"I clearly remember Dodoria heading this way… so why can't I find him anywhere?"
Zarbon flew while scanning the area, eyes sweeping left and right.
But no matter how hard he searched, there wasn't even a trace of Dodoria—no figures at all.
Zarbon clicked his tongue in irritation. "If we still had scouters, this wouldn't be such a pain. Damn it…"
Just then, he spotted Nappa in the distance.
"Hm? That tall bald guy… isn't that Nappa?
Wasn't he supposed to be infiltrating Vegeta's side? Why is he alone?"
Zarbon had no patience to figure out what was going on. He only wanted Dodoria's whereabouts, so he flew straight toward Nappa.
"Hey! Nappa—is that you?"
Nappa immediately turned around and saw Zarbon.
He tensed up. "Z-Zarbon, sir… why are you here?"
Zarbon didn't care about Vegeta's location. He cared about Dodoria—and about scouters.
"Have you seen Dodoria?"
Vegeta was hiding nearby in the shadows. Nappa didn't dare say more than necessary.
"…No."
But at that moment, Zarbon noticed the scouter on Nappa's face, and his eyes widened.
He reached out at once, delighted. "Perfect! Nappa, hand me your scouter!"
Nappa blinked, confused. "A scouter? What do you need that for?"
Zarbon said impatiently, "We found a village with a clever elder.
He realized we use scouters to locate villagers—then use them to find the Dragon Balls.
So while fighting our men, he intentionally destroyed all our scouters.
Now we don't have a single one left. Our Dragon Ball search progress has been cut off completely."
Nappa's expression shifted. "So that's what happened…"
"Yes. Enough talking—give it to me!"
Zarbon held out his hand.
Nappa hesitated, then handed the scouter over.
But the instant Zarbon was about to take it—
Whoosh!
The scouter was snatched away.
Zarbon's eyes flared.
"What—?! Who the hell dares steal from us?!"
He spun, furious, scanning the surroundings.
And then—
Vegeta's figure stepped out clearly in front of him.
"Long time no see, Mr. Zarbon."
Zarbon's pupils shrank.
"Vegeta!"
Vegeta tilted his mouth into a crooked grin. "Hahahaha… this is killing me.
To think all of your scouters got destroyed.
Without them, you're basically blind.
And if you go back to Planet 79 to fetch more, it'll take days…
That's a perfect opportunity for me. Hahahaha…"
Zarbon's face hardened. "Vegeta, hand over that scouter.
If you do, I can spare you."
"Spare me?"
Vegeta suddenly burst into wild laughter.
"Hahahahahaha!"
Still laughing, Vegeta tossed the scouter onto the ground.
Then he lightly stepped on it.
Crunch.
The scouter shattered into pieces.
Zarbon's pupils tightened violently.
"You bastard… why would you destroy the scouter?!"
Vegeta couldn't be bothered explaining the "miracle" of sensing ki.
He was already done talking.
To prevent any surprises, it was better to kill Zarbon quickly—
because if Cui showed up, a two-on-one would be risky.
Vegeta said coldly, "Zarbon. You came out here looking for Dodoria, didn't you?"
Zarbon blinked. "What—? You saw him?"
Vegeta's grin widened. He hooked a thumb toward himself.
"Not only did I see him… I killed him."
"…What?"
"You're saying you took down Dodoria?"
Vegeta nodded. "That's right. And I killed him without even trying."
Cold sweat seeped down Zarbon's forehead.
He knew Vegeta was arrogant, but he didn't lie.
And there was no other way to explain where Dodoria had gone.
Zarbon whispered in disbelief, "Unthinkable… you actually grew to the point you can defeat Dodoria…"
Vegeta laughed. "Beating him isn't a big deal.
I'm a Saiyan genius—my battle power has no ceiling.
Once I get immortality, even Frieza will be beneath my heel!"
Hearing Vegeta speak of stepping on Frieza, Zarbon's mouth curled into contempt.
"Tch. What a delusion.
An insect could never understand how massive a dinosaur is.
A wild monkey like you will never comprehend Lord Frieza's true power.
His strength exists on a completely different level from ours."
Vegeta roared, "Enough useless talk—playtime is over!
Dodoria already told me.
He said Frieza feared the rise of the legendary Super Saiyan among Saiyans.
So now… let me show you the power of the future Super Saiyan!"
Zarbon let out a cold snort. "You're asking to die."
In the next instant, Vegeta burst forward, striking first.
Zarbon's eyes locked onto Vegeta's movement, and he threw a punch straight through Vegeta's path.
But a cruel smile flickered across Vegeta's face.
His body blurred—phasing aside Zarbon's punch—
and in the next heartbeat, Vegeta appeared behind him.
Zarbon reacted fast, twisting around and firing a backhand punch toward Vegeta.
But Vegeta lifted his hand—
and caught Zarbon's fist.
He wanted to grip Zarbon's hand the way Goku had gripped his…
to crush him with pure dominance.
But Zarbon immediately tensed and tried to yank his arm back.
And Vegeta realized he'd misjudged it.
He might have reached the level where he could crush Dodoria…
but he couldn't crush Zarbon.
This "elegant" bastard was stronger than Dodoria by a step.
Seeing he couldn't control Zarbon, Vegeta hurled him upward.
As Zarbon flew back, he stacked his hands together and fired an energy wave at Vegeta.
Vegeta barked, swinging a clean knife-hand—
and smacked the energy wave away.
Zarbon's eyes shrank to pinpoints.
"How…?"
"He deflected it?!"
Zarbon's blast shot downward, exploding into a massive crater that shook the ground for a long time.
In that same blink of time, Vegeta surged forward and drove a punch into Zarbon's carefully maintained handsome face.
Zarbon let out a muffled groan and twisted midair, trying to counterattack.
But Vegeta wasn't just strong—he was fast.
He slipped Zarbon's retaliation easily.
"Hahahaha! Well?
Looks like Mr. Zarbon isn't much after all!
Your movements look frozen to me!"
With that, Vegeta brought down a savage hammerfist, smashing Zarbon toward the ground.
Vegeta expected him to slam into the earth—
but he underestimated Zarbon.
Right before impact, Zarbon abruptly braked, stopping himself in midair.
However, Vegeta had no intention of giving him a moment to breathe.
He flashed behind Zarbon like teleportation.
BAM!
Vegeta kicked out.
Zarbon smashed face-first into the ground like a dog eating dirt.
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