Nearly Fought Bardock, He Told Me Vegeta Fired Me

The room's general structure was much like the common Saiyan-style buildings on Planet Vegeta: rough alloy framing and thick blast-proof walls.

But the furnishings inside carried a completely different sense of life. This definitely was not Gou Kong's dormitory, nor was it a guest room in the palace.

An unfamiliar ceiling, unfamiliar furniture, even the fine dust drifting in the air all carried a scent that did not belong to him.

"Where is this?"

Gou Kong frowned tightly and sat up from the hard plank bed, propping up his somewhat heavy head.

The fragments of his memory were like wounds violently torn open, finally freezing on Beerus's half-lidded feline pupils and that world-destroying purple beam.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands. His skin was perfectly intact, without so much as a scar left behind.

Yet the terrible pain of his soul being crushed still lingered at the ends of his nerves, so real it sent a chill through him.

The urgent priority was figuring out the current situation.

He rolled out of bed, his bare feet stepping onto the cold floor as he tried to awaken his body's battle instincts.

Every step he took toward the door was filled with caution. His right hand unconsciously curled into an empty grip, ready at any moment to condense an energy blast.

The instant he gripped the doorknob, something changed abruptly. The doorknob turned from the other side at the same time!

Someone was outside!

Gou Kong's gaze sharpened. Almost by instinct, he retreated backward, his left arm sweeping across, and the 19,000 battle power he had restrained to the utmost instantly showed signs of erupting.

He did not care who it was. Before he figured out the situation, he absolutely could not let the other party seize the initiative!

Bang!

The door was pushed open from outside with considerable force.

Gou Kong had been ready. His sweeping arm used the force of the other party pushing the door and followed through in one motion. If it was an enemy, this strike would be enough to shatter their bones!

"Ah—!"

A short cry of alarm rang out, followed immediately by the clatter of a basket falling to the ground.

Gou Kong froze, then quickly restrained the energy that was about to leave his hand. He focused his eyes and saw that the person standing in the doorway, her face pale with fright from his move just now, was actually Gine!

"Gine?"

"Mr. Gou Kong! You... you scared me to death..."

Gine patted her high, full chest, her face showing the lingering fear of someone who had narrowly escaped disaster.

She bent down and hurriedly picked up the items that had rolled out of the basket: towels, high-energy water bottles, and several tubes of injections labeled "Special-Grade Nutrient Solution."

Seeing those things, Gou Kong's pupils suddenly contracted.

These were supplies for caring for the gravely wounded!

Who was injured?

And why was Gine here?

Countless questions exploded in his mind, but he forced down his impulse, crouched, and helped Gine clean up.

"Sorry, Gine. I was reckless." Gou Kong's voice was low as he picked up a nutrient solution that had rolled into the corner. "Who are these for?"

Gine had only just opened her mouth when a burst of urgent, heavy footsteps approached from afar, accompanied by a rough, low shout:

"Gine! What happened? Are you all right?"

Bang!

The door was shoved open roughly by Bardock. This Saiyan elite, usually silent and taciturn, now had a face full of killing intent. His gaze swept across the room like a blade, and the moment he saw Gou Kong, that murderous aura almost condensed into substance.

"Bardock?" Gou Kong stood up and met his gaze, warning bells blaring in his heart.

That was not the look one had during a sparring match on the training grounds. This was true life-and-death hostility!

Gine hurriedly stood and grabbed Bardock's arm, anxiously explaining, "It's nothing, Bardock. It was just a small misunderstanding with Mr. Gou Kong."

But Bardock was not buying it. He stared fixedly at Gou Kong and questioned in an icy tone, "Misunderstanding? Gine, did he attack you just now?"

"No, it wasn't like that!" Gine said anxiously. "Mr. Gou Kong just thought someone was breaking in. It was self-defense. Right, Mr. Gou Kong?"

Gou Kong took a deep breath, suppressed the shock and suspicion in his heart, and spread his hands to show he meant no harm. In a deep voice, he said, "Bardock, calm down. I just woke up, and I had no idea this was your home. The doorknob turned from both sides at once, so I thought an enemy was breaking in and reacted. If Gine was hurt, I apologize. But I absolutely didn't take the initiative to harm anyone."

"Self-defense?" Bardock gave a cold laugh and took a step forward, his powerful aura pressing down. "Even if that's true, your reaction went too far! If your judgment had been half a second slower, a non-combatant like Gine would already be dead! Is that battle power of over ten thousand meant for dealing with an unarmed woman?"

"Hey! Bardock, are you even being reasonable?" Gou Kong's temper rose as well. This dark-faced man was simply impossible. "I woke up in a completely unknown environment, someone outside the door tried to open it, and I condensed energy to stay on guard. What's wrong with that? If it were you, could you just sit there without moving? Besides, I held back in the end. You can't deny that, can you?"

Seeing the tension between the two grow stronger, Gine hurriedly tugged at Bardock and coaxed him gently, "All right, all right, Bardock, stop. Look, I'm perfectly fine, aren't I? Mr. Gou Kong didn't have any bad intentions either. We're all on the same side here. Don't start fighting the moment you meet."

Bardock glared fiercely at Gou Kong. In the end, Gine still pulled him back. He clenched his teeth and gave a snort through his nose, which counted as temporarily suppressing his anger.

Gou Kong also secretly let out a breath of relief.

In that instant just now, he had even sensed killing intent flash across Bardock's body.

That was definitely no joke. If they really fought in this cramped room, he might not necessarily come out ahead.

"Thanks, Gine." Gou Kong nodded to Gine, then turned his gaze to Bardock and asked the most crucial question. "Can you tell me now? Why am I here? Is this your home? I remember that at the end, I was still in the palace hall, facing Beerus. How long was I unconscious?"

Bardock and Gine exchanged a look, both seeming puzzled as to why Gou Kong even had to ask that.

Bardock shrugged and said in a complicated tone, "You're asking me? You slept for a whole month. If Prince Vegeta hadn't personally brought you to my house and told us to look after you, you'd probably have been hauled off as a corpse and buried by now."

"A month?"

Gou Kong felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his pupils suddenly contracting.

A month?

He had actually slept for a month under that beam of destruction?

How was that possible?

He clearly remembered only just closing his eyes, and the near-death hallucination was still vivid in his mind!

His body functions showed none of the weakness that came with prolonged sleep. Where had this month-long gap in time come from?

Could Beerus's destructive energy have interfered with the flow of time?

Or had his body subconsciously repaired the damage, causing a distortion in his perception?

"Why?" Gou Kong's voice was a little dry. "That attack from Beerus... I actually didn't die?"

Bardock shook his head. "You'll have to ask Prince Vegeta that. At the time, your whole body was charred black, and your aura was so weak it was almost impossible to detect. Everyone thought you were completely dead. It was the prince who carried you back and said to leave you in our care. The palace has better medical facilities, but he sent you to my house instead. That alone is strange."

Gou Kong's mind raced.

Prince Vegeta had sent him to Bardock's house?

That made no sense!

With that old fox King Vegeta's personality, he would either interrogate him personally in the palace or throw him away outright.

Sending him to Bardock's place either meant trust, or that there was some unspeakable purpose behind it.

"And," Gou Kong stared fixedly at Bardock and asked the most crucial question, enunciating every word, "when Prince Vegeta brought me here, did he say anything? Like why he wanted me left here?"

Bardock frowned, tapping his forearm twice against his chest as if recalling the details from that time.

A moment later, he raised his head and said something that made Gou Kong's mind go instantly blank:

"He did. The prince said you'd been driven out of the palace."

"What?"

Gou Kong felt a thunderclap explode beside his ears, and his whole body froze in place.

Driven out of the palace?

Those five words were like five bolts of lightning, striking him hard on the crown of his head!

He, Gou Kong, a royal guard at King Vegeta's side, a core member with a battle power over ten thousand, had actually been driven out of the palace?

How was that possible?

It was utterly absurd!

Was Bardock joking?

No. This cold-faced man would never amuse himself with something like this.

Had he heard wrong?

No. Every syllable had been terrifyingly clear.

Driven out of the palace...

That meant he had lost all status, position, and protection.

In Saiyan society, with its rigid hierarchy, being removed from the royal house was almost the same as being sentenced to death!

Even worse, Frieza's countdown to the planet's destruction had already begun!

"Why?" Gou Kong's voice trembled, filled with incredulous confusion. "Why would I be driven out? Just because I blocked Beerus's attack? Or because I saved Vegeta?"

Bardock spread his hands, indicating that he did not know the inside story either.

But the phrase "driven out of the palace" was like a massive stone smashing hard into the lake of Gou Kong's heart, stirring up a thousand waves.

It was over.

The original plan had been thrown completely into chaos.