The Macareni Gang stumbled out of their crashed spacecraft dizzy and furious, but apparently not frightened enough to reconsider attacking Piccolo. One of them immediately produced a whip crackling with electricity and lashed it across the desert, only for Piccolo to step aside without the slightest difficulty.
The miss only made the prisoner angrier. He whipped the weapon back and forth in an increasingly frantic barrage, yet Piccolo slipped around every strike with such little effort that it barely qualified as a fight.
His companions tried to make up the difference. The leader used his ability to lift dozens of rocks into the air and scatter them around Piccolo, while the third member waited for the trap to close. As soon as the stones hit the ground, they detonated together, swallowing Piccolo beneath an explosion of dust and debris.
The prisoner with the whip dove toward the smoke at the same time, and his companion stretched one arm several times its normal length into the blast zone.
"Got you!"
His hand closed around something solid, and he triumphantly yanked it out of the smoke—only to discover that he had captured Piccolo's cape.
Before any of them could react, two green arms shot out from the dust. One wrapped around a prisoner's ankle while the other seized his companion by the neck, dragging both men helplessly toward Piccolo.
"I can do that too."
Piccolo swung them around and hurled them across the desert, sending both prisoners crashing into their leader on a nearby ridge. All three tumbled down together and landed in an aching heap at the bottom.
The leader stared at Piccolo with growing disbelief. "What kind of planet is this? Why is someone this strong living here?"
Piccolo wasn't interested in answering. He produced a length of rope, bound all three prisoners before they could recover, and finally began asking the questions he had come here for.
"Who are you? Did you come from Universe 7?"
"Universe 7?" The leader exchanged a confused look with his companions. "We have no idea what you're talking about."
Piccolo tried a different approach. "Before coming here, you landed on a dead planet. Then you found a vortex in the sky and passed through it."
That description they recognized immediately.
"Yeah, that's what happened," the leader admitted. "We were only passing through and stopped there hoping to resupply, but the whole planet was dead. Even the food had gone bad."
"Then we found that strange vortex," one of his companions added. "We went inside and somehow ended up here."
The third quickly adopted a much more apologetic tone. "And, uh... sorry about shooting at you earlier."
Piccolo studied them in silence. Nothing about their power suggested they could have been responsible for whatever had happened on New Namek, and their story about stumbling through the passage between the two Earths was believable enough.
He walked over to their damaged spacecraft and pushed it upright.
The three prisoners immediately saw an opportunity.
"We won't come back," their leader promised. "Just let us go and you'll never see us again."
"With your level of strength, there's no chance you had anything to do with what happened on New Namek."
Piccolo flicked a finger, releasing the ropes around them, then pointed toward the sky.
"There's another vortex near the moon. Go through that and you'll return to your Earth. Leave, and don't make me regret it."
"Thanks, green guy!"
The leader sounded sincerely grateful, even while privately deciding that Piccolo was an idiot.
They scrambled back aboard their ship and took off before he could change his mind.
Piccolo watched them disappear into the distance, but they hadn't gone far when Dende's voice suddenly reached him through telepathy.
Piccolo!
"What is it?"
Jaco just contacted us from the Galactic Patrol. Those three are working with the people who attacked New Namek. Don't let them escape!
Piccolo's expression hardened immediately. He turned toward the rapidly shrinking spacecraft and fired an energy blast after it without hesitation.
The shot struck the ship from behind and sent it crashing back into the desert.
By the time Piccolo reached the wreck, the three prisoners were crawling out again, bruised and groaning. His patience with them was gone.
"You lied to me."
One of the prisoners responded with a grin rather than an apology. He held up a small communications device whose signal was still flickering weakly.
"Too late. We already sent a message back to the others. The connection was terrible, but they should've received enough of it."
Their leader laughed from the sand. "The rest of the prisoners will be coming soon. Hope you're ready."
Piccolo looked at the communicator, then toward the sky. What had started as three insignificant intruders had just become something considerably more troublesome.
Far away in Universe 7, Saganbo received the broken transmission aboard Moro's ship.
"Moro-sama, the Macareni Gang sent a distress signal. It kept cutting out, and then we lost contact completely."
Moro considered that for a moment. "If someone killed them, then whatever planet they found must have warriors strong enough to be interesting."
"That's possible."
"Send a stronger reconnaissance team. If the world has enough quality life energy, I'll go there myself and consume it."
Saganbo immediately began selecting a group better suited to the job.
Back on Universe 6's Earth, the three members of the Macareni Gang were no longer going anywhere. Piccolo had brought them to the Lookout and locked them inside a cage, where Krillin found them when he stopped by for a visit.
Dende had already received a much more complete report from Jaco by then, including what Moro had done to New Namek and the escape of the Galactic Prison inmates. After hearing the whole story, Krillin looked from the prisoners to Piccolo with growing concern.
"All of that happened while we were over here?"
"Goku and Vegeta should still be in Universe 7 dealing with Moro," Piccolo said.
Krillin immediately wondered whether they should cross over and help, but Piccolo dismissed the idea. "There's no reason for everyone to rush into Universe 7. Our job is to keep this Earth safe."
"That shouldn't be too difficult, right? Ken's usually here."
"He isn't on Earth right now."
Krillin's confidence slipped slightly. "Okay... but Gohan and Kale are here, right? What about Broly and Buu?"
"Gohan and Kale are here. Broly and Buu aren't."
Krillin relaxed again. Between Gohan, Kale, and Piccolo himself, Universe 6's Earth was hardly defenseless.
"And we've got you too. You're ridiculously strong now, Piccolo. Couldn't you beat Vegeta at this point?"
Piccolo chose not to answer that particular question.
Something else had been bothering Krillin. "Why did Jaco contact us in the first place? If the trouble is happening in Universe 7, what does the Galactic Patrol want from us?"
"They need fighters," Dende explained. "Jaco said they may ask us to help against Moro. He's already on his way to Earth and plans to use the vortex to reach us."
Sure enough, only a few minutes later a Galactic Patrol ship appeared over the Lookout.
Jaco opened the hatch and leaned out. "Hey, God of Earth! Didn't I tell you to gather some people who can fight?"
Dende stared at him for a moment before answering. "I called Krillin. He's the only person who was available right away."
Krillin wiped a hand across his bald head. "You make it sound like I don't count as someone who can fight."
Before Jaco could make the situation worse, a familiar green face appeared behind him.
"Dende!"
Dende's eyes widened. "Eska?"
Eska jumped from the ship, and the two young Namekians immediately embraced. Jaco climbed down behind them, complaining that traveling to Earth had become much more troublesome since everyone moved to Universe 6.
"Every time I go through that vortex, I get dizzy enough to throw up."
"Maybe you're pregnant," Krillin suggested.
Jaco glared at him. "That wasn't funny."
Piccolo had barely listened to the joke. Seeing Eska here had confirmed what he had feared ever since he failed to contact New Namek.
"Is he really the only one who survived?"
Jaco's expression became more subdued. "As far as New Namek goes, yes. With you and Dende here, that leaves only three Namekians alive."
The answer hit Piccolo harder than he wanted to show.
Eska, however, refused to let the loss break him. "I want to help restore peace to New Namek and the galaxy. If there's anything I can do, please tell me."
A laugh came from the cage before anyone could respond.
Pasta leaned against the bars with a broad grin. "You people still think you can beat Moro? You should start preparing yourselves now. Once he comes for you, there are only two choices—die or submit. That's it."
Jaco spun toward the prisoner. "Pasta? I didn't expect to find you three here."
"Well, look who finally showed up. Been a while, Galactic Patrol."
"I can't think of anyone better suited to prison than you lot."
Pasta laughed. "Thanks for the compliment."
"When this is over, I'm taking all three of you straight back to the Galactic Prison."
"You still don't understand what's happening, do you?" Pasta looked entirely too comfortable for someone locked in a cage. "We already contacted the others. A rescue team is coming."
That wiped the irritation from Jaco's face.
He turned sharply toward Piccolo. "They contacted Moro's group?"
Piccolo nodded.
Jaco immediately panicked. "Why didn't you tell me that first? Headquarters needs to check whether any of the escaped prisoners are already heading toward Earth!"
Krillin tried to calm him down. "The problem started in Universe 7. We're in Universe 6, so maybe they won't even find us."
"There's a giant vortex floating above Universe 7's Earth!" Jaco snapped. "I found it easily enough. You think Moro's people can't?"
Krillin considered that and reluctantly nodded. "Okay, that's actually a good point."
The possibility of Moro discovering the passage made everyone considerably less comfortable, but Krillin still tried to find the bright side.
"Piccolo's here, and we can bring Kale too. We should be fine."
Jaco gave him a flat look. "Goku and Vegeta already lost to Moro. Buu lost too."
Piccolo's head turned sharply toward him. "Buu?"
"Yeah."
Krillin's confidence evaporated.
If even Buu had gone down, then whatever image he had formed of Moro was clearly nowhere near dangerous enough. In Krillin's mind, there was only one obvious conclusion: anyone capable of beating monsters like Goku, Vegeta, and Buu had to be operating somewhere around God of Destruction territory.
He suddenly found the idea of volunteering much less appealing.
"I'm just a normal Earthling, you know. Maybe a galaxy-level war isn't really where I belong."
While everyone on Earth worried about what might be coming, Saganbo's reinforcements were already crossing Universe 7.
Three escaped prisoners occupied the ship: Yunba, a huge bear-like fighter; Shimorekka, a short green alien with a demonic appearance; and Seven-Three, whose artificial body made him look more machine than living creature.
Shimorekka studied their destination on the navigation display. "Earth, huh? Never heard of it. Yunba?"
"Nope." Yunba shoved another piece of chocolate-like candy into his mouth. "I just hope they've got decent food."
"Is that seriously all you think about?"
"We finally escaped prison and all we have are these lousy snacks. Of course I'm thinking about food."
Seven-Three supplied the information neither of them knew. "Planet 877, green designation 4032. Third planet of a solar system near the edge of the North Area."
Shimorekka laughed. "Not bad, Seven-Three. You even know where some backwater planet like that is."
"According to stored data, Earth is technologically primitive and has little strategic value."
Yunba looked genuinely disappointed. "So the food's probably terrible too."
"The information predates our imprisonment," Seven-Three added. "Current conditions may differ."
Shimorekka still wasn't enthusiastic about the assignment, and Yunba's stomach soon provided them with an excuse to delay it. After enough complaining about being hungry, they diverted toward a nearby inhabited world to find something better to eat before continuing to Earth.
That detour gave the Galactic Patrol time to identify them.
At the Lookout, Jaco was still in contact with headquarters when the report arrived.
"Jaco, we identified the ship heading toward Earth. Based on the life signs aboard, we believe the passengers are Shimorekka, Yunba, and Seven-Three."
The last name immediately made Jaco tense.
"Seven-Three is with them?"
Krillin noticed his reaction. "Is he that dangerous?"
"They're all members of Saganbo's crew. His Galactic Bandit Brigade was one of the most notorious criminal groups in the galaxy, and capturing them was a nightmare."
Krillin looked impressed despite himself. "You captured them?"
"Merus did."
Everyone around Jaco went quiet.
Krillin eventually returned to the more important question. "Is Moro coming with them?"
"Doesn't look like it."
That was enough for Krillin to recover some of his confidence. "Then we should be okay. Piccolo and Kale are here."
"Great. You guys handle it."
Jaco immediately turned toward his ship.
Piccolo's face darkened. "Before you run away, you're going to tell us exactly what these three can do."
Krillin glanced toward him. "Should I go get Kale now?"
Piccolo nodded, although he wasn't about to send anyone into a fight blindly.
"First, let's hear what we're dealing with."
For once, Krillin had no objection.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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