Survivors

The battered ship's hatch connected to the hatch of Krillin's Phantom. Krillin extended a welcoming hand. "Guests first!"

"In the Persean System, you're the guest. You should go first," Scar said with a hearty laugh.

"Haha, true enough. Let's go in together!" With that, Krillin strode forward.

Once everyone had entered the Phantom, the hatch slowly closed with a series of clicks.

Krillin fired another blast of Ki at the battered ship. Boom! The barely holding-together vessel was finally reduced to space debris.

Everyone watched painfully as the ship that had accompanied them through countless days and nights was destroyed just like that, and an inexplicable heaviness filled their hearts.

Seeing this, Krillin smiled faintly. "Don't misunderstand. You know better than I do how strong the enemy is. I did it to avoid pursuit."

Scar slowly nodded. Though he was reluctant to let it go, Krillin had done the right thing.

As everyone walked farther inside, a large Galactic Patrol emblem came into view. Suddenly, one of Scar's team members exclaimed in surprise, "So you're with the Galactic Patrol!"

Scar immediately shouted at him, "Don't talk nonsense! I don't know who Krillin really is, but he definitely isn't with the Galactic Patrol."

Scar continued, "Those cowards from the Galactic Patrol can't wait to hide from Cooler. How could they possibly dare send someone to provoke him?"

Everyone immediately came to a realization and agreed. "He definitely isn't one of those cowards from the Galactic Patrol!"

"Well, well, there are people who understand after all. Since leaving Galactic Patrol headquarters, Krillin had encountered far too many 'blind men.' Who would've thought everyone here would see things so clearly?" Krillin looked at them in surprise. The Persean natives truly were different; even their knowledge was on another level.

Krillin smiled slightly. "I told you, I'm from Earth."

Scar had just been about to say something when the ship's alarm suddenly sounded.

"Beep beep. Enemy detected approaching," the ship announced mechanically.

"They came this quickly!" Krillin's expression changed. He couldn't confront Shaviza head-on right now!

Scar's team grew anxious as well, but Krillin smiled faintly. "Don't panic. There's no need to rush."

"Full-speed retreat!" Krillin ordered the ship.

Boom! The ship's engines roared at high speed, and with a biu, it turned into a streak of white light and sped toward the edge of the starfield.

Seeing that they had successfully escaped that region of space, Scar's team finally breathed a sigh of relief. Having survived a disaster, no one wanted to die if they could live.

Footsteps echoed as Krillin slowly approached Scar's team. "Why were the aliens after you?" he asked.

Scar's team looked angry, but with their captain remaining silent, none of them spoke first.

After a long while, Scar let out a harsh sigh. "It was all for energy. Those damned invaders."

Scar said only that much and did not continue, seemingly still wary of Krillin.

Krillin revealed an unreadable smile and slowly took a black fragment from his clothes.

"How do you have a fragment of Perseus Stone?" Scar asked in shock.

"I found it on Earth, my homeland." Krillin did not hide anything.

Scar gave a self-mocking laugh. "Looks like you came for the Perseus Stone too." His expression was extremely desolate.

Krillin nodded without denying it.

"The Perseus Galaxy used to be a very powerful galaxy. It had countless strong warriors, peace and tranquility, no wars—it could be considered a pure land within the universe. Unfortunately, the Persean System had existed for far too long. Like a person, it grew old. It went through a supernova explosion, and the Red Giant Star you see now is what remained after that explosion." Scar looked painfully toward the red giant at the center.

"After the supernova explosion, Persean Star's environment became extremely harsh and was no longer suitable for habitation. So our ancestors brought the remnants of the original population and migrated to several major planets of Persean Star."

Thus, Persean Star's civilization endured without being extinguished.

"The ore in your hand already proves that Persean Star was once a high-energy star system. After its decline and the dispersal of the Persean people, it naturally could not withstand the covetous eyes of those evil forces."

"It wasn't only the Perseus Galaxy that suffered. Several nearby galaxies were ravaged as well. We knew those neighboring galaxies had also been invaded, but we had no ability to help them," Scar said painfully.

Scar's team looked dejected, not saying a word.

This was probably what it meant by possessing a treasure invites disaster, Krillin sighed inwardly.

"The ones who ambushed us earlier were the infamous Mecha Force. Our home planet has already been conquered by them. We evacuated before they attacked, and all our people hid among the small planets," Scar continued.

"The survivors were unwilling to flee their own galaxy. We could only survive in the gaps between those asteroids. It has probably been like this for two hundred years now."

"Two hundred years?" That was exactly when the aliens had invaded. King Star had been invaded at that time as well.

"Two hundred years passed just like that. Most survivors thought we might go on living this way forever. But not long ago, Shaviza seemed to discover something and began hunting down survivors on a massive scale. The Persean King who led us also tragically died during the search. Since then, we have truly been wandering among the stars," Scar said slowly to Krillin, sobbing uncontrollably.

As Krillin listened to Scar, he seemed to realize something. Something was wrong. Although Scar was telling the truth, he was definitely hiding something important. What he had just described was the history of the Persean System. Even any random alien should know that much.

Before Scar knew Krillin's true identity, he certainly could not reveal his people's last refuge, much less mention "Princess Xiyal!"

Krillin felt somewhat depressed. Did I really look that much like a bad guy? Krillin wanted to tattoo a row of big words on his forehead: I'm a good person!

Since they were already on my ship, there was no need to hurry. I'll take it slowly, Krillin thought.

"Scar, you know this area. Find a planet where we can dock!" Krillin said to Scar.

Scar nodded. Finding a planet to land on would be ideal.

Scar took the pilot's seat and soon found a lush green planet within a relatively hidden nebula.

Boom! Boom! The ship landed fairly smoothly.

Everyone headed outside, and lush greenery filled their vision. This seemed to be a planet of plants.

"Yes, this planet is made entirely of vegetation. Precisely because of that, those aliens would never notice it. Their attention is focused on advanced planets filled with energy," Scar explained to Krillin.

"Ah!" One team member let out a pained howl and collapsed to the ground.

Everyone had suffered severe injuries in the earlier battle. But because they had remained in danger, their nerves had been constantly tense, and they had naturally felt no pain. Now that they were out of combat and surrounded by lush greenery, they relaxed all at once and could no longer endure the pain.