As the smoke and dust dispersed, the land lay in ruins. No living Laina Star natives remained after the previous bombardment—only the rampaging Great Ape persisted. However, the beast was now covered in wounds from Rhode's indiscriminate attack, and its combat power had dropped significantly. Though still temperamental, it swayed unsteadily, barely able to continue its rampage.
Seeing this, Rhode opened his mouth wide, preparing to fire a wave to finish and stun the Great Ape completely. But in the next instant, the Great Ape's body rapidly transformed. In a single breath, it reverted into a loli with a tail, wearing Frieza Army battle armor, unconscious on the ground yet bearing a heroic and aloof expression.
Rhode looked back at the sky and noticed the illusory bright moon had disappeared. At the same time, he himself underwent a similar transformation, reverting to his seven-year-old form. Gasping for air, he felt the aftereffects of recklessly unleashing waves in his Great Ape state. Despite the fatigue, the absence of any enemies on Laina Star with Battle Power over a thousand meant he had nothing to fear.
After calming his breathing, Rhode approached the loli, lifting her with one hand. He leapt into the air, scanning the horizon before flying toward the distant mountains. Deep within, he discovered a hidden cave, where he placed the loli safely inside before leaving.
When he returned, Rhode carried two massive creatures, over ten meters long and resembling crocodiles. Having expended much energy in combat, he planned to roast them to replenish his strength. In the open space before the cave, he prepared the beasts but realized he didn't have a lighter.
"Seems Ki can be used to start a fire?" Rhode recalled seeing Gohan use Ki to grill and decided to try. He gathered firewood, then fired a wave of Ki. Bang! The wood turned to ash immediately—too much energy. Undeterred, he tried again with less Ki, but it was too little to ignite. After several attempts, he finally struck the right balance, igniting a large fire to roast the two massive creatures.
Soon, the aroma of roasting meat filled the air. Famished, Rhode ignored the heat and rushed to the fire, devouring the beasts in less than an hour. Each over ten meters long, they left him stuffed and completely satisfied—an unprecedented feeling of fulfillment. Lying back in the open space before the cave and gazing at the starry night sky, he wondered which star belonged to Earth. Thoughts of the people from his memories filled him with anticipation for the future.
With the loli still unconscious, Rhode didn't bother her and instead went alone to a secluded mountaintop. He began carefully sensing the Ki within his body. Saiyans are born with relatively strong combat power, but their Ki control is crude and unrefined. Even Vegeta, with a combat power of eighteen thousand, had been unable to sense Ki before arriving on Earth—an astonishing fact to Rhode.
Calming his mind, closing his eyes, and emptying himself, Rhode began to meditate. Soon, he sensed a powerful aura, formidable though not as strong as his own. Opening his eyes, he traced it to the cave where the Saiyan loli, Aira, rested. It was remarkable how easily he could sense her Ki, with minimal effort.
Was this due to his elite warrior talent? Or the extraordinary comprehension granted by his awakened memories? After some thought, Rhode concluded it was likely both. Not dwelling further, he closed his eyes and extended his perception. Gradually, he captured all the weak auras across the mountain range, including many Laina Star natives, as his senses expanded even to distant areas.
However, the Ki of these Laina Star people was very weak. Compared to the natives with thousands of combat power he had faced before, these people all had combat power below one thousand, with most even below one hundred.
Rhode extended his perception further and further, eventually covering the entire Laina Star planet, and even reaching slightly into the surrounding universe. But his senses soon hit a limit, unable to detect the life force of other planets. Is this the limit of 2,500 combat power? he wondered. Thinking of Goku's ability to sense life force across the entire universe for Instant Transmission, Rhode couldn't help but marvel at the Saiyan's incredible power.
Most Saiyans are arrogant and cold-blooded, looking down on others. They rarely train under guidance, and elders seldom impart their experience. Combat power improvements come almost entirely through actual battles. Rhode, as an elite warrior, had been instilled with extensive combat knowledge at birth. Assigned to a combat team at age five, after nearly two years and several missions, he now possessed a combat power of 2,500.
He realized that if actual combat were combined with proper training, his combat power could easily exceed 5,000, possibly more. With this in mind, Rhode began recalling the training methods he had learned on Dragon Ball Earth, intending to try them out. Training, he remembered, wasn't just physical conditioning—it also involved mental cultivation and practical sparring.
Physical conditioning could be achieved through weighted training, the Gravity Chamber, or special breathing techniques. Mental cultivation could be pursued through meditation, as practiced on Earth. But while the concepts were clear, actual practice was not easy. Specific breathing methods or meditation without guidance would require self-exploration, akin to creating a cultivation system from scratch, which could not be done quickly. Weighted training or gravity training would be dangerous on an alien planet with no proper facilities.
After much thought, Rhode decided to focus on precise Ki control. In the past, he had only released Ki crudely, never with fine precision. Now, he could try. By lowering his outwardly displayed combat power while improving his control over Ki, he could maximize output while minimizing energy expenditure.
He began by making the Ki in his body dormant. Surprisingly, the process was easy; he achieved it in one attempt. Indeed, my comprehension ability is extraordinary! Rhode repeated the process several times, achieving stable control over his own Ki. He then moved on to active manipulation, conjuring a Ki ball in his hand and experimenting—expanding, compressing, deforming, and moving it in various ways. The process was not completely smooth, but it was far easier than he had anticipated.
"Indeed, my comprehension ability is very strong now," Rhode confirmed after several tests. Fine-tuning his Ki control had become almost second nature.
"Rhode, where are the others?"
A ripple of Ki drew his attention. The loli Aira, clad in her battle suit, appeared before him, her expression cold and aloof.
"Dead," Rhode replied indifferently, his tone devoid of emotion.
"Dead?" Aira was stunned at first but quickly composed herself, focusing on the mission. "Did you kill all the natives?"
Among Saiyans, warlike and cold-blooded by nature, death is a matter of personal weakness rather than someone else's fault. Rhode's choice to spare his lagging teammates while ensuring their survival marked him as abnormal, like Bardock. To Aira, teammates mattered less than the mission, and she didn't even believe Rhode had actively saved her—only that she had survived and ended up here.
"No."
Many Laina Star people were still alive, but the remaining ones posed no threat to him. As long as they didn't interfere, Rhode naturally saw no reason to slaughter them indiscriminately.
"No?"
Upon hearing that Rhode hadn't killed all the natives, Aira's displeasure was clear. "If we kill all the natives sooner, we can complete the mission and return earlier, Rhode. What are you doing?"
"Nothing. There's no threat left on this planet. No need to kill them."
Rhode spoke calmly, indifferently, which struck Aira as incredible. Her mind froze for a moment, stunned by his words. Finally, she looked at him with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. "Haven't we always done it this way? What's wrong with you? Are you acting like Bardock?"
"Never mind. Maybe there's something wrong with your head. Go get treated when we get back. Once I recover, I'll wipe out the remaining natives myself!"
Not understanding Rhode's thoughts, Aira didn't press further, sticking to her own convictions. She leapt into the air, looking at him. "Now, let's return to the spaceship to recover!"
Spaceship?
Rhode knew immediately—this was the medium-sized ship that belonged to the entire squad. Although Aira was seriously injured, she wasn't in a dying state; she was simply exhausted. Even with full recovery, surpassing him in combat power would be difficult. Moreover, having trained his precise control over Ki, Rhode's actual combat power had reached an entirely new level. Aira posed no threat to him.
Thinking this, Rhode followed closely behind. Flying steadily, the two soon reached the spaceship. Just as they entered the cabin, the communicator began ringing.
"Beep, beep, beep..."
Seeing Aira move forward, Rhode stepped ahead and answered the call.
"Hello, hello, this is the control center. By order of Frieza, all squads are to return to Planet Vegeta immediately after completing their missions!"