The massive mushroom cloud, a symbol of death and destruction, rose slowly on the horizon.
A wind laden with a sickening, scorched stench swept through the capital of Xandar.
The defensive system the Nova Corps prided itself on...
Before that casually flicked energy sphere, it melted away like ice cream under a blazing sun.
Inside the command center,
Irani slumped in the command chair, her usually authoritative face now as pale as paper. She stared at the figure hovering in the air—immaculately white, elegant, as though attending a banquet—yet a demon.
That figure was not tall, one might even call it petite. But in Irani's eyes, he was ten-thousand times more terrifying than Richard.
"Richard is dead… the fleet is gone… the city… gone…" Irani's lips trembled violently.
"Prime! The power grid is overloading! All shield generators are burned out! If he fires another shot—no, even half a shot—the capital is finished!"
The adjutant's tear-choked report was the final straw.
Irani closed her eyes, two clear tears sliding down her cheeks.
For the lives of billions of citizens...
For the continuation of Xandarian civilization...
Dignity? Glory?
Before absolute, irresistible power, they were all worthless dogshit.
"Open… all-channel broadcast." Irani's voice was hoarse.
"I will… speak to him personally."
—
High above the battlefield,
Frieza idly toyed with his fingers, gazing at the burning ruins below while calculating the cost of rebuilding.
"Tsk, I might've used a touch too much force."
"Still, out with the old, in with the new."
Right then—
Bzzzt!
The surviving holographic screens around the square flickered, and Irani's haggard face appeared on every display.
At the same time, several unarmed communication drones trembled as they flew up to Frieza, projecting the same image.
"Esteemed… mighty one."
Irani dared not appear in person, yet even through the screen she bowed deeply, offering the Nova Empire's highest apology.
"I am the Supreme Commander of the Nova Empire, Irani Rael."
"Please… please stop this senseless slaughter."
Seeing the main party finally show, Frieza's lips curled in amusement.
He said nothing, he merely watched, a playful glint in those crimson eyes.
When Frieza did not attack, Irani drew a shaky breath, forcing down humiliation and terror as she continued, "The earlier conflict was entirely… an unfortunate misunderstanding."
"We were arrogant and underestimated your god-like might."
"For the Nova Corps' offense, I offer the Empire's sincerest apology."
"If you will stay your hand, the Nova Empire will compensate every loss—resources, currency, technology—name it…"
Irani's words could not have been more humble.
She was the leader of one of the three great empires of the galaxy. Now she looked like a pupil confessing fault.
However—
"Misunderstanding?"
Frieza finally spoke, his voice ringing through the sky, crisp yet bone-chillingly cold.
"You call this a misunderstanding?"
Frieza slowly lifted a hand, pointing at the drifting warship wreckage and the vast crater he had blasted.
"Those tens of thousands of beams were aimed squarely at my head."
"Had I been even slightly weaker, I'd now be cosmic dust, wouldn't I?"
Frieza tilted his head, wearing an utterly puzzled, utterly innocent expression.
"Tell me, Your Supreme-ness,"
"in your laws, attempted murder of a noble emperor..."
"Isn't that a capital crime?"
"And…"
Frieza's eyes turned savage and a terrifying killing intent surged.
Even through the screen, Irani felt her heart stop.
"It's the sort that wipes out nine generations of kin."
At those words, Irani's mind went blank and her very blood seemed to freeze.
Wipe out nine generations?
For an interstellar empire of hundreds of billions, what did that mean?
It meant genocide.
"No! Please, calm your wrath!"
Irani could preserve no shred of dignity. She knelt before the screen, voice shrill with despair.
"We were blind!"
"But the civilians are innocent! This has nothing to do with them!"
"Merciful mighty one, grant Xandar a way to survive! We will pay any price, only spare us!"
Watching the supreme leader weep on the screen, Frieza's malice was deliciously satisfied.
[Ding! Irani's conviction shattered! Fear Points +50 billion!]
[Ding! Planet Xandar plunged into despair! Fear Points +80 billion!]
…
Though this haul was smaller than Earth's, it was still a fortune.
"There we go, much better."
The murderous air vanished faster than a flipped page.
He resumed his graceful, genial smile, looking every inch a merchant who'd just closed a lucrative deal.
"Actually, I'm not some devil."
"Nor a tyrant who kills for fun—murder is tiring work, after all."
Frieza spread his hands in an accommodating gesture.
"Since you're so sensible, so sincerely begging me…"
"I'll be merciful and grant you a way out."
Hearing this, Irani jerked her head up, hope blazing in her eyes.
"Th-thank you, My Lord! Whatever your demand, name it!"
"Excellent."
Frieza nodded in satisfaction and raised one finger.
"First."
"From this moment, the Nova Corps is dissolved and reorganized as the Frieza Force Xandar Branch."
"You will devote the entire nation to building me a top-tier cosmic fleet—engines, weapons, comfort—everything to the highest specs. I won't fly myself, that's beneath me."
"No problem! We can do it!" Irani agreed without hesitation.
Building ships was their forte.
"Second."
Frieza extended a second finger, pointing at the ground beneath him.
"This Planet is now legally mine."
"All land, minerals, technology—even every life upon it—is my private property."
"With a new owner comes a new name."
Frieza tapped his chin as if pondering something momentous, then snapped his fingers.
"It shall be—Planet Frieza 002."
"As for you, Your Supreme-ness,"
Frieza looked at Irani, a teasing grin on his lips.
"You're demoted to property manager of this Planet, look after my estate."
"Should anything go amiss…"
Frieza mimed an explosion.
"Boom."
"You know what I mean."
Irani knelt, nails digging into the floor until they snapped and bled.
Xandar—capital of the Nova Empire for millennia—today lost its army, its sovereignty, and even its very name, reduced to Asset No. 002 by some real-estate mogul from who-knew-where.
What humiliation! What absurdity!
***
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