The Tragic Slug

Turles possessed a face identical to Son Goku's; one could only wonder if he was an illegitimate son of Bardock.

Back in the day, Turles had discovered an uninhabited planet and planted a Tree of Might upon it.

The Tree of Might was a miraculous species capable of absorbing a planet's essence; the day the tree matured was the very day the planet's life force would be exhausted.

Once the Tree of Might withered, the planet would crumble and disintegrate, becoming nothing more than dust in the cosmos.

Turles had stumbled upon a growing Tree of Might by pure chance and promptly claimed it as his own.

This was his fourth time planting a Tree of Might, and at this moment, Turles already possessed a combat power approaching 30,000.

This combat power surpassed all other Saiyans; after all, back when Planet Vegeta still existed, King Vegeta only had a combat power of around 10,000.

Turles was proud, and even his five subordinates were now stronger than King Vegeta. He felt that the revival of Planet Vegeta rested solely on his shoulders.

However, reality was working against him.

Had he discovered the presence of Slug when he landed on this planet, he would have left without the slightest hesitation.

However, Slug had been struck deep underground by Frieza, and having lost consciousness, his combat power had trended infinitely toward zero.

But once the Tree of Might was planted, the process of it drawing energy from the planet startled Slug awake.

After opening his eyes, Slug first questioned his own existence, then sensed the tree roots drawing life force from his body.

How could he possibly endure this!?

He was a Super Namekian, Lord Slug!

BOOM!!

With a thunderous roar, Slug's aged and frail body made a grand entrance.

Even though Slug's combat power was severely diminished, he was still not someone Turles and his crew could handle.

One must realize that in his prime, Slug's base combat power was 60 million. Even though he was now severely aged, he still possessed several million, even if he didn't have 10 million.

Turles met with tragedy.

After paying the price of his five subordinates, Turles didn't even have time to harvest the Tree of Might seeds before fleeing in his spaceship.

Slug didn't have the energy to pursue him, primarily because he had been severely injured by Frieza's two previous sweeping attacks.

Looking at the large tree growing on the previously barren planet, and seeing it laden with red fruit, Slug became excited.

"The Tree of Might! It really is the Tree of Might, hahaha! The era of Lord Slug is about to return!"

Chomp, chomp~ Chomp, chomp~

Slug ate the Tree of Might fruits incessantly, and soon, he had consumed nearly half of them.

Consuming nearly half the fruit didn't increase Slug's combat power by much, but it restored his youthful body; his combat power only rose from 60 million to 65 million!

In truth, this was already a massive increase; if Turles knew, he would likely cry himself to sleep in the bathroom.

"Hahaha, as long as I finish the remaining fruit and go plant them on other planets, the entire universe will be mine!"

"What is Frieza? Prepare to tremble!"

Slug was brimming with confidence, venting the frustration of his two previous defeats.

Suddenly, a sinister, mocking laugh echoed from behind him.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho! Congratulations, Lord Slug!"

Slug turned around with great difficulty; his body moved as slowly as if it were rusted.

"Fri~ Fri~ Frieza!"

Frieza was floating in the air, because Slug was taller than him!

Frieza felt a secret resentment; if he had known, he would have had Shenron increase his height by a few meters.

"Come now, make me tremble! Oh-ho-ho-ho!"

With a casual wave of his hand, every single fruit on the Tree of Might was collected into Frieza's storage space, and even the seeds of the tree were taken as well.

Very quickly, the Tree of Might withered at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the planet began to show signs of weathering.

"No! You cannot do this!"

Slug was horrified; he had no ability to survive in the vacuum of space!

Consequently, Slug unleashed his full combat power and flew toward the distance, where his personal spaceship was located.

It was the same insect-like pod ship as Piccolo's.

Unfortunately, Frieza would not allow him to escape. He accelerated slightly, arrived at Slug's side, and grabbed him by his antennae.

"Off you go!"

Swish~

Frieza and Slug vanished simultaneously.

When they reappeared, Slug saw a glob of dark yellow phlegm flying toward him.

Instinctively, he clamped his large mouth shut!

He ended up holding that glob of phlegm right in his mouth!

Frieza watched as the veins on his forehead throbbed; he was disgusted to the extreme!

Bang!

His long tail slammed fiercely against Slug's head, smashing a massive hole through the spaceship and sending Slug deep into the ground once again.

Slug, shivering all over from Frieza's strike, instinctively swallowed, and then he felt absolutely wretched.

Being beaten by Frieza was one thing; if your strength was lacking, you just had to take the beating.

But what the hell was up with that glob of phlegm!

"Ah! Ah! Ugh~!"

Slug activated his Giant Form and surged violently into the sky.

He clawed at his throat incessantly, desperate to vomit it back out.

Thump.

Something fleshy seemed to hit him on the head, sliding down his body and falling into the spaceship.

Frieza's eye twitched; this Dodoria had actually tumbled down from the sky!

Was this supposed to be the number one lackey?

It seemed a bit embarrassing.

"Come, come, shrink down a bit. Let's sit down and have a proper chat!"

Slug's Giant Form only had a combat power of 100 million, which, in Frieza's eyes, was nothing more than fodder to be one-shotted.

However, this combat power was just right for tempering Son Goku.

If there were no strong opponents, King Frieza would be very bored.

The key was that Son Goku could also draw out the Androids, Cell, Majin Buu, and a whole series of other plot points; he was the best stepping stone on the path to becoming stronger.

Slug had regained his youth and had been humiliated by Frieza; how could he possibly listen obediently?

Roaring, Slug prepared to fight Frieza for three hundred rounds.

"If you want to talk to me, do it after you've been beaten into submission!"

Smack~

Slug slammed face-first into the ground, causing the entire planet to shake three times as countless cracks appeared on the surface.

"I can certainly satisfy such a bizarre request! Oh ho ho ho!"

Smack~ Smack~ Smack~

Standing on Slug's back, Frieza's tail lashed against Slug's bald head again and again.

Before long, a giant green Buddha had appeared.

If there were a halo behind his head, he would look even more like one!

"King Frieza! You've finally returned! I've missed you so much!"

Dodoria ran over, tears and snot streaming down his face, his massive feet stomping all over Slug's tentacles; his sheer tonnage left several footprints pressed into them.

"Disgusting! Are you trying to gross me out to death?"

With his arms crossed over his chest, Frieza leaned back and flicked his tail.

Dodoria vanished into the horizon even faster than before.

Watching this scene, Zarbon was terrified to his core.

It seemed that the glob of phlegm he had spat earlier was the real culprit, wasn't it?

Right, Vegeta!

That guy dared to betray King Frieza; if he caught the traitor, perhaps he could save his own dog life!

No, his own precious life!

Eh?

Where was Vegeta!

Damn it, don't mess with me; you can't be playing hide-and-seek with me right now!