That elusive movement, paired with that cutting attack—it had left Freeza deeply wary. If he had been caught off-guard in his weakest form... would he truly have lost his head in a single strike, just as that man had warned?
The mere thought made his blood boil. Heh…
A cold, seething fury ignited within him once more. Freeza's lips curled into a sinister grin, his metallic-like face reflecting in the ship's window like a violet demon.
Glancing down at his body, he mused to himself:
"Still… after adapting to this complete power form, it feels unexpectedly good. My strength… has actually improved."
Ironically, the last two surviving members of the Frost Demon race in Universe 7 had each discovered their own path to greater power.
In truth…
Their methods weren't so different from the Saiyans' own ways of growth.
One focused on strengthening their base form, ensuring that their transformations would unleash even greater power.
The other forced themselves to adapt to their ultimate state, pushing beyond its natural limits.
In the original timeline, Vegeta had walked the first path, while Goku and his son had taken the second.
Perhaps this was the common thread among warriors with transformative abilities.
"Kukuku… Next time we meet, I'll peel the flesh from your bones—inch by inch, savoring every moment."
"How pitifully will you beg for mercy then? Will you scream? Will you weep?"
"Though what a shame… a worthless insect like you might already be dead. The thought alone… it nearly drives me mad. Heh… hehehe…"
Freeza's deranged laughter echoed through the empty chamber. No underling dared approach.
Even standing near this room meant being crushed under the oppressive weight of his leaking aura—no one could remain composed in the face of this Freeza.
"The Emperor grows more terrifying by the day…"
Elsewhere in the ship, an elderly alien sighed inside a research and control center.
Ever since King Cold's men had retrieved Freeza from the ruins of a destroyed planet a century ago… he had never been the same.
It was as if he feared something—or rather, he had maintained his true Frost Demon form, as if preparing for an unseen threat.
The old alien found it unbelievable. Who could make the Emperor so cautious? Who could… sever Freeza's arm?
And in his full-powered state, no less?
His wrinkled eyes flicked to a monitor displaying a flat, unchanging waveform.
"A hundred years… Will the one the Emperor seeks really appear?"
---
Freeza's Base Sector
The short Saiyan prince strode down the corridor when two towering aliens approached.
At the forefront was a purple-skinned warrior with twin black horns, his bald scalp lined with bulging veins—Captain Ginyu, leader of the elite Ginyu Force.
Half a step behind him was an even taller, red-eyed alien with no visible pupils, making it impossible to tell where his gaze landed.
Vegeta, no longer wearing the red cape of his home planet, was clad only in a standard Freeza Force battle vest.
When he saw the two approaching, his body stiffened instinctively.
Against his pride, he stepped aside to let them pass.
Ginyu strode past as if Vegeta didn't exist, while Burter—the "Fastest in the Universe Under Freeza"—glanced back at the fuming Saiyan brat and let out a mocking "Heh."
No words were needed. That single, deliberate scoff was enough.
Vegeta's fists trembled, his teeth grinding as rage threatened to explode in his chest.
The warrior's pride and dignity, his own weakness and helplessness, the cruel contrast between ideals and reality, the glory and reverence he once enjoyed among his people—now all of it clashed violently with the humiliations he suffered in Freeza's base, gnawing at his soul like ten thousand ants devouring his heart.
His mind flashed back once more to that moment...
His father—the man he had always seen as second only to Freeza—was instead groveling on his knees, his head crushed beneath a boot, not daring to utter a single word of protest.
Even after being kicked away, the King of all Saiyans had stifled every grunt of pain.
And then there was Burely—who was he, really? Was he truly the Saiyan known as Burely? Just how high did his power level reach?
He had spoken to the God of Destruction as an equal... Could he, too, be a god?
Was he... a Super Saiyan?!
The thought came to Vegeta naturally. It was the legend passed down among their race—the myth of the mightiest Saiyan warrior in the universe! If there existed a Saiyan capable of conversing with deities, then aside from the title of "Super Saiyan," Vegeta could think of no other explanation.
And yet... who had been the one to blast them out of the cave with that dragon-like energy?
The God of Destruction? Or the Super Saiyan?
For some reason, after being sent flying in that torrent of power, when his father had scrambled up and demanded to know who the other figure in the cave was, Vegeta had lied.
He had claimed he never got a clear look before being ejected.
But why had he hidden the truth?
Vegeta remembered his own gaze as he looked at his father in that moment—
Utterly disillusioned.
The man he had once idolized... had now become nothing but a profound disappointment.