A Remote Planet in the Northern Galaxy.
Amid the ruins of a crumbling structure, the air was thick with moisture.
Raiga sat on a collapsed boulder, biting into a fruit native to the planet. Nearby, the corpses of several dinosaur-like creatures lay scattered. They had been on this planet for quite some time, and with the native inhabitants nearly wiped out, they would soon be able to return to their home world.
Just then, a few Saiyans in Raiga's group received a transmission from the Frieza Force. Upon opening it, their expressions turned to shock.
A seasoned Saiyan exclaimed, "Prince Raiga, the Frieza Force has sent a message—Planet Vegeta was struck by a massive meteor and has been completely destroyed. Every Saiyan on the planet has perished."
"What do you mean by 'every Saiyan'?"
Among Raiga's team, aside from himself and Raditz, the other three were adult Saiyans. They were all stunned upon hearing the news.
"All Saiyans had been summoned back to Planet Vegeta at the time, so they were wiped out along with it. That means the only Saiyans left are the five of us." At this time, Nappa still had a full head of hair and had yet to reach his peak combat power.
Raditz, clutching his injured arm, muttered, "We were really lucky this time. Good thing we didn't follow the recall order back to Planet Vegeta."
Raiga coldly spat out a piece of fruit. "What a shame… I was expecting to become the King of the Saiyans."
"Prince Raiga, don't you have a younger brother?"
"Yeah, but I have no idea whether he's dead or alive. Whatever, I don't care." Raiga continued eating his fruit. His younger brother, Tabul, had been born weak. To avoid disgracing the royal bloodline, King Vegeta had secretly exiled him to a low-level planet. Very few people knew about it.
"What about Raditz's younger brother?" The adult Saiyans showed concern for their comrade's family.
Raditz responded indifferently, "No idea. That guy was just a low-class warrior, probably still in an incubation pod back home…" He suddenly recalled a message his mother, Gine, had sent a while back, mentioning something about sending his brother to another planet. Not that he particularly cared.
"Oh… I see."
Their teammates were speechless. It seemed both Raiga and Raditz had little interest in their own brothers. Perhaps it was because of their frequent missions for the Frieza Force, which had numbed them to the bonds of Saiyan kinship.
...
Planet Vegeta was one of the few advanced planets in the Northern Galaxy, so its destruction caused a massive stir throughout the region.
Countless beings who had suffered from Saiyan attacks and been forced into exile celebrated upon hearing the news, laughing with delight.
Many others reacted with schadenfreude, while some wealthy individuals lamented the loss—not for the Saiyans, but for the wasted potential of such a high-grade planet.
On a lush and beautiful world...
King Cold lounged on his throne, leisurely swirling a glass of wine and taking occasional sips. His life was one of utter indulgence.
Five years ago, he had handed control of the Cold Force to Frieza, restructuring it into the Frieza Force. Since then, he had officially retired, retreating to this serene planet with a few trusted subordinates. He only spoke on matters of great cosmic importance, just to remind the universe of his presence.
"I hear Frieza has wiped out the Saiyans?"
"That is correct, King Cold," a subordinate answered cautiously.
King Cold chuckled and crossed his legs. "Well, that's for the best. Even if they swore allegiance, the Saiyans would never truly submit. If Frieza has wiped them out completely, that's a good thing."
"It is said that Lord Frieza spared a few Saiyans… One of them is named Raiga, apparently a Saiyan prince."
"Oh?" King Cold made a noise of mild interest as he sipped his wine. "No matter. A mere Saiyan is of no concern. At most, he'll be like his father—reaching a combat power of ten or twenty thousand at best. Killing him would be effortless."
Though King Cold's power was not as overwhelming as Frieza's, he still possessed a battle strength in the tens of millions. Unlike Frieza, he had mastered his energy control, negating the need for transformation to suppress his power. He had been the undisputed ruler of the Northern Galaxy before Frieza rose to prominence.
To him, a weak Saiyan like Raiga was nothing more than a toy—something to play with until he got bored, at which point he could be discarded without a second thought.
And so, Frieza allowed Raiga and the others to remain by his side.
In truth, the Saiyans of Planet Vegeta were not particularly powerful. If not for the influence of Goku, the protagonist of the original tale, and Raiga as a major supporting character, the Saiyan race would have been only moderately strong. There were plenty of species in the Northern Galaxy stronger than them.
From that perspective, King Cold and Frieza's decision made perfect sense.
But what they didn't realize was that this seemingly insignificant choice would one day bring about their utter downfall.
...
On a planet not far from Planet Vegeta, at the very moment of its destruction, a dazzling beam of light suddenly appeared in the sky.
Whoosh!
Space itself seemed to distort. In the air, about ten meters above the ground, three figures materialized—Raiga, Sephilia, and Hertz.
Thud!
All three dropped from the sky, landing unceremoniously on the ground.
Raiga, having forcibly activated the "Transfer Technique" while carrying others, was utterly exhausted. Sephilia and Hertz, having spent most of their energy resisting Frieza's Death Ball, were also drained. Their sudden relocation to a foreign planet left them disoriented, and their crash landing created three craters in the ground.
Raiga struggled to climb out of his crater, his face pale from extreme energy depletion. The impact only worsened his condition.
"Are you alright?" A cool, crisp voice called out. Sephilia approached Raiga, her hair disheveled and her expression weary. She looked shaken, as if she had suffered a heavy blow. Her battle armor was tattered with several deep cracks.
Raiga waved weakly. "I'm fine, just drained."
"It's thanks to you that we managed to escape Planet Vegeta." Sephilia's voice was tinged with sorrow. She had known that Planet Vegeta's fate was sealed, and now it was likely nothing more than cosmic dust—just as Raiga had predicted.
"You're not thinking of avenging the Saiyans, are you?"
Raiga studied Sephilia carefully. Frieza's strength was far beyond anything they could challenge now. He worried she might do something reckless.
Sephilia shook her head. "No. The Saiyans lost in a survival-of-the-fittest struggle. We've exterminated countless planets before—dying in battle is simply the way of things. There's nothing to mourn. I just hate that Frieza's power is so far beyond ours."
The recent battle had dealt a severe blow to Sephilia's confidence. She had always considered herself a genius, but now she understood the vast gulf between her and the true elites of the universe. Her pride meant nothing in the grand scheme.
"Indeed, we're no match for Frieza right now."
Raiga fell silent for a moment, then pulled three small beans from his pocket, handing them to Sephilia and Hertz. "Here, take these. Eat one, and your energy will instantly recover."
Sephilia took one without hesitation. The moment she swallowed it, she felt a surge of vitality course through her. Her eyes widened in astonishment as she sensed the boundless energy within her.
Her little brother really did have some incredible treasures!
Hertz, meanwhile, examined the bean curiously. "What exactly happened? Why are we here? And what about Planet Vegeta?"