Turles leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.
"As for the Tree of Might fruit, Amond and I each ate four, and Cacao ate two."
"Daiz, Reiz, and Lakasei each ate three."
"You know better than I do that, aside from the first fruit having a fairly significant effect, every one after that was much less effective."
The cockpit fell silent.
That was indeed the case.
The improvement from the first fruit had been earth-shattering, but by the third and fourth, the gains were nowhere near what they had been before.
Everyone present knew that full well.
It was just that, over the past two years, no one had been willing to think too hard about it.
He didn't know whether it was because, once they seriously worked it out, their beautiful dream of "conquering the universe" would have to fall apart.
"Let me tell you an even crueler truth."
"To raise our power levels to Slug's level using the Tree of Might fruit..."
"Would take at least fifty years!"
A deathly silence filled the cockpit.
"And that's under the most ideal conditions," Turles continued.
He held up three fingers.
"First, the effects of the Tree of Might fruit don't diminish any further."
"Second, we can find a suitable planet every year to plant the Tree of Might."
"Third, for fifty years, Slug and any other obstacles stay out of our way."
Turles lowered his hand and crossed his arms over his chest again.
"Think about it. Is that possible?"
"Don't forget how we got here today." Turles raised his voice slightly.
"Do you really think Slug still hasn't discovered our betrayal after two years?"
Just then, Amond cut in again.
His face was full of confusion.
"Lord Turles!"
"What are you talking about?"
"What fifty years?"
"Your power level is already over thirty thousand!"
"How could it possibly take fifty years to surpass Slug?!"
"Even if he's powerful, there's no way..."
Amond meant that Slug couldn't possibly be that powerful.
But when Turles gave him a serious look...
Amond and the other members in the cabin all looked incredulous.
The expression on their boss's face said it all.
They didn't dare imagine what kind of number it would take to represent a power level their boss would need fifty years to catch up to.
"How could that..."
"How is that possible..."
Turles sensed his men's frustration.
"We've long been in this together, and I have no interest in joking with you. I only learned his power level by chance myself. He's so powerful that he completely exceeds anything we could imagine."
"But... although Slug is very powerful, I didn't tell you this to discourage you, so don't look like that."
"I can promise you in all seriousness that I won't need fifty years to surpass Slug! I won't even need the Tree of Might fruit!"
"And even without the Tree of Might fruit, you can all become unimaginably powerful too!"
"Of course, all of this depends on whether you're still willing to believe in me!"
As soon as he said that, Amond slapped the cabin wall beside him.
"Lord Turles! What are you saying?!"
"Of course we believe you!"
"If it weren't for you, Lord Turles, I'd probably be in a Galactic Patrol prison right now!" Amond was the first to speak up.
Daiz followed close behind, expressing his thoughts with a look.
Cacao cracked his neck in agreement.
As for the brothers Reiz and Lakasei, that went without saying.
They were the first to start following Turles.
Seeing this, Turles's lips curled up slightly.
He had to admit, when it came to charisma as a leader, the original Turles had done a good job.
It didn't even seem like a trait a Saiyan should possess.
Perhaps it had something to do with how he'd grown up.
The original Turles had merely been sent to a planet in the North Galaxy.
But through sheer daring and fighting spirit, he had made his way to the West Galaxy.
That experience had given him an understanding of the essence of "getting by" at the bottom of the universe, something ordinary Saiyans could never grasp!
As everyone knew, when you were out there hustling, you couldn't get anywhere without a few brothers at your side.
It was perfectly normal to make a few "brothers" while hustling across the universe.
Join one gang today, swallow another tomorrow.
Grow bigger and stronger.
That, along with the fighting spirit in his Saiyan genes and his extraordinary combat instincts, made it easy for him to become the leader of a small group like this.
Among his current subordinates,
There wasn't a single one who hadn't benefited from an act of "loyalty" by Turles.
Back then, Amond had only been the leader of a small band of space pirates, and the Galactic Patrol had targeted him not long after he set out.
In the end, he had only escaped prison with Turles's help.
Even Daiz, once a prince, had relied on Turles's help to get revenge after space pirates invaded his home planet.
This whole group were Turles's utterly loyal supporters.
Otherwise, Turles wouldn't have brought them along after finding the Tree of Might seed.
Even a bunch of space villains like these actually valued loyalty.
Damn, they really did have each other's backs!
Turles couldn't help feeling emotional.
Still, overall, his effort to win them over had worked pretty well.
"Lord Turles, is the way you mentioned to get stronger without the Tree of Might fruit to join Frieza?"
After learning from Turles about Slug's outlandish power level, they naturally and subconsciously treated Frieza, the renowned emperor of the universe, who was even more terrifying than Slug, with the respect and fear he deserved.
Since Frieza was so strong, if they joined him...
Maybe they could become very strong too?
To them, that line of thinking made perfect sense.
Hearing this, Turles narrowed his eyes slightly.
He said slowly, "Joining Frieza is just a risky move to deal with the Slug Army hunting us down. Only after we survive can we think about getting stronger!"
"Frieza is even more terrifying than Slug!"
"Are you... all ready?"
His subordinates all nodded solemnly.
"Lord Turles!"
"We're ready!"
Turles rose from his seat.
His gaze was distant.
He looked once more into the vast, boundless sea of stars.
The spaceship sped through the universe, leaving a brilliant trail behind it.
"Before that, we still need to make some preparations..."
"Besides preparations to increase our chances of joining the Frieza Force..."
"Perhaps we need some other preparations too. For example, an escape route..."
The moment he raised his eyes, it was as though a gaze from the distant universe answered him...