Inside Dodoria's spaceship.
Reiz stood by the porthole, gazing at the stars streaking past outside, deep in thought.
"Reiz, where are we going next?" Vegeta turned to ask, seeking his opinion.
"Planet Cereal," Reiz replied after a moment's thought.
"Planet Cereal? What kind of strange planet is that?" Vegeta asked, scratching his head in confusion.
Reiz didn't answer. He only smiled at him.
The smile was gentle, but it made Vegeta's skin crawl.
Vegeta's mouth twitched. He hurried over to the computer and searched for Planet Cereal's coordinates.
His fingers flew across the keyboard as data scrolled across the screen.
"Found it! It'll take about seven days to get there!" Vegeta answered at once, then turned to Reiz. "Should we leave now?"
"Let's go." Reiz nodded.
Vegeta didn't hesitate. He immediately changed course and entered the new destination into the navigation system.
"Whoosh!"
The spaceship swung around, its engines blazing brighter as it sped toward Planet Cereal.
Starlight stretched into long streaks beyond the porthole. The ship cut through the silent universe like a shooting star.
The spaceship soon switched to autopilot.
The cockpit's indicator lights blinked steadily, and every instrument showed normal readings.
Beyond the porthole, stars streamed past like water. The vast universe was silent and magnificent.
"The ship's navigation is all set." Vegeta clapped his hands, then turned and walked over to Reiz. Tilting his head up, he asked, "Reiz, how much did you say your Combat Power was?"
"Not much." Reiz smiled, unwilling to repeat himself.
"Hmph, don't think I didn't hear you!" Vegeta snorted, crossing his arms as he looked at Reiz. "You said your Combat Power used to be two million, but now it's one million!"
"That's more or less what I meant." Reiz nodded, his tone even.
"What do you mean, 'more or less'?" Vegeta asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. Then he shook his head hard and pressed on with an ingratiating smile. "No, that's not the point... The point is, is your Combat Power really over a million?"
"Otherwise, how do you think I beat Dodoria so easily?" Reiz stepped forward and patted Vegeta on the shoulder, smiling.
Vegeta fell silent.
He thought back to what had just happened.
Dodoria had been as helpless as a baby in front of Reiz, unable to fight back at all.
With a Combat Power of 22,000, Dodoria had been knocked down with one punch, had his arm dislocated, and had been kicked out of the spaceship.
How could Reiz have done that without an overwhelming advantage in strength?
"Then... why did my Scouter only show your Combat Power as 10,000?" Vegeta asked, growing more confused as he pointed to the Scouter over his eye.
"It's simple. If you keep your energy around 10,000, you can make the Scouter display whatever number you want." Reiz smiled and patiently explained.
"How do you do that?" Vegeta asked in astonishment, his eyes wide.
"You can freely control your Combat Power—in other words, the energy inside your body." Reiz gave a simple answer. "Now use your Scouter and take a good look."
Vegeta swallowed, then nodded gravely. He immediately aimed his Scouter at Reiz, staring at the screen without blinking.
Reiz released just a tiny bit of energy.
"Beep! Beep!"
The numbers on Vegeta's Scouter jumped wildly, red digits flashing rapidly across the screen.
"Combat Power 15,000! 16,000! 17,000! 19,000... It's still going up!" Vegeta cried out in astonishment, his jaw nearly hitting the floor.
The numbers kept climbing.
"Bang!"
The next moment, Vegeta's Scouter exploded on the spot, sending fragments flying as a wisp of smoke rose from it.
Vegeta jumped in fright. He instinctively squeezed his eyes shut and recoiled.
For a brief moment, he was stunned.
The cabin was so quiet they could hear the engine's low rumble.
Vegeta slowly opened his eyes and stared at Reiz in shock, unable to say a word.
His mouth opened and closed, but not a sound came out.
This time, Vegeta seemed to believe that Reiz's Combat Power really might be as high as a million.
"You—you—you... You've been hiding your strength this whole time!" Vegeta stammered, the corner of his mouth twitching as he looked at Reiz with completely different eyes.
First contempt, then surprise, and now awe.
"If I didn't, how could I ever defeat Frieza?" Reiz smiled carelessly and turned to gaze out at the stars beyond the porthole.
As for whether Frieza's forces could detect the Scouter and their conversation from over there, Reiz wasn't particularly concerned.
After all, he wasn't far from mastering Ultra Instinct.
If Frieza dared to come, Reiz wouldn't mind making sure he never left.
"Defeat Frieza?" Vegeta paused, then scoffed with a hint of disdain. "How much Combat Power could he possibly have? It'd be impressive if he even had 100,000!"
Reiz turned to look at Vegeta, the corner of his mouth curling into a knowing smile.
"Vegeta, think about it. Your Combat Power is 15,000. If you transformed into a Great Ape, how high would it get?"
"150,000! What about it?" Vegeta answered without hesitation, raising his chin.
"If Frieza only had 100,000 Combat Power, wouldn't you be able to kill him with ease after transforming into a Great Ape?" Reiz asked with a smile. "Then why doesn't your father let you do that? We Saiyans aren't exactly used to bowing down to others! Frieza has oppressed us for a long time!"
Vegeta froze.
He frowned, deep in thought. Suddenly, Reiz's words seemed to make sense.
That was right.
If Frieza really only had 100,000 Combat Power, then the king would have 130,000 as a Great Ape. He could easily kill him.
So why had his father never dared to rebel?
Why did every Saiyan obey Frieza without question?
After thinking for a few seconds, Vegeta's expression grew grave.
"Are you saying Frieza's Combat Power is even higher?" Vegeta suddenly understood and hurried to ask, a trace of unease flashing in his eyes.
"Linoshi, tell him," Reiz said, turning to look at Linoshi.
"Huh?" Linoshi had been standing quietly to the side, like a well-behaved kitten. Her blue eyes moved between Reiz and Vegeta as she silently watched the show.
But when she heard Reiz call her, she didn't know how to react, and her body trembled slightly.
She paused.
"Your Highness... My brother told me... Frieza's Combat Power is 120 million." Linoshi spoke plainly, immediately reporting Frieza's true Combat Power to Vegeta.
Her voice was soft, and her tone calm.
Vegeta glanced sideways at Linoshi, his eyes tinged with contempt.
What could a support worker with a Combat Power of only 200 possibly know?
Then he heard the number Linoshi had given for Frieza's Combat Power.
120 million.
The number exploded in Vegeta's mind.
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