Hearing the Tuffle say that, Gaino addressed all the Saiyans. "Since this is our first time on this planet, we should follow their rules, right?"
"Yes, yes, we should follow the rules."
The Saiyans all chimed in at once.
Gaino turned to the man. "Please lead the way. May I ask your name?"
"Oh, me? I'm Iso. Just call me Iso!"
"Iso. That's a good name. So, Iso, just how many Tuffles are there?"
"We Tuffles are renowned for our technology, but we have almost no fighting power. That's why Space Pirates often attack us, and our population has dwindled as a result."
"We kept moving from planet to planet. It wasn't until we came to the North Galaxy that we enjoyed a few peaceful years. But strangely, even without any attacks from Space Pirates, our numbers kept falling. It's baffling. There are only a few thousand of us left now."
"Do all of you know science and technology?"
"Of course. We Tuffles start receiving a scientific education as soon as we're born, and continue until we reach adulthood. So everyone on Planet Tuffle knows science and technology, though some know more than others."
"Is Dr. Lychee the most knowledgeable scientist on Planet Tuffle?" Gaino asked.
"No. The Tuffle with the greatest knowledge of science and technology is Dr. Lychee's older brother, Laika. He's the most brilliant scientist on our planet."
"Dr. Lychee is only in second place. But Dr. Laika hasn't appeared in years. I don't know where he went."
At that, Gaino felt a stir in his heart. He hadn't expected there to be another top scientist. So his instincts had been right—there was another ki signature on this planet, inside Dr. Lychee's laboratory.
"Laiya, I need you to do something."
Gaino went over to Laiya and whispered something to her. She nodded, then vanished.
Iso was startled. A person had disappeared into thin air, leaving even those of them who understood science dumbfounded.
"Where did that person go?" Iso asked.
"Oh, you mean her? She had something to take care of. Let's hurry and eat—we're exhausted from the journey and starving."
"All right, follow me," Iso said.
When they arrived at the dining area, they saw a ten-meter-long, five-meter-wide table piled high with food. Saiyans really were both voracious eaters and fighters. Many of them couldn't help swallowing at the sight.
"This is all for you," Iso said. "Please, help yourselves!"
"Sorry for the trouble, Iso."
"It's no trouble. It's only right. Go ahead and eat!"
Everyone looked to Gaino. Ever since he'd saved them, his image had been burned into their hearts. Without even realizing it, they had begun to see him as the new king of the Saiyans.
Seeing everyone staring at him, Gaino hurriedly said, "Why are you looking at me? Dig in! It'd be a waste not to eat all this delicious food. Eat your fill!"
Once Gaino gave the word, everyone pounced on the table like a pack of starving wolves, grabbing food with their hands.
Seeing how savagely they ate, Iso couldn't help turning his head away.
Noticing Iso's expression, Gaino said, "Everyone's famished. Don't take it to heart."
"It's all right. I understand. It looks like you haven't eaten in days."
"That's right. If you Tuffles hadn't taken us in, we'd still be drifting through space."
"Ah, we've all had it rough."
"Go ahead and eat. I'll get you some more food. I don't think this will be enough."
"Sorry for the trouble," Gaino said to Iso.
"No need to be so formal. We're family now."
With that, Iso left.
Looks like Iso still doesn't know about Dr. Lychee's ambitions.
Just then, Bum came over to Gaino with a huge chicken leg stuffed in his mouth. "Gaino, is it time? Can we pretend to faint now?"
"Dad, don't rush. Keep eating. We can't put on a convincing act on an empty stomach, can we?"
"Right, right, right. Heh heh. Eat!" He grabbed a whole roasted pig and started gnawing on it.
A little while later, Iso returned and had the cook bring out another table full of food. "You keep eating. I'll go get Dr. Lychee," he told Gaino.
"All right, go ahead."
As Iso left, Laiya returned and said to Gaino, "Brother Gaino, you were right. There's someone in Dr. Lychee's laboratory. He must be Dr. Laika, his older brother."
"He's being held prisoner in the laboratory."
Gaino sensed someone approaching from a kilometer away. "Laiya, go rescue Dr. Laika. Dr. Lychee is almost here, so you can use this chance to get him out."
"Got it. I'm going now." Laiya flashed out of sight.
Gaino addressed everyone. "All right, you've eaten enough. It's time for the show. Everyone, fall down. Remember, act as if you've been drugged."
Everyone toppled to the ground, and Gaino did too.
A short while later, Dr. Lychee arrived.
Seeing everyone lying on the ground, Iso turned to Dr. Lychee. "They were fine when I left. How did they all end up on the ground? I'll go see what happened."
"No need. I used a drug to knock them all out. How could they possibly get back up?"
"What? You drugged them? When? Wait, why did you drug them?"
"That's none of your concern. Tsula, take them all to my laboratory."
"Your laboratory? Dr. Lychee, are you experimenting on living people? Dr. Laika said you couldn't use living people for experiments!"
"What do you know? This is a scientific sacrifice. You need specimens to conduct experiments, don't you? How else could I succeed?"
"Enough talk, Iso. If you weren't my brother's assistant, I'd have turned you into a living specimen long ago."
"What? Does that mean it was your experiments on living people that caused the Tuffle population to decline?"
Dr. Lychee said, "It's their honor to give their lives for science. You should be proud of them."
"You madman! You're going to drive us Tuffles to extinction! Don't you understand, Dr. Lychee?"
"Iso's right. You really are a monster. You dared to prey on your own people for the sake of your ambitions. That's unforgivable."
"How is this possible? How did you wake up so quickly? My drug was strong enough to put a dinosaur to sleep for seven days."
"You think that little drug could knock me out? Keep dreaming," Gaino said.
"Then why did you collapse?"
"How else was I supposed to catch you in the act? You actually planned to experiment on us Saiyans. You have no idea how terrifying Saiyans can be, do you?"