Planet Yardrat lay beyond the Galactic Patrol's jurisdiction, which left Irico unable to contact Headquarters no matter how many times he tried. He had spent most of the trip periodically checking the communications equipment, but every attempt ended the same way.
While he was trying yet again, a spacecraft suddenly appeared in Yardrat's sky.
Irico immediately looked up from the controls. "Whose ship is that?"
His first instinct was to worry, but that concern faded almost as quickly as it appeared. Ken was still on the planet. Whatever had just arrived would have to be extraordinarily unlucky to cause any real trouble here.
Elsewhere on Yardrat, Vegeta was continuing his training under Pybara's guidance while Ken watched from nearby.
Pybara looked genuinely impressed with his progress. "Remarkable. In such a short time, you've refined your Spirit Control beyond the level Goku reached during his stay here."
Vegeta folded his arms with a satisfied smirk. "Of course I have. Kakarot and I were never built the same."
"Then I think you're ready to move on to something more advanced."
Pybara extended one hand, sending a gentle wave of energy over Vegeta. The exhaustion accumulated from training vanished almost instantly, leaving his body refreshed and his ki restored.
Vegeta examined himself in surprise. "Healing?"
"That's right." Pybara looked rather proud of himself before glancing toward Ken. "Not bad, is it?"
"It's decent," Ken replied.
That was apparently as much praise as Pybara was going to get.
Vegeta, however, was considerably more interested. "Can you teach me that?"
"Eventually, perhaps. Healing is one of the more difficult applications of Spirit Control, and you're not ready for it yet."
"Then what am I ready for?"
"We'll start with the most basic technique."
Vegeta waited expectantly.
"Instant Transmission."
His expression immediately changed. "That's considered basic here?"
Before Pybara could explain further, Vegeta noticed the spacecraft moving across the sky. Ken had already sensed who was aboard. He casually waved his staff, and the ship lost power in midair before plunging into the jungle below, sending a massive cloud of dust above the treetops.
Pybara stared toward the crash site.
Vegeta narrowed his eyes. "A spacecraft?"
"The spirits aboard it are filled with malice," Pybara said.
"They're Moro's men," Ken confirmed.
That was enough for Vegeta. "Then they picked the wrong planet."
He shot into the sky before Pybara could stop him and soon crossed paths with Irico, who had also left his ship after identifying the newcomers.
"Vegeta! They're escaped prisoners working for Moro!"
"I know. Come with me."
The two flew toward the wreckage together.
Inside the jungle, three prisoners were dragging themselves out of their crashed spacecraft, battered, filthy, and thoroughly confused by what had happened.
"What the hell was that?" their leader demanded. "How did you manage to crash a perfectly good ship?"
"I didn't! The controls just stopped responding."
One of the others looked uneasily at the surrounding forest. "Maybe there's something strange about this planet."
Once they were outside, their irritation quickly gave way to interest. Yardrat was lush, vibrant, and filled with abundant life energy.
The leader slowly grinned. "Now this is more like it. Moro-sama will love this planet."
His companions nodded enthusiastically, only for Vegeta and Irico to descend directly in front of them before they could report their discovery.
Irico immediately recognized them. "They're part of Saganbo's crew."
"I don't care whose crew they belong to," Vegeta said. "Moro isn't getting another planet to feed on."
The leader studied Vegeta for a moment before recognition dawned on him. "I know you. You were one of those Galactic Patrol guys on New Namek! So this is where you ran off to."
He reached for his communicator with a laugh. "Moro-sama is going to be very interested in this."
"You're not telling him anything."
Vegeta extended one finger toward the communicator, intending to fire just enough ki to destroy the device.
The instant he released it, an enormous blast erupted from his fingertip instead.
Vegeta's eyes widened as the energy engulfed the prisoner before anyone could react. The blast tore through the jungle and carved a long scar across the landscape, obliterating trees in its path before finally dissipating in the distance.
When the smoke cleared, the prisoner was still alive, but barely recognizable beneath a layer of soot. Smoke curled from his body as he staggered in place, too stunned to understand what had just happened.
"What the hell was that?!"
Vegeta was wondering the same thing.
He stared at his own hand, completely baffled. He had intended to release a tiny amount of energy, yet the result had been several orders of magnitude greater than expected.
Ken and Pybara arrived a moment later.
Pybara looked at the devastated section of forest and sighed. "I leave you alone for a few seconds and you start destroying the planet. At least nobody lives around here."
Vegeta barely heard him. He could feel something fundamentally different about his body and ki.
"What happened to me?"
Pybara smiled. "Nothing happened to you. That is your real strength."
Vegeta turned toward him.
"Before you trained here, your body and spirit were badly out of balance. You possessed tremendous power, but your poor control prevented you from drawing it out efficiently. Now that your Spirit Control has improved, far more of that strength is actually available to you."
Ken nodded in approval. "You've learned quite a bit in a short time."
Vegeta looked down at his hand again, and this time excitement began replacing his confusion. "So I'm significantly stronger than I was when I arrived."
"Absolutely," Ken said. "You're practically a different fighter now."
Pybara rubbed the back of his head. "I was actually going to warn you about this before you rushed off. Until you adjust to your new control, you need to be extremely careful with how much ki you release."
Vegeta's face went blank for a moment.
That warning would have been considerably more useful before he vaporized half the surrounding forest.
The burned prisoner finally recovered enough to remember that he had two companions.
"What are you idiots standing around for? Attack him!"
Both prisoners charged Vegeta together.
This time Vegeta didn't use any ki. He simply stepped into their attack and struck each of them once, sending both bodies soaring into the sky before they could even understand what had hit them.
Vegeta raised one hand after them.
"Hakai!"
Two masses of destruction energy overtook the prisoners in midair. Both disappeared completely, leaving nothing behind.
Their leader stared upward in horror. Seconds ago he had been confident that three members of Saganbo's crew could handle one Saiyan. Now he was alone, badly burned, and facing someone who had erased his partners with almost insulting ease.
His fear quickly turned to rage.
"You bastard!"
His body began swelling and distorting, his features becoming much more monstrous as he transformed into a hulking second form.
Vegeta watched the change with mild interest.
"Now that looks familiar." He studied the alien's transformed face. "You're from the same race as Zarbon, aren't you?"
"Zarbon?" The prisoner scoffed. "Never heard of him. All you need to know is that once I transform like this, you're finished."
Vegeta gave him a dismissive look.
"Too bad. I was starting to think Zarbon might've been your uncle or something."
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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