Trouble Arrives!

Giant Forest Planet was rich in resources and enormous in size, making it the target of all kinds of forces in the universe, chief among them being space pirates. If not for the fact that Giant Forest Planet was protected by a group of trolls and a technologically advanced civilization, they would have acted long ago.

Merlin was actually from the technologically advanced civilization that had emerged from Giant Forest Planet, which was why he was willing to pay such a huge price to send an item tied to the survival of the entire planet back home.

If Li Ming had not appeared, Merlin had planned to gather a group of experts with battle powers of at least nine thousand before setting out, though the cost would have been extremely high.

After Li Ming reached an agreement with Kainsen aboard the spaceship, he had him carry out some special modifications. In the end, they really did create a gravity chamber.

They separated an independent space and turned it into a training room. At last, the problem of the gravity chamber was solved.

This time, he did not choose to rely on the Fruit of the Tree of Might. He wanted to try squeezing out the potential within his body!

By now, Li Ming had figured it out. Super Saiyan transformation was, in essence, an ability Saiyans developed to deal with external danger after exhausting their potential. He had eaten so many Fruits of the Tree of Might that, with his vitality overflowing, even if his potential were exhausted, it could quickly be replenished.

While this allowed his base strength to rise rapidly, it also left him in the awkward position of being unable to transform.

This might have been beneficial for his long-term development, but when facing Frieza right now, lacking strength still meant lacking confidence.

The entire gravity chamber was crimson. Babas and the others watched from outside the door, not daring to enter such a heavy-gravity environment. With their battle powers, they would probably die instantly.

"Wonderful! Lord Xilaka can actually withstand this level of gravity? It's simply unbelievable!" Kainsen came up behind the group with an instrument in hand. Since he had personally modified the gravity chamber, he naturally understood its effects very clearly.

The others only knew that the gravity inside the chamber differed from the outside world, but they had no idea of the specific difference. Only Kainsen knew that Li Ming had currently set the gravity to one hundred and fifty times!

"Mr. Kainsen, is my lord training right now?"

Babas asked. Their race had not been born this strong either; they needed postnatal training as well, so he understood some basic cultivation methods.

Kainsen nodded, but still said cautiously, "My lord's true strength is far beyond your imagination. It would not be convenient for me to tell you the details, but you'd best not ask too many questions either."

The group frowned, their expressions turning somewhat unpleasant. Those words did not sound particularly agreeable.

However, since it concerned their boss, they said nothing more. After all, the stronger Li Ming was, the more beneficial it was for them.

One after another, they left, leaving only Kainsen standing outside the gravity chamber with the instrument in hand, his face filled with fervor.

3.2 million!

That number practically blinded him. Since Kainsen could develop spaceships and gravity chambers, making a battle power detector was naturally no problem. However, the one in his hand was already the third; the first two had been directly destroyed by Li Ming's battle power.

What Kainsen found even more unbelievable was that Li Ming's battle power rose almost every day, increasing by an average of anywhere from several thousand to over ten thousand!

Such an insane rate of growth completely overturned his understanding. Even the genius technological civilizations of the universe could not comprehend such a thing.

Buzz!

Crack!

The gravity chamber door slowly opened, and Li Ming walked out. The energy leaking from his body began to spread, and in an instant, the entire spaceship was filled with an indescribably terrifying pressure!

That was merely the aura leaking from him. Sweat ran down Li Ming's muscular body as he headed straight for the bathroom.

"Lord Xilaka, please wait." Kainsen seemed to have something to say and called out to stop Li Ming.

Li Ming turned around and asked, "What is it?"

"We've already approached Giant Forest Planet. Based on Mr. Merlin's and your speculation, everyone who previously escorted it disappeared nearby. I'm worried we may encounter some unexpected trouble, so I wanted to ask what you think."

Kainsen had considered everything thoroughly. Or rather, he had seen hope for his civilization's salvation in Li Ming, so he did not want this mission to fail. Failure would mean all their previous efforts had been wasted.

Li Ming turned away directly and said without looking back, "Unless Frieza comes in person, there won't be any surprises in this mission."

"...Yes!"

At that moment, Kainsen felt his blood boil—not only because of Li Ming's domineering words, but because his long-cherished wish finally had hope of being fulfilled!

As a technological civilization, the Kefida Civilization's understanding had long reached the cosmic level. They knew very well the cruel rules of the universe: the weak depended on the strong.

What did it matter how advanced their technology was? Without the protection of a strong person, they would ultimately be unable to escape the fate of enslavement.

The most important reason Frieza had not destroyed their civilization was because it still had value. But they had also lost their freedom. Every Kofian was even traded like merchandise. That was how he had ended up in Merlin's hands.

Because of their technological talent, every Kofian commanded a considerable price.

An entire civilization had been treated as merchandise and placed on shelves. How tragic was that?

"Whew..." Walking out of the bathroom, Li Ming let out a long breath. Although the gravity chamber environment was unpleasant, it had improved his strength in the end, and that was enough.

The strength of Saiyan transformations could be developed, but once one reached Super Saiyan 2, that was basically the limit: a standard one-hundredfold increase in normal battle power.

As for continuing to develop Super Saiyan 3, Li Ming did not think much of that flawed form.

In the end, these were merely methods of forcibly raising battle power through transformation. Everything was built upon one's base battle power. If one's normal battle power could reach Frieza's level of over one hundred million, then simply becoming a Super Saiyan would probably be enough to rival Super Saiyan 3's battle power!

That was probably why Old Kai always said that Goku and the others had taken the wrong path. Transformations were ultimately only a last resort, not the proper path.

But it was also a helpless choice. Li Ming actually admired Goku and the others for developing their battle powers to such a degree despite their limited potential.

Even he himself, without the Fruit of the Tree of Might, could not have kept his rate of growth at its peak.

The life of an ordinary Saiyan was simple: fight, eat, fight...

Li Ming and Goku's lives were slightly more varied: train, eat, fight...

The difference might have seemed small, but the addition of training made the significance entirely different.

After training, Li Ming instinctively picked up a Fruit of the Tree of Might before heading toward the cockpit.

Kainsen's words had indeed caught his attention, but Li Ming did not take the difficulty of this mission to heart at all. What he truly cared about was helping the Kefida Civilization.

If possible, he naturally wanted to reach the strength of a Super Saiyan before facing Frieza, but whether there was still enough time was another question.

The vital energy within his body was simply too abundant. Over the past year, he had eaten at least a thousand mature Fruits of the Tree of Might!

It was difficult to calculate exactly how much vital energy that amounted to, but it had definitely exceeded the limits of ordinary lifeforms!

Even extremely intense training would make it hard to consume it all, unless Li Ming chose to beat himself into a severely injured, near-death state at a time like this. That would cause more than half of the vital energy in his body to drain away directly.

But that would be far too wasteful, and it would also greatly hinder the improvement of his foundational strength. Becoming a Super Saiyan was only a short-term goal; in the long run, increasing his base strength was what mattered.

"Boss, you're here?" Seeing Li Ming, Kulunxi took the initiative to wave at him with a smile.

Li Ming nodded as well. He subconsciously raised a Fruit of the Tree of Might to his mouth, then, after hesitating for a moment, handed it to Kulunxi. "Where are the others?"

"Ahh!" Without thinking much about it, Kulunxi took it and began eating it. Then she explained, "Captain Babas said you were very busy, Boss, but someone had to keep watch here. So a few of us have been taking turns guarding this place, just in case something happens and we don't react in time."

"Mm. No problems?"

"No. We've been traveling for two months now, and the journey's been pretty quiet."

Kainsen seemed to be adjusting the spaceship's performance, so he did not come over. His hands continued flying across the ship's control console.

Li Ming looked through the protective shield at the front of the spaceship, as though he could see a scene far beyond the distant cosmos. His expression darkened as he said, "Get them all over here. Trouble's coming."

"Alright." Kulunxi's relaxed expression vanished as she headed straight toward the rear of the spaceship.

They had originally been mercenaries, drifting through the universe for years. The fact that they had survived until now meant they were no rookies.