The Galaxy King

"Lord Slug, th-that Saiyan has caught up with us again!"

Bang!

He turned and knocked the alien behind him to the ground. Slug, who had regained his youth, glared furiously at the display before him. With the entire spaceship disguised as a meteorite, accurately locating him in space should not have been easy.

At first, Slug could not figure out how Li Ming had locked onto his location, so he could only flee the starfield where he had originally been.

After all, he was a Namekian, and Slug was highly intelligent. He immediately realized what was happening.

His eyes widened as he gritted his teeth. "The Dragon Balls!"

He had used the power of the Dragon Balls to escape from Li Ming's grasp. He had intended to regroup before dealing with Li Ming again, but he had not expected Li Ming to come looking for him instead.

Li Ming's strength had increased too much. Combined with that peculiar destructive energy, it had rendered Slug's incredible regenerative ability useless, leaving Slug unwilling to recklessly fight Li Ming to the death.

"Contact Frieza. Tell him the Saiyan he wants has been found!"

"Y-Yes!" A Demon Clan member hurried out.

Rather than improving, Slug's expression turned even uglier. He was not particularly afraid of Frieza, but in the end, one mountain could not hold two tigers. This region of space could only have one overlord. As the weaker side, he had little say in the matter.

Moreover, he knew Frieza's temperament well. Even if he bought a planet from Frieza, Frieza would eventually invade it. Frieza's goal had never been to profit from selling planets; he simply enjoyed the thrill of conquest.

Slug had a large number of Demon Clan subordinates, so they could not keep drifting through space forever. They needed resources and planets as well.

In the original story, he had invaded Earth because it was located on the edge of the Milky Way and lay outside Frieza's sphere of rule.

The alien soon returned and said to Slug, "Lord Slug, Frieza says he thanks you for your help."

Slug frowned. "He didn't say anything else?"

"No."

"Hmph!" Slug snorted and walked toward his throne. After turning and sitting down, he said, "That old fox won't even give me a single planet? He's determined to drive me out of this region of space."

The aliens below did not dare utter a word. Slug's temperament was just as unpredictable. He would lash out at the slightest displeasure, let alone now, when he was in a towering rage.

Boom!

At that moment, the spaceship shook violently, as though it had been attacked.

"Lord Slug, a powerful explosion has destroyed the outer meteorite shielding. I-if it happens again, we may not be able to hold out!" Another alien ran over in a panic.

Slug's gaze sharpened at those words. "He's caught up? Find a planet and land. I'll go meet him."

"Yes!"

Sound could not travel through space, but light could. Li Ming used Instant Transmission to appear behind Slug's spaceship, then fired a ki blast that forced it to make an emergency landing.

He then used Instant Transmission to return to his own ship. He had considered simply destroying Slug's spaceship and leaving him to die in space, but that was not so easy in practice.

First, there was his own problem. Saiyans could not survive in space for long, which was a major issue. In a vacuum, it would even be difficult to unleash his full strength. No matter how strong he was, he still needed physical stamina to release powerful ki.

Namekians, on the other hand, had powerful regenerative abilities and could even synthesize the oxygen they needed to survive. If he destroyed the ship, Li Ming would instead not dare confront Slug head-on. Every advantage he had would vanish, and he might even end up being the one hunted down.

"Phew." Taking a deep breath, Li Ming casually picked up a glass of water and drank it. Then he asked Stet, "Stet, how much supply does the ship have left?"

Stet walked over from the cockpit and bowed. "My lord, conservatively speaking, there is enough for one month."

Li Ming frowned slightly. "Why is there only one month left? Didn't we restock on Namek?"

"Th-this... Namek only had water. You left in such a hurry at the time that there was no chance to look for food. I thought you were in a rush, so I launched the ship right away."

He had forgotten about that. Namek only had water—that was indeed true. Those trees did not look like the kind that bore fruit, and although the oceans covered a vast area, there was hardly any marine life.

It was also the environment best suited to Namekians, because they only needed water to survive!

Their bodies possessed a function similar to plant photosynthesis, so Namekians could survive as long as they had sufficient water and sunlight.

"Wait, you said conservatively speaking? Does that mean it might not even last a month?"

Stet waved his hands repeatedly. "It's mainly because of your food consumption. I'm not saying you eat a lot, it's just... this..."

Li Ming waved a hand, cutting off Stet's next words. "All right, I know what you mean. Are there any planets nearby where we can resupply?"

"The nearest supply planet is a planet under the Galactic King's command. It will take about a week to get there."

"It takes that long?"

Li Ming was not satisfied with that answer. A week was only the time needed to get there, which meant the round trip would take at least half a month. By then, Slug would have long since vanished.

But if he did not solve the food problem, that would also become a major issue. One Senzu Bean could keep a person from feeling hungry for ten days, but that was for ordinary people. Could a Saiyan be considered an ordinary person?

Besides, those things could not replenish the nutrients the body needed at all. Eating them as meals would probably affect his combat strength. It was not a viable option.

After weighing the pros and cons, Li Ming immediately made his decision and ordered, "Abandon the pursuit. Head for that supply planet."

"Yes."

The spaceship immediately changed course and departed. Because they were so far away, Slug knew nothing of this. He remained on a planet, waiting for Li Ming to arrive and preparing to fight with all his strength.

It was not until a day later, when Slug realized he had been played, that he blew up the planet and flew his spaceship across the universe in search of Li Ming. He wanted revenge!

On the other side, after arriving at the supply planet, Li Ming received a grand reception. The person in charge of receiving him was an old acquaintance, Jaco, which surprised Li Ming.

"My lord, the supplies you requested have been prepared. The Galactic King asked me to receive you. Lunch has also been prepared. Please follow me."

"...Mm." He had intended to refuse, but Jaco was simply too enthusiastic. Tempted by the food as well, Li Ming followed him over.

He had originally planned to resupply, then use the Galactic Patrol to locate Slug and continue the pursuit. As the organization nominally responsible for maintaining peace in the galaxy, the Galactic Patrol's intelligence network was unquestionably the most comprehensive.

If Frieza himself had not been so overwhelmingly powerful, his foundation and technology might not necessarily have surpassed those of the Galactic Patrol.

After wolfing down a meal, Li Ming finally filled his stomach and began asking Jaco about a few things. Since that old fox, the Galactic King, had arranged this, it meant he had either abandoned his cooperation with Frieza or had some deeper scheme in mind.

"Yardrat? I can pull that from the Galactic Patrol's internal records. I'll send you the coordinates shortly." Jaco immediately turned to retrieve the information.

Li Ming spoke again at that moment. "Mm, thank you. Also, can you find Slug's current location?"

Jaco turned and ran back upon hearing that. As if he had come prepared, he handed Li Ming a small device and explained, "This contains intelligence on Slug and Frieza's locations. It's only an approximate area, but it's highly accurate."

"You came prepared?"

"Th-this... the Galactic King knows you're hunting Slug, so he hoped to offer you some assistance. He doesn't have any ulterior motives!"

After sending Jaco away, Li Ming fiddled with the locator in his hand. The Galactic King's change in attitude had puzzled him, but now everything made sense.

The Galactic King feared Frieza's strength. He did not even dare offend Slug. None of these overlords of the universe were easy to deal with.

Li Ming was dangerous as well, but before this, hardly anyone had known about him. That was why the Galactic King had previously reached an agreement with Frieza. Trading one Saiyan for five planets was an extremely worthwhile deal.

But things were completely different now. Li Ming had hunted Slug for so long; with the Galactic Patrol's intelligence network spread throughout the universe, how could they possibly have failed to notice?

That intelligence was the key to the Galactic King's change in attitude!

He naturally did not dare offend a monster capable of hunting Slug. He even wished Li Ming would go cause trouble for Frieza—preferably kill Frieza. Only then could he sit securely on his throne as King of the Galaxy.