One month later.
On the other side of the North Galaxy.
Planet C-97.
The surface was grayish-brown and completely lifeless.
A massive, saucer-shaped spaceship hovered steadily in mid-air.
It was the flagship of the Frieza Force.
Frieza sat in his iconic hoverchair.
He held a goblet in one hand, the color of the red wine inside far more pleasing to the eye than the dreary gray sky above.
Sarbo stood to the right of the chair, holding a data terminal as he reported the routine planetary survey results.
“Lord Frieza, the comprehensive survey of Planet C-97 is complete.”
“Mineral reserves are below average, atmospheric sulfur levels are high, and surface water resources are practically nonexistent.”
“Overall commercial rating: Class D.”
Frieza held his goblet and gave it a gentle swirl, sending ripples across the red wine.
“Class D?”
He did not look at Sarbo, his gaze instead fixed on the grayish-brown wasteland below.
“It cannot be helped, but it is rather disappointing.”
Sarbo closed the data terminal and quietly took a half-step back.
Frieza took a sip of his wine and smacked his lips.
“Clean it up and hand it over to the Heeters.”
“Yes,” Sarbo replied.
A muffled thud echoed from behind.
Dodoria crushed a rock in his hand out of sheer boredom, the debris crumbling and falling through his thick fingers.
“Lord Frieza, the planets in this sector are getting worse and worse.”
He shook the rock dust from his hand and muttered.
“We’ve been cruising around for three months, and there hasn’t been a single decent one.”
Frieza paid it no mind.
“Mr.
Dodoria, there is nothing we can do about such things.”
Dodoria was already used to it.
He bent down, picked up an even larger rock, and tossed it lightly in his palm.
Just then, the communicator at his waist beeped.
Tucking the rock under his arm, Dodoria freed a hand to press the communication button.
Dodoria’s expression slowly shifted from careless to intrigued.
He dropped the rock, letting it hit the ground with a heavy thud that kicked up a cloud of dust.
“A transmission just came in from a nearby base.
A bunch of country bumpkins calling themselves the ‘Dalles Corps’ are requesting to join us.”
Dodoria scratched the back of his head.
“They also claim to have brought a treasure that will interest you.”
Frieza, however, showed little reaction.
There were plenty of small fry in the universe looking to serve under him.
Something like this shouldn’t have even reached his ears in the first place.
He brought the goblet back to his lips.
“A treasure?”
The red wine slid down his throat.
He smacked his lips, completely unbothered.
“Didn’t that insectoid race from the East Galaxy make similar promises last month?
What was it again…
‘a gift that will change the landscape of the universe’?”
“It turned out to be a pile of broken rocks too ugly to even use as decorations.”
Sarbo spoke up at the right moment.
“Lord Frieza, shall I have the base turn them away?”
“Wait a moment.”
Dodoria raised his hand again.
The gesture drew the attention of both Sarbo and Frieza.
“The base ran a routine scan on them.”
Dodoria lowered his voice slightly.
“The guy leading them…”
“His power level exceeds thirty thousand.”
Hearing this, Sarbo lowered the data terminal in his hand.
‘A power level of thirty thousand?
Where did this guy come from?’
Before this, he had always believed that aside from Lord Frieza and the Ginyu Force, he, Sarbo, was one of the strongest fighters in the universe.
While in his current form, his power level was only twenty-eight thousand.
‘How could someone with a power level over thirty thousand just pop up out of nowhere?’
“The leader of a rogue, small-scale interstellar mercenary group?”
Upon hearing this, a hint of genuine interest finally appeared on Frieza’s face.
He finished the last sip of wine in his glass and casually tossed the empty goblet to Sarbo.
Sarbo reached out and caught it steadily in one swift, clean motion.
“The Dalles Corps…”
“Ohohoho…
Their leader must be this Dalles…”
“A fellow like that…”
His tail tapped lazily against the armrest of his hoverchair.
“Sounds like he might be worth wasting a little of my time.”
“Let them come.
I will wait for them here.”
Dodoria grunted in acknowledgment and pressed the communication button to relay the order.
“Lord Dodoria, should we mobilize the garrison for defense?”
A voice asked through the communicator.
“Defense?”
Dodoria scoffed.
“What kind of joke is that?”
“Lord Frieza is here.
What defense could we possibly need?”
“You idiot!
Are you trying to lose your job?”
…
In space.
The Destroyer adjusted its course, pushing its engine thrust to the absolute maximum.
Outside the portholes, starlight stretched into long, thin streaks, flashing past them at incredible speeds.
At the end of this route, above Planet C-97.
The massive saucer-shaped spaceship hovered quietly in mid-air.
The tip of Frieza’s tail continued to tap rhythmically against his armrest.
As The Destroyer touched down.
Behind Frieza, both Sarbo and Dodoria looked up in unison.
Hiss—
The hydraulic struts of the hatch let out a heavy hiss of depressurization.
The thick alloy ramp slowly lowered, hitting the grayish-brown ground with a dull thud.
Dalles was the first to step off the ship.
He was greeted by the thin, sulfur-scented air of Planet C-97, along with…
an oppressive aura so dense it felt almost tangible.
That feeling did not come from the environment, but from the three figures standing a short distance away.
Especially the one sitting in the hoverchair.
Despite his small stature, he felt like the center of the entire cosmos.
His invisible presence seemed to warp the very space around him, making everything else pale in comparison.
The Emperor of the Universe, Frieza.
Armond, Daiz, and the others followed behind Dalles.
Their faces were tense, their muscles bulging involuntarily.
It was as if they were being stared down by a terrifying monster.
But upon closer inspection, they realized the pressure was slowly subsiding.
‘This is…
the person our boss wants to defect to?’
It felt like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.
“Ohohoho…” Frieza’s signature laugh rang out.
It wasn’t loud, yet it echoed clearly in everyone’s ears.
“Welcome, members of the Dalles Corps.
I am Frieza.”
His gaze lingered on Dalles for a moment before sweeping over the crew behind him, eventually returning to Dalles’s face with a look of scrutiny and curiosity.
But in the next instant, his eyes were drawn to the furry object wrapped around Dalles’s waist like a belt.
Frieza’s pupils contracted slightly.
The two pairs of eyes behind him quickly noticed it as well.
The previously relaxed atmosphere instantly froze.
Sarbo’s fingers subconsciously tightened around the goblet, his gaze sharpening behind his scouter.
The careless expression on Dodoria’s fat face vanished, replaced by a vicious glint in his small eyes.
“Ohohoho…”
Frieza’s laughter broke the dead silence, his crimson eyes narrowing slightly.
After noticing Dalles’s tail and then looking at that face, Frieza’s thoughts were instantly pulled back to the moment he destroyed Planet Vegeta many years ago.
It was the face of the only Saiyan who had ever left an impression on him.