The Tree of Might

At that moment, on the planet Akasque, Salza and the other two were taking a break!

"This planet is way too big!! Searching the whole thing is going to take ages." Dore bit into a half-raw roasted dinosaur leg and spoke impatiently.

Salza glared at Dore. "What, are you going to disobey Lord Cooler's orders?"

Although they were Cooler's elite special forces, they were no different from Frieza and his Ginyu Force! They had no rights. If Cooler decided one day that they were useless or annoying, he could kill them on a whim. After all, Frost Demons had no feelings.

"H-How could I!! I'm just saying this planet's a bit too damn big." Dore waved his hands frantically. That accusation was way too much for him to handle.

Neiz cut in, "We should still be careful what we say!! Don't say things you shouldn't." Although Dore was the strongest in the group, Salza was the one in command.

Neiz had a strange ability to control electricity. It wasn't technically a psychic power, but it was still quite useful.

Karochi had already come close to them, but he wasn't in a hurry to take all three down. He wanted to eavesdrop and find out what Cooler was looking for. After all, if he showed himself, Salza and the others wouldn't tell him so easily.

"Hurry up and eat. As Dore said, this planet is too big, and searching it is going to take us a while." Salza cut off the conversation, sat down, and began to eat as well.

Mm, the food was awful! To be fair, even Karochi's own roasting was a lot better than this. Tsk, being a wage slave was tough, especially when room and board weren't included and there were no benefits.

Dore finished eating first and started running his mouth again. "What do you think that tree Lord Cooler's looking for looks like!!?"

"How would we know? Lord Cooler never explained!! He only said that this kind of tree could grow only on planets with life, and there were rumors it had appeared somewhere in this region!!" Salza replied helplessly. Had Dore trained his muscles right into his brain? If they'd seen the thing before, would they need to search so hard?

Huh? A tree that can only grow on planets with life?? Karochi furrowed his brow. What kind of tree? The only one I know is the Spirit Fruit Tree from the movie The Tree of Might.

The main villain in it was Turles, whose battle power was already over 25,000 when he first appeared! The most ridiculous part was that he was a low-class warrior. King Vegeta only had a battle power of 12,000.

The author probably meant to suggest that if Kakarot hadn't hit his head as a child, he would have ended up an evil bastard like Turles.

In that movie, Goku had a battle power of 30,000 and could initially hold Turles at bay! After Turles ate the fruit from the Spirit Fruit Tree, his battle power skyrocketed. He even overpowered Goku when Goku used the tenfold Kaio-ken. At that point, Turles's battle power must have been over 300,000. That was terrifying.

The movie's timeline was a mess. According to the official story, Goku only adapted to a hundred times Earth's gravity on his way to Namek, which was what allowed him to use the tenfold Kaio-ken. By then, his base battle power was already 90,000.

And the effects of the Spirit Fruit in the movie were incredibly powerful. Just two or three fruits took Turles from 25,000 to over 300,000. It was unbelievable.

However, Cooler had nothing to do with the movie, and it wasn't part of the official story! Karochi didn't believe that eating one of these fruits would increase Cooler's battle power by that much. If it really could, he wanted one too.

There was another tree on the planet of the elves he and Tights had accidentally stumbled upon when they went to Namek. A huge ancient tree on that planet radiated a powerful life force! But Planet of the Elves was far away in the North Galaxy, who knew how many light-years from here.

Seeing Salza and the others about to leave, Karochi stopped hiding and stepped out from behind a tree. With an innocent look, he asked, "Um, big brothers, could I ask what kind of tree your king sent you to look for?" His tone was perfectly natural.

Karochi's sudden appearance startled all three of them. They hadn't detected the slightest battle power! Every living being had some degree of battle power, but the Scouters hadn't reacted at all, even though he was so close. That made no sense!

"Who are you?" Salza asked. He didn't believe the other guy was really so weak that his Scouter would read zero! Just as he asked, Salza froze. A tail?? He was a Saiyan.

But that was impossible. Hadn't the Saiyans been wiped out!!? The only few who survived had fled to a low-level planet called Earth, while the rest were basically under Frieza's control.

"Captain, why waste your breath on him? Just kill him. He overheard our conversation." Dore had a short fuse, and he made no effort to hide his bloodthirsty expression! His power surged, and the powerful aura sent the trees around them swaying.

He had only just stood up when Salza stopped him with a sharp shout. "Stay there, Dore!!!" The other guy seemed to know about Lord Cooler, yet he still dared to show himself in front of them. He must have something up his sleeve.

"Captain...!" Dore glared at Salza, furious, but stayed where he was and obeyed his order. In the Armored Squadron, the captain's orders were absolute.

Salza didn't look at Dore again. Instead, he sized up Karochi. The other guy was definitely a Saiyan. "I never thought any Saiyans had survived by sheer luck!! What a surprise. I thought those few pathetic monkeys were the only ones who'd escaped their fate."

Salza wanted to provoke Karochi and test his strength. He was wary, but a Saiyan this young couldn't be that powerful!! The Saiyans weren't all that strong as a race. The only reason they'd survived for so long in the universe was their strange transformation ability, which made them ten times stronger as giant apes.

"Tsk~ Didn't your parents teach you to watch your language? What kind of manners are those!!" Karochi chided him. It seemed the Dragon Ball world lacked basic education in proper conduct.

"You've got quite the nerve!! Neiz, go knock him out. Then we'll take him to Lord Cooler." Seeing that the other guy wasn't making a move, Salza stopped waiting. What a joke. I should've just let Dore go up and kill him earlier. What was I even worried about?

What!? How was he acting cocky!! They could insult him, but he wasn't allowed to talk back? What a load of double standards.

The ugly-looking Neiz licked his lips with a grin. "Thanks, Captain. There aren't many fun prey around, especially after all that searching for that damn fruit tree got so tedious."

Dore was very unhappy. Karochi was his prey! But since Salza had already given the order, Dore couldn't object. He could only sulk.

"Little Saiyan, what a laugh. You actually came out here looking for death!!" Neiz didn't take Karochi seriously at all. Powerful electric currents surged all over his body.

[High-Voltage Current]

A current as thick as a barrel shot toward Karochi. In the eyes of the three men, Karochi seemed not to react at all. He didn't even try to dodge!!

Boom~!!

The current hit its target. Without a doubt! The enormous explosion and its force snapped all the trees around them, and even the ground nearby was scorched.

A huge cloud of dust obscured Karochi. The classic no-injury-if-there's-smoke trick.

"Neiz, didn't I tell you just to knock him out!! You hit him way too hard. We probably won't even be able to take his body back." Salza scolded him in displeasure.

But Neiz didn't respond. He stood there, completely motionless! It was strange; he was even still holding the pose he'd attacked in.

Neiz was panicking. He couldn't move, let alone speak or even open his mouth! Even though dust had gotten into his eyes, he couldn't blink.

Huh? Salza stared at Neiz, still frozen in his pose, and was utterly confused. "Neiz...!"

"Enough. Don't bother 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 grew alert.

How was this possible!! Neiz hadn't held back at all, yet the other guy was still alive. What was more, Neiz couldn't even answer him for some reason.

"Captain!!!" Dore shouted, but he didn't take his eyes off the smoke for a moment! He kept staring. The other guy was just too strange.

Salza didn't answer. He was just as focused, staring at the dust as it slowly cleared.

Before long, Karochi's figure emerged. He even yawned. "What's going on? I thought you guys would attack me. I waited for so long, and you turned out to be cowards."

Tsk, tsk, tsk~! You're not even as good as the Ginyu Force. Jeice and Burter knew they were outmatched, but they still dared to step up and take a shot at him.

"Brat, don't get cocky!!!" Dore had a short fuse, and when he was mocked by Karochi, he 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 was suspended in midair, frozen in place, even as he gathered strength in his fist and bared his teeth like a mad dog.

The sight left Salza stunned. What kind of strange ability was this!!? Were Neiz and Dore frozen in place like time had stopped??

"Who the hell are you?? What did you do to Dore and Neiz!!?" Salza asked, alert to the utmost.

This was too strange, far too strange!!

"Hm? Who am I? You already know, don't you! I'm a Saiyan." Karochi spoke as if it were obvious. And he wasn't wrong. The Armored Squadron had witnessed the destruction of Planet Vegeta. How could they not know he was a Saiyan?

"Bullshit!!!" Salza was so enraged that he broke into the Tiger King's trademark street slang. "How could a Saiyan have such a strange ability!!"

"Tsk~! You asked me, I answered, and you don't believe me. Then you insult me too. Honestly..." As he finished saying "honestly," Karochi had already appeared behind Salza. "You have no manners at all."