Finally, at Merus's suggestion, Zuno agreed to Zuke's plan.
If Zuke had come alone, Zuno would likely have tried every means to delay or even refuse the proposal. But since even an angel had spoken, Zuno had no choice but to reluctantly agree—after all, an angel's status far surpassed his own.
Though Merus was only a trainee angel, to Zuno, this "trainee" title was merely a formality.
Once Zuno consented, Zuke quickly reached an agreement with him.
From then on, Zuke would send several members of the Zuke Corps to Planet Zuno each week to establish long-distance communication methods.
Whenever someone wanted to purchase information from the Zuke Corps, its members would follow Zuno's rules—offering a kiss to obtain the intelligence—and then resell it at a high price to those in need.
Though this middleman behavior seemed unfair to Zuno, what could he say? The rules were his own, and any complaints had to be swallowed.
Before leaving, Merus gave Zuno an awkward smile. After all, Zuno had agreed largely out of respect for him.
Initially, Merus also felt this arrangement was inappropriate, but Zuke's reasoning had convinced him.
—By transforming the Zuke Corps into an intelligence organization, their acts of invasion would gradually be replaced.
As a member of the angel race, Merus wasn't supposed to interfere with the natural order of the universe. Even if invaders existed, he had no right to intervene. However, during his work with the Galactic Patrol, Merus had grown fond of this universe and embraced their ideals.
He wanted to contribute as much as possible to the peace of this universe and the goals of the Galactic Patrol.
Now, all he had to do was show up and say a few words to Zuno, and the Frieza Corps—originally dedicated to planetary conquest—would undergo a complete transformation...
The temptation was too great for Merus to resist, so he had accompanied Zuke to persuade Zuno.
---
"Understood, Lord Zuke! I'll make the arrangements immediately!"
Inside the Frieza Corps' spaceship—or rather, what should now be called the Zuke Corps' spaceship—Sorbet, Chief of Staff of the Third Stellar Region, saluted Zuke and accepted his orders.
This short-statured chief of staff never appeared in the original series but achieved a rather infamous feat in Dragon Ball Super.
Yes, he was the one who shot through Super Saiyan Blue's chest with a ray gun—single-handedly tanking the prestige of Super Saiyan Blue and becoming a frequent target of ridicule.
In Dragon Ball Super, it was Sorbet who found the Dragon Balls and revived Frieza—though his primary goal was to restore the Frieza Corps.
In the original story, after Frieza's death, the Frieza Corps had deteriorated, forcing them to revive Frieza to regain their former strength.
In other words, as chief of staff, Sorbet cared more about the Corps' power than any loyalty to Frieza himself.
Now that the Frieza Corps had become the Zuke Corps, Zuke's overwhelming presence ensured the organization not only remained stable but thrived.
Under Zuke's orders, the Zuke Corps even planned to absorb the massive intelligence conglomerate, the "Heeters," ensuring a brighter future.
Thus, Sorbet had no intention of betraying Zuke to revive Frieza.
Besides, Sorbet didn't even know about the Dragon Balls now, so such thoughts were impossible.
---
"This should make the Galactic Patrol's work a little easier, right?"
Watching Sorbet carry out Zuke's orders to establish contact with Zuno, Merus, standing behind Zuke, smiled in relief.
The Frieza Corps had long been a thorn in the Galactic Patrol's side. With Zuke resolving the issue, they no longer had to worry about it.
Thinking this, Merus let go of the slight guilt he had felt while persuading Zuno.
---
After setting the Zuke Corps' future course of action, Zuke returned to Planet Vegeta.
The entire trip had taken only about an hour, so he should be back just in time for dinner.
Before leaving, however, Zuke noted the current universal time in the Dragon Ball world.
The next time he entered the Dragon Ball world through King's Army, he could compare the time flow between the two worlds to see if it followed a fixed ratio.
---
The moment he arrived on Planet Vegeta, Zuke felt as though he had returned to his own domain—an effect of King's Army.
This made him consider another possibility:
If he could make the entire Seventh Universe acknowledge him as "King," could he then incorporate the entire universe into King's Army?
But upon reflection, the idea seemed too difficult to execute.
It wasn't just about "conquering" a region—everyone within it had to recognize Zuke as their ruler.
After all, the Zuke Corps, having inherited the Frieza Corps, already controlled over 70% of the Seventh Universe.
Yet Zuke couldn't simply absorb that 70% into King's Army.
The fundamental issue was that many in these regions didn't truly accept Zuke as their "King"—they merely obeyed the Zuke Corps' orders to some extent.
"I'll think of a way later."
But humans are never satisfied. Once this idea took root, Zuke couldn't let it go.
If an opportunity arose in the future, he would certainly attempt it.
---
Soon, Zuke's figure vanished from Planet Vegeta as he exited King's Army.
He reappeared by the docks, along with the abandoned ships he had taken into King's Army, which now crashed into the sea.
Splash—
The ships sent waves soaring, but Zuke blocked the water with his ki.
Upon returning to the real world, Zuke immediately checked his phone to confirm the current time.
Relieved to find only an hour had passed, he sighed.
Since the time flow between the real world and the Dragon Ball world might differ, he had worried that an hour there could translate to much longer here.
But it seemed the time synchronization remained consistent.
To be continued…
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