Plan

The next time he saw Broly, a whole week had passed.

Over the course of that week, Dales's injuries had finally healed completely, and, just as he'd expected, his battle power had increased tremendously. It had now reached 18,000, about the same as Vegeta's when he invaded Earth.

Dales was delighted. That beating hadn't been for nothing—one beating had been worth a month of gains. He'd almost started to wonder if his cheat was that getting beaten made his battle power increase. He'd even considered testing the idea on Broly, but fortunately, he hadn't gone through with it. Otherwise, Broly would definitely have thought the beating had knocked something loose in his head.

Dales nodded at Broly, then went straight over to Paragus.

Seeing the utterly hopeless look on Paragus's face, Dales let out a mean laugh. "You're one hell of a bastard, using Broly like that, huh?"

Paragus rolled his eyes, turned his back on Dales, and ignored his taunts!

When Paragus didn't respond, Dales felt he'd made a fool of himself. But he'd come to see Paragus about something important, so he didn't mind.

"Paragus, do you know Planet Vegeta was destroyed?" Dales asked, speaking to Paragus's back.

Paragus whirled around at the news, staring at Dales in shock!

Before Paragus could ask anything, Dales continued, "Frieza said Planet Vegeta was struck by a meteor, and nobody had time to escape. All the Saiyans on the planet died when it was destroyed!"

Paragus looked at him as if to say, "Are you messing with me?" Dales shrugged and gave a mocking smile. "Pretty ridiculous, isn't it? The Saiyans, who spent their lives conquering planets, ended up without a home of their own. Their whole race is on the brink of extinction, with only a handful left, barely scraping by!"

Honestly, Frieza's excuse was pathetic. Given the Saiyans' strength at the time, what kind of meteor could have hit Planet Vegeta? A battle power of 10,000 was already enough to destroy a planet, and the Saiyans had never been short on warriors with battle powers above 10,000. And that wasn't even counting their Great Ape Transformation. Once they transformed, they'd have a tenfold increase in power—they could knock down a hundred meteors.

A battle power of 100,000! Aside from those godlike beings, how many fighters in all of Universe 7 had a battle power over 100,000? It was no wonder King Vegeta had thought about rebelling against Frieza.

So, after his initial shock, Paragus didn't believe Dales. He thought Dales was lying to him!

"You don't believe it either, do you? Ha!" Dales had noticed Paragus's expression, of course. "Neither do I! The real reason was Frieza. One Destruction Sphere, and Planet Vegeta went up like a firework. Boom!" Dales made an exploding gesture.

"Impossible! The Saiyans served King Frieza. Why would he suddenly destroy Planet Vegeta? And even Frieza couldn't have easily defeated every Saiyan. What about Bardock? Karlos and Bamberd? And that bastard King Vegeta?"

Paragus still wasn't convinced. He'd always been proud of being a Saiyan. Hearing so suddenly that his entire race had been wiped out, and that he was one of the last Saiyans left, was difficult to accept!

Dales didn't know who Karlos or Bamberd were. They were probably some powerful Saiyans from that era.

He only looked at Paragus with pity. Another person fooled by Frieza's appearance. The Saiyans were a warrior race, naturally arrogant and dismissive of every other species. Even Frieza was just a partner in their eyes. No wonder they'd angered Beerus, that unpredictable god, and ended up with their race wiped out.

"Do you know how high Frieza's battle power is?"

Dales demanded an answer from Paragus, then shouted it himself before he could reply. "It's 530,000! And that's only in his first form!"

Thinking about his face-off with Frieza still made Dales uneasy. He wasn't afraid of Frieza's power so much as he was afraid of how weak he'd been then. He believed that given enough time, he'd surpass Frieza sooner or later. He'd become a Super Saiyan, then reach Super Saiyan 1, Super Saiyan 2, Super Saiyan 3, even Super Saiyan 4 and Super Saiyan God. Those were all goals he intended to surpass!

But all of that would take time. If he didn't live long enough to grow stronger, it would all be nothing but wishful thinking!

Dales's answer stunned Paragus. He had faith in Broly, but a battle power of 530,000 was still beyond anything he dared imagine. He didn't know that Broly's battle power had already surpassed 500,000!

Seeing Paragus completely shaken, Dales's lips curled slightly. That was right—this was all part of his plan. To get a wily old fox like Paragus to listen, he first had to shatter his confidence. Only then could he take control.

"Paragus, what do you think of my talent?" Dales deliberately drew Paragus's attention elsewhere, looking at him smugly.

Paragus didn't know why Dales was asking, but he had to admit Dales was talented. He'd seen his progress over the past month. Still, when he thought of the bastard's awful behavior during that time, he gritted his teeth. "You're all right, I guess. Nothing special. You're nowhere near as good as Broly!"

Hearing Paragus mention him, Broly scratched his head and gave a simple, bashful smile.

Dales glanced at Broly and felt as if he'd been stabbed in the heart. When it came to talent alone, there were few who could compare to Broly. Dales felt a little depressed, but had to admit, "You're right. I'm not as talented as Broly! But even with better talent, Broly still needs a good environment to grow. How far do you think he can get on a place like Planet Vampa?"

Paragus fell silent. It was true. No matter how strong Broly was, what did it matter if they were trapped on a planet like Planet Vampa and couldn't leave?

Saiyans couldn't survive in space. Even if Broly became the Legendary Super Saiyan, wouldn't he still grow old and die on this planet, just like Paragus?

"What's your idea? Stop beating around the bush. I can't believe a little bastard with eight hundred schemes like you came from the Saiyan race!" Paragus caught on, but still couldn't resist taking a jab at Dales.

"Heh!" Dales didn't mind and went straight into his plan. "Here's what I'm thinking. My ship still has enough energy. I'll transfer some of it to the ship you and Broly came here in. We'll head to the nearest technological planet first. We'll need to build something there. I know a way to rapidly increase our battle power. Then we'll leave the North Galaxy and get out of Frieza's sphere of influence. I've heard the Galactic Patrol's base in the center of the galaxy is a good place to go. Frieza can't reach it for now.

"Broly and I will train for a few years. I'm confident I can defeat Frieza for good after that. And during those years, we can search for the Saiyans who were sent into exile and find a new planet to serve as Planet Vegeta—or Planet Paragus. Either one works!"

"Paragus, the future of the Saiyan race rests in your hands now. Maybe you'll be the next Saiyan King!"

"I've also heard that Prince Vegeta is still alive. Think about it: once you become the new Saiyan King, how could Vegeta still have the nerve to call himself a Saiyan Prince?"

At the end, Dales couldn't help but dangle a tempting prize in front of Paragus. He knew Paragus had been obsessed with getting revenge on King Vegeta. Now that there wasn't even a trace of King Vegeta left, all that remained was to take it out on Vegeta. After all, the son had to pay for the father's sins.

Seeing the interest on Paragus's face, Dales knew he'd persuaded him.

Dales's plan was actually very simple: lie low and grow stronger, then unleash his power once he'd mastered his training. As for Earth, he thought it over and decided not to go there for now.

Going by the timeline, Son Goku was only eighteen and should still be training under Kami in the Heavenly Realm. His battle power was probably still below 400, so he wouldn't provide enough of a challenge for Dales at this point.

And Yajirobe, that fatso, had probably used up most of the Senzu Beans by now. Dragon Balls weren't exclusive to Earth, either; they could go to Planet Namek. But that was for later.

As for building a Gravity Chamber, there had to be technology somewhere in the universe that could make one.

So instead of wasting a long time traveling to Earth, it'd be better to stay in space, where he could fight all kinds of powerful opponents and increase his battle power.

Dales didn't really care about gathering the remaining Saiyans. He wasn't the sort who wanted to rule over everyone, and he didn't care about power or status. In the Dragon Ball Universe, as long as you had strength, there was nothing you couldn't get.

The reason he was encouraging Paragus to rebuild the Saiyan forces was simply because he wanted a faction to support his training. Building a Gravity Chamber and covering their daily expenses would both require money. He didn't want to end up like Son Goku later on, strong as he was but still living hand to mouth. Paragus was the man he'd chosen!

First, Paragus was one of his own kind. Even if Saiyans weren't very sentimental, one of their own was more trustworthy than an outsider. Besides, Paragus still identified strongly with the Saiyan race, and with the promise of a crown, Dales believed he'd be willing to devote his life to rebuilding it.

As for Paragus's ambition, Dales didn't take it seriously. Like he'd said, once you had strength, there was nothing you couldn't get.

"Dales, why don't you become the Saiyan King? With your talent, you'd be far stronger than King Vegeta!" Paragus asked, voicing his doubts.

Dales was taken aback by the question, then immediately shook his head and flatly refused. "I don't want to be the Saiyan King!"

Paragus looked unconvinced, but Dales didn't elaborate. He simply looked at him in silence.

Though he still didn't understand, Paragus couldn't help agreeing to Dales's plan. He couldn't stand being stuck here any longer, so the two of them quickly got moving!

First, they had to find the ships Paragus and Broly had arrived in. They were already eighteen-year-old models, so there was no telling if they still worked. If they didn't, all their talk would be pointless. They'd have to send one person away first, then have him come back for the other two. But neither Dales nor Paragus trusted the other enough for that. And if they sent Broly away, he'd probably get swindled and thank the person for it.

Dales was afraid Paragus would throw caution to the wind and blast him with an energy attack as he took off. Given Paragus's nature, it wasn't hard to imagine him doing something that hurt them both.

Paragus, meanwhile, had spent the past month learning just how shameless Dales could be. He didn't want to be abandoned again on desolate Planet Vampa, left to wait for some unknown future visit from aliens.

And so, the two wily old schemers and one innocent, clueless young man flew toward the ships.

The three landed at the entrance to a cave. After clearing out the giant insects that had taken it over, they finally saw the two spherical ships wrapped in vines.

They cleared away the vines, and Dales examined the ships' exteriors. He found no damage. He tried pressing the open button, only to discover that they'd completely run out of energy.

As he dismantled the old power cells, Dales grumbled at Paragus.

"Paragus, what were you thinking back then? You flew off in a ship that was almost out of energy. Weren't you afraid you'd get stranded in space? I don't remember Saiyans being able to survive out there!"

Paragus was clearing vines off the other ship. When he heard Dales's taunt, his face flushed red. He wanted to argue, but couldn't come up with a reason, so he took his anger out on the vines in his hands and yanked hard.

Dales's lips curled slightly. He twisted the knife. "Careful. There aren't any other ships for you to choose from!"

Paragus abruptly stopped what he was doing and froze in place, his face turning red and white with anger!

"Dales! You wanted to fight, didn't you? Come on! Let's go right now. Whoever backs down is a loser!"

"Hahaha!"