Whoosh!
Goku brought Raditz with Instant Transmission and reappeared near Vegeta in an instant.
Vegeta: "..."
"Prince Vegeta?" Raditz said, completely confused.
Vegeta shot him a sideways glance and clearly did not think much of this pathetic weakling.
He admitted Kakarot was strong.
He also admitted Kakarot's son was promising.
And yes, Kakarot's father was a God of Destruction.
But he absolutely refused to believe Kakarot's older brother would turn out to be some hidden genius warrior too.
No chance.
"Vegeta, where are we?" Goku asked, looking around at once.
Standing before them was a huge, magnificent palace. It looked grand, imposing, and full of cold, martial dignity.
"The royal palace," Vegeta answered flatly.
"That's where the king lives, right?" Goku asked again.
Vegeta did not even bother answering.
Questions that stupid were not worth his time.
"Wait, Kakarot, when did you and Prince Vegeta get so close?" Raditz asked, even more baffled now.
"Raditz, who said I'm close with Kakarot?" Vegeta snorted, clearly displeased.
"Vegeta, should we go inside and take a look?" Goku asked, suddenly intrigued.
"Fine. Might as well see how strong Sadala's king really is," Vegeta said after thinking it over.
"Prince Vegeta, why don't we just take this planet and make you king of Sadala?" Raditz asked excitedly.
"Raditz, what are you even saying?" Goku snapped, his face darkening. "Looks like you really haven't changed at all... Say something like that again and I'm putting you right back."
"N-No, I was just joking. Don't take it seriously," Raditz said, startled. He quickly turned to Goku and forced a smile. "My dear little brother, I really do know I was wrong now."
"Let's get those cuffs off you first," Goku said, looking at the restraints still clamped around Raditz's wrists and ankles.
"I heard they're made from a cosmic essence alloy. They won't come off easily," Raditz said, shaking his head.
At least he could still fly. Having his hands and feet bound was awkward, but it did not stop him from moving around.
"I'll try," Goku said, grabbing hold of the handcuffs and attempting to pull them apart.
But no matter how hard he tried, the cuffs did not budge in the slightest.
Instead, Raditz only yelped in pain.
"Move," Vegeta said coldly. He had already had enough of watching this. At his fingertip, a tiny sphere of destruction energy appeared.
Pop!
He flicked it forward, and it struck the handcuffs.
In an instant, they vanished into nothingness.
Raditz's eyes widened on the spot.
What kind of technique was that?
It looked ridiculously powerful.
Pop!
Vegeta launched another tiny sphere of destruction energy, and the shackles on Raditz's feet disappeared as well.
Finally free, Raditz flexed his hands and stretched his legs. It felt much better.
"Vegeta, not bad. I didn't think your destruction energy would get this strong," Goku said in amazement.
"Hmph. Naturally. Don't forget, I'm the future God of Destruction," Vegeta said with a satisfied smile.
"That's amazing," Goku said with wholehearted admiration.
"Kakarot, you really disappoint me," Raditz said, shaking his head as he stepped forward and patted Goku on the shoulder. "You really are just a low-class Saiyan. Still, that Instant Transmission of yours is pretty useful. Teach it to me sometime."
"No," Goku said immediately. "I've got a bad feeling you'd only use it for something shady."
"What was that? Is that how you talk to your own brother?" Raditz said angrily.
"Let's go," Vegeta said flatly.
Then he flew straight through a window and into the palace.
This was the rear palace.
Going in from here led directly toward the king's sleeping quarters.
Goku and Raditz hurried after him.
The three of them landed in a corridor and quickly looked around.
"Prince Vegeta, the architecture here really does feel a lot like Planet Vegeta," Raditz said, clicking his tongue in wonder as he looked around. "The first time I came here, I honestly thought I'd gone back in time."
"That's normal," Vegeta said calmly. "When the Saiyans moved from Planet Sadala to Planet Vegeta, they preserved the architectural style of the old homeworld."
He looked unsurprised on the surface, but inside, he felt the same faint pull of nostalgia.
For a moment, it was as if the lost world of his childhood had come back to him.
"Who are you?"
Just then, two patrolling guards came around the corner, ran straight into the trio, and shouted sharply.
"Uh-oh, we've been spotted..." Goku muttered.
"The king sent us," Raditz said, thinking quickly. He clapped a hand over Goku's mouth before Goku could ruin it. "He told us to come look around."
Vegeta remained calm and said nothing.
"You're here to compete for the princess's hand, aren't you?" the two guards said after a moment of surprise, suddenly catching on.
"The princess's hand?" Raditz repeated, scratching his head.
"Please, the three of you, make yourselves at home," the guards said respectfully.
Goku: "...?"
Raditz: "...?"
Vegeta: "..."
The three of them kept walking.
As they passed by, the guards even bowed to them.
"What does that mean?" Goku asked curiously.
"It means they're picking a husband for the princess," Raditz said after thinking it over.
Vegeta did not join in.
"Kakarot, maybe you should go become the princess's man," Raditz said with a grin.
"What are you talking about? I've already got Chi-Chi," Goku said, rejecting the idea immediately.
"Then Prince Vegeta and the princess here would obviously be a perfect match," Raditz said with a laugh.
"Shut up. Don't talk to me," Vegeta said coldly, his eyes flashing with irritation.
Raditz jumped and did not dare keep going.
"There are several strong ki signatures over that way. Want to go take a look?" Goku asked, pointing in one direction.
Vegeta did not object, which was as good as agreeing.
Truthfully, Vegeta had come to Planet Sadala mostly to revisit the palace and indulge in a little nostalgia.
As for conquering the planet and making himself its king, he had no interest in that anymore.
Why bother being king of Sadala when becoming a God of Destruction sounded far better?
More than anything, he just wanted to feel this atmosphere again.
It reminded him of childhood.
And with every step, those old memories rose more clearly in his mind.
The three of them headed that way.
On the road, they passed several more groups of guards.
Every one of them greeted the trio politely, and some even took a moment to study their faces.
To be fair, all three of them were handsome.
After walking a bit farther, they suddenly heard the sound of fighting coming from ahead.
Goku stretched his neck and looked forward.
Up ahead stood a circular arena.
Two people were fighting on top of it.
The match was fierce, and for the moment neither side seemed able to gain the upper hand.
Their looks, however, were a little strange.
One resembled Cui, while the other looked a lot like Dodoria.
"Isn't that Cui and Dodoria?" Raditz said, startled on the spot.
"The three of you are here to compete for the princess's hand too, right? Please tell me your names."
At that moment, a maid noticed them and immediately came forward with a bow, greeting them politely.
"Uh, I'm Goku," Goku replied. "And that's Vegeta."
"I'm Son Goten," Raditz said, casually making up a name.
After all, the name Raditz was probably blacklisted on this planet by now.
Better to be careful.
Goku: "..."
The maid wrote down all three names, then turned and left.
"Raditz, Son Goten is my son's name," Goku said with a laugh.
Raditz's face went black.
A brief silence followed.
"Wait, that's not right. Isn't your son called Gohan?" Raditz asked, confused.
"I'm about to have a second son," Goku said happily.
Raditz had no answer for that.
He threw out a fake name at random, and it ended up being Kakarot's kid's name.
The three of them moved closer to the arena.
There were around a dozen spectators gathered outside it.
And by now, the battle on the stage had reached its climax.
After several more exchanges, the man who looked like Dodoria kicked the one who resembled Cui clean out of the ring.
The Cui-like fighter crashed down and landed flat on his backside, eliminated.
"Mr. Rirua wins," a staff member announced into a microphone.
Rirua raised his right fist toward a room off in the distance.
Goku, Vegeta, and Raditz immediately followed his line of sight and looked that way too.
Inside the room sat a girl, but a curtain hung across the doorway, so her appearance could not be seen clearly.
"What's going on here?" Goku asked, completely confused.
"A tournament to win the princess's hand, obviously," Vegeta snorted. "Couldn't be more old-fashioned."
"What does that mean?" Goku asked.
"Idiot. It means they're choosing the prince consort through combat," Raditz said, feeling that Goku was hopelessly slow.
"Oh. So they pick a man with a tournament like this?" Goku said, scratching his head.
"I'm going to see what the princess looks like," Raditz said with a lewd grin, already starting toward the princess's room.
But just as he was about to move, Goku grabbed him and yanked him back.
"Kakarot, what are you doing?" Raditz said, annoyed.
"Wait a second," Goku said quickly. Then he turned and patted Vegeta on the arm.
"What?" Vegeta asked with a frown.
"Vegeta, look at that guy over there," Goku whispered, pointing toward someone in the distance.
The man standing there was strikingly handsome, graceful, and elegant. Just standing still, he gave off the effortless presence of someone born to be admired.
Even several maids were sneaking glances at him, and every one of them seemed to blush when they did.
Vegeta looked over and his expression shifted slightly.
Raditz's pupils tightened, and his face changed even more dramatically.
"Vegeta... is that Ken?" Goku asked uncertainly.
"Hmph. Probably," Vegeta said. "He's not wearing angel attire. He's dressed like someone from Sadala, so I almost didn't recognize him."
"No, wait... his hair's black," Goku said, scratching his head. "Ken's hair is white. The color doesn't match."
"For an angel, changing hair color would be easy," Vegeta said as if that settled everything.
"True," Goku said, nodding. Then another thought struck him. "But where's his tail?"
"Probably removed it to keep up the disguise," Vegeta said calmly.
"That does sound possible... but something still feels off," Goku muttered.
"Ken... what's he doing here?" Raditz said, turning pale.
Ken was the one who had tortured him back then.
The moment Raditz saw someone who looked like him, fear shot through his whole body.
That man was terrifying.
Why did they have to run into him here?
"Since we've already found him, let's go say hi," Goku suggested.
Vegeta said nothing, which meant yes.
Goku walked right over, waved cheerfully, and called out, "Ken, you're here too?"
The man turned around and looked at him, but his eyes were full of puzzled curiosity.
"Hello. Are you talking to me?" he asked with a polite smile.
"Huh? The voice is wrong," Goku said, scratching his head.
"So you're not Ken?" Vegeta asked, immediately snapping back to attention.
"Who is Ken?" the man asked, slightly surprised.
"You really aren't Ken?" Goku said, giving him another long look. "That's weird. You look so much like him. Apart from the hair color, anyway."
"Is that so?" the man said, still smiling.
"Your Highness."
At that moment, a maid hurried over and bowed respectfully in front of him.
"What is it?" the man asked in a gentle voice.
Blushing, the maid quickly told him about Raditz's prison escape.
"I see. It's fine. I'm here," the man said with a confident smile, then gave Raditz a meaningful glance.
"Yes, Your Highness," the maid said dreamily, lowering her head before retreating.
Raditz: "..."
If I'm standing here this openly, won't they recognize me?
"Hey, Vegeta, he's a prince too... So is he really Sadala's prince?" Goku asked, glancing between Vegeta and the man.
"Hmph. He really isn't Ken," Vegeta said.
"Hello. I'm Temat," the man introduced himself with a smile as warm as spring. "As you just heard, I'm the prince of Planet Sadala."
"Oh, I see. You really do look like our friend Ken," Goku said with a nod.
"Ken? Strange name. Doesn't sound very Saiyan," Temat said with a smile, narrowing his eyes slightly as he looked at Raditz.
"Hmph. No big mystery. Saiyan names are randomly assigned. When it came time for Ken's, the system must have glitched and spit out something ridiculous," Vegeta said. "Your name, Temat, at least sounds like a proper Saiyan name."
"You do know quite a bit," Temat replied with a smile.
Vegeta ignored him.
"Let's talk over there," Temat said, pointing toward a quiet spot not far away. "I happen to have something I'd like to discuss with you."
"Hmph. I've got nothing to say to you," Vegeta replied coldly.
Temat remained calm and unbothered, as if everything in the world was a light breeze to him.
"What do you want to talk about?" Goku asked.
"Let's go first," Temat said with a smile.
"Vegeta, let's hear him out," Goku suggested. "You're not planning to stay here and compete for the princess's hand, are you? Would Emily even allow that?"
Vegeta: "..."
At that moment, he felt physically unwell.
Of course he was not going to stay and compete for the princess's hand.
He was already married, and honestly, Emily was a pretty good wife.
Left with no choice, Vegeta followed along.
Temat led the way, while Goku and the other two trailed behind him.
"What does he want with us? I've got a bad feeling his intentions aren't all that pure," Raditz muttered nervously. "By the way, where's your spaceship? Maybe I should just go wait there."
"We don't have one," Goku said, shaking his head.
"No spaceship? Then how did you even get to this planet?" Raditz asked, speechless.
"With Instant Transmission, obviously," Goku replied.
"Instant Transmission? From where?" Raditz asked.
"Earth," Goku said.
"This planet is that far from Earth... and you still got here with Instant Transmission?" Raditz said, stunned.
"It took me a lot of effort to sense ki from this planet in the first place," Goku said with a grin.
By then, Temat had stopped in a quiet courtyard with no one around.
Goku and the others halted too.
"All right, let's talk here," Temat said with a smile as he slowly turned around.
"What exactly do you want?" Vegeta asked with a snort.
"You two are the ones who beat Frost and helped Raditz escape from prison, aren't you?" Temat said, looking at all three of them with a smile.
"Uh-oh... he figured us out," Goku said, his expression changing slightly.
"I told you we should've left earlier... this is bad," Raditz muttered, baring his teeth. But after glancing at Vegeta, he calmed down a little.
Luckily Prince Vegeta was here.
As strong as Vegeta was, things should still be manageable.
"Raditz, go back to the Grand Prison quietly," Temat said with a light laugh.
Raditz immediately hid behind Vegeta.
"Hmph. I knew something about you felt off. You brought us here because you didn't want the fight disturbing that princess over there, didn't you?" Vegeta said, sounding as though he had seen through everything from the start.
"You're smart," Temat replied with a nod. He did not deny it. Then he looked at Vegeta and asked, "You two are Saiyans as well, right? You and this man called Raditz come from the branch known as the Evil Saiyans. Am I wrong?"
"Evil Saiyans? That's an interesting way to put it," Vegeta said. He did not seem angry in the slightest. Instead, he gave a light snort and answered with a smile, "I'm the prince of the Saiyans from Planet Vegeta. My name itself comes from Planet Vegeta."
"Oh? Planet Vegeta? I've never heard of such a place," Temat said with a smile. Then a powerful fighting spirit rose in his eyes. "Since you're a prince and I'm a prince, let's fight properly."
"That suits me just fine," Vegeta said, instantly interested.
"If you win, you can take Raditz with you," Temat said with a smile. "But if you lose, I expect Raditz to return to the Grand Prison of his own accord. If not, I'll deal with him myself."
Raditz: "..."
"Prince Vegeta, you absolutely have to win this. Please don't lose to this guy," Raditz said nervously.
Vegeta ignored him and simply nodded his agreement.
"Good. The two of you can come at me together. As for Raditz..." Temat said with a smile. "Even if he joined your side, he wouldn't improve your team's strength. If anything, he'd only drag it down. Correct?"
Raditz felt like he had just been stabbed in the heart.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Was he really the dead weight of the group now?
Obviously Kakarot, that low-class Saiyan, should be the weakest one here.
Unfortunately, Raditz was not carrying a scouter, so he had no way to know what Goku's battle power was now.
Could it even have passed one thousand?
Raditz had secretly kept training in prison all these years. His battle power had already reached two thousand.
Of course, he kept that to himself. This was not the time to bring it up.
"Hmph. Those two are just here to watch. Against someone like you, I'm more than enough by myself," Vegeta said, thumbing his own chest.
"Is that so? You're very confident," Temat said, still smiling.
"Of course," Vegeta said with a confident grin. "And since you look so much like Ken, grinding your face into the dirt would be especially satisfying."
"Vegeta, keep your voice down. What if Ken hears you?" Goku said quickly.
"Hmph. Even if Ken were standing right here, I'd say the same thing," Vegeta replied.
Goku: "..."
"You seem very familiar with this Ken. If you get the chance, introduce us. I'd love to meet him," Temat said with a smile.
"I'm afraid you don't qualify," Vegeta said with a cold snort. "Enough talking. Let's begin."
"All right. Come," Temat said with a nod.
He stepped back, placed one hand behind his back, and raised the other in a ready stance.
Vegeta: "..."
This guy really was absurdly confident.
For some reason, Vegeta felt Temat's attitude was just as insufferable as Ken's.
"If it were Ken acting like this, maybe I could accept it. But you?" Vegeta snorted. "You don't deserve it!"
With that, Vegeta's aura exploded.
He did not transform into a Super Saiyan. He simply pushed his base power all the way to its peak.
Sensing Vegeta's powerful aura, Goku nodded thoughtfully.
Since Raditz could not read ki strength, he understood absolutely nothing.
"That's a strong aura," Temat said, mildly surprised. "Looks like I underestimated you."
"What's wrong? Not planning to power up too? You can still surrender now," Vegeta said with a smirk.
Boom!
Temat did not hesitate at all. His aura erupted immediately, and a powerful wave of energy burst from his body.
The moment Vegeta sensed it, his face changed slightly.
He could tell at once that in pure raw power, Temat was almost his equal.
"As expected of a Saiyan prince. This is getting interesting," Vegeta said, the corners of his mouth lifting into a faint smile.
Whoosh!
Without another word, Vegeta shot straight toward him.
Temat immediately prepared to meet the attack head-on.
Vegeta struck first from the front, driving a kick toward Temat's chest.
Temat twisted aside to dodge, then threw a punch toward Vegeta in the same motion.
Vegeta raised an arm to block it and instantly countered with a hook aimed at Temat's jaw.
Temat leaped backward and shot up into the sky.
"Hmph." Vegeta snorted and chased after him at once.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The two of them erupted into a fierce midair battle, clashing hundreds of times in a flash.
They fought at such blinding speed that each impact sounded like a muffled explosion.
The sky filled with afterimages, flickering nonstop.
"Amazing," Goku said in admiration.
Raditz: "..."
"Kakarot, cut it out," Raditz said through gritted teeth. "You're acting like you can actually follow this."
I can't see a thing.
And yet you're enjoying yourself like it's perfectly clear.
You've got to be faking it.
"Don't use your eyes. Use your senses to feel their ki," Goku explained.
"What senses?" Raditz said, picking at his nose.
"Well, like right now, I've got my back to you, but I still know you're digging in your nose," Goku said.
Raditz: "..."
"I'm not digging out boogers! I'm just scratching my nose!" Raditz snapped, furious.
"Looks like I still can't pick up subtle movements very well," Goku said, scratching his head. "My training's not solid enough yet."
Raditz had no response. He was convinced Kakarot was just making things up.
"Cut the nonsense, Kakarot. At the end of the day, you're still just a low-class Saiyan," Raditz said, stepping forward and patting him on the shoulder. "Still, since you broke your brother out of prison, I'll protect you once I get stronger."
"Raditz, hearing you say that makes rescuing you feel worth it," Goku said with a big laugh.
Bang!
Up in the sky, Temat's heavy punch slammed straight into Vegeta's chest.
Vegeta dropped like a cannonball.
But just before hitting the ground, he stopped himself less than a meter above it.
Then he spread both arms and gathered powerful energy in his hands.
Boom!
Vegeta fired a fierce blast upward at Temat.
Temat reached out with one hand, caught the incoming energy, and crushed it in his grip.
Pop!
The blast shattered instantly, breaking into sparkling fragments that scattered through the air.
Whoosh!
Then, in the next instant, Temat suddenly realized something was wrong.
Vegeta had already disappeared from below and reappeared right behind him.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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