Chapter 7: The Plan
When Turles saw Broly again, a full week had passed.
During that week, his injuries had completely healed. Just as he'd predicted, his power level had skyrocketed—he now measured at 18,000, matching Vegeta's strength when he'd invaded Earth in the original timeline.
The satisfaction was real. Getting beaten up by Broly had been worth it—one thrashing equaled a month's worth of normal gains. For a moment, Turles had almost wondered if his cheat ability was literally "get stronger by getting beat up." He'd been tempted to ask Broly for another round, but thankfully his common sense kicked in. Broly would definitely think he'd suffered brain damage.
Nodding at Broly, Turles walked directly up to Paragus.
Seeing Paragus's look of utter defeat, Turles let out a villainous laugh. "You really are a crafty old bastard. Using Broly to get me to back off, huh?"
Paragus rolled his eyes and turned his back, refusing to engage with the mockery.
When Paragus didn't take the bait, Turles let it drop. He was here on actual business today anyway.
"Paragus, did you know Planet Vegeta was destroyed?"
Even with his back turned, Paragus's body went rigid. He spun around, staring at Turles in shock.
Before Paragus could ask, Turles continued, "Frieza claims a meteor struck the planet. Says everyone was caught off guard, couldn't evacuate in time. Every Saiyan on the planet died when it exploded."
Seeing Paragus's expression that clearly read "are you screwing with me," Turles shrugged with a mocking smile. "Ridiculous, isn't it? The Saiyans, a race that conquered planets for a living, lost their own homeworld. Nearly went extinct. Just a few stragglers left, barely hanging on."
Honestly, Frieza's cover story was pathetic. With the Saiyans' power level at the time, what kind of meteor could possibly hit Planet Vegeta? A battle power of 10,000 was enough to destroy a planet. The Saiyans had never lacked warriors over 10,000. And that wasn't even counting their Great Ape transformations—with that tenfold boost, they could have swatted down a hundred meteors without breaking a sweat.
One hundred thousand battle power. Aside from the gods, how many beings in the entire Seventh Universe could match that? No wonder King Vegeta had thought he could rebel against Frieza.
After the initial shock wore off, disbelief settled on Paragus's face. He thought Turles was lying.
"You don't believe me either, huh?" Turles noticed his expression immediately. "Ha! I didn't believe it at first either. Want to know the real reason? Frieza. One Death Ball, and Planet Vegeta went up like fireworks. Boom!" He made an explosion gesture with his hands.
"Impossible! The Saiyans served Lord Frieza loyally. Why would he suddenly destroy Planet Vegeta? And even if Frieza tried, he couldn't defeat all the Saiyans. What about Bardock? Carlos? Bamberdo? And that bastard King Vegeta?"
Paragus still didn't want to believe it. He'd always been proud of his Saiyan heritage. Hearing that his entire race had been wiped out, that he was one of the last survivors—it was too much to accept.
Turles didn't know who Carlos or Bamberdo were. Probably elite warriors from back then.
He looked at Paragus with something resembling pity. Another fool deceived by Frieza's diminutive appearance. The Saiyans' natural arrogance had made them look down on every other race equally, even viewing Frieza as merely a business partner. No wonder they'd angered Lord Beerus, that capricious God of Destruction, and ended up facing genocide.
"Do you even know Frieza's real battle power?"
Turles didn't wait for an answer. "It's 530,000! And that's just his first form!"
Remembering his eye contact with Frieza, Turles still felt lingering fear. Not because he was afraid of Frieza's strength itself, but because of his own weakness at that moment. He believed that given time, he'd surpass Frieza eventually. He'd become a Super Saiyan. Super Saiyan 1, 2, 3, maybe even 4. Super Saiyan God. All future goals to conquer.
But everything required time. Without the chance to grow, it was all meaningless fantasy.
The number shocked Paragus speechless. He had confidence in Broly, but 530,000 was beyond imagination. He didn't even know Broly currently possessed over 500,000 battle power himself.
Seeing Paragus completely rattled, Turles's mouth curved into a slight smirk. Perfect. This was all according to plan. To make a cunning old fox like Paragus cooperate, you had to shatter his confidence first. Only then could you seize control.
"Paragus, what do you think of my talent?" Turles deliberately changed the subject, looking smug.
Though confused by the question, Paragus genuinely respected Turles's abilities. This past month had shown him the younger Saiyan's growth. But remembering all the abuse he'd suffered, Paragus spoke through gritted teeth: "You're alright, I guess. Nothing special. Nowhere near Broly's level!"
Hearing his name mentioned, Broly scratched his head with an innocent smile.
Glancing at Broly, Turles felt like someone had stabbed him in the chest. In pure talent, few could match the Legendary Super Saiyan. Feeling a bit bitter, he admitted, "True, I can't compare to Broly. But even with superior talent, Broly needs a proper environment to grow. Do you think he can reach his potential stuck on Vampa?"
Paragus fell silent. It was true. Even with overwhelming power, being trapped on this planet meant nothing. Saiyans couldn't survive in space. Even if Broly became the Legendary Super Saiyan, he'd still die of old age on this rock.
"Just say what you're planning. Stop beating around the bush. I don't know how the Saiyans produced such a scheming little bastard like you!" Paragus had caught on, though he couldn't resist the insult.
"Heh." Turles didn't care. He laid out his plan directly: "Here's what I'm thinking. My ship still has enough energy reserves. I'll share some with your old pods so all three of us can leave. First, we find the nearest technology planet. We need to commission something special—I know a method for rapid power increases. Then we leave the North Galaxy entirely, get out of Frieza's territory. I've heard the Galactic Patrol headquarters near the galaxy's center is solid—Frieza's influence doesn't reach there yet.
Broly and I will train for a few years. I'm confident that in just a few years, I can defeat Frieza completely. During that time, we'll also search for exiled Saiyans and find a new planet to serve as the new Planet Vegeta. Or Planet Paragus, if you prefer!"
"Paragus, the responsibility of reviving the Saiyan race now rests in your hands. You could be the next Saiyan King!"
"And I heard Prince Vegeta survived. Imagine—when you become the new Saiyan King, how can Vegeta still call himself a prince?"
At the end, Turles couldn't resist dangling a big carrot. He knew Paragus's obsession was revenge against King Vegeta. Since the king was already dust, the vengeance would have to fall on Vegeta. After all, sons pay their fathers' debts.
Seeing interest flicker across Paragus's face, Turles knew he'd won him over.
Actually, Turles's plan was simple: hide and develop until his skills maxed out, then go on a power fantasy rampage. As for Earth, he'd decided to postpone that visit.
Based on the timeline, Goku was eighteen now, still training under Kami at the Lookout. His power level wouldn't even reach 400 yet—not enough to challenge current Turles meaningfully.
The Senzu Beans had probably been mostly eaten by that fat bastard Yajirobe by now. And Dragon Balls weren't unique to Earth—Namek had them too. Though that was a concern for later.
As for gravity chamber construction, surely some civilization in the universe possessed that technology.
Rather than waste time traveling to Earth, staying in space to fight various powerful opponents and increase his strength made more sense.
Regarding gathering surviving Saiyans, Turles didn't particularly care. He wasn't interested in playing king. Power and authority meant nothing in the Dragon Ball universe—once you had strength, everything else followed.
He was only pushing Paragus to rebuild Saiyan society because he needed infrastructure support for training. Building gravity chambers, maintaining daily necessities—it all required resources. He refused to end up like late-series Goku, incredibly powerful but constantly broke. Paragus was his solution.
First, they were the same race. Even with Saiyans' emotional detachment, fellow tribesmen were more reliable than outsiders. Plus, Paragus genuinely cared about Saiyan identity. Promise him the throne, and he'd work for the race his entire life.
As for Paragus's ambitions? Turles honestly wasn't worried. Again—once you had power, nothing was unattainable.
"Turles, why don't you become Saiyan King? With your talent, you'd be far better than King Vegeta!" Paragus voiced his confusion.
The question made Turles freeze, then vigorously shake his head. "I absolutely do not want to be Saiyan King!"
Seeing Paragus's skeptical expression, Turles didn't elaborate. He just stared back silently.
Though still puzzled, Paragus couldn't resist agreeing to the plan. He was desperate to leave this place. The two quickly began preparations.
First priority: confirming whether Broly and Paragus's original ship still functioned. The pods were eighteen-year-old models. Whether they could even fly was questionable. If not, one person would have to leave first, then return for the others. But neither Turles nor Paragus trusted each other's character enough for that arrangement. And letting Broly leave alone? He'd probably get sold and thank the buyer for the trouble.
Turles worried Paragus might spitefully fire an energy blast at his departing ship. Given Paragus's personality, such petty destruction wasn't out of the question.
Paragus, having endured a month of Turles's shameless behavior, refused to risk being abandoned on Vampa again, waiting indefinitely for another visitor who might never come.
So the two calculating schemers, plus one naive innocent youth, flew toward the ship's location.
The trio landed at a cave entrance. After clearing out a massive insect infestation, they finally saw two spherical pods wrapped in vines.
Clearing away the overgrowth, Turles inspected the exterior. No visible damage. He tried the activation button—as expected, completely drained of power.
While removing the old energy cores, Turles couldn't help making commentary.
"Paragus, seriously, what were you thinking? Flying around in a ship nearly out of fuel—weren't you afraid of getting stranded in space? Last I checked, Saiyans can't breathe in vacuum!"
Paragus, cleaning vines off the second ship, turned bright red. He wanted to argue but had no defense. He could only take his frustration out on the vines, yanking them viciously.
Seeing this, Turles smirked and twisted the knife: "Careful there. We don't exactly have spare ships lying around."
Mid-vent, Paragus froze. He stood motionless, face cycling through shades of red and white.
"Turles! You want to fight? Let's go right now!!"
"Hahahaha!"