Fruit of the Tree of Might!

After dealing with the Ginyu Force, Frieza's forces were temporarily left with no one to use. Li Ming was somewhat relieved as well.

Until he was absolutely certain, he had no intention of confronting Frieza head-on. The risk was simply too great.

"Whew..."

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Li Ming, who had been training, heard the knocking. He shut down the gravity chamber and stepped outside, finding Stet standing there with an anxious look on his face.

"My lord, I detected unusual energy fluctuations coming from a planet ahead of us. Should we avoid it?"

"Can you determine how dangerous it is?" Li Ming frowned. Unexpected incidents were normal when traveling through space, but it was best to avoid unnecessary trouble whenever possible.

"Th-this... Please spare me, my lord! I'll investigate immediately!"

Seeing Li Ming frown, Stet hurriedly dropped to the floor and said in a trembling voice.

Li Ming had slaughtered even the Ginyu Force. In Stet's eyes, Li Ming was practically no different from Frieza—both were terrifying beings who absolutely could not be defied!

"What are you doing? Go investigate, then come back and tell me what you find."

"Yes! I'll go right away!"

Stet hurried off as if fleeing for his life, afraid that Li Ming would kill him if he moved too slowly. That was how things had been under Frieza as well. Once those above them became unhappy, their lives and deaths were decided on a whim.

Li Ming paid it no mind and prepared to replenish his strength. Berserk Transformation consumed the energy normally stored within his body, so it would further stimulate a Saiyan's appetite for a short period.

This method was actually quite similar to Great Ape Transformation, though the differences were obvious. One drained and squeezed out physical strength, sacrificed agility, added the weakness of a tail, and could even cause one to lose their reason.

Berserk Transformation did not have so many drawbacks. As long as he did not release too much energy at once, there would be no backlash. Li Ming also intended to further develop this technique, along with Frenzied Thunder Flash. These were his core techniques, and he had to refine them as soon as possible.

The spaceship traveled for another week and passed by the planet Stet had mentioned.

"Are you sure there's no danger?"

"M-my lord, there are no beings on this planet with a battle power exceeding one hundred, so it should be safe." Stet truly was a scientific talent, especially when it came to modifying mechanical equipment.

After his modifications, the scouter could now function as a radar and effectively avoid danger in space.

Li Ming nodded and stood by the spaceship's window, looking down at the outside world. For some reason, the closer they got to that planet, the more uneasy he felt.

The planet's outline gradually came into view. It was far larger than Earth, yet its surface was covered in vast yellow patches. This planet was decaying.

A normal planet capable of nurturing life should not have been in this state.

"My lord, th-that thing!?" Stet noticed the abnormality on the planet's surface and asked in a trembling voice.

"Hm?" Li Ming's battle power was greater, so naturally he saw more clearly. He immediately spotted the direction Stet was pointing in and said in surprise, "A tree? But... it's far too huge, isn't it?"

He had seen towering trees before. In this world, a tree requiring more than ten people to encircle it could only be considered rare. But this gigantic tree, visible at a glance from space, stood in stark contrast to the desolation of the entire planet and was naturally even more conspicuous.

"Wait, could this be... Stet, bring the spaceship down for a closer look."

"Yes!"

Stet did not dare delay after hearing this. It was the first time he had seen Li Ming so anxious. Even when facing Frieza's subordinates, Li Ming had always looked completely confident. This was the only exception.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Stet did not dare hesitate and guided the spaceship down onto the desolate planet.

Half an hour later, Li Ming arrived before the giant tree. The dazzling red fruits hanging from it brought an excited expression to his face. He was finally completely certain that these fruits were identical to the Fruit of the Tree of Might from his memories!

"They really are Fruit of the Tree of Might. Has no one discovered them?"

Before arriving, Li Ming had sensed that there were almost no powerful beings on the entire planet. Logically, someone must have planted the Tree of Might. This thing needed seeds; it could not naturally grow on its own.

After all, it survived by absorbing the life energy of an entire planet. It was impossible that this planet had wanted to kill itself and created such a thing, right?

Whoosh!

An energy blast suddenly came flying at him. Li Ming's gaze sharpened, and he raised a hand to knock it away.

Looking into the distance, he saw a dark-skinned alien who appeared to be a native of this planet. He had antennae similar to those of a Namekian, though they were a different color.

"Who are you? Get away from the sacred tree!"

"Sacred tree?" Li Ming found it somewhat laughable. For a planet, calling this thing a tree of death would not have been an exaggeration. Yet it was actually worshipped as a sacred tree?

"That's right. The sacred tree belongs to us!"

With that, the alien prepared to use force to drive Li Ming away and slowly approached him. Li Ming even sensed several more energies approaching in the distance, each around one hundred battle power. This showed that this planet's gravity and environment were slightly stronger than Earth's.

At the very least, without martial arts and the Dragon Balls, it would have been almost impossible for anyone on Earth to exceed one hundred battle power.

"Looks like reason won't work. In that case, I can only..."

Li Ming did not waste any more words. A man might be innocent, yet possess a treasure and invite disaster. This thing was a hot potato, and he would not simply leave because of a few words.

Just a few minutes later, all the natives were lying on the ground. Li Ming was in no hurry to pick the Fruit of the Tree of Might. It would not disappear just sitting there.

"Damn it!"

Li Ming stepped on the first native who had attacked him and said, "If you don't want to die, answer my questions honestly. Where did this tree come from?"

"You'll never get any information about the sacred tree from me, you demon!"

Li Ming did not respond. He raised a finger, and a native in the distance exploded on the spot!

"Last chance."

"You! Stop..."

The native looked up at Li Ming in fury, but Li Ming did not give him the chance to say another word. The next moment, the remaining natives were killed one after another. If this planet did not have Dragon Balls, they would likely be reporting to the underworld directly.

Li Ming killed every other native without saying another unnecessary word from beginning to end.

Whether these aliens were good or evil aside, the fact that they were not of his kind was enough reason for him not to leave any survivors.

This was the law of the universe: cruel and real. Since he lacked both the right and the strength to offer mercy, he could only abide by it.

"Next time, it'll be the entire planet. Can you answer my question now?"

"The sacred tree is a gift from God. Half a year ago, God descended upon our world. He told us that we had to wait for the sacred tree to bear fruit, or he would send divine punishment and destroy our world. We had no choice but to obey his orders and guard the sacred tree until..."

"Until today? What did this god look like?"

This was a planet still in its primitive age. It had merely been deceived by an alien. Their instincts as living beings had made them submit before absolute power.

A being with battle power above one thousand could easily conquer a planet like this, so Li Ming could not judge how strong the god they spoke of was.

"Everyone who saw God died."

The native collapsed despondently onto the ground, seemingly having given up struggling. In truth, the flame of his life was already very faint. From the moment the Tree of Might took root, the entire planet had been gradually heading toward destruction.

Li Ming fell silent at the sight. It was not that he felt any sympathy; he simply found the people of this planet tragic. They had been doomed to perish from the very beginning, yet they lacked even the courage or strength to resist and could not see even a shred of hope.

He let the native go and flew toward the top of the Tree of Might, eventually arriving beneath a cluster of red fruits.

Li Ming picked one Fruit of the Tree of Might and ate it. He could clearly feel the changes in himself, as though his previously shackled energy was rising at a visible rate!

He then ate a second, third, and fourth fruit, stopping only after the tenth. It was not because he could not eat more. For a Saiyan, this much was not even enough to fill his stomach.

"Is it no longer working?"

In truth, from the third fruit onward, the Fruit of the Tree of Might had almost stopped increasing his strength. It still had a faint effect, but it was negligible.

By the tenth fruit, he could no longer sense any change at all. Instead, a soothing sensation like being immersed in a hot spring washed over his entire body.

Then, Li Ming picked several hundred ripe Fruit of the Tree of Might. After hesitating for a moment, he destroyed the entire Tree of Might with a single strike. The towering tree transformed into pure life energy and returned to the planet, while patches of green gradually spread across its surface.

Following the principle that less trouble was better, Li Ming did not want to investigate who had planted this tree. He took the benefits and left immediately.