Lairas Planet

"Why is it so cool...? Why does my whole body feel so refreshed?"

Betkas slowly regained consciousness after passing out. He suddenly felt a refreshing coolness throughout his body, and his mind and body relaxed completely. It was like taking a bath...

"No..."

Betkas suddenly remembered Broly, the guy who had nearly killed him. He snapped awake, his eyes still blurry as he opened them... and stared blankly at his surroundings.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

"Where am I?!"

As Betkas opened his eyes, he heard water flowing beside him and realized he seemed to be in a sea. The water was an odd color, almost golden. Though he had traveled through space for many years, he had never seen golden seawater before...

What surprised Betkas even more, though, was his injuries...

"My body's completely healed... How is this possible...?"

Betkas moved his body and realized he didn't feel any pain at all. It was a rather unfamiliar sensation. Thinking carefully, he remembered that after Broly had targeted him, he and Paragus had desperately struggled to survive. In the end, Broly had even brought out the "beast" that shouldn't have existed, and the planet was destroyed in their fight...

Just before that, Betkas had fled in his spaceship. His injuries were too severe, and he didn't have much time, so he hadn't dared to linger. Instead, he'd done as Son Goku had in the original story when escaping Namek: he'd picked a random destination. He'd just skipped a few steps compared to Son Goku...

He could have returned to Frieza, but that would have been a bad idea. Since he'd spent years away, Frieza and the others didn't know how strong he was. If they found out, they'd become wary of him. After all, he was still so young...

Just look at Vegeta in the original story. He was nearly thirty and had a battle power of only a little over eighteen thousand. Betkas was only thirteen, yet his battle power was already fifteen thousand—and that was while he was wearing his weighted gear. Now that he'd come back from the brink of death, his strength had surely taken another leap forward. Could he really go back under those circumstances...?

He swam toward the surface. His weighted clothes were nowhere to be seen, and he was still naked, though the outfit had already been in tatters...

"Splash! Splash!"

Betkas's head broke through the golden water... and he found himself surrounded by what seemed to be a dense forest. The trees were astonishingly huge...

Even the smallest tree was thirty meters tall, while the tallest reached so high that its top disappeared from sight... The lake he was in, meanwhile, was about a hundred meters across.

"You're awake, friend from outer space!"

As Betkas stared in amazement, a rather young voice came from behind him. He turned at once and saw a green-haired youth sitting there. The young man's face nearly scared Betkas half to death—it looked so much like Gogeta's from Dragon Ball GT...

If the youth's hair hadn't been green, Betkas would have thought Gogeta had appeared...

"Did you throw me into this lake?"

Betkas suppressed his "hostile" thoughts and spoke...

"That's a rather rude way to put it, friend from outer space. This lake is a sacred place on Lairas Planet. You've only been unconscious for four days..."

The green-haired youth didn't so much as change his expression. He seemed unconcerned as he replied...

"What?!"

Betkas was shocked. If he'd really only been unconscious for four days, that was terrifying. His injuries had been severe enough to leave him bedridden for half a year, if not longer... But if the green-haired youth was telling the truth, then the lake had healed him in just four days—or even less...

It was almost as effective as a Senzu Bean...

How could Betkas not be shocked...?

"Here are your clothes. They were already repaired a while ago, thanks to this Mira Liquid Lake."

The green-haired youth suddenly picked up Betkas's original, tattered spacesuit from beside him and tossed it over, speaking under his breath.

Betkas looked a little odd as he caught the clothes. Feeling their weight, he realized they really were his own Saiyan Battle Armor—the kind consisting of a skintight suit and shoulder guards...

"You're a hardworking fellow, friend. I can tell from your clothes. That outfit probably limits your strength. If you take it off, you can catch an enemy completely off guard in battle..."

The green-haired youth sounded rather impressed...

"By the way, you've been calling me 'friend' this whole time. Don't you think you're being a little too trusting? If this lake really does have the effect you described, some people might have ill intentions..."

Betkas quickly got out of the lake and put on his clothes before speaking...

"If that's the case, then I'll just have to accept my fate..."

The green-haired youth seemed not to care at all and answered calmly...

"This guy..."

Betkas looked at the green-haired youth's unconcerned expression and felt a little puzzled. Unfortunately, his scouter had broken, and he couldn't sense ki either, so he had no idea how strong the youth was. Still, judging by his restrained aura, he was probably over ten thousand in battle power...

"Forget it... Thanks for saving me. Can you tell me where my spaceship is? I still need to report in..."

Betkas suddenly asked again...

"Over there. We haven't touched it..."

The green-haired youth pointed east. Betkas prepared to fly over, but the youth continued, "If you don't plan to leave after you've made your report, I can take you to meet someone. It may be something you Saiyans would be most interested in..."

"Hm?!"

Betkas frowned at the green-haired youth's serious expression. He thought for a moment, then replied, "Fine! I'll see what it is. Just wait here for three minutes!"

In the blink of an eye, Betkas shot away, leaving behind a fading afterimage...

"Saiyan... I'm sure that lord will be delighted..."

The green-haired youth looked rather pleased as he spoke...