Spirit Tree Fruit

At this moment, on the planet Akasque, Salza and his two companions were taking a break.

"This planet is just too huge! It's going to take forever to search the whole thing," Dore grumbled impatiently, taking a bite out of a half-cooked dinosaur leg.

Salza shot Dore a fierce glare. "What, are you planning to defy Lord Cooler's orders?"

Although they were the elite armored squadron under Cooler, they were no different from Frieza and his Ginyu Force. They had no human rights; if Cooler ever felt they were useless or simply grew annoyed, he would kill them without a second thought. After all, Frost Demons were devoid of emotion.

"H-how could I!! I just meant this planet is excessively large," Dore stammered, waving his hands frantically. That was a label too heavy for him to bear.

Neiz chimed in, "You must be careful with your words! Don't say things you shouldn't." Although Dore was the strongest in the squad, Salza held the command.

Neiz possessed a strange ability to control electricity; while not quite a superpower, it was incredibly useful.

Karochi had already arrived nearby, but he wasn't in a rush to finish the three of them off. He wanted to eavesdrop and find out exactly what it was that Cooler was looking for, as Salza and his men certainly wouldn't tell him if he revealed himself.

"Eat up. As Dore said, this planet is too big, and searching it will take us quite a while," Salza cut the conversation short and sat down to eat.

Hmm, the food is terrible. Honestly, even what Karochi grilled himself was much better than this. Tsk, being a wage slave is truly hard, especially when they don't cover room and board or provide any benefits.

Dore finished first and started running his mouth again: "What do you think that tree Lord Cooler is looking for even looks like?"

"How would we know? Lord Cooler didn't specify! He only said it grows on planets with life, and there are rumors it appeared in this sector," Salza replied, speechless. Did this guy train his muscles into his brain? If we had seen it, would we need to search so hard?

Hmm? A tree that only grows on life-bearing planets? Karochi frowned. What kind of tree? The only one I know of is the Tree of Might from the movie "The Tree of Might."

The main villain, Turles, had a power level of over 25,000 upon his first appearance. The most ridiculous part was that he was just a low-class warrior, whereas King Vegeta only had a power level of 12,000.

The author likely intended to show that if Kakarot hadn't hit his head as a child, he would have ended up as an evil villain like Turles.

In that movie, Goku's power level was 30,000, and he was able to suppress Turles at the start. After eating the fruit of the Tree of Might, Turles's power skyrocketed, even suppressing Goku when he used the 10x Kaioken. At that point, Turles's power level must have been over 300,000, which was terrifying.

The timeline of that movie was a mess. According to official history, Goku only managed to use the 10x Kaioken after adapting to 100x gravity on his way to Namek, at which point his base power level was already 90,000.

Moreover, the effect of the fruit was incredibly potent; just two or three pieces took Turles from 25,000 to over 300,000. It was simply unbelievable.

However, Cooler had nothing to do with that movie, and this wasn't official history. Karochi didn't believe that if Cooler ate the fruit, he would gain that much power—though if it were true, he would want it too.

There was also the Elf Planet he had stumbled upon with Tights while heading to Namek; that planet also had an ancient tree radiating powerful life energy. But the Elf Planet was far away in the North Galaxy, countless light-years from here.

Seeing the three of them about to leave, Karochi stopped hiding and stepped out from behind a tree, asking with a look of feigned innocence, "Excuse me, sirs, may I ask what kind of tree your lord has ordered you to find?" His tone was perfectly natural.

Karochi's sudden appearance startled the three of them, mostly because there was no power level reading at all! Every living being had some level of power, but even though the stranger was right in front of them, their scouters showed nothing. This didn't make sense!

"Who are you?" Salza asked. He didn't believe the guy was actually weak enough for the scouter to read zero. As soon as he asked, Salza froze. A tail? He's a Saiyan.

But that's impossible! Weren't the Saiyans wiped out? The few survivors either fled to a low-level planet called Earth, or they are under Frieza's control.

"Captain, why waste words with him? Just kill him; he overheard our conversation." Dore had a short temper, and his bloodlust was plain to see. His power erupted, the intense aura causing the surrounding trees to sway violently.

Just as he stood up, Salza barked a command: "Stay where you are, Dore!" The stranger seemed to know about Lord Cooler, yet dared to appear before them; he must have something to rely on.

"Captain...!" Dore looked at Salza with resentment but obeyed and stayed put. In the Armored Squadron, the captain's word was absolute.

Salza ignored Dore and sized up Karochi. There was no doubt the guy was a Saiyan. "I didn't expect there to be any surviving Saiyans! How surprising. I thought the only ones who escaped death were those few pathetic monkeys."

Salza wanted to provoke Karochi to test his strength. Although he was a bit wary, a Saiyan of this size couldn't have a high power level. After all, the Saiyans' true strength was limited; the only reason they survived in the universe for so long was their magical transformation ability—turning into Great Apes to increase their power tenfold.

"Tsk, didn't your parents teach you to be polite? Such poor manners, honestly!" Karochi chided. It seemed the Dragon Ball world lacked basic civility education.

"How arrogant! Neiz, you go. Just knock him out so we can take him to Lord Cooler." Seeing that the stranger wasn't moving, Salza stopped waiting. Damn it, I should have let Dore kill him instantly. What was I worried about?

What!? How am I arrogant? You're allowed to insult others, but I'm not allowed to talk back? What a hypocrite.

The ugly-looking Neiz licked his lips and said with a grin, "Thanks, Captain. There aren't many fun targets, especially since I'm already sick of searching for that damn tree."

Dore was very dissatisfied; this was his prey. But since Salza had given the order, he couldn't argue and could only sulk.

"Little Saiyan brat, how interesting that you'd run out here to die!" Neiz didn't take Karochi seriously at all, his body surging with powerful electricity.

[High-Voltage Current]

A bolt of electricity as thick as a barrel struck toward Karochi. In the eyes of the three, Karochi didn't seem to react at all, not even making a move to dodge.

BOOM!

The current hit its target squarely. There were no surprises; the massive explosion and its force snapped the surrounding trees, and even the ground was scorched black.

A huge cloud of dust obscured Karochi's figure. Classic: no smoke, no damage.

"Neiz, didn't I tell you just to knock him out? You hit him so hard, we might not even have a corpse to bring back," Salza scolded with dissatisfaction.

But there was no response from Neiz. He stood there, motionless. It was eerie; he was still holding his attack pose.

Neiz was panicking internally. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak, and he couldn't even blink, even as dust got into his eyes.

Hmm? Salza looked at Neiz, who was still posing, feeling very confused. "Neiz...!"

"Alright, stop calling him. He can't talk." Just as Salza was about to call out again, Karochi's voice came from the smoke. Salza and Dore immediately went on high alert.

How is this possible?! Neiz didn't hold back at all, yet the guy is still alive. Not only that, but Neiz can't even respond for some reason.

"Captain!!!" Dore shouted, his eyes never leaving the smoke. He stared intently; the situation was truly bizarre.

Salza didn't respond, his focus entirely on the smoke as it slowly began to dissipate.

Before long, Karochi's figure was revealed. He was even yawning. "What's going on? I actually thought you guys would attack. I waited for so long, but you're just a bunch of cowards."

Tsk, tsk, tsk! You guys aren't even as good as the Ginyu Force. Jeice and Burter at least had the guts to try and fight even when they knew they were outmatched.

"Don't get cocky, you little brat!!!" The hot-tempered Dore, having been mocked by Karochi, ignored Salza's shouts and charged straight at him.

In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Karochi, but just like Neiz, he remained suspended in mid-air, baring his teeth and snarling like a mad dog while still gathering power into his fist.

This scene left Salza stunned. What kind of bizarre ability was this!!? Were Neiz and Dore just frozen there as if hit by a Time Stop??

"Who exactly are you?? What did you do to Dore and Neiz!!?" Salza demanded, his entire being on high alert.

It was bizarre, truly too bizarre!!

"Hm? You already know who I am, don't you! I'm a Saiyan," Karochi said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And he wasn't wrong; the Armored Squadron had watched the destruction of Planet Vegeta, so how could they not know he was a Saiyan?

"Bullshit!!!" Salza was so enraged he broke out into the Tiger King's signature brand of profanity: "How could a Saiyan possibly have such a bizarre ability!!"

"Tsk~! I told you when you asked, and not only do you not believe me, you even curse at me. Honestly..." By the time the word 'me' left his lips, Karochi had already appeared behind Salza: "You have no class."