Vegeta reasoned that history had changed somewhat because of his rebirth — and that made perfect sense to him.
Just like when Trunks came to my previous era and killed Frieza, and brought that heart medicine for Kakarot — even the Androids' personalities had changed as a result.
And there were five Androids, total. Completely different from Trunks's timeline.
In Trunks's timeline, the two Androids were a nightmare. But in my previous era, the two Androids turned out to be decent people. Android 18 even married Krillin and had a child.
What will the Androids be like in this timeline?
Will they change because of what I've done?
Vegeta's thoughts were running ahead of themselves.
The immediate priority was finding a ship and getting back to Earth.
Vegeta glanced at the large ship beside him, then aimed a hand at Frieza's soldier.
The soldier immediately crumpled to his knees, shaking in terror.
"If you want to live, fly this ship. Now," Vegeta said coldly.
"Y-yes, Vegeta-sama, where do you wish to go?" the soldier asked carefully.
This soldier went by the name Cranberry — in the original story, he had taken part in a fight against a Namekian and been sent flying by one of the Namekian youths. Cranberry flew straight into Zarbon, who casually kicked him into a nearby lake, and he drowned. That was the end of him.
Later, when the Namekian dragon Porunga was summoned, one of the wishes granted was to revive everyone killed by Frieza and his men. Zarbon was one of Frieza's men — so Cranberry was revived along with them.
Cranberry, now alive again and watching the planet start to break apart, jumped onto one of the Ginyu Force's ships and escaped Namek, having quietly cut ties with the Frieza Force along the way.
What followed wasn't much better. Cranberry got himself into trouble on some other planet, drew the attention of the Galactic Patrol, and was arrested and thrown into the Galactic Prison.
Fate, as it happened, put him in the cell next to Moro — and Cranberry told him everything about the Dragon Balls.
After Moro recovered his magic power and broke out, he brought Cranberry along. To counter the threat, Goku and Vegeta pursued Moro to New Namek and fought him in an intense battle.
But all of that — Moro — came after the Tournament of Power.
And the Goku Black incident had come before the Tournament of Power.
So the reborn Vegeta had no idea who Cranberry was.
"Earth," Vegeta said simply.
"Y-yes! Understood!" Cranberry nodded obediently and set to work at the controls.
Inside, Cranberry's mind was racing.
What do I do? What do I do?
This Vegeta might well discard me the moment I'm no longer useful.
How do I survive this?
I'll just have to take it one step at a time. If I perform well enough, maybe Vegeta will let me go.
Whoosh!
The ship thundered off the ground, punched through the atmosphere, and entered the vast dark of space.
The remaining soldiers Frieza had left scattered across Namek looked up as Frieza's ship rose — and frantically waved their arms.
We're still on the planet!
Don't leave without us!
"Don't even think about trying anything clever. Fly this ship straight to Earth and do exactly as you're told. Are we clear?" Vegeta said in a flat, cold voice.
"Yes! Would I ever try anything? Absolutely not! I should be thanking Vegeta-sama for sparing my life!" Cranberry nodded enthusiastically.
"Don't disturb me." With that, Vegeta moved off toward a wide open section of the ship and began to train.
By the time I reach Earth, I will have achieved Super Saiyan.
Raise my base energy first — that comes before anything else.
Kakarot — I'm looking forward to the look on your face when I leave you permanently behind.
In that moment, Vegeta was smiling to himself, a little more freely than usual.
...
Earth.
Goku was at home eating, going at it with full dedication — face slick, periodically licking his fingers.
"Goku, slow down — there's no rush," Chi-Chi said with a laugh.
"Chi-Chi, your cooking really is the best," Goku said, grinning.
"Speaking of which — when are you bringing Gohan home?" Chi-Chi's expression turned stern.
"Ah... he should be just about done training. I'll go get him soon, I promise — don't worry, he'll be fine," Goku said hurriedly.
"Alright." Chi-Chi nodded.
After finishing his meal, Goku did the maths and figured it had been about long enough — time to check in on Piccolo and the others.
See how it's going with the Ginyu Force.
Aside from Ginyu himself, who was a serious problem, Goku figured Piccolo and the others could handle the rest of the Ginyu Force without much difficulty.
Though that Body Change technique of Ginyu's is still a headache.
Piccolo's energy far exceeds Ginyu's now, in any case.
"Chi-Chi — I'm going to pick up Gohan," Goku called out.
"Okay," Chi-Chi said.
Whoosh!
Goku used Instant Transmission and was gone in an instant.
One blink later, he was back at the Sacred World of the Kai.
From a distance, he could see Old Kai with his back to the Crystal Ball, a strange-looking manga in his hands, reading with a glazed expression and a small trickle of drool at the corner of his mouth.
Goku craned his neck for a look, then couldn't help but scratch his head.
"Old Kai, what exactly is so good about those things?" Goku asked, genuinely puzzled.
Old Kai nearly jumped out of his skin, springing up from the ground.
"Boy — don't appear behind someone like that without warning! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Old Kai snapped, flustered.
"Ha ha ha," Goku laughed.
"And what are you here for this time? Coming because you're bored? If you're bored, go train. Get your strength back to peak condition," Old Kai scolded irritably.
"I am working on it..." Goku grinned and scratched the back of his head again. "Thing is, I already beat Frieza, so I'm not sure his power will keep going up the same way now..."
"Don't come asking me about that sort of thing!" Old Kai huffed, visibly impatient. "I'm the Supreme Kai, not your babysitter — don't come to me with every little question, I am a very busy individual! Who has time to be as idle as you!"
"Busy reading manga?" Goku asked with a sly grin.
"What would you know about it? This manga documents the continuation of life between humans — as the Supreme Kai, these are matters I am obligated to understand thoroughly." Old Kai was entirely serious, his voice full of conviction.
Goku scratched his head, listening with a completely blank expression.
"The Supreme Kai's principal duties include the creation of planets and the creation of life. Everything in this manga concerns how life is created — did you really think I was reading this for entertainment?" Old Kai shot a sideways look at Goku, thoroughly put out.
Goku kept scratching his head.
He kind of has a point. And yet something about it feels slightly off.
To be continued…
Advaance 50 Chapters are up on my Patreon!
pat reon.com/AlphaSenatus