Straight to Earth

"Beep beep beep~"

Outside the spaceship, Aila had already stepped out of the Healing Tank and recovered to her peak condition. She was fiddling with the only Power Level Scouter left in her hand.

As the Scouter's beeping stopped, confusion flashed through Aila's eyes. The highest Power Level displayed on the screen was actually less than one thousand!

"Rhode got taken out?!"

The Scouter's reading shocked Aila. Rhode's Power Level was as high as 2,500, only one hundred points lower than hers now. How could he have been silently taken out?

"No!"

With no reading for Rhode's Power Level, Aila's first thought was that he had been killed. But she immediately realized the problem: the strongest lifeform detected on this planet did not even have a Power Level of one thousand.

There was not even a lifeform with a Power Level of one thousand, so how could Rhode have been taken out? Aila was utterly baffled.

"Beep beep beep..."

Just as Aila was puzzled, the Scouter alarm sounded, showing that two lifeforms with Power Levels below five hundred were rapidly approaching. She immediately looked up at the sky.

That was?

Rhode wasn't dead!

Before her eyes, Aila saw Rhode completely unharmed. Looking carefully at the Scouter again, she discovered that his Power Level was actually only three hundred!

Whoosh!

As Aila was filled with doubts over Rhode's changed Power Level, Rhode arrived before the spaceship with a Lainar.

"This is Tabor, Planet Rhyner's top scientist. I brought him here to remove the tracking and surveillance devices from the spaceship and the Scouters."

After approaching, Rhode's gaze fell on Aila as he gave a simple explanation.

Whoosh!

Bang!

However, what greeted Rhode was Aila's fist, striking mercilessly toward his face.

"What are you doing?"

Faced with Aila's unprovoked attack, Rhode was completely baffled.

"Cut the crap. Beat me first, then we'll talk!"

Aila had originally been confused by Rhode's lowered Power Level, but the moment they exchanged blows, she realized that his strength had not declined at all. Since they had already started fighting, though, she might as well settle the score from before.

Aila's Power Level had now risen to 2,600, and she had more than enough confidence to defeat Rhode.

Bang bang bang!

The two struck one after another, their fists colliding. Surging force spread outward, making even the atmosphere tremble. Tabor, the Lainar who had come with Rhode, was terrified and hurriedly scrambled away to hide.

Pop!

After a bout of fist-to-fist clashes, neither side had gained the upper hand. No, more precisely, Rhode had been rapidly adapting to the battle throughout the entire fight. At first, Aila suppressed him, but gradually they became evenly matched, until he finally gained the complete upper hand.

After awakening his memories, Rhode had faced the Lainars' encirclement by transforming into a Great Ape and simply bombarding them with Energy Blasts. He had never had the chance to familiarize himself with close combat. Now, an evenly matched Opponent like Aila was perfect for honing his fighting techniques.

Perhaps because his Comprehension Ability had greatly improved, Rhode rapidly absorbed everything during his battle with Aila and became even stronger. That was why he could still gain the upper hand against Aila, whose Power Level exceeded his by one hundred points.

Pop!

Seeing that she could gain no advantage in close combat, Aila immediately created distance and launched a barrage of Energy Blasts at Rhode as though they cost nothing.

Boom boom boom!

Energy Blasts exploded one after another around Rhode, filling the air with dust and smoke and swallowing him from sight. The massive blasts echoed in every direction.

"Huff huff huff~"

The short burst of energy had rapidly drained Aila's stamina. She breathed heavily as she stared fixedly at the explosion zone, waiting for the final outcome.

Whoosh!

Bang!

However, as the dust and smoke scattered the next moment, Aila was immediately startled to find Rhode no longer where he had been.

Just as she became alert, pain suddenly shot through her back. A tremendous force then smashed into her, sending her out of control and blasting her into the ground.

The instant Aila crashed into the earth, Rhode followed after her and planted a foot on her body without mercy, making her spit out blood wildly.

"Aila, this was the only chance in your life to defeat me. Unfortunately, you failed to seize it."

Looking down at Aila lying on the ground, Rhode's expression was serious. He finally shook his head coldly, then moved his foot away and vanished in a flash.

How was that possible?!

At this moment, the pain in Aila's body was nowhere near as intense as the pain in her heart. She simply could not understand why she had lost.

Though she did not know what method Rhode had used to conceal his Power Level, she was certain that her 2,600 points exceeded his. Yet after that battle, she had practically been beaten one-sidedly. She simply could not accept it!

After lying there for a long time, Aila still could not understand where she had lost. Finally, she climbed to her feet, walked to the spaceship, and looked sharply at Rhode. "What was going on with your Power Level?"

"I improved my control over the energy inside my body and concealed it."

Rhode did not hide anything in response to Aila's question. After all, knowing about it was one thing; being able to do it was another.

"My Power Level is 2,600 now. You've surpassed me?"

Hearing Rhode's words, Aila looked thoughtful, but she still asked unwillingly.

"No. It's still around 2,500."

Rhode had not been injured much before, nor had he figured out a training method, so his Power Level had barely increased.

"Then how did you..."

His Power Level had not surpassed hers, yet he had defeated her. That made Aila even less able to accept it.

"See this hairstyle of mine?"

Seeing that Aila could not accept it, Rhode pointed at his hairstyle, which looked like that certain pretentious king's.

"We Saiyans are born with hairstyles that never change. Aren't you the same?"

Aila was utterly confused by Rhode suddenly bringing up hairstyles and had no idea what he was talking about.

"Remember this: my hairstyle represents invincibility!"

Rhode pointed at his hair, his expression cold and proud, his gaze domineering. It gave Aila the illusion that she was looking up at him.

Seeing that he had stunned Aila, Rhode thought for a moment before explaining why she had lost. "You lost because your fighting techniques aren't refined enough. Your control and use of strength are too crude as well. In short, you have many shortcomings."

"Is that so?"

After learning the reason, Aila nodded as though she understood, though she did not ask Rhode how he had achieved it. She simply turned and left.

As a High-Class Warrior as well, Aila's Comprehension Ability might not have matched Rhode's current one, but she was still exceptionally gifted. Having understood the source of their gap, she immediately ran off to figure it out on her own.

A Saiyan's unique pride!

Seeing Aila turn and leave directly, Rhode, who had intended to share some experience, was left speechless. Fine. I'll tell you when you hit a wall.

Rhode then ignored Aila and looked toward the green-skinned, white-haired Tabor beside him. "Tabor, is it done?"

"I have removed the tracking and surveillance devices from the spaceship and the Scouters!"

Facing Rhode, Tabor's face turned green as he answered tremblingly.

"You didn't pull anything, did you?"

Looking at the green-skinned man before him, whose eyes were full of panic and whose face was stricken with fear, Rhode narrowed his eyes and asked a fatal question.

"No! Absolutely not!"

Upon hearing Rhode say that, Tabor hurriedly fell to his knees and begged solemnly, "Sir, please spare this lowly one!"

"You can leave."

Seeing Tabor in such a state, Rhode impatiently waved a hand and told him to go.

"You're not killing him?"

As Tabor gradually walked away, Aila came over and could not understand Rhode's actions.

"He's irrelevant!"

As a Lainar, Tabor naturally did not have much of Rhode's trust. But it did not matter. As long as the spaceship functioned normally and could last until they reached the nearest technological planet to replace it, that was enough. Removing the tracking and surveillance devices was merely to further confuse the Frieza Force.

"What do we do next?"

Since they were not returning to Planet Vegeta, Aila was curious how Rhode planned to proceed.

"We're going to an unknown planet. It has something we need!"

Rhode did not directly mention Earth. He planned to tell Aila only after replacing the spaceship several times and completely erasing their trail from the Frieza Force's surveillance.

"Let's go!"

With that, the two boarded the spaceship. After confirming that all its functions were operating normally and making the necessary adjustments, the spaceship took off, broke through the atmosphere, and headed toward the nearest technological planet according to the star map.