get started."
"Don't blow a fuse. This is actually better," Krillin said quickly. "Goku isn't here yet anyway."
Piccolo thought it over and swallowed his anger for now.
"All right, I'll go first. I'll show you what we can do," Tien said. He bumped his fists together and stepped forward.
"Hahaha! If he knew how strong Saibamen are, he'd be scared out of his pants," Nappa roared.
Vegeta stayed quiet.
After a brief pause, he pointed at the first Saibaman in line. "You start. Do it properly. Don't underestimate him."
The Saibaman nodded and walked forward.
"Tien, good luck!" Chiaotzu shouted, worried.
"Hyah!"
The Saibaman let out a shrill cry and charged at Tien in a blur.
…
Universe 6, Planet Sadala.
Cabba's pod landed in the planet's central dock.
He hauled Raditz out of the pod.
"Hey, Cabba, you just got back from a mission?" a teenage boy walked over and greeted him.
"Yeah, Lusen." Cabba nodded his small head.
"Which planet?" Lusen gave Raditz a curious look and asked.
"Planet Kute," Cabba said.
"Oh yeah, I heard a distress signal came from Kute. So you took that job." Lusen laughed. "As expected of one of our Saiyan elites—already taking missions solo at your age."
Cabba scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
"But seriously, who's this guy? He looks kind of like us," Lusen said, giving Raditz a once-over.
"Are you kidding me, you Saiyans? You really think you're the Saiyans?" Raditz finally couldn't help himself. He snorted. "I'll have you know, I'm the real Saiyan here!"
"Huh? He's a Saiyan?" Lusen froze.
"That's what he says. And he's got a tail as well," Cabba said, nodding. "So I'm taking him to see the king."
"A Saiyan with a tail, huh… You don't see that every day," Lusen said with feeling. "I'll go with you."
"Thanks," Cabba said quickly.
The two of them escorted Raditz and flew slowly toward the royal palace.
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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