"Um… exalted Lord Frieza."
In the screen, Irani knelt on the ground. Her knees were already scraped bloody by the hard floor, yet she still forced her head up.
A final trace of stubbornness and desperate hope glimmered in her eyes—the last pride of a civilization's leader.
"Regarding the renaming of Planet Xandar to Planet Frieza 002 and the complete confiscation of all assets…"
She gulped, voice trembling as she cautiously probed, "Could we… retain a measure of autonomy? Say, in law and administration?"
"After all, governing tens of billions is a colossal task. If you enslave everyone, unnecessary riots might erupt and delay your warship-construction schedule."
Such is the politician's disease.
Even with a blade at their throat, they still wonder if they can claw something back at the negotiating table.
She thought it was a bargaining chip.
However—
At those words, the elegant smile Frieza had kept on his face vanished in an instant. In its place was a terrifying indifference.
Those narrow, scarlet eyes narrowed slightly, filled with deep disgust.
"Tch."
Frieza let out a sound of impatience.
"Haggling?"
He tilted his head, his tone terrifyingly soft. "Have you misunderstood something?"
"I was issuing you an order—giving your inferior civilization a path to survival."
Frieza extended a finger and tapped at Irani's forehead through the screen. "I wasn't engaging in some business negotiation."
"Who do you think you're speaking to?"
"You're bargaining with the emperor of the universe."
With the final word, a violent aura erupted around Frieza, the ruins beneath his feet instantly turning to dust.
"Looks like that firework just now wasn't enough to knock sense into your wooden heads." Frieza sighed, wearing an 'I'm disappointed' expression.
"Since you wasted the chance I gave you, let me show you what a joke any so-called riot is in my eyes."
Frieza slowly raised his right hand. At the tip of his index finger, it was no longer a thin death beam but a dark-red energy sphere entwined with black lightning.
Condensing, compressing, expanding at a terrifying speed.
Death Ball!
Bzzzzzz—
The entire atmosphere of Xandar shook violently and the sky turned blood-red.
"N-no—wait, Lord Frieza!"
Irani, seeing that sphere capable of devouring everything, was scared out of her wits and shrieked.
"Watch closely."
Frieza paid no heed to her wails, turning around. He didn't hurl the Death Ball at Xandar beneath him—after all, ships still needed building.
His gaze locked onto the space beyond Xandar's orbit. There, three armed defense satellites and a resource-rich companion Planet hung.
"This is the price of defying me."
A cruel smile formed on Frieza's lips as he flicked a finger lightly.
"Go. Turn them to ash."
Whoosh—
The dark-red sphere, carrying the will of annihilation, pierced the atmosphere and vanished into the vast cosmos.
A few seconds later—
The sky lit up.
Brighter than three suns combined.
Even in vacuum, the terrifying energy left everyone's retinas burned with white. What followed was a magnificent, hellish tableau.
Before that tiny energy sphere, the three armed satellites and the giant resource planet, were like fragile eggs meeting a hammer—shattering and bursting in an instant.
As endless flames bloomed in space, four celestial bodies became shards and dust at the same time.
The titanic shockwave even tugged Xandar's gravity, the ground quaking violently.
Countless burning meteoric fragments, trailing long tails of fire, rained through the atmosphere.
A true meteor storm!
"Oh God…"
"It's over… divine punishment…"
On Xandar, tens of billions stood transfixed, staring at the sky.
A despair rooted deep in their genes shattered every mind in an instant.
Riots? Rebellion?
Before the might that could casually obliterate Planets, even a hint of disrespect was a sin.
[Ding! Detected that Xandar civilization is engulfed in ultimate terror!]
[Fear Points +100 billion!]
[Ding! Fear Points +200 billion!]
[Fear Points: 2.3 trillion]
Listening to the delightful clink of coins in his mind, Frieza closed his eyes and inhaled the scorched air.
"Ah… that's more like it."
"This is the air I want—thick with reverence and obedience."
He reopened his eyes and looked at the now limp Irani on screen.
"Now, Nova Prime."
Frieza's voice regained its elegance, as though the demon who'd destroyed worlds wasn't him.
"Any other options you'd like to discuss?"
"Say… we blow up another one for fun?"
"No! None at all!"
Irani kowtowed frantically, the thud of her forehead on the floor echoing through the speakers.
"We surrender unconditionally! We accept every demand!"
"We are slaves—your most humble slaves! Please, no more!"
She was terrified.
If she defied him, Xandar's fate would be far worse than those satellites.
"Hmph, if you'd said that earlier, we'd be done by now." Frieza pursed his lips in boredom.
"Though I'm satisfied with your attitude now, I'm very displeased with your earlier idiotic attempt at bargaining."
Frieza lifted a finger and tapped the air toward the screen.
"Therefore, your position as property manager is revoked."
"From now on, you're in charge of cleaning the toilets—all public toilets on Xandar. If I see even a speck of filth, I'll shoot you into the sun as fuel."
"Y-yes…" Irani dared not complain, she even felt grateful.
Having dealt with that clueless native, Frieza turned to his subordinates, who had stood behind him, stunned speechless by the spectacle.
"Charles, Erik."
The two jolted at their names.
Charles's hands trembled as he gripped his wheelchair.
Erik's eyes were practically overflowing with fervor.
This was power! This was the scene he had dreamed of!
"Lord Frieza! Your servants are present!"
Both answered in unison, their postures humble.
"Since that old woman failed to appreciate favor, management of Planet Frieza 002 is yours." Frieza pointed at the ground beneath them.
"Charles, you're in charge of ideological education. I want every person here to begin each day by giving thanks to my statue."
"Erik, you're the overseer. I find the architecture here ugly, but the metal content is high—perfect for your talents."
"One month."
A gleam flashed in Frieza's eyes.
"I want to see a fully armed, the most luxurious fleet in the Universe, parked before me."
"Can you do it?"
Erik and Charles exchanged glances. Both saw gravity and opportunity in each other's eyes.
Administering a highly advanced alien civilization?
For Mutants marginalized on Earth, it was a leap straight to the heavens.
"Rest assured, Lord Frieza."
Erik dropped to one knee, voice resounding. "If we fail, I'll dismantle myself without your lifting a finger."
Charles also bowed and said respectfully, "We will not fail you."