This Medicine Cannot Be Stopped!

"D-Don't attack!"

"We're Galactic Patrol! We serve under the Galactic King! We're not here to hunt you down!"

More than a hundred aliens disembarked from a large spaceship. The strongest ki Li Ming had sensed from the start was here; running into Turles on the way had merely been an accident.

An alien whose eyes looked like two halves of a salted egg stepped down. The other aliens looked much the same, likely wearing some sort of equipment.

"P-Please stop. I'm Kuri of the Galactic Patrol. The Galactic King sent us here to negotiate with you."

Li Ming walked over, glanced around, and confirmed that the strongest ki was indeed here—though it was inside the spaceship.

"The Galactic King?"

The leading Kuri was clearly nervous. Trembling, he replied, "Y-Yes."

His gaze swept around with a hint of danger in it. Folding his arms, Li Ming continued, "Why isn't the Galactic King going after Frieza? What does he want with me?"

"Of course, he wants to join forces with you against Frieza. As a Saiyan, I'm sure you dislike the Frieza race as well." Kuri's hands fidgeted anxiously, as if he were deliberately stalling for time.

"You want to cooperate with me? What do I get out of it?"

"This..."

Pfft!

A ki blast shot from Li Ming's fingertip and instantly pierced through Kuri's forehead. His expression did not change in the slightest throughout. The lie had been far too obvious.

More importantly, that abnormally powerful ki hidden in the shadows was no longer inside the spaceship!

Turning to look into the distance, he said indifferently, "Come out. I'm giving you one last chance."

From a corner concealed by boulders, an alien similar to Kuri walked out. However, he was dressed more formally and was likely the leader of this group of Galactic Patrol officers.

"As expected, Saiyans are a brutal race. The great Galactic King will never allow you to run rampant!"

"Are those your last words?" Li Ming had already lost interest after hearing that first sentence. His figure flashed behind the alien in an instant, and he said softly, "You can die now."

"Damn it! Don't underestimate me!"

Buzz!

According to Li Ming's senses, this guy—whether he was truly Galactic Patrol or not—had a power level exceeding ten thousand. A ki blast instantly condensed in his palm and shot straight at Li Ming.

Slap! Crack!

Li Ming grabbed his arm and pulled hard! In the next moment, the entire limb bent at a ninety-degree angle!

Before he could even scream, the ki blast in his hand went out of control and struck his own stomach. A bloody hole appeared. He staggered back several steps, collapsed to the ground, and died.

Li Ming did not spare him another glance. Instead, he headed directly toward the spaceship. The aliens who had come down with them had already fled in panic. Li Ming did not chase them and simply let them go.

After making his way through the ship, he followed the ki to the control room. Several aliens responsible for piloting the ship were already huddled together in a corner.

He casually pulled over a chair and sat down, crooking a finger as he said, "All right. Who can tell me who you really are and what your objective is? My patience is limited. You have three minutes."

An ordinary cosmic force could not possibly produce such a massive spaceship. Even Frieza's standard-issue ships were probably smaller than this one and less sophisticated.

If there were no powerful figure backing them, Li Ming would never believe it. As for whether that figure was truly the Galactic King, that remained to be seen.

A sharp-eyed alien scrambled over, then threw himself flat on the floor. "M-My lord, we really are Galactic Patrol under the Galactic King! Please spare us!"

"So the Galactic King wants me dead?" Li Ming tapped the armrest with his fingertip and frowned. "Does he think I'm easier to deal with than Frieza? Or is even he afraid of Frieza?"

"Th-This... urgh."

A beam of light instantly killed him. Li Ming looked at the aliens huddled together and said, "Next. Cut the nonsense. I'm not interested in hearing it."

"Y-Yes!" Another alien answered while trembling all over. "I know! The G-Galactic King sent Lord Kebi to assassinate you! Because Frieza promised him five planets as payment!"

Kebi was probably the one with a power level above ten thousand, and also the strongest among this group of Galactic Patrol officers.

One of the Galactic Patrol officers hurriedly tried to stop him. "Jaco, are you insane!? The great Galactic King will never let you off!"

Pfft!

A ki blast ended his life the next moment. Li Ming looked at the salted-egg-looking alien before him. So this was Jaco?

He waved a hand. "Keep talking. Tell me everything you know."

Jaco could no longer worry about anything else. Gritting his teeth, he spilled everything he knew. "The Galactic King and Frieza are partners. Frieza attacks planets, wipes out the intelligent life on them, then sells the planets to other buyers willing to pay high prices. But everyone fears Frieza's power, so no one is willing to trade with him directly. That's why he needs a middleman, and the Galactic King handles things between both sides..."

"Moving goods from one hand to the other. Frieza enjoys the thrill of conquest, but he also needs this middleman, which ends up keeping the Galactic King quite safe? Heh."

No matter how cruel the rules of the universe were, they ultimately came down to profit. As long as there was demand, anything had value for trade, and a market would gradually form.

The Galactic King's true role throughout the universe was that of its largest middleman. Everyone knew he profited from it, yet whether they were planets invaded by Frieza or powerful beings like Frieza who invaded other planets, they all needed the Galactic King to exist.

Because only with the Galactic King did everything they did have value!

Li Ming finally understood why the Galactic King had been foolish enough to send people after him. A merchant would stop at nothing when there was profit to be made. It was as simple as that.

After pondering for a moment, Li Ming stood and prepared to leave. Then he suddenly said, "When you return, tell the Galactic King this: this is the first time, but I hope it will also be the last."

It sounded like a warning, but it would most likely be ignored. On one hand, Li Ming did not yet possess the strength to influence the entire universe's situation. On the other, everything the Galactic King did was beyond his own control.

This was the universe's greatest marketplace, where everything was determined by demand and value!

"Yes!"

Jaco immediately straightened up and watched Li Ming leave. Perhaps he never would have imagined that his survival from such a catastrophe was also thanks to the help he had given Li Ming in leaving Earth.

The spaceship Dr. Brief had built for Li Ming had drawn on Jaco's spacecraft technology, and that cosmic star map, though it had caused Li Ming no small amount of suffering, still owed some credit to Jaco.

Li Ming distinguished clearly between grudges and gratitude. He still had that bare minimum of principle.

Over the next few hours, Li Ming destroyed every spaceship that had landed on the planet, ensuring that everyone was trapped on that dead world. Only the Galactic Patrol spaceship was allowed to leave.

Rumble!

In the end, a violent ki blast shattered the entire dead planet! Along with it, several hundred aliens were buried forever in space. This was also to ensure that no fish slipped through the net.

These spacefaring races were all extremely tenacious. There might well be some capable of surviving in the vacuum of space.

Even though he had done his best to hide his tracks this time, he had still been found. This made Li Ming realize a serious problem: he could no longer return to Earth!

Frieza's bounty was still active. Once his whereabouts were traced, countless aliens would swarm in like bees to honey. By then, never mind Frieza—even these people alone would be more than enough to give Earth hell.

He did not even need to reveal an exact route. The slightest clue would quickly draw attention. Under these circumstances, returning to Earth was no longer an option.

Li Ming found Stet and directly ordered, "Stet, change course. We're going to Yardrat."

"Yes—huh? Um, sir... where is Yardrat?"

"...You don't know?" Li Ming frowned. By all rights, the Yardratians should have been one of the more famous races in the universe.

Just like how the Namekians did not actively appear in the wider universe, yet Vegeta had still recognized Piccolo as a Namekian the first time he saw him.

Stet glanced at Li Ming and hesitated. When Li Ming shot him a glare, he hurriedly said with great care, "Th-this... Yardrat is a mysterious planet. Its whereabouts are uncertain. I have heard of it, but I don't know its exact location."

Li Ming realized the issue as well and immediately made a decision. "Then we'll return to Namek."

"Yes!"

What did you do if you did not know the way? Ask Shenron!

It was also the perfect time to make a wish. The Fruit of the Tree of Might was no longer enough to eat—he could not afford to run out of this medicine!