Space Pirates Attack

West City, at the entrance to the Spaceship gangway.

Dr. Brief held onto Rhode, who was about to leave, his face full of expectation as he looked at him. "Rhode, when you come back, remember to bring me more technological information from the universe, especially anything related to machinery!"

"I won't disappoint you, Doctor!"

Rhode naturally agreed with a smile when faced with Dr. Brief, who had helped him so much. After all, it would only cost him a little extra time.

Besides Dr. Brief, Little Bulma and her mother were also present. Mrs. Brief smiled as she spoke to Rhode. "Little brother, be sure to stay safe out there!"

Hearing Mrs. Brief's words and seeing her flower-like smile, Rhode's expression remained unchanged as he nodded. "Thank you, ma'am!"

As he spoke, his gaze fell on Little Bulma, who stood nearby with unhappiness written all over her face and in her eyes. "Be good, little one!"

"Humph! You meanie!"

Seeing that Rhode not only refused to take her along on an adventure but also teased her like this, Little Bulma gave a displeased snort and turned her little head aside, completely unwilling to pay him any attention.

"Rhode, let's go!"

While Rhode stood at the gangway entrance saying goodbye to Dr. Brief and the others, Aila had boarded the ship long ago. Seeing Rhode waste time, she urged him on.

Ignoring Aila's urging, Rhode waved to the others, then reached out and rubbed Little Bulma's twin-braided head. Amid her clawing protests, he laughed and walked into the Spaceship.

Bang!

The gangway rose and the Spaceship hatch closed. Then, beneath the Brief family's watchful eyes, it shot rapidly into the sky. Before long, it pierced the atmosphere and entered space.

"They're going so deep into the universe at such a young age. They're really amazing!"

Watching the Spaceship gradually vanish from sight, Mrs. Brief looked somewhat emotional, though her words also carried a hint of concern.

"They may be young, but they're powerful. Even the dangers that exist in the universe would find it difficult to threaten them."

Compared to Bulma's mother, Dr. Brief, who had helped build the Gravity Chamber and was himself a top scientist, knew more about Rhode and Aila and better understood their strength.

So he was not worried at all.

Speaking of Rhode and Aila's journey, Dr. Brief could not help thinking of his eldest daughter. He looked at Bulma's mother. "By the way, Tais has been away for so long. Where is she now? Is she in any danger?"

"I can't believe you still remember Tais!"

Hearing Dr. Brief mention their eldest daughter, Bulma's mother complained to him with considerable displeasure.

Tais had been away for a long time to write her novel, yet Dr. Brief, as her father, had never shown any concern. Mrs. Brief had always been the one keeping in touch with her and following everything.

Complaining aside, Mrs. Brief still told him about Tais's recent situation. "There's no danger. She's traveling through cities in the east, gathering material. I just don't know when she'll be back!"

When Tais was mentioned, concern flashed across Mrs. Brief's delicate face.

Tais was not even sixteen yet, and she was traveling alone. Even though Mrs. Brief was usually quite carefree, she could not help worrying.

"Don't overthink it. Just stay in touch. Tais has a life of her own!"

Compared to Mrs. Brief's concern, Dr. Brief was far more open-minded and did not care too much.

Little Bulma, standing beside them with her head tilted up as she listened to their conversation, rolled her big eyes and began to miss that admirable Sister of hers as well!

Once she grew a little older, she would go out on adventures just like her sister!

A great wish took root in young Bulma's heart.

Leaving aside what was happening with Dr. Brief's family on Earth, Rhode and Aila had already flown out of the Solar System aboard their Spaceship and entered the vast, dark expanse of space.

Their Spaceship was extremely fast. It would take only a few days to travel from Earth to Planet Namek.

"Huff, huff, huff~"

After the Spaceship entered autopilot, the gravity had been adjusted to sixty times normal. Rhode and Aila were currently carrying out their daily training.

Even though Rhode's Power Level had surpassed thirty thousand and Aila's had exceeded twenty thousand, training under sixty times gravity was still far from easy. They needed time to adapt gradually.

"Rhode, I heard there are people on Planet Namek with Power Levels over ten thousand. Is that true?"

During their daily training, Aila was full of anticipation for their soon-to-be-reached destination. She was looking forward to fighting the experts on Planet Namek.

The people on Earth were too weak to stir her desire to fight. Aside from them, only Rhode could serve as her opponent, but Aila simply could not defeat him.

Thus, after growing stronger, Aila had long wanted to find an opponent and have a truly satisfying battle.

Faced with Aila's question, Rhode thought of the fighting-type Namekians' strength and could not help giving her a meaningful look. He agreed with her. "That's indeed true!"

"That's great!"

Receiving Rhode's confirmation, Aila was greatly excited, and she trained even harder. "Then once we reach Planet Namek, I can finally have a real fight!"

We're not going there to play the villains!

Hearing Aila's villain-like remarks, Rhode was momentarily speechless. He had wanted to remind her not to be careless, but when the words reached his lips, he held them back.

Although Aila had been instantly defeated by him once, she was clearly still too full of herself. She felt that aside from him, she could easily crush anyone else.

If that was the case, it would be good to let her suffer a little. That would keep her from becoming too arrogant; otherwise, she would sooner or later get herself into trouble.

Bang!

Just as the two trained, the Spaceship suddenly shook, and a violent rumbling sound echoed through it.

What happened?

With such an anomaly appearing, Rhode was puzzled. But then his brows furrowed. Several unusually evil and powerful Auras had appeared at the edge of his sensing range and were rapidly approaching.

"Enemy attack. Stay alert!"

The instant he sensed the situation, Rhode warned Aila while restoring the Spaceship's gravity to normal.

After doing that, he opened the hatch and flew outside, clinging to the Spaceship as he looked toward the source of those evil Auras.

However, Rhode's range of vision was far inferior to his range of Aura perception. As a result, all he could see was a dark expanse of space glittering with starlight. There was nothing else.

At that moment, the Spaceship was speeding through deep space. The surroundings were vast and empty, and he could not see the ships belonging to the owners of those evil Auras at all.

Bang!

Just then, Rhode suddenly sensed danger by instinct and raised his hand to block it. It was actually a High-Energy Beam!

So that's how they wanted to play?

Seeing that a High-Energy Beam had attacked him and sensing the rapidly approaching evil Auras, Rhode was extremely displeased.

Just as Rhode was considering how to deal with them, Aila inside the Spaceship also sensed their Auras. Looking at the records on the ship's navigation map, she spoke to Rhode outside through Aura with a grave expression. "Rhode, they're Space Pirates, and they're extremely powerful!"