"Personnel who completed the trial have been detected. Access granted."
The control center's doors slowly opened.
The moment Reke went inside, he was dumbfounded. He couldn't understand a single word of the writing, and he had no idea how to operate the equipment in front of him. Had he really come all this way for nothing?
"What are these things? What do they do?" Reke shouted.
Unfortunately, no one answered. Even the electronic voice from before had disappeared.
Reke stood there, searching through the knowledge in his mind to see if the Saiyans had ever passed on anything about this.
He should have known better. What kind of species were the Saiyans? How could they have passed on mechanical technology? The only thing related to machinery was information about spaceships.
"Damn it, no wonder they were wiped out. Their lifeline was firmly in someone else's hands."
Fuming, Reke punched the instrument beside him.
"Bzzzt—"
"Warning, warning. The control center has been damaged. An explosion will occur in 60 seconds. Please evacuate immediately."
The electronic voice came back, but that wasn't what Reke wanted.
With no other choice, he quickly scanned the control center, grabbed something that looked like a storage device, and ran.
Reke hovered in midair, torn between laughter and tears. He'd destroyed the only valuable thing in the entire base.
"Damn it. Looks like I'll have to rely on the Dragon Balls after all."
Reke gave up. He no longer expected this planet to have a way to let him keep his sanity after undergoing the Great Ape Transformation.
In a bad mood, Reke sped up. A minute later, he emerged from the cave.
As soon as he came out, Reke saw two groups facing off. One was Parsona, who had posted the mission; the other was the adventurer who had taken it.
Both groups turned their eyes to Reke.
Reke first looked toward the Middle-Aged Man and the others. "Didn't I say I'd protect him? What are you trying to do?"
The three men, knowing how strong Reke was, immediately shuddered. The Middle-Aged Man stammered, "Sir, we just want to leave, but they won't let us."
"Hmm?" Reke tilted his head toward Parsona, waiting for an answer.
"Kid, you can leave if you let us search you and see what you got down there," Parsona said, dropping the act and speaking in a sinister voice.
"Oh!" Reke slapped his right fist into his left palm, looking as if he'd suddenly understood.
"So you're asking to die."
Parsona sneered. "Kid, don't think a Level 6 adventurer is invincible. You'll die here today."
At that, the Bald Man and the other two looked at Parsona as if he were an idiot. They no longer seemed worried about being allowed to leave.
"Fatso, is he the one giving you confidence?" Reke looked at the ordinary young man standing beside Parsona. He could sense that the young man had a power level of over ten thousand.
When Parsona realized Reke had identified his trump card, he sensed something was wrong. After all, inheriting such a large castle showed that he wasn't stupid.
Reke's confident demeanor immediately unnerved him, and he couldn't make up his mind.
He didn't believe Reke was stronger than his trump card, but he also didn't believe Reke had found anything down below, despite being the last one to come out. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Xiao Jiu, kill him."
"Thud!"
A body hit the ground.
Parsona was delighted. He knew he'd bet right and was about to claim victory once again, just like when he'd fought over the family fortune.
He looked over and saw Reke still standing there, picking at his ear with one hand.
Parsona rubbed his eyes in disbelief. He was about to yell at Xiao Jiu when he saw him sprawled on the ground, his chest hollow where his heart should have been.
Parsona was terrified. He slumped to the ground.
"Thrum—" A tremendous presence burst into Reke's mind without warning. His playful expression vanished, and his perception rapidly spread, enveloping the entire planet. He also detected the disturbance in the Rocky Mountains.
None of those presences caught Reke's attention, though. All his focus was on the sky.
"Die." Reke had no time to play around with Parsona. Without turning his head, he fired a Kikoho toward him, making them all disappear.
"They're here."
A spaceship appeared in his field of vision.
He had already sensed their power levels. He could ignore the other weaklings, but he couldn't overlook Reke's opponent, whose power level was 310,000.
This would be the first time he fought someone with a higher power level than his own.
Why did Reke think they'd fight? The other party's undisguised hostility kept rousing his senses.
Still, he wasn't worried. At least he hadn't sensed a power level of 530,000. If he had, Reke would never have faced them.
The two sides were still far apart, but Reke's blood began to boil.
Reke didn't wait any longer. The old saying that it was better to strike first had been passed down for a reason.
He raised his hands in front of his chest and began gathering ki.
"Bzzzt—"
"Dulong Destruction Cannon!" A deep-blue energy blast shot from his chest and hurtled toward the spaceship.
"Sir, we have a problem! We've detected an enormous power level," Rat Head said anxiously.
"How strong is the other side?" Octopus Head asked calmly. He had absolute confidence in himself and didn't believe anyone on this planet could surpass his power level of 310,000.
"It was 300,000 just now, and it's still rising. It's at 400,000 now."
"Bang—The power level is too high. It exceeds the Scouter's limit." Rat Head spoke in despair.
Octopus Head had lost his confidence, too. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. He grabbed Rat Head and escaped from the spaceship.
"Boom!"
The spaceship exploded just as Octopus Head escaped. Rat Head, still in his grasp, didn't make it out alive.
Reke slowly flew into the air and looked at Octopus Head. Seeing that he wasn't wearing a Scouter, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He'd struck first because he was afraid news of the Saiyans might reach Frieza. He didn't care about the spaceship; he just wanted to destroy it before the other side could send a message.
He didn't think escaping into space would let him evade Frieza's pursuit.
"Saiyan?" Octopus Head spotted the tail behind Reke.
Still dazed, he stared at Reke, unable to process what he was seeing.
"That's right. Now die." Reke had no interest in talking to him, or asking where he'd come from.
Reke darted in front of him and threw a hook at his head.
"Smack!"
Octopus Head caught Reke's fist, flung him to the side, then closed in and drove a knee into him.
Reke did his best to control his flying body and crossed his arms to block the attack.
Before Reke could react, Octopus Head flashed above him and brought his heel down like an axe, striking him squarely in the back.
"Boom!"
Reke slammed into the ground.
"Heh. Saiyan brat, you nearly scared the hell out of me just now. Turns out your power level isn't that high after all."
Octopus Head folded his arms and gazed leisurely at Reke, who lay on the ground.
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