"So, are you going to tell me what the hell that was all about now?" Bulma huffed, the woman glaring up at me as I carried her bridal-style through the air.
We were headed towards the next area of interest to me, and my first stop after dealing with the Z-Fighters - the Lookout. There were a few things I wanted to look at while I was there, but the main one was learning the method to create Senzu Beans from Korin - something which he definitely wouldn't tell me willingly, but also something that a bit of 'convincing' could fix.
As we soared through the air, an unconscious Nappa was slumped over one of my shoulders, and Vegeta was on the other. I silently wondered if I should've brought Zarbon with me after all, or at least a few grunts to handle work like this.
Vegeta had fallen unconscious soon after my battle with Goku, as the injuries wracking his body from his own fight with the Saiyan were simply too much to sustain. If he weren't a Saiyan, then it wasn't a stretch to think he would die from these injuries.
But he was a Saiyan, and the Prince of them at that. The prideful bastard wouldn't die so easily, and I'd just chuck him into a healing pod once we returned to my ship.
"Despite what you would think from my actions, I actually respect those Earthlings," I said simply, causing Bulma to look at me doubtfully. "I didn't just kill them for no reason. Did your friends tell you about how Goku was training with a Kai in the afterlife?"
"Yeah… King Kai, I think?" Bulma muttered, having talked briefly with the Z-Fighters before the battle started, but was still confused as she looked up at me, "What about it?"
"That's how he was able to become so much stronger. You might not understand, since you're not a fighter, but his growth in the past year was insane compared to his prior growth," I explained easily. "He gained more strength in the past year than he has in his entire life up to this point - and by many times over, at that. I sent the rest of your friends there to get that same training."
"A-Are you kidding me?!" Bulma stared up at me incredulously, her eyes wide, "You killed them so they could train?! There wasn't another way to do that?! You could've just trained them yourself!"
Her words weren't completely wrong - I could've just trained the Z-Fighters myself, and they probably would've gained more strength than from training on their own, but that was just because they would have a powerful training partner. Overall, I was a foreign soul in this body - I could overwhelm Super Saiyan Goku through the sheer gap in our power, but that didn't mean I was suddenly a masterful fighter.
I had barely even thrown a punch in my past life, and I was still learning how to be a skillful fighter myself, even after sparring with King Cold. I was a decent fighter, maybe 'good' at best, but I wasn't a masterful teacher.
Whereas Goku and Vegeta got a ton of gains from training under someone like Whis, he was an Angel - a literal trainer for a God of Destruction - and King Kai, in the same vein to a much lesser extent, was someone who was much better at training students than I was.
"Don't be offended when I say this, but it's not that simple. Unless you're a warrior yourself, it's hard to understand," I said simply, only causing Bulma to huff and look even more pissed off. "I can't just 'train' someone to become powerful. King Kai will do a much better job than I ever could, and they'll be far stronger when they're wished back to life a year from now."
"...Damn it, fine," Bulma finally huffed as she stared at me sternly for a moment, her body relaxing in my arms as she gave up on being angry, "I still think you're being a dumbass, but… what I've seen you do in the past year tells me the opposite, so I'll trust that you know what you're doing."
"I appreciate it," I grinned lightly at her words, glad that my year-long efforts hadn't been for nothing.
Not that I was specifically trying to convince Bulma that I was intelligent, but I hoped that would be a side effect of everything I was doing with my galactic empire. I had put in a lot of hard work to turn the loosely-tied, fear-controlled group of soldiers Frieza had ruled over into a well-oiled machine, with rankings, trainers, and improved technology, so I was glad that Bulma could at least appreciate my effort.
"But, where are we going?" She asked, glancing down at the landscape blurring by far below, "This isn't the direction the ship was in, right?"
"It's not," I confirmed, nodding lightly, "I gave that Senzu Bean to Goku, so I need another one now. I'll get the method of how to make them from the cat who grows them, and then you can figure out how to mass-produce them, right?"
"How do you even know where they come from? Wait, don't answer that…" Bulma sighed, shaking her head lightly.
That question had come up more than a few times about stuff throughout the year together, and my usual answer of 'I know a lot of stuff' just seemed to piss her off, so she stopped before I could repeat my usual comeback.
"That won't be as easy as you make it sound, but for a genius like myself, it won't be impossible," Bulma continued, sounding a bit smug at the end, before she looked up at me teasingly, "But I thought I could stay here if I wanted to? How are you going to mass-produce them if I don't come with you this time?"
"I have a backup plan," I said simply, causing her to huff as it wasn't the response she wanted.
"You always do," She said dryly, "You could've at least tried to act all desperate for once! No 'please Bulma, I need a genius like you to help me?'"
"Nope," I responded bluntly, causing her to huff again as I smirked lightly, "We're here."
Far ahead of me, the outline of the Lookout came into view - hovering far above the surface of Earth below. However, for now, I wasn't interested in the Lookout itself, but instead in something below it.
"Korin Tower," I muttered, blasting forward quickly as I crossed the gap and flew through the unwalled outside, landing casually as the main inhabitant of this place stared at me with wide eyes.
"W-Why are you here?" Korin, a floating fat white cat with a wise-elderly vibe to him, gritted out, "If you're here, then Goku…"
"Failed to beat me? Obviously," I scoffed lightly at the idea, softly setting down Bulma on her feet as I let both Vegeta and Nappa flop down to the floor much less gently, "But don't worry. He's alive."
"H-He is? Good!" Korin sighed, looking relieved at my words, but my next words reversed that feeling.
"The rest aren't, though," I smirked a bit, "The Namekian, the bald one, the kid, the three-eyed man, the cowardly long-haired rodent-"
I stopped my description as Bulma elbowed me in the side, looking at me dryly as she wasn't amused.
"A-All of them?!" Korin's eyes went wide again, his back stiffening as he looked at me wearily, "Then… why are you here? If you think I'll let you get to Kami without a fight, you're sorely mistaken, bastard!"
I just stared at him blandly. Seriously, what was up with this random confidence? He could sense my energy, so he should know that I could kill him with the snap of my fingers! And, his words about Kami just confused me more - he knew Kami was still alive, as I set some measure in place prior to arriving here, even though Piccolo was dead? He didn't know I had planned ahead, so to him, there should've been no Kami for him to be protecting! His words were stupid in every sense of the word!
I opened my mouth to mock him a bit before I got to my point, but Bulma knew me well and intervened before I could piss off the poor cat, "He wants to know how to make Senzu Beans, Korin. Just show him how you do it, and he'll leave."
"...Bulma. I've only met you a few times, but from those few times, I didn't think you were a cowardly woman," Korin rebutted, narrowing his eyes at Bulma. "You went on a bunch of adventures with Goku, didn't you? And yet you'll cower before this alien, and ask for the secret to creating the Senzu Bean?! Who knows what this monster would do with that power!"
"He won't do anything crazy with it. He's not as bad as you think," Bulma countered, trying to convince the floating cat before I had to step in - as she knew my methods were much more blunt and violent.
"Not as bad as I think? You'll say that about the guy who just slaughtered your friends?!" Korin asked incredulously, to which Bulma just sighed in exasperation.
"Yeah, that was pretty bad, and I'm still mad about it too, but he's not actually that bad of a guy," Bulma stood firm, not backing down from Korin's gaze, "He's just prone to doing stupid stuff sometimes, alright? Show us how to make the Senzu Beans, or I'm worried he'll do one of those stupid things right now!"
"That won't happen," Korin stood firm, "I may not be Kami, but I still care a lot about this world! I'll die before I give up such a valuable secret-"
"That can be arranged," I hummed, getting a bit annoyed as they talked as if I wasn't there, and I appeared behind Korin in the blink of an eye. My hand rested on his furry head, my lips twitching up a bit as he stiffened.
"H-How did ya-" Korin spun around, his voice slipping back into its less serious cadence in his surprise, and he swung the wooden stick in his hand at my head. In response, I simply stood there, letting it slam into my forehead as I stared down at him with a smirk - not budging an inch.
"You could spend the next hundred years attacking me without rest, and you wouldn't even leave a scratch," I said simply and honestly, "You don't seem to understand the generosity I'm exhibiting right now."
"Generosity?! Shut up, you bastar- ah!" Korin swung his wooden staff at my face again, but I just casually caught it in my palm - then yanked it forward out of his grasp effortlessly.
"I could kill you with the snap of my fingers," I said bluntly, casually looking up and down at the staff in my hand, "In fact, I could kill your whole planet without much effort. The entirety of Earth could be destroyed if I got pissed off right now."
Obviously, I would never really destroy Earth, as there were both the Z-Fighters along with a lot of things that could help me in the future here. And, they also had really damn good food!
Exploring the universe had made me understand why Beerus loved Earth's food so much, as while I had found a species of masterful chefs, there was still a certain unmatched appeal to Earth's cuisine.
But Korin didn't know that, and he didn't need to.
"Do you understand what I'm saying, cat?" I grinned widely and cruelly, causing Korin to flinch as I towered over the short cat. I let my energy flare up, filling the tower as his eyes went wide and he stumbled backwards - falling back onto his ass as my power assaulted his senses.
"If protecting those beans is important enough to lose all of Earth for, then be my guest," I said bluntly, a barely veiled threat in my voice, "Continue to piss me off by refusing. I'll give you one more chance, and if you refuse, you'll be explaining to this 'Kami' in the afterlife about how your stubbornness got the entire planet destroyed."
My eyes locked with Korin's, and there was no small amount of fear filling his as I gave my order.
"Teach me how to make the Senzu Beans."
My words hung in the air for a moment, the white cat not saying anything as he just stared up at me fearfully. Then, finally, he nodded slowly and sighed.
"Fine. I will teach you," He agreed, though he certainly didn't sound happy about it, "I don't want to even think about what evil things you'll do with the power of the Senzu Beans, but… I guess it can't be worse than blowing up the entire planet, can it?"
"Good choice," I grinned, letting my flared up energy drop down as Korin floated into the air again, "Though I was lying a bit when I said to teach me. You'll be teaching her."
I appeared behind Bulma in a flash, pushing her forward lightly as she glanced over her shoulder at me confusedly, "M-Me?! Why am I the one learning this?"
"Because you'll be the one mass-producing them," I said bluntly, only causing Korin to look more concerned at the 'mass-producing' part, "Plus, I have something else in the area I have to do, so you can just fill me in later, okay?"
I didn't give her a chance to answer as my senses reached out. I reached down and placed a hand on both Nappa and Vegeta, then I literally vanished into thin air, leaving Korin and Bulma behind. Instead, I used Instant Transmission to travel far, far overhead - appearing in the outside portion of the Lookout in an instant, and surprising an elderly green Namekian as I appeared in front of him.
"You're Kami, right?" I asked, though I already knew the answer, as Kami's eyes went wide and he took a surprised step back, "Don't freak out - I'm not here for anything serious. I just wanted to see a certain room you have up here. I believe it's called the…"
I grinned widely as Kami's eyes went wide with horror at my next words.
"Hyperbolic Time Chamber."
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