Vegeta's Decision, Raditz's Suspicion

Planet Vegeta had turned into dust in the cosmos.

Though the final explosion had been incomparably brilliant and dazzling, it had lasted only a brief moment.

With Planet Vegeta's destruction, Frieza led his subordinates away from this region filled with planetary debris aboard their Spaceships.

To him, it seemed like nothing at all.

A day later.

Within a stretch of ruins on Lanpu Planet.

The smoke from the explosions mingled with the pungent stench of blood, giving off a nauseating smell.

As far as the eye could see, there were endless collapsed walls and ruins, with corpses strewn everywhere.

Without question, this was the work of the Vegeta Squad.

Led by Vegeta, along with Nappa, Raditz, and the other warriors, they had spent an entire month slaughtering all life on Lanpu Planet and completely conquering it.

Now, the Vegeta Squad was resting in a relatively clean area amid the ruins.

They sat around a bonfire, eating the meat of strange animals to fill their stomachs.

'Beep beep beep...'

At that moment, their Scouters simultaneously received a message from the Frieza Army.

Nappa was the first to read its contents. His pupils suddenly contracted, and he shouted in disbelief.

The two warriors beside him reacted the same way. Both had been terrified by the news.

"Prince Vegeta! The Frieza Army has sent word that Planet Vegeta was struck by a massive meteorite and exploded a day ago! Most Saiyans died in the planet's explosion. Other than us, there probably aren't many survivors left."

Nappa approached Vegeta and reported to him.

Over the course of that month, Vegeta's strength had risen rapidly. Through bloody battles, his potential had been unleashed.

His Battle Power had already surpassed 4,000 points and was even nearing 5,000!

Hearing Nappa's words, Vegeta coldly took a bite of the roasted meat in his hand, utterly unaffected.

"Hmph! So what if it's been destroyed? As long as we aren't dead, the Saiyans will never perish!" Vegeta's answer stunned Nappa and the other two Saiyans.

Vegeta's coldness and ruthlessness had shattered their understanding of him.

Not long ago, Vegeta had regarded the deaths of three companions as the sorrow of the weak. Now, even the explosion of their planet could not sway his heart.

Terrifying! That was the only word that surfaced in their minds.

Even Broccoli, an Elite Warrior, drew in a sharp breath.

He was an elite and also one of the king's personal guards! Vegeta's ruthless coldness was exactly like King Vegeta's. To put it bluntly, he truly was King Vegeta's son—nearly identical to him.

Because of Vegeta's indifference, no one tried to curry favor with him anymore.

The few of them discussed what they should do next. With Planet Vegeta gone, they no longer had a Home Planet. They were effectively homeless now.

What about Vegeta?

He completely ignored his subordinates' discussion, immersed in his own world.

Bullshit meteorite impact causing the planet to explode! If there were such a coincidence in the world, there was no way it would have gone unnoticed.

And even if an entire planet had come crashing toward them, they could have simply blown it up!

Vegeta did not know the truth, but he knew one thing: the message sent by the Frieza Army could not be trusted.

Without Planet Vegeta, without resources or support, Vegeta struggled internally for a long time before making a bold and significant decision.

Even if Frieza was his enemy, even if Frieza was connected to the destruction of Planet Vegeta and the extinction of the Saiyan race, he could only submit to others for now and slowly build up his strength.

Nearby, Raditz sank into deep despair.

How could this happen? How could Planet Vegeta suddenly explode... Dad... Mom... Talot, Selari... and Kakarot... They all...

Raditz refused to accept this reality.

Yet he had no choice but to accept it. Right after receiving the news, he had immediately used his communicator to contact them, but all he got was a busy signal.

His family had all been buried along with the planet's massive explosion...

Everything had come so suddenly that he had been completely unprepared.

No! Two months ago, Mom said that Kakarot had been sent to a planet called Earth! Could it be that Dad and Mom had actually anticipated this long ago? This wasn't an accident—it was a conspiracy! And Talot, he should have left Planet Vegeta long ago too! Raditz's thoughts grew clearer and clearer.

He did not know whether he had always been capable of realizing this himself, or whether Talot's influence over his thoughts throughout the years had made him mature more.

He looked at Vegeta, then at Nappa, Broccoli, and Darsis. He hesitated, then ultimately swallowed his words.

Some things could be said, while others could not.

He was not stupid. He knew that the situation was unclear, that he had no one to rely on, and that he had to keep a low profile—then lower it still.

Otherwise, he would be discarded like the other two Elite Warriors his age.

In the blink of an eye, another day had passed.

On Aoyun Planet.

Over the past few days, Talot had taken Gine and Selari on a thorough exploration of Aoyun Planet.

Though they had only made a rough circuit around the various regions of the planet, they had already gained a clear grasp of its general terrain.

In the end, there were only three purposes behind exploring Aoyun Planet.

The first was to search for Blood Fruit trees.

The second was to search for the Aoyun Star People.

The third was to see whether the planet held any special powers, or perhaps any unusual beings.

After summing up the gains of the past three days, they had neither found another Blood Fruit tree nor discovered anything worth obtaining or investigating further.

As for the Aoyun Star People, they had found them.

Just as they had expected, those fellows did not live in the forests.

That was why Talot and the other two had never encountered them before.

The Aoyun Star People were also humanoid, but they were massive in build, much like merfolk. They even had gills that allowed them to breathe underwater.

The intelligence stating that the Aoyun Star People were enormous was indeed correct, but everything else had been wildly inaccurate, as though the information had simply been made up and filled in at random.

Since neither side harbored any hostility, Talot, Gine, and Selari soon became friends with the Aoyun Star People.

With no invasion or conquest involved, peaceful coexistence came naturally.

The Aoyun Star People were also an exceptionally kind race. Though the laws of nature were unimaginably cruel, they possessed higher intelligence; they simply had yet to develop an advanced civilization of their own.

Given enough time, or perhaps guidance from some Alien technology, the Aoyun Star People would surely develop rapidly.

Of course, the progress of a race also meant enduring unimaginable trials and storms. One misstep, and the entire race could vanish into the river of history.