Someone Was Following Us!

"Okay, let's keep going!" Reiz said with an excited smile, a hint of tenderness flashing in his eyes.

Then Reiz stepped forward himself, crouched beside the bed, and reached out to help Linoshi take off her shoes.

His movements were gentle and careful, as if he were handling some precious treasure.

Once her shoes were off, her flawless, jade-white feet came into view again.

Her fair skin, delicate ankles, and rounded toes gleamed softly in the light.

Linoshi's face instantly turned as red as an apple, as if she were about to burst.

She lowered her head, her eyelashes quivering faintly as her breathing grew a little uneven.

However, just as they were preparing to start another round of foot massage...

A sudden shout came from outside the room.

"Reiz! Get out here!"

The voice was booming and edged with anger, ringing clearly through the hatch.

It was Vegeta.

Reiz froze, then couldn't help but smack his forehead.

Why didn't I hit him harder earlier and keep him unconscious a little longer?

How did he wake up so fast?!

"You... you should go first." Linoshi quickly pulled her feet back and said, blushing. A trace of disappointment flickered in her eyes, almost too subtle to notice.

"I'll go see what's going on." Reiz nodded, stood up, and went to open the hatch.

The door opened.

As expected, Vegeta stood outside, fuming with his arms crossed. The veins in his forehead bulged, and his eyes were full of anger.

His small face was flushed bright red, and he looked ready to explode at any moment.

"Damn it! That last round doesn't count!" Vegeta clenched his fists and shouted through gritted teeth, his voice echoing through the narrow corridor.

Raditz and the others stood behind Vegeta. None of them dared to say a word; they just watched the commotion in silence.

"Hm? What's that?" Reiz suddenly pointed behind Vegeta, his brow furrowing slightly.

"What?" Vegeta paused, then reflexively turned to look behind him.

There was nothing back there.

Wait, Raditz and the others were back there!

But they all looked perfectly normal, watching them with bewildered expressions.

"Try sensing it carefully. There's a powerful energy signature sneaking along behind us." Reiz frowned, his expression turning grave.

"What powerful energy signature?" Vegeta shot Reiz an eye-roll, then immediately pressed a button on his Scouter.

"Beep-beep—"

The Scouter scanned the area. Its screen showed only the Combat Power readings and locations of the people aboard the spaceship. It picked up nothing anywhere else.

Raditz and the others checked their Scouters too, with the same result.

Nothing at all!

But Reiz could clearly sense that powerful energy signature following close behind them, like a hunter lurking in the darkness and waiting for the right moment.

Judging by the strength of the other party's energy, his Combat Power was around 22,000.

Who had a Combat Power of 22,000?

There was a good chance it was Dodoria, one of Frieza's underlings.

What was Dodoria doing following them?

Reiz gave it some thought and quickly figured it out.

Vegeta's battle squad had six members in the original story.

Later, only Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz survived.

The other three died.

That meant there was a good chance Frieza had sent Dodoria to quietly eliminate the three of them.

And now that Dodoria had followed them here, he was probably planning to wipe out everyone except Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz.

He couldn't have come at a better time!

I've been worrying about how to get my hands on a spaceship!

Once I robbed Dodoria's spaceship, I could head to Earth!

When I got there, I'd ask Karin for some Senzu Beans, then make a wish to Shenron.

Wait... why not go to Planet Cereal instead?

The Dragon Balls on Planet Cereal had already been used to make a wish. As long as I gathered them again, I could summon Shenron and make another wish.

That was practically a wish-farming machine!

The Dragon Balls on Earth would take at least a year to turn back from stone into Dragon Balls.

On Namek, it seemed to take more than a hundred days.

First, I'll get my hands on that spaceship.

As for the Senzu Beans...

I could always ask Shenron for them.

"Reiz! Hey! Are you deliberately changing the subject?" Vegeta shouted angrily, interrupting Reiz's train of thought. "What are you talking about, someone following us? The Scouter isn't picking up anything!"

"I'm not lying to you!" Reiz said with a grave expression, staring straight at Vegeta.

"But... the Scouter really isn't picking anything up," Raditz added, scratching his head in confusion. He tapped the device with a finger, thinking it might be malfunctioning.

"What if there's a chance they're using some special method to block the Scouter's detection?" Reiz said with a smile, a glint of intelligence in his eyes.

"Block its detection?" Vegeta said doubtfully, his brow furrowing even deeper.

"I know you don't believe me, but there really is a powerful energy signature secretly following us!" Reiz said after a moment's thought, his tone certain. "Here's what we'll do: if our spaceship suddenly slams on the brakes, his spaceship won't have time to react and will probably come right up behind us. By the time he realizes what's happening, we should be able to see his ship."

"Baru, stop the ship immediately!" Vegeta ordered decisively.

He was proud and only half believed Reiz, but his instincts as a Prince told him it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Yes, Prince!" Baru answered and immediately turned to operate the controls.

Reiz hurriedly opened the door and returned to his room to warn Linoshi to be careful.

At that very moment, Baru activated the spaceship's braking system.

A powerful force of inertia hit at once. The entire ship shook violently, as if an invisible giant hand had yanked it to a sudden stop.

Reiz lost his footing and pitched forward, straight toward Linoshi.

Linoshi reacted faster this time. When she saw Reiz falling toward her, she instinctively started to move out of the way.

She shifted slightly to the side. With an Angel's reflexes, she could have dodged him with ease.

However, after a brief hesitation, Linoshi bit her lower lip and didn't move.

She closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling faintly, as if she were waiting for something.

Splat!

Reiz landed on top of Linoshi, pinning her beneath him. Their bodies pressed closely together once more.

Linoshi didn't even let out a single sound. Her face merely flushed, the blush spreading from her cheeks all the way to her ears, as red as the sunset.

"A-are you all right?" Linoshi asked softly, comforting Reiz instead. She opened her blue eyes and looked at him with concern.

"I-I'm fine..." Reiz felt a little embarrassed. He quickly got up and helped Linoshi to her feet as well.

Her hand was still soft and slender in his grasp, its warmth passing into his palm.