The chapter opens with Dango inside his spaceship, having left Planet Kōtta a couple of weeks ago. He had been excited at first, eager to see new races and powerful warriors across the stars. But so far, most of what he found were unremarkable creatures, some worlds not even fully developed, lacking true sentience.
Dango leaned back in his seat, staring at the ship's screen. "Man, this is so boring."
As he drifted through space, a very small blue and white planet caught his attention. Curious, he adjusted course and descended toward it. His ship pierced through the atmosphere and splashed down into a vast ocean.
Remembering his brother's idea of searching for a master across different worlds, Dango decided he would do the same. If strength was out there, he would find it first.
He stepped out of the pod and hovered above the ocean's surface, closing his eyes. Focusing, he sensed the flow of energy around him. Only three Ki signatures registered nearby, while the rest were far away.
A skill he had developed at a young age.
His eyes opened slowly.
"Only three?" Dango muttered.
He decided to investigate the three Ki signatures nearby. Carefully, he adjusted his course and moved closer. Blasting off in their direction, he passed many decimated villages where a human-like race with wolf ears and tails lay dead on the ground. He wondered who or what could possibly be responsible, feeling sorrow for the people.
He spotted two of the three Ki signatures and lowered his own Ki. Dango watched as two strange, muscular aliens wearing space armor surveyed the area, a scouter attached to one of their eyes. The uglier of the two suddenly found what they had been searching for.
With a burst of energy, he blasted a tree away, revealing a girl with wild pink hair, bright blue eyes, with primitive clothing, and the wolf ears and tail of her people.
She was badly injured yet alive, though unable to move, she speaks, "Go to hell."
The girl lost consciousness, collapsing to the ground. Before the soldiers could finish her, Dango landed behind them, his feet touching the dirt softly.
The two soldiers turned around, at first assuming he was just another native of the planet. But then they froze, staring in shock.
That tail.
There was no doubt about it. He was a Saiyan.
Confusion flashed across their faces as they hesitated, unsure what to do. Before they could even speak, Dango powered up, a grin spreading across his face as his aura flared.
The uglier soldier quickly checked his scouter. The numbers made his eyes widen. Four thousand.
Before he could react further, Dango vanished from sight and reappeared directly in front of him. Without hesitation, he thrust his hand forward, releasing a point-blank energy blast that tore straight through the soldier's head, vaporizing him instantly.
Before the second soldier could react, Dango spun and drove a brutal kick into his side, sending him crashing through several trees in a violent trail of splintered wood.
Dango rushed over to the girl and gently shook her shoulder, trying to wake her.
Her eyes suddenly snapped open. She jumped back to her feet, guard raised, ears alert, and tail stiff with tension.
Dango lifted his hands calmly, telling her to relax. He explained that he had saved her and briefly told her what happened to the two soldiers.
Surprised, she studied him carefully before asking his name. Dango gave it without hesitation. She then told him hers. Nikel.
He asked Nikel about her people and why the two soldiers had come, noting that they clearly were not from this planet.
Nikel let out a long, heavy sigh, pain still etched across her features. The events began just four days ago. She had been living a normal life with her mother, father, and two older brothers on the planet Furise when three space pods suddenly landed.
From the pods emerged three alien figures, two of them being the very ones Dango had just defeated. They tore through her village with ruthless precision, leaving destruction in their wake. Everyone she knew was killed.
The third alien, a reptilian-like man with blue skin and a muscular build, murdered her family. Nikel survived only because her battle power was extremely low, making her difficult to detect. Even then, she came dangerously close to death countless times during their attack.
She believed herself to be the only one of her race still alive, the last Furidian.
Nikel began to cry, not just from physical pain but from the weight of it all. Her home was gone. Her family was gone. She was completely alone.
Dango tried to calm her, telling her he doubted she was the last. He could sense many energy signatures gathered in one location.
Nikel looked at him in confusion, wondering how he could even sense something like that. But if he was telling the truth, then maybe there was still hope. Through tears, she begged him to save her planet and get revenge for her people. Before he could say more, her body gave out and she slipped back into unconsciousness.
Dango gently laid her by a nearby tree and promised he would handle it. Then he rocketed into the sky, locking onto a much stronger Ki signature in the distance. He assumed that one belonged to the last remaining soldier.
And this time, he expected a real fight.
Far away, the second soldier lay broken on the ground, barely clinging to life. The kick had left him crushed, armor cracked, breath shallow.
With trembling fingers, he tapped his scouter one final time and forced out a single word.
"Saiyan."
Then his hand fell limp.
On the other end of the transmission, the reptilian soldier hovered high above the last remaining village. His blue skin glistened under the light, and a wide grin stretched across his face as chaos unfolded beneath him. Terrified villagers ran in every direction, desperate to escape.
The word echoed through his scouter.
Saiyan.
At first, he dismissed it as nonsense. A Saiyan on a backwater planet like this made no sense.
Still, something about it bothered him. Whoever had done this had taken down two soldiers whose power levels were both in the thousands. That was not normal for a world like this.
He would investigate soon enough.
But first, he would finish what he started.
He slowly descended, his boots touching the ground as panic spread through the crowd. His grin widened as he watched the villagers scatter in fear.
He decided he might as well enjoy himself. This was the final part of his mission.
Minutes later, Dango arrived at the location. What he saw made him pause. The village was completely destroyed. Smoke rose into the sky. Bodies lay motionless across the ground. Everyone was dead.
Yet he still sensed one energy.
Hovering above the ruins, he narrowed his eyes.
Suddenly, he turned sharply and raised his arm just in time to block a heavy punch from the reptilian soldier. The impact echoed through the air as their fists collided.
Both stepped back after the clash. The soldier rolled his shoulder and grinned, clearly not expecting anyone on this planet to be able to block a punch from him.
Dango remained silent.
The reptilian warrior's eyes drifted downward, locking onto the boy's tail. His grin slowly widened. So it was him. The one who killed his comrades. And judging by that tail, there was no mistake. He was a Saiyan.
He straightened his posture and introduced himself proudly as Jirry, a soldier of the great Vegeta Empire.
Dango's hair hung low, covering his eyes. He had no idea what a Saiyan was, and he did not care about any empire. One thing was certain. Jirry, or whatever his name was, was going to die.
Slowly, Dango lifted his head. His eyes revealed a cold, deadly stare that made Jirry sweat for just a moment.
Then Jirry checked his scouter and laughed.
Two thousand one hundred.
Pathetic.
Jirry's power was nearly double that. This would not be a problem.
Jirry continued speaking, smirking as he did. He told Dango that if he knelt and begged for his life, he would spare him. After all, the Saiyans would be pleased to see another of their kind. He might even receive a promotion for bringing him in. A win-win situation.
In the blink of an eye, Dango appeared in front of him, fist already clenched. With a Loud roar, Dango's face was twisted in pure rage. He drove a powerful punch straight into Jirry's face, sending him flying through the air and crashing deep into the side of a mountain.
Buried in rubble, Jirry wiped blood from his mouth. He was irritated, but in a twisted way, relieved. If the boy had actually accepted his offer, he would have been disappointed. Now he could enjoy tearing his head off.
Jirry burst out from the rubble, only to see a massive energy blast racing toward him. His eyes widened for a split second. Raising one hand, he fired back his own attack, a green beam he called Dirty Pulse.
The beam ripped straight through Dango's blast, tearing across the sky as it surged forward.
Hovering above Jirry, Dango's face burned with rage. Annoyed by the intensity in his eyes, Jirry shot forward, driving a hard kick into Dango's stomach and following it with a smashing blow to his head.
Dango recovered almost instantly. His aura flared as he powered up, lunging forward to slam his forehead into Jirry's nose with a brutal headbutt.
The two clashed in a furious flurry of blows, fists, and elbows colliding at blinding speed. Every strike sent shockwaves rippling through the air, shattering the ground around them. Jirry struggled to keep pace, each attack pushing him closer to his limits, his movements becoming increasingly desperate.
He suddenly reached for Dango's neck, aiming to crush his throat. But his vision was briefly obscured as Dango's tail whipped across his face.
In that instant of distraction, Dango grabbed Jirry by the face. Without hesitation, he rocketed downward and slammed Jirry's head straight into the ground, the earth splitting apart on impact.
His skull cracked against the shattered ground as his vision blurred. Through the corner of his eye, he forced himself to glance at the scouter.
Seven thousand.
The number flickered wildly before dropping again.
So that was it. The Saiyan could suppress and spike his battle power at will. If only he had realized sooner.
Jirry felt the skin on his face burning from the energy still surging through Dango's grip. Panic replaced his arrogance. He tried to speak, to beg for his life.
But Dango gave him no chance. With a final, point-blank blast, Jirry was completely erased, leaving nothing behind but scorched earth and silence. Dango's anger faded as quickly as it had come, his usual carefree expression returning.
He hovered above the scorched field, staring at the destruction below. The ground was torn apart, smoke curling into the sky. He knew what had happened.
For a brief moment, he had lost control. That was new.
He could feel the surge of strength within him, but it came with a storm of anger, raw and unrestrained. He could have won without that sudden boost, though it would have been a much tougher fight.
For now, he pushed that thought aside. He had broken a promise to someone.
Looking up at the stars, Dango whispered softly to himself, "Sorry, Nikel."
Time passed, and Nikel's eyes slowly opened. Her mouth was strapped to a breathing device, and her body floated in a green liquid inside a transparent tube. She didn't realize it yet, but she was aboard Dango's ship, resting in the healing tank, a medical device designed to accelerate recovery.
The machine finished draining the liquid, and Nikel carefully stepped out, her legs shaky as she adjusted to standing again. She walked around the room for a moment, testing her strength, before finding the ship's entrance.
Outside, darkness had fallen. The only light came from a small campfire, flickering against the night. Beside it, Dango sat, gnawing at a cooked boar-like animal.
Nikel paused, a small comment escaping her lips about how he devoured it like an animal himself.
Hearing her, Dango glanced up, took one last bite, and then offered a portion to her. Nikel accepted eagerly, a small smile forming as she enjoyed the food.
The Narrator spoke, "Dango told Nikel that she had been unconscious for three days. He explained what had happened to the last of her people, how they had been wiped out, and apologized for not being able to keep his promise to protect them. Nikel cried, but she did not blame him; after all, he had been her savior.
She asked if he could help create a proper grave for everyone who had died. Dango agreed, and for an entire week, they traveled the planet, honoring the fallen. Along the way, Dango shared stories of his journey and explained that he was training to face his brother in three years. Nikel listened in amazement, wondering why he would spend so much time on this planet instead of focusing solely on becoming stronger. Dango only smiled, telling her it was simply the right thing to do, though deep down he knew he wanted to.
As the week passed, the two grew closer with each burial. Dango cracked jokes to lift her spirits, and she laughed despite the sorrow. Finally, they reached the grave of the last person, Nikel's own family. She cried openly when it was over, but Dango stayed by her side, offering quiet comfort.
The Narrator spoke, "Their journey together seemed to be over, yet Dango was not finished. He built her a house and gave her half of his supplies. Even more, he taught her the basics of fighting and how to sense and control Ki, which she quickly managed to grasp. After an entire month, Dango believed she was ready. She could hunt, gather, and handle everything needed to survive on her own."
He bid her farewell, both sharing a warm smile. Dango rocketed off into the stars, leaving Nikel behind. Though she was alone, he had left her a communicator, allowing her to speak with him or alert him if danger ever returned.
And with that, their chapter together came to a close.
To Be Continued!