()"Beep, beep, beep!!!"
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!"
Betkas felt an incredible sense of refreshment wash over his entire body, as if he were soaking in cold water. He felt invigorated all over, and even his wounds no longer hurt. He cracked his eyes open, but everything he saw was blurry. Still, there was one thing he knew for certain: he was safe.
Looking at the green algae in front of him, he realized he was undergoing treatment. He had an oxygen tube in his mouth, and though he was completely naked, he didn't care. As long as his wounds healed, nothing else mattered. Besides, he was still in a child's body, so there wasn't much to look at anyway.
Just then, an Antenna Alien wearing a Research Suit held up a white sheet that looked like a medical chart and said to Betkas, "The Saiyan kid's regained consciousness. He's recovering pretty quickly."
Nearby, another similar-looking alien pointed at Vegeta and Nappa, who were under his care, and said, "These two kids aren't as badly injured as that Saiyan, but they still haven't woken up."
The Antenna Alien turned back to Betkas, who was only partly conscious. "All right, Saiyan kid. You're all healed up. I'm going to drain the Healing Water now." The next moment, the Antenna Alien pulled a switch, draining the water from Betkas's tank. Betkas propped himself up, adjusted his glasses, and shook his head.
He still felt weak. He'd been on the brink of death, after all—it was no joke. The Antenna Alien handed him a new set of Battle Armor and said, "Saiyan kid, put this on. And here, this is your spoils from this mission. Now just wait for orders from Lord Frieza or Lord Zarbon. Until then, don't go wandering around." Then he tossed a Gold-Lensed Device toward Betkas.
Betkas caught the clothes with quick reflexes, then grabbed the device out of the air with his right hand. He immediately perked up when he realized he was holding a Scouter—the essential gear of aliens in Dragon Ball. He was thrilled. With this thing, he'd at least have some advantage for now. He wouldn't be caught off guard by a powerful opponent like he had this time, ending up with near-fatal injuries. If he'd known from the start that his opponent was so strong—
Betkas would've transformed into a Great Ape and started fighting right away. He didn't want to get himself killed. Now that he'd landed in the Dragon Ball world, he'd rather train hard and fight the protagonist, Son Goku, than die as some nameless extra. If he got killed, well, he'd have no one to blame but his own bad luck. Of course, that was assuming he could survive until Son Goku arrived in space.
He wasn't very confident about that. There were so many powerful fighters in the universe. For now, they were all far stronger than him, and posed a serious challenge and danger. If he left Frieza's service and hid out on Earth, he might stay safe, but his strength would never progress. Earth in the early days simply wasn't suited to someone with his level of power.
Working for Frieza was dangerous, but at least he could keep growing stronger without limits. Frieza wasn't some ancient Chinese emperor who would grow wary of powerful subordinates. Even if anyone did become suspicious of him, it would only be Zarbon, Dodoria, or those members of the Ginyu Force. Frieza would never think that way. He had absolute power—and absolute confidence.
As for dealing with Dodoria and the others, Betkas was completely confident he could toy with them until they were dead. They hadn't yet experienced the Saiyans' most terrifying trait: every time they returned from the brink of death, their strength increased. How much it increased probably depended on how strong they were to begin with.
After putting his Battle Armor back on, he attached the Scouter over his left eye and pressed a button. Then he scanned the still-unconscious Vegeta and Nappa.
"Beep, beep, beep!!!"
Betkas listened to the device's analysis, then saw Nappa's reading and smirked. He muttered, "Just as I thought. He's pretty weak. His battle power is only 972 this time." Then he glanced at Vegeta and began scanning him.
"Beep, beep, beep!!!"
Ignoring the aliens watching him, Betkas looked at Vegeta in surprise. Vegeta's battle power is 4,521! That's a full 50% increase from before. If the increase is proportional, then I should've gotten a decent boost, too.
As Betkas wondered just how strong he was now, the Antenna Alien who had given him the clothes seemed to read his mind and said, "Kid, you've got some real strength. Looks like that life-or-death battle made you stronger. Your battle power is 4,752—much higher than that kid over there. I really don't know how you Saiyans do it. You really are a bunch of incomprehensible wild monkeys..."
"Battle power of 4,752?"
Betkas was stunned. He hadn't expected his battle power to surpass Vegeta's. Before, Vegeta had been nine points stronger than him. But after this invasion mission, Betkas was now almost 129 points stronger. He couldn't understand why their increases were so different.
Betkas rested his chin in his hand and studied Vegeta, deep in thought. Was it because our injuries were different, or... was it a matter of talent? His tail curled around his waist as he pondered.
Even so, there was no point dwelling on it. He had somewhere to go and things to think over. Although transforming into a Great Ape had kept him from fully experiencing the thrill of an evenly matched fight, this battle had at least taken him to the brink of death.
So Betkas decided to review the battle and come up with some new techniques. After that, he'd try to figure out whether he could control ki or sense its presence. After all, that was the most fundamental and important thing in the Dragon Ball world. He didn't want to rely on his Scouter forever. It was useless against certain creatures, and sometimes it could even get him killed.
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