The day had arrived when Tundra's ship landed on Frieza Planet #314, the door opening to reveal a large group of scientists waiting outside.
Tundra walked out, followed by two of his crew—small purple, spiky aliens half his height—carrying the container above them.
The lead scientist stepped up toward Tundra. He was a large blue alien, somewhat taller than Tundra, with an almost unnatural stillness.
"Ah, it's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Tundra. My name is Anas, and we have been awaiting your arrival for quite some time now." He bowed his head in greeting. "But let us put the formalities aside and talk business."
Tundra motioned for his small servants to set the container down. "Open it." He gestured for Anas to inspect it.
Anas moved over to the container, flipping the latches open and depressurizing the inside before lifting the lid, revealing a large, burly man with blue skin. His head seemed to have been crushed, pieces of it missing.
Anas inspected the body briefly before standing back up and looking at Tundra, clearing his throat. "Well, my lord, due to the poor condition of this corpse… we will offer 500 million pol."
Tundra was pleasantly surprised. Frankly, he would have given it away for free since he had no use for it. Though after thinking a bit more, he decided he didn't want to take the scientists' money—he should be funding them, not the other way around.
"It's fine. Simply fuel up my spaceship as payment."
Anas looked genuinely pleased. After all, he had needed to know what kind of ruler he would be working with. That previous offer of 500 million pol had been far more than the body's actual worth—he had wanted to test Tundra to see if he would accept.
"Very well, my lord. We'll have your ship fueled with only the best Blue Aurum."
Tundra nodded. He had just realized the offer may have been a test, not that he particularly cared. Looking around, he also realized it had been a long time since he had stayed on a planet.
"Anas, show me around this planet—or, more preferably, your workplace." He also needed to gain the scientists' trust. Sure, fear could be a great motivator, but he saw no reason to rely on it.
Anas nodded before instructing one of the scientists to close the container and take it back to the lab.
Turning back to Tundra, Anas felt this leader would already be better than Frieza—though that was not an incredibly high bar.
"Very well, Lord Tundra. Though this planet is mostly populated by living quarters and labs, so there isn't much in the way of entertainment."
Tundra nodded. "Then just show me your workplace. I'm rather curious about how you work."
Anas floated up lightly. "Very well, my lord."
Tundra looked slightly annoyed as he had to tilt his head even higher, then floated up as well.
Seeing this, Anas turned and flew off toward his lab, with Tundra following not far behind.
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As Anas showed Tundra around, Tundra couldn't help but think about how boring it looked: white floors, white ceilings, white desks. The only thing that wasn't white were the black lines running across the walls—a much-appreciated stylistic choice.
Anas showed Tundra everything from the washrooms to the research stations. Tundra was slightly interested in the equipment, but otherwise looked around with little care.
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Time passed, and Anas exited the lab with Tundra, flying back to Tundra's spaceship, feeling as though Tundra actually cared.
Landing on the ground, they exchanged a handshake before parting ways, their tasks complete.
Tundra returned to his ship after confirming everything was done, while Anas flew back to his lab, undoubtedly preparing to research the body of that pirate.
With Tundra aboard, Shitaki shut the door and powered up the spaceship, checking the fuel gauge before flying off into space.
Shitaki ran to Tundra, finding him on his throne, attempting to do something with one of Cherry's metal trays.
"My lord, what is our next destination?" Shitaki was slightly puzzled, but he didn't question what Tundra was doing with the tray.
Tundra looked at Shitaki for a moment. "Set the destination to Planet Yardrat, Shitaki."
Shitaki nodded and ran off to comply.
Tundra remained on his throne with Cherry by his side, throwing the tray into the air and using his ki to envelop it, steadying it midair before attempting to teleport it to his hand. He only succeeded in teleporting his own ki to his hand, causing the tray to drop to the ground.
This continued for several minutes, with Cherry handing it back to him each time he failed. Eventually, Tundra realized he simply couldn't teleport an object. While disappointing, it made sense—he couldn't even sense any ki within it.
He sighed and handed the tray back to Cherry, who took it cheerfully, as if it were a prized possession.
Tundra sat on his throne, debating what he would do once he arrived on Planet Yardrat. Obviously, he would conquer it—but he wondered if those strange techniques of theirs could truly be taught to others.