"Don't point at him!" the little demoness hissed, hurriedly pushing Moro's hand down. "That guy is terrifying. Whatever you do, don't provoke him. Right now, you need to find a way back to the Demon Realm, and then—"
She never got to finish.
Ken flicked his staff from a distance, and the little demoness immediately turned into a streak of light that shot back into his body. Moro stared at the empty space where his master had been standing, the joy of their reunion giving way to alarm.
Ken smiled at him. "Want to save her?"
Moro's eyes darted between Ken and the place where his master had disappeared. After everything he had just seen, there was only one sensible answer.
"N-No. I think I'll leave her there."
Ken promptly smacked him over the head with his staff, raising a large lump almost instantly.
Moro clutched his head in disbelief. He had deliberately given the answer least likely to offend the terrifying man in front of him, yet somehow that had gotten him hit anyway.
"Let's try that again," Ken said pleasantly. "Do you want to save your master?"
Moro stared at him with the expression of someone facing an impossible exam question. "What am I supposed to say? Can't you just tell me which answer you want?"
"She's your master. How can you abandon her that easily?"
"But I can't beat you!" Moro protested. "My master couldn't beat you either. What exactly am I supposed to do?"
"Who said you had to fight me?"
That changed things considerably. Moro remained kneeling and cautiously asked, "Then who am I supposed to fight?"
Ken let him work it out for himself. It took only a moment before Moro thought of the two Saiyans who had caused him so much trouble since arriving on New Namek.
"Goku and Vegeta?"
"See? You're not completely hopeless." Ken tapped the end of his staff against Moro's head a few more times. "Beat those two and their group. I won't interfere because, frankly, you're nowhere near important enough for me to fight personally."
Moro endured another painful knock from the staff and decided not to point out the obvious contradiction between that statement and what Ken was currently doing to his skull.
Ken's smile faded just enough to make the warning that followed unmistakable. "And don't try contacting anyone in the Demon Realm. You know what happens to your master if you decide to ignore me."
"I won't," Moro answered immediately.
"If you defeat Goku and Vegeta, I'll release her. I'll even send both of you back to the Demon Realm afterward."
That was finally an arrangement Moro could understand. "As long as you stay out of the fight, I can beat them. But I don't have to challenge them again right away, do I?"
"No. Take whatever time you need."
Ken tapped his staff against the ground and disappeared into the sky in a brilliant streak of Angel power. The instant he was gone, the prisoners frozen across the battlefield regained control of their bodies and looked around in confusion. Their last clear memory was charging at Ken; now Moro was inexplicably kneeling on the ground, and no one had any idea what had happened between those two moments.
Moro rose with as much dignity as he could recover.
"I prayed to the universe on your behalf. That's why you can move again."
The prisoners accepted that explanation without question and immediately dropped to their knees.
"Thank you, Moro-sama!"
Moro gave a satisfied grunt. There was no reason for any of them to know how close their glorious leader had just come to begging for instructions on how not to get beaten with a staff.
At Galactic Patrol Headquarters, the Galactic King was enjoying a much more peaceful afternoon. He lounged in his bath humming to himself, completely unaware of the catastrophe unfolding across his organization, until Goku suddenly appeared in the room with Merus and Jaco.
The Galactic King nearly launched himself out of the tub.
"Hey! Good to see you again," Goku said cheerfully.
Jaco immediately bowed. "Galactic King, my apologies for interrupting your bath!"
The Galactic King stared at him. That was one detail he could have gone without having announced to the entire room.
"What happened?"
Merus's answer destroyed what remained of his relaxing afternoon. "Every prisoner in the Galactic Prison has escaped."
"All of them?!"
The Galactic King shot upright in the bath just as two patrolmen rushed into the room to report the same emergency. One took a single look at their completely exposed ruler and covered his eyes, while the other hurriedly told him to put something on.
The Galactic King squealed in embarrassment.
"I'll get your crown!"
One of the patrolmen rushed over with the royal crown, and the Galactic King quickly placed it on his head.
Goku stared at him. "But he's still naked."
"He has the crown on," Jaco replied, as if that settled the matter.
Now that Goku was looking closely at the Galactic King's head, something else occurred to him. "You know, his head kind of reminds me of Hit."
"Hit?" Jaco had no idea who he meant.
"Never mind."
Jaco apparently decided the conversation had not become strange enough. "For the record, I don't have anything down there either."
Goku looked at him with immediate curiosity. "Then how do you pee?"
"Through my head."
Jaco demonstrated by spraying a tiny stream of liquid from the top of his head, sending Goku scrambling out of range.
"Stop doing that in my room!" the Galactic King shouted.
"My apologies!"
Goku leaned sideways to inspect Jaco from a safer distance. "Wait... doesn't that mean you might accidentally pee into your own mouth?"
Jaco's face darkened. "Go away. I'm done talking to you."
Once everyone had recovered enough dignity to discuss the actual emergency, Merus explained what had happened on New Namek. The Galactic King listened in growing disbelief before arriving at the part that concerned him most.
"So Moro escaped, and none of the prisoners were recaptured?"
Jaco immediately stepped forward and bowed again. "I deeply apologize. Even with an elite patrolman like me present, they still managed to get away."
The Galactic King walked straight past him and addressed Merus instead. "If even you couldn't resolve this, then Moro must be far more dangerous than we expected."
Goku glanced at Jaco, who was still bent over in his apologetic pose with no one paying attention to him. Jaco awkwardly straightened up and hurried after them.
"Moro's much stronger than our information suggested," Merus said. "We need a new strategy before we face him again."
That reminded Goku of the others who should already have reached headquarters. He asked one of the nearby patrolmen whether the Grand Supreme Kai and a young green Namekian had arrived earlier, but the description only earned him a confused stare.
The answer came from a nearby room when the door opened and Eska poked his head out.
"Goku!"
"There you are!" Goku hurried over. "You're okay. Where's the Grand Supreme Kai?"
"He fell asleep, and then his body changed back."
They followed Eska inside and found Majin Buu sprawled across the floor, sleeping as deeply as ever. Whatever control the Grand Supreme Kai had briefly exercised was gone, leaving only Buu's familiar pink body and the sound of his snoring.
Goku stared at him in exasperation. "He really can sleep through anything. If he woke up again, he could probably give Moro a lot of trouble."
"I agree," Merus said. "Unfortunately, we have no idea when that will happen."
Eska looked around the group. "Where's Vegeta?"
"He should be fine," Goku assured him. "Knowing Vegeta, he's probably already on his way somewhere to train."
Jaco wondered where he could possibly go after everything Moro had done to them, but Goku understood Vegeta well enough to guess the reason even if he didn't know the destination.
"What we were doing wasn't enough to beat Moro, and Vegeta was furious about it. If he left on his own, he probably thought of a different way to get stronger." Goku's expression turned more serious. "We need to do the same instead of sitting here."
"What about Ken?" Jaco asked. "He stayed behind. Maybe he has a way to deal with Moro."
"Ken probably isn't going to fight him for us," Merus said. "We should plan as though this is our problem to solve."
Vegeta, meanwhile, had indeed found another path.
Irico had barely recovered from their escape when Vegeta entered the cockpit and extended one hand directly toward him. The patrolman froze, unsure whether the Saiyan was about to attack him.
"From now on, this ship goes where I say."
Irico blinked. "Where do you want to go?"
"Yardrat."
"You could've just told me that. You didn't need to threaten me. I never said I wouldn't take you."
Vegeta slowly lowered his hand, finding the response irritating for reasons he couldn't quite explain.
Irico set the new course while, far behind them, Moro finished what he had started on New Namek.
The planet had almost nothing left to give. Moro drew out the remaining life energy until the world beneath him was completely drained, compressed everything he had taken into a form he could consume, and swallowed it. The effect on his body was immediate: his aged features receded, his frame filled out, and by the time the process ended he had regained the appearance and vitality of a man in his prime.
"Just as I thought. Worlds inhabited by unusual races produce especially rich energy." Moro examined his rejuvenated body with satisfaction. "I've finally recovered completely."
His physical recovery did little to settle his thoughts.
Ken still had his master.
Moro's first instinct was to find a way into the Demon Realm and report what had happened, but Ken's warning quickly returned to him. Even if an entrance to the Demon Realm was still accessible, attempting to contact anyone there could put the little demoness in immediate danger.
For now, fighting Ken was impossible anyway. His best option was to become stronger, defeat Goku and Vegeta as promised, and hope Ken intended to honor their agreement. If he could drain the two Saiyans completely during the rematch, so much the better.
Saganbo approached after confirming that the Galactic Patrol had withdrawn.
"Moro-sama, they've left New Namek."
"The Grand Supreme Kai and Goku can both teleport," Moro replied. "They've probably fled somewhere beyond our reach for now."
"Should we chase them? One of their ships escaped too."
"There's no need."
Moro looked out across the dead world he had just consumed and smiled.
"Let them roam the universe for a while. Livestock is more valuable after you give it time to fatten up. I need to build my own reserves as well, so tell me which planets you know with the strongest life energy."
That was something Saganbo could provide easily. Before the Galactic Patrol captured his crew, the Galactic Bandit Brigade had operated throughout the galaxy, and he knew several worlds filled with exactly the kind of energy Moro wanted.
"Leave that to me. I can take you to more than a few."
"Then choose one and get us moving."
Saganbo also suggested sending scouts in different directions to locate additional targets, and Moro readily agreed. Once the main spacecraft left New Namek, several smaller ships detached from it and scattered across the galaxy, beginning the search for worlds that could feed Moro's growing power.
On Irico's ship, Vegeta eventually realized that Moro was no longer following them. His ki had disappeared completely, and even the ship's tracking systems had lost the escaped prisoners.
"Saganbo's ship is the fastest spacecraft I've ever encountered," Irico explained after switching their own vessel to autopilot. "Our radar won't be able to follow it."
"Saganbo?"
"The guy who stayed closest to Moro. He used to lead a notorious bandit crew before the Galactic Patrol caught him."
Vegeta remembered him immediately. "The one who knocked Kakarot down?"
"He's extremely strong. Capturing him the first time took a lot of work."
"Only because you people are weak," Vegeta said without hesitation. "Without Moro boosting him, even my kid could beat him easily."
Irico looked at him in surprise. "You have a kid?"
Vegeta gave him a sharp look. "Is there a problem with that?"
"No! I just wasn't expecting it."
"Forget that. How long until Yardrat?"
Irico checked the navigation system and converted the result into Earth units. "About a week."
"Fine. I'm going to rest."
Vegeta had already turned toward the sleeping quarters when Irico called after him.
"Vegeta, what are you actually planning to do on Yardrat?"
That question at least deserved an answer.
"Yardratians aren't impressive fighters, but they know techniques you won't find anywhere else. Kakarot learned that crude version of Instant Transmission from them."
Irico finally understood. "So you're hoping they can teach you something that works against Moro."
"Yes." Vegeta's mouth tightened. "I don't like relying on tricks like this, but what I've been doing clearly isn't enough."
A new presence appeared inside the ship before Irico could respond.
Both men turned toward the newcomer.
"Ken?" Vegeta hadn't sensed him arrive at all.
Irico was even more baffled. "How did you get on the ship? Was that Instant Transmission?"
"That doesn't matter."
Vegeta immediately moved on to the more important question. "What happened with Moro?"
"I spoke to him. We agreed that you'll settle things properly in a rematch." Ken seemed completely unconcerned by the fact that Moro was now free again. "Treat this as training. It should be useful for both you and Goku."
"I'm going to Yardrat."
"That works. I'll come with you."
Vegeta had expected at least some resistance to the plan, so Ken agreeing without hesitation caught him slightly off guard. "Then are we going straight there?"
"No. We'll stay on the ship."
Ken's relaxed expression became more serious as he looked at Vegeta.
"You've got a week before we arrive. Use it to think about why Moro beat you so badly."
Vegeta understood exactly what Ken meant. Brute force had failed, destruction energy had been turned against him, and twice now he had allowed Moro to drain him until he could barely stand. If he was going to reach Yardrat looking for a new path, there was little point doing so without first understanding what had gone wrong with the old one.
"Fine."
The ship continued toward Yardrat with Ken aboard, while Moro and his newly empowered army disappeared deeper into the galaxy.
Several days passed without the Galactic Patrol finding any trace of them.
At headquarters, Merus stood beside a technician as yet another scan ended with the same result.
"Still nothing?"
"I'm afraid not. We can't locate Moro or Saganbo's group anywhere."
Goku had spent those days thinking about the same problem, and eventually an idea occurred to him. It was not exactly the kind of solution the Galactic Patrol was supposed to use, but Merus had access to something considerably better than their scanners.
He looked over at the young patrolman.
"Merus... how about we cheat a little and use that thing to find him?"
Merus stared back at him, already knowing exactly what Goku meant.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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