Chương 18: The Next Step in the Dragon Ball World
After immersing himself in the dream, Shin did not immediately appear in the Dragon Ball world. Instead, he found himself in darkness, where a special pop-up window appeared.
"[Dear Zuke, please select the mission world you want to enter: 1. Dragon Ball]"
This was obviously an interface for choosing a mission world, but currently, only the Dragon Ball world was available. Shin still had no idea how to unlock the second world.
Based on the current timeline he observed in the Dragon Ball world, it seemed unlikely that he would be able to significantly improve his soul and mental strength in the short term.
However, the physical combat power in the Dragon Ball world was undeniably strong, which Shin found quite satisfying.
Nevertheless, Shin had mixed feelings about the Dragon Ball world.
He loved it because the overall level of the world was high, and having randomly acquired the identity of a Saiyan, he had practically reached new heights, possessing combat power far beyond the reach of the real world.
The downside was that if the method to unlock the second world involved completing the main storyline of the first world, it would essentially trap Shin.
"I can only hope that unlocking the second world is a bit easier," he sighed, feeling somewhat uncertain about his future. He chose to enter the Dragon Ball world since there were no other worlds available.
In the next moment, the darkness before his eyes vanished, and he found himself back in the forest—specifically, the same forest he was in when he exited the game last time.
{Transitioning to Zuke}
The cave created by a ki blast, where he had disposed of Elec's remains, was still at his feet.
Realizing his location hadn't changed since his last exit, Zuke immediately suppressed his ki, lowering his combat power to the minimum.
Sure enough, a beam of light soon swept over from a distance—a large lighting device was scanning the surroundings and just happened to illuminate his location.
Peeking out, Zuke looked toward the distance. What was once a city of the Cerealians was now completely in ruins, with a large group of Frieza's army personnel cleaning up the area.
Frieza's business involved selling these planets to interested aliens. Since they were commodities, their appearance was important, and the ruins needed to be cleaned up.
Zuke was aware of this, so he suppressed his ki right away. This way, even if someone from Frieza's army unintentionally detected him with a scouter, they would only see a combat power in the double digits.
A combat power in the double digits was akin to that of a large beast on some planets, something the Frieza army wouldn't care about.
After all, they were not exterminating the entire biosphere, just the human civilization. No one would want to buy a planet that didn't even have animals on it.
However, the ones moving through the city ruins were not only members of Frieza's army. There was also another group.
These individuals were dressed differently, showing a lack of discipline. They didn't follow the orders of Frieza's army but rather took commands from a small, blue-skinned woman with dreadlocks.
Just from her hairstyle and skin color, it was easy to tell that this woman was from the same race as Elec. Zuke recognized her—she was Maki, a member of the Heeter family like Elec.
The disappearance of Elec, the leader of the Heeters, on Planet Cereal was a major event for the Heeter family, prompting Maki to search for his whereabouts.
Unlike Frieza, the Heeter family, although also involved in business throughout the universe, did not have their own armed forces. They relied on mercenaries from across the universe; as long as they paid well, there were always people willing to work for them.
Frieza clearly wasn't ready to break ties with the Heeter family, so he didn't mind them hiring mercenaries to search Planet Cereal.
Thus, there were two groups on Planet Cereal: a large number of mercenaries hired by the Heeter family and Frieza's army personnel, who were carrying out their respective tasks with minimal interaction.
"Good, just as I expected."
Zuke was pleased with the situation—this was precisely within his predictions after eliminating Elec.
The two groups mingling together worked to Shin's advantage because it meant that if someone suddenly took off in a spaceship, each side would assume it was the other acting independently.
Frieza's soldiers looked down on the mercenaries, while the mercenaries had no respect for Frieza's army. The lack of communication made it easy for Zuke to slip away unnoticed.
Maintaining his suppressed combat power, Zuke quickly found the landing site for Frieza's spherical spaceships nearby, where the ground was covered in craters left by the ships. No one was even guarding them.
To Frieza's army, these spherical ships probably weren't considered particularly valuable.
This was convenient for Zuke, who chose one that appeared relatively new, opened the hatch, and climbed inside, immediately pulling out the tracking system.
This tracking system allowed Frieza's headquarters to locate the ship's position. Zuke had learned about it yesterday from a logistics officer responsible for maintaining the ships, who had divulged the information without hesitation.
After all, in Frieza's army, combat personnel had a much higher status than logistics staff.
Though Saiyans were often derogatorily called "monkeys" in Frieza's army, the logistics officer did not dare to defy Zuke's questioning.
Zuke had already prepared to leave Frieza's army before yesterday's departure, so he had thoroughly investigated these details.
He threw the tracking device outside the spaceship, closed the hatch, and began setting the destination.
Stored in the ship's computer were coordinates for several significant planets collected by Frieza's army. Once the destination was set, the spherical ship would automatically navigate there.
Among these coordinates, Zuke soon found the one he needed.
—Planet Zuno.
As the name suggests, it was the residence of Zuno, the famed information master in the universe, reputed to know almost everything, even the location of the Super Dragon Balls. He was essentially a more advanced version of Fortuneteller Baba.
Zuno was Zuke's next target.
Since Zuno was known for his information services, Zuke had speculated that the coordinates for his planet would be among Frieza's records, and it turned out to be true.
Of course, if the coordinates weren't there, Zuke had a backup plan: obtaining them from the Heeter family. As fellow information merchants, they would surely have a way to find Zuno.
But it turned out to be unnecessary.
As for the cost of Zuno's information services, according to the original story, one had to offer him a kiss, and Zuno would decide the number of questions based on his impression of the kisser.
This setup was undoubtedly Toriyama Akira's quirky humor, but in reality, it wasn't just a matter of eccentricity.
Zuke had no intention of kissing Zuno. He had already decided that if Zuno refused to answer, he would resort to force.
Zuno himself had little combat power. His rules might work for those who played by them, but for someone strong and unruly, there wasn't much Zuno could do.
In the original story, Zamasu from Universe 10 had once violently coerced Zuno into providing information about the Super Dragon Balls. If Zamasu could do it, why couldn't Zuke?
To be continued…
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