Planet Caren’s capital.
Dalles, accompanied by Daiz and Cacao, walked down a broad main avenue.
The three wore disguised local casual wear.
Dalles’s tail was wrapped tightly around his waist, completely hidden beneath the hem of his jacket.
Daiz and Cacao had taken similar precautions.
Cacao’s metallic joints were wrapped in a layer of special fabric, making them look like ordinary protective armor from a distance.
Dalles looked up.
His first glance at the city made him slow his pace.
Overhead, an elevated light rail train passed between two buildings.
Its transparent cars were filled with Planet Caren residents of various shapes and sizes.
Brightly colored holographic advertisements were projected onto the exterior walls of the buildings lining the street.
They displayed product promotions, public policy announcements, and previews for cultural performances.
The sidewalks were fairly crowded.
The native inhabitants of Planet Caren had builds similar to humanoid alien races, mostly with light blue or pale gray skin and soft facial features.
A small number of foreign aliens mingled in the crowd, their attire suggesting they were merchants.
The vegetation in the greenbelts was neatly trimmed.
Automated traffic control systems operated at the intersections.
Dalles’s gaze swept across a massive holographic screen.
It was broadcasting a public service announcement from the Planet Caren United Government.
The footage showed a group of uniformed Planet Caren soldiers conducting formation training.
He looked away.
And continued walking.
Passing a street-side food stall, he saw exquisite local dishes displayed in the glass window.
A line had formed outside.
A Planet Caren woman stood in the queue, holding a child’s hand.
The child pressed against the window, pointing at the glass and chattering away.
The woman bent down and picked the child up so he could see better.
Dalles walked past the mother and child.
Unconsciously, his eyes lingered on them for a moment.
Cacao followed behind, his fabric-wrapped metallic joints producing muffled sounds as he walked.
His optical units were constantly active, scanning every corner of the street.
Daiz walked half a step to Dalles’s right.
His gaze swept from the roadside buildings to the gracefully curved elevated light rail above.
“This place looks just like my home planet…”
Daiz seemed to be recalling something, a hint of sorrow in his eyes.
Just then, a faint burst of static crackled in Dalles’s earpiece, followed by Maki’s voice.
“Hello?
Can you hear me, Mr.
Dalles?”
Due to mission requirements, they weren’t wearing their usual Frieza Force scouters.
Instead, they used covert communicators provided by the Heeters.
“Head north from your current position into the commercial district.
When you see an office building with a gray exterior, turn right.
The entrance to the underground parking lot is in the back.”
Dalles adjusted his direction according to the instructions.
Daiz and Cacao followed suit.
The three blended into the endless stream of pedestrians in Planet Caren’s capital.
The building density in the commercial district was noticeably higher than on the main avenue.
The space between buildings was compressed to a minimum, and overlapping holographic billboards cast a chaotic array of colorful lights from above.
When Dalles reached the gray office building, he circled around to the back.
The parking lot entrance was right there.
The ramp sloped downward, illuminated by dim yellow lights, with signs in the local language plastered on the walls.
Just as Dalles was about to head down the ramp.
He caught something out of the corner of his eye.
He stopped in his tracks.
And looked into the crowd.
It was a figure that completely clashed with the aesthetic of Planet Caren.
The residents of Planet Caren mostly had blue-gray skin, wore uniform functional clothing, and had somewhat sturdy builds.
Against this backdrop, the figure stood out like a sore thumb.
Wearing a round cloth hat, a lock of dark hair peeked out from underneath.
She wore a plain, ankle-length dress, completely out of place among the standardized outfits filling the streets.
She looked exactly like a human from Dalles’s conventional understanding.
To be more specific, her appearance was of the exact same type as his own and Daiz’s.
In the context of Dalles’s past life memories, she had the most standard human appearance.
She was standing across the street in front of a curved building, holding an antique-looking camera with both hands and snapping a picture of a relief sculpture on the exterior wall.
The camera’s design seemed rather outdated.
Let alone an interstellar civilization like Planet Caren, even the imaging equipment on any third-rate planet in the universe would be more advanced than that thing.
But none of this was what caught Dalles’s attention.
The important thing was the bag slung over the girl’s shoulder.
It bore a conspicuous double C logo.
Others might not recognize it, but it sent shockwaves through Dalles’s mind.
Because that was the logo of the Capsule Corporation!
Capsule Corporation!
To see it in a place like this left Dalles feeling rather thrilled.
Static crackled in his earpiece again.
Maki’s voice followed.
“Hello, Mr.
Dalles?
You’ve stopped moving.
Did something happen?”
“There’s no rush, though.
It’ll probably be a while before the official operation begins.
The place you’re heading to is just our safe house on Planet Caren, where we have the planned procedures laid out.”
“We’ll talk later.”
Without waiting for Maki’s reply, Dalles cut the communication, pulled the earpiece out, and shoved it into his pocket.
Daiz turned his head and glanced at him.
Cacao’s optical units also shifted toward Dalles.
Dalles told them to wait where they were.
He turned and strode off.
His target was the figure across the street.
The girl had already moved to a new spot.
She crouched in front of a roadside plant, bringing the old camera just a few centimeters away from a leaf.
She aimed the lens at a thumb-sized flower on the stem, repeatedly adjusting the focus.
Tilting her head, she checked the small screen on the back of the camera, seemingly dissatisfied.
Once she was finally satisfied, she prepared to stand up.
As soon as she turned around, she saw Dalles standing right behind her.
Catching her off guard, he gave her quite a start.
“W-who are you?
When did you…?”
Seeing this, Dalles realized his abruptness and offered a smile.
“My apologies, miss.”
What he didn’t realize, however, was that his smile didn’t look friendly at all; instead, it faintly exuded a chilling aura.
The girl instinctively shrank back.
Although she could sense that this strange man was not someone to be trifled with, it was the first time she had encountered someone in space who looked so much like an Earthling.
A strange sense of familiarity welled up inside her.
She managed to suppress her emotions.
“Hello.”
She gave a slight nod to greet Dalles.