"Ah, the smell of a fresh, unconquered planet. Isn't it lovely, Zarbon?"
"Ah… y-yes, of course, my Lord," Zarbon stuttered out behind me, clearly not sharing my thoughts as we stepped onto a pure-yellow looking planet, which had a rocky floor for as far as the eye could see.
"I-It's so cold! Why do I have to be here?!" Behind me, to the side of Zarbon, Bulma apparently shared his lack of excitement about being on Planet Yardrat.
"There might be interesting technology here that I need you to analyze," I replied simply, smirking slightly as I glanced over my shoulder at her. "Would you rather stay on the ship with the rest of my soldiers?"
"Well, no, but," Bulma huffed, looking a bit annoyed as she stepped up next to me and glanced around, "If I stayed in your bedroom, I would be fine. It's not like any of them would go in there!"
Six months had passed since I had taken Bulma from Earth, and that time had not passed without any results. The woman wasn't all that nervous around me anymore, as she'd been fiery enough to argue with me from the start, and despite not enjoying being kidnapped in space, she wasn't all that upset about it either. I figured that she was enjoying the small adventures we were going on.
Which, 'adventures' was being generous, as instead it was more like planet-conquering. I was taking her personally to planets that my forces had already scouted out and determined to have advanced technology, and she was able to recreate their technology after it was conquered. Having a super-genius, especially one who could recreate scouters from just a few minutes of fiddling with them, turned out to be rather nice.
The one downside of taking over a planet by force was that the inhabitants of said planet weren't very willing to help you out. I could understand why Frieza had been just exterminating all life on the planets he conquered, because instead of being willing to share or explain how to create or use the advanced technology with their new overlord, most of the beings on conquered planets would rather die with their middle finger in the air. I couldn't really blame them, as if my homeworld was being taken over by a giga-powerful alien prick, I'd probably not want to be very helpful either.
That downside was negated by Bulma, who overall just made the conquering process more efficient. That wasn't to mention all the help she'd been over the past half-year, as after a rather rough first month where she'd been unwilling to assist me, either Stockholm syndrome or her own desire to live more comfortably and relaxed in my ship had kicked in. My empire was running at 1000% efficiency because of her, as spending a month on Planet Frieza had led to the development of quicker spaceships, stronger scouters that wouldn't explode from seeing a high power level, and more effective training equipment.
I even had a gravity chamber now!
Increasing the efficiency and development of my empire had been my goal from the start, and her speeding that up was just the icing on the cake. At the same time, I had still been training, albeit less than before as my first form, or suppressed form, had only roughly quintupled to five hundred million - which I could confirm now with my improved scouters - over the past few months. That was still a huge boost, but if I took my training seriously and was able to adapt to my new body enough for it to feel as natural to me as it did to Frieza, then reaching Gold form in that time was doable.
"This won't take long," I just chuckled at Bulma's words, as the woman had grown more comfortable with me and had become a nice 'sleeping buddy' over the past few months.
She, rather understandably, wasn't suddenly sexually attracted to an alien, so that platonic relationship was still in effect, though some signs were starting to show. The woman had been both cheated on and abandoned by Yamcha just a few months earlier, and the effects of that were still showing as she was desperate for a rebound and comfort. Her resolve was slowly crumbling, and the number of longing looks and blushes as she was around me was starting to increase. She had no problem sleeping flush against me now, whereas she had started with sleeping on the very edge of my bed. Overall, when the time to return to Earth six months from now came, I doubted she'd even want to go back permanently anymore.
"Not to doubt you, my Lord, but, ah…" Zarbon started to doubt me despite his words, something that was starting to become a common thread with the green alien, "The scouts reported that there wasn't any advanced technology here, and the inhabitants of this planet are weak peace lovers. Was it necessary for you to come personally?"
As I glanced around Yardrat, sensing the various power levels who were speeding towards us at our arrival, I definitely didn't need to. The Yardratians had some strong Ki techniques, such as Instant Transmission, but they were a race of pacifists. They weren't well-trained fighters, and if I had just left Yardrat to the Frieza Force, it would've been conquered easily.
But, I was here for a different reason than just conquering it.
"They're weak, but interesting," I just said simply, watching as the first Yardratian, a rather ugly-looking alien with pink wrinkly skin, a small physique, and a bunch of disease-like spots of blue skin on his bald head, flew through the air towards us.
"Why are you here, conqueror?" The pink alien asked bluntly, his eyes narrowed as he looked more than a bit nervous, and I was actually surprised.
Most of the planets I conquered didn't know anything about me, as they usually didn't have access to space travel and didn't know about what was happening in the wider universe around them, and I expected Yardrat to be the same. Instead, it seemed they actually knew who I was, which was a pleasant surprise.
"I'm sure you already know," I smirked lightly, causing the Yardratian in front of me to tense and shift into a fighting stance, looking a mixture of afraid and determined, "If you make this easy for me, then there's no need for anyone to die."
"As if. We know what you do, tyrant," The Yardratian bit back, not looking like a member of a peaceful race as he glared at me, "You enslave, massacre, and conquer… If you think we'll roll over and let you do as you please, then you're mistaken!"
Behind him, various other Yardratians started to arrive, flooding the sky like a flock of birds as they shot forward and then landed on the floor in front of me. The sole Yardratian turned into a massive crowd, with more and more appearing by the second, and Zarbon stiffened next to me.
"My lord…" He trailed off, his eyes hard as he stared down the growing army, but I just chuckled.
"Seriously? You're concerned about an army of ants?" I asked dryly, smirking back at him a bit.
"O-Of course not, there are just quite a lot of them!" Zarbon huffed indignantly, though he was definitely a bit worried as he looked over the growing crowd, his scouter taking in their power levels.
I couldn't blame him, as while I didn't use a scouter much since I could just sense energy, I could still sense a rough idea of how powerful the Yardratians were. They were a peaceful race, but they were skilled in Ki usage and overall had decently high power levels. They ranged from anywhere in the low hundreds to as high as nearly ten thousand, and to someone like Zarbon, an entire army of them might've been enough to take him down.
But, compared to me? It wasn't just a group of ants that could do nothing but climb up a human's body, biting and gnawing as the only damage they did was a couple of bumps here and there. No, it was much lower than that - as if a pile of sand was sitting in front of a giant, simply waiting to be stomped on. They weren't strong enough to be insects, as even a mosquito could leave a bite before it died.
Even if the entire population of Yardrat charged me at once, they wouldn't leave a single scratch or bruise on my body. Hell, they could train day and night for a hundred years, and even then I doubt they'd land a single blow.
But, they didn't know that right now. I'd have to remind them that I was the ruler of the universe, and they were a group of pacifists who should do as I say. That might've been an arrogant way of thinking, but when I needed to take over the entire universe for both their own good and mine as I made them stronger and avoided erasure, being arrogant was necessary. Their culture, beliefs, and pacifist ways would mean nothing when Zeno erased us all from existence.
"Stop looking so serious. It's kind of sad," I chuckled as I stared at the Yardratian's serious and determined looks, "If I wanted to, you would all die before you even knew it. But, you're lucky, because I didn't come here to fight today."
"...You didn't?" The initial Yardratian asked, looking at me with a guarded expression as he narrowed his eyes, "You expect us to believe that?"
"What you believe doesn't matter to me," I replied bluntly, my eyes boring into the Yardratian's, "I'm telling the truth. I'm not here to fight, but instead to learn."
"T-To learn?" The Yardratian stuttered back, his eyes a bit wide, "What do you…"
"You have some very interesting techniques, and I want to learn them," I said simply, causing Zarbon to look surprised behind me, and for some sharp inhales to come from the Yardratians, "The Instant Transmission technique to start. Teach it to me."
This body I inhabited was powerful - very powerful. Its potential was seemingly limitless, and I could grow stronger at an unmatched rate. However, that didn't mean I was invincible.
Power was nice. It was very nice, and in this world based around fighting and power-ups, it was extremely nice. But - despite the fact that beyond the series entering its Z section every opponent seemed to suddenly be an expert fighter on par with Goku - techniques, abilities, and fighting expertise still mattered. My body was instinctively good at fighting, and I was becoming more accustomed to it as I became a better fighter by the day, but that didn't mean I was suddenly an expert or could use complicated Ki techniques.
Right now, I had so much power that my lack of fighting ability didn't really matter, as I was simply faster, stronger, and more durable than anyone I would be fighting anytime soon, but that wouldn't always be true. I couldn't think short-sightedly, as I'd one day be fighting against literal gods, and simply punching and kicking them with all my strength wouldn't be enough to win that fight.
I needed techniques, skills, and to become a better fighter. The first step to acquiring that first desire was here on Yardrat.
"I… I don't know how you heard of the Instant Transmission technique, but we'd never teach it to someone like you!" The Yardratian who had arrived first, and seemed to speak for the whole planet, shouted with a stony face, "I'd never help an evil tyrant like you become stronger! For the sake of the universe, I'd rather die than help you!"
A murmur of agreement came from behind him, and the crowd of Yardratians shifted into a fighting stance, ready to fight for their lives. Despite their actions and words, they were shaking like leaves in the wind as they stared me down, and I just shook my head lightly. Their defiance was cute, but…
"Ah, perhaps you're right about me becoming too kind lately, Zarbon," I sighed, slowly taking a step forward and causing the air to become tense as I did, "I said it so civilly that you misunderstood me. I wasn't asking - I was ordering you. You will teach me."
In this world, being able to sense Ki was actually pretty rare. All the Earthling fighters could do it, as well as the Namekians, but it was rather rare amongst the various races that populated Universe 7 overall. Luckily for me, the Yardrat was one of the few planets that could also sense Ki.
That was luckily for me, but unluckily for them. You'd think that being able to sense Ki would only benefit you - after all, it was a rare skill that allowed you to get a better understanding of your opponent in an instant. But, in some situations, like this one, the Yardratian's would've been better off not being able to sense Ki.
For this talented body, learning to sense Ki had been trivial, and suppressing my Ki had been the same. The Yardratian's were already shaking, fear in their eyes despite their determination, and yet even my first-form power was being suppressed down to a 'mere' fifty million.
So, I'll just have to remind them why I'm the ruler of the universe. I flexed my body a bit, grinning widely, and the effect was instantaneous.
My Ki flooded outward, shooting up in a white aura of power around me, and filled the air.
"G-Guh!" Inhales, gasps, and even light choking occurred as eyes went wide, and my unrestrained first-form power flowed outward.
"Y-You… how… how…" The first Yardratian fell to his knees, stumbling forward a bit, and his brethren followed around him with wide eyes. With this body, I doubt I could ever experience the helplessness they felt in that moment, but I imagine the weight on their shoulders was unmatched. As if they were Atlas, holding up an entire world on their shoulders while my aura pushed down on them oppressively.
"You said you'd die before you helped me, didn't you?" I grinned even wider as I stepped forward, towering over the kneeling Yardratian, who stared up at me with a mixture of awe, horror, and fear, "But, that won't happen. I never said you could die."
In this world, power was everything, and I was in a body that could get power faster than anyone in this universe. What I wanted, I would get. I would rule this universe with an iron fist, turn every planet into a powerful, thriving civilization, learn every technique I could to become invincible, avoid erasure, and-
"T-That was kind of.. hot…"
Fuck the shit out of Bulma!
But that could wait for later. For now, I had Instant Transmission to learn.
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AN: Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be out in a few days!
You can also read the next 20 chapters right now on Patreon.com/Koyon ! Up to chapter 24 is on there!