"Is everything taken care of?" Linoshi asked, head bowed, not daring to look at him.
"It's all taken care of!" Reiz scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed. "I came in to tell you... the ship's about to stop, so be careful... but then I accidentally... What a mess."
An awkward smile tugged at his lips.
"Pfft..."
Linoshi laughed happily instead of blaming Reiz.
Her smile was bright and gentle, like a spring breeze sweeping across a lake and sending ripples across its surface.
Her blue eyes brimmed with amusement, curving into crescents.
"I... I'm fine!" Linoshi waved a hand and spoke softly.
Two seconds passed in silence.
The cabin fell quiet, leaving only the sound of their soft breathing.
"Why did you suddenly stop the ship?" Linoshi asked, raising her head to look at Reiz.
"Frieza's people seem to be following us. They masked their Scouters, but I sensed them anyway," Reiz said, taking a deep breath as his expression turned serious.
"Huh? Frieza's people are following us?" Linoshi asked, trying to make herself look a little flustered. Her blue eyes widened slightly. "What should we do?"
Her acting was rather poor. She didn't look all that flustered—instead, she seemed endearingly awkward.
Reiz held back a laugh and didn't call her out.
"I've wanted to split up from Vegeta and the others for a while. I was thinking of visiting another planet. What do you think?" Reiz asked seriously, looking straight at her.
"Visit another planet?" Linoshi paused, blinking.
"I'll go steal his spaceship first." Reiz grinned, a sly glint in his eyes.
"Huh? Steal a spaceship?" Linoshi looked utterly confused by Reiz's outrageous plan.
"I'll be right back." Reiz said it to Linoshi, then turned to leave.
"I... um, maybe I should go with you?" Linoshi suddenly said, gathering her courage and taking a small step forward.
Reiz turned to look at her.
She stood there, gripping the hem of her Battle Suit with both hands, determination and concern in her blue eyes.
The light fell across her, outlining her slender, lovely figure.
"I might be able to help!" Linoshi added, her voice a little louder than before. "That's outer space. If anything goes wrong... you could die!"
Her eyes were full of worry, so genuine and pure.
"All right. If things look bad, run away immediately. Do you understand?" Reiz warned her repeatedly, his expression grave.
"Mm." Linoshi nodded firmly.
The two of them left the room.
Reiz took Linoshi's hand naturally and headed straight for the spaceship's hatch.
The corridor was brightly lit, and their footsteps echoed across the metal floor.
"Reiz, where are you going?" Vegeta asked in surprise, hurrying to stop them when he saw them heading for the hatch.
"To steal his spaceship, of course!" Reiz glanced back with a confident smile.
"We don't even know if anyone's following us!" Vegeta grumbled, still unconvinced. "Are you really sure there's a ship behind us?"
As they were speaking,
a flash of light flickered in the deep starfield behind their ship.
It was the glow of a spaceship's thrusters, conspicuous against the darkness.
"Prince Vegeta! I see it! There really is a ship following us!" Raditz cried, quickly pointing out the window.
"W-what did you say?" Vegeta frowned and hurried to the window to look outside.
Sure enough, a small spaceship hovered in the nearby starfield. Their sudden stop had clearly given away its position.
"Are they Frieza's people? I knew that bastard was up to no good!" Vegeta gritted his teeth, his little face full of anger.
"Judging by the ship's model, it should be one of Frieza's spaceships." Nappa picked up the thread, his voice low as he stared out the window. "But... we don't know who's on board yet!"
"One guy, with a Combat Power of around 22,000," Reiz said thoughtfully, gazing through the window at the ship. "There's a good chance it's Dodoria."
"Y-you said his Combat Power is 22,000?" Vegeta's expression shifted, and his little face filled with shock.
"That's right. I can tell from the strength of his ki," Reiz said, nodding, his gaze still fixed outside.
"What's Dodoria doing following us?" Vegeta's face darkened, his brows drawn tight.
The thought that his opponent's Combat Power had reached 22,000 made it even worse.
Vegeta felt completely lost and didn't know what to do.
After all, he was still young, and his mind wasn't mature enough.
He was used to throwing his weight around in the palace, protected by his father and the guards. Faced with a life-or-death situation like this, it was only natural that he would panic.
"Baru, open the hatch. I'll go have a nice chat with him," Reiz said calmly.
"Huh? Are you sure you want to open it? That's outer space! We Saiyans can't survive out there!" Baru said quickly, the corner of his mouth twitching. His eyes were full of worry. "And if you're going out there, at least take an air shield!"
"Don't worry. As long as I cover myself with a Force Field, I can survive in space for a short time," Reiz said with an easy smile.
"That's not the point! The guy's Combat Power is already 22,000!" Vegeta snapped, glaring at Reiz. "What's there to talk about? He followed us in secret. He's obviously up to no good!"
"Open the hatch!" Reiz ordered Baru again, unwilling to waste words. His tone left no room for argument.
"Huh?" Baru had no idea what to do. He looked over at Vegeta, waiting for him to give the order.
"Hmph, I'm going with you!" Vegeta gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, trying to hide how nervous he was.
"No need. Linoshi will come with me." Reiz waved a hand and glanced back at Linoshi, who stood behind him.
Vegeta: "..."
Vegeta froze, his eyes widening and his mouth opening, but no sound came out.
You're taking a support staffer with a Combat Power of only 200 with you?
Are you kidding me?
"Fine, fine. If you want to go, then come along." Reiz gave in, looking at Vegeta's stunned expression and shaking his head helplessly.
"Hmph, that's more like it!" Vegeta smiled smugly, though he still looked nervous. Sweat had already begun to bead on his palms.
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