Vegeta instead took the lead, leaving Dodoria's bulky figure half a step behind.
Nappa breathed heavily, while Raditz followed beside him without a word.
Three Saiyans and Dodoria made for a group that drew plenty of sideways glances in the passage.
At the end of the passage, the command room's alloy door was already half open.
Dodoria stopped at the entrance.
He stepped sideways, blocking Nappa and Raditz's path.
"King Frieza only summoned Vegeta."
"Everyone else, stand by here."
Nappa and Raditz stopped dead.
Nappa's face instantly turned purple.
He had already taken a step forward when Raditz grabbed his arm from behind and yanked him back.
Both of them felt a little awkward.
Dodoria couldn't even be bothered to look back.
The alloy door closed behind him, separating the two Saiyans from the command room as though they were in different worlds.
Nappa shook off Raditz's hand.
"Damn it..."
Raditz rubbed his aching wrist but said nothing. He leaned against the corridor wall.
Inside the command room.
Holographic projections covered the entire wall.
Streams of data scrolled silently through the air: military deployments across the various star regions, commercial routes, resource reserves... The Frieza Force's reach extended to every corner of the North Galaxy.
Frieza sat upright in his hovering chair.
Zarbon stood half a step to his right.
Vegeta stopped some distance in front of the hovering chair.
He lowered his head slightly.
"Lord Frieza."
"The K-18x mission has been completed."
Frieza tilted his head.
He looked at Vegeta, his scarlet eyes glimmering in the light of the holographic projections.
"Thank you for your hard work, Vegeta."
Frieza lifted his tail from the armrest, traced a small arc in the air, then lazily draped it back down.
"You've been doing very well lately."
He tapped a finger lightly against his knee.
"As expected of the Saiyan Prince..."
Vegeta's jaw muscles tightened for an instant.
But he stood there without moving.
A prince without a kingdom.
A prince who risked his life serving the murderer who had wiped out his entire race?
He mocked himself inwardly.
But the thought only lasted an instant.
He knew very well that the hatred buried in his heart would bring him nothing except an early death.
For a Saiyan, his people?
Sorry, but strength was all that mattered!
"You flatter me, Lord Frieza."
"Ho ho ho~"
Frieza chuckled.
"Speaking of which, Vegeta."
"I didn't actually ask you here today to hear your mission report. You must have realized that, haven't you?"
"I'd like to introduce you to a new friend."
"Aren't you curious, Vegeta?"
From the moment he met Dodoria until now, Vegeta had heard the words "new friend" repeated enough times that his curiosity really had been piqued.
In the Frieza Force, someone Frieza personally deemed worth "introducing" was usually someone whose strength or value was enough to interest Frieza himself. That wasn't common in the force.
Vegeta's expression remained calm, but his gaze sharpened slightly.
"I am at your disposal."
Frieza's smile deepened.
The tip of his tail rose from the armrest, hung in the air for a beat, then lazily settled back down.
"Ho ho ho~"
"Vegeta really does give me the least trouble."
Frieza raised his chin toward Zarbon.
Zarbon understood and stepped forward, placing a finger on the communications terminal.
The channel switched to a designated private line.
In the barracks.
Turles had just returned from the training grounds, with fine dust from simulation training still clinging to his Battle Suit.
The moment the indicator light on his communications terminal lit up, he was already in front of the receiving panel.
"Mr. Turles."
"King Frieza requests your presence in the command room."
"Understood. I'll be right there."
Amond poked his head halfway out from next door.
"Lord Turles?"
"This has nothing to do with you. Carry on with what you were doing. I'm going to the command room."
Turles's footsteps echoed through the corridor.
He rounded the last bend.
The command room's alloy door was already in sight at the end.
The door was still closed.
But two figures stood on either side of it.
The one on the left was enormous and bald, with shoulders broad enough to occupy nearly half the wall.
He leaned against the wall, cracking his fingers one after another in boredom. Each knuckle gave a crisp pop.
The one on the right was lean, with a mass of shaggy black hair hanging to his waist. He leaned silently against the opposite wall, arms crossed and head lowered slightly.
Turles had already gotten a clear look at the two of them from the corner.
Nappa.
Raditz.
Now he understood why Frieza had summoned him today.
The Saiyan Prince, Vegeta, had to be inside the command room!
Hearing the sound of his boots striking the alloy floor echoing through the corridor.
Raditz was the first to raise his head.
His gaze lifted from the floor and swept toward the approaching figure at the end of the corridor.
Then...
He froze.
His back snapped straight.
The sight before him overlapped with a blurry yet unforgettable figure buried deep in his memories.
That image was so old that he had once thought he'd forgotten it.
Father?
His reason was half a beat slower than his body's impulse, but it caught up in the end.
His father had died long ago.
Along with Planet Vegeta, he had been reduced to an insignificant speck of dust in the universe.
Many years had passed since then.
Raditz's chest heaved twice.
He just looks like him...
That damn face looked far too much like his father's.
For that instant, Raditz had almost thought time had turned back.
When he looked again.
The figure had already drawn close. He wore the Battle Suit of a B-rank member of the Frieza Force.
Nappa noticed Turles approaching too.
He stared at the figure drawing closer, his broad face full of confusion.
A guy he'd never seen before.
He swaggered down a corridor at the heart of headquarters as though the place were his own backyard.
Nappa wrinkled his nose.
Turles reached the two of them.
The command room's alloy door slid open before him.
Turles stepped inside.
From beginning to end, Turles hadn't even glanced at either of them.
Nappa stared blankly for a moment.
He shook his head, and a nameless anger flared in his chest.
What was that supposed to mean? He, Nappa, was a warrior of some renown in the Frieza Force, yet this guy, who only wore a B-rank uniform himself, dared put on such airs?
But just as he finished putting his reasons together and was about to curse aloud.
Nappa's mouth stopped half open.
He'd caught a glimpse of it just before the door closed.
That furry thing wrapped around his waist.
Nappa froze.
He turned to look at Raditz.
"Raditz."
He lowered his voice.
"That guy... is he a Saiyan?"