As soon as Zuke entered the Dragon Ball world, he appeared in the same spot he had left—the outer space of the primitive planet he had last been on.
This was where he had exited the mission world. The two-star Super Dragon Ball that had been here was already in his possession, and the energy of the primitive planet below had been completely drained by him.
It had to be said that after consuming the energy of this planet, the "ki" within Zuke's body had increased significantly, to the point where he couldn't help but think, "Maybe I should eat a few more planets."
He suddenly understood why Moro in the original story had said, "Training is something only the weak do."
Moro was born with the magical ability to extract energy and had a physique that allowed him to grow stronger by consuming energy. So, it made sense that he could reach terrifying levels of power just by devouring planetary energy.
However, Zuke obviously couldn't do the same. Even if he could steel his heart and ignore the fact that some planets had civilizations, recklessly consuming planetary energy would eventually bring trouble.
At that point, beings like the Kaiōshin would surely step in to stop him, and even Merus would likely come after him.
Zuke still felt grateful toward Merus, so there was no need for him to go down that path—especially since he now held the title of God of Destruction's proxy. Consuming uninhabited planets was more than enough.
Zuke raised his hand, and golden ripples appeared around him. The cube-shaped spaceship instantly emerged from the ripples.
Sure enough, in the Dragon Ball world, summoning the cube-shaped spaceship was instantaneous, unlike in the real world or other mission worlds where it took some time to retrieve.
It seemed the synchronization rate with the Dragon Ball world still wasn't high enough.
Climbing into the cube-shaped spaceship, Zuke immediately felt the pressure on his body lessen.
The spaceship had built-in environmental regulation, so once inside, the seemingly fragile glass box could withstand the harsh conditions of outer space.
Although Zuke could endure the environment of space thanks to his immortality, Saiyans weren't a race that could survive in space, so staying in space still made Zuke uncomfortable.
Even after absorbing Majin Buu's physique, the radiation and pressure of space didn't disappear—being able to endure it didn't mean it felt good.
Pulling out his notebook, Zuke prepared to continue collecting the next Super Dragon Ball using the coordinates he had obtained from Zuno.
However, at that moment, he noticed that the scouter in the corner of the spaceship was flashing—a sign that someone was trying to contact him.
Zuke walked over, picked up the scouter, and answered the call:
"Hello? Bardock? What's wrong? Did something happen?"
The only person who could contact this scouter now was Bardock. Even the Frieza Force could no longer track this device, which had been modified by the Galactic Patrol.
So, seeing that the scouter had received a communication, it was obvious that it was Bardock.
"Finally got through to you. I've been trying to contact you for a while, but there was no response. I was starting to think you'd fallen asleep."
Bardock's voice came through the scouter, sounding a bit anxious.
"There's been an issue. Frieza has found out you're still alive."
"What happened?"
Zuke frowned slightly. Why would the Frieza Force suddenly discover he was still alive after all this time?
Had someone leaked information about him? It wasn't impossible. After leaving the Frieza Force, he had spent a considerable amount of time at the Galactic Patrol headquarters.
Although he had gotten along well with the Galactic Patrol members, it was hard to guarantee that every one of them would help keep his whereabouts a secret.
But this was just speculation—it might not have been the Galactic Patrol who leaked the information. After all, with Merus, the No. 1 of the Galactic Patrol, helping to mediate, any leak should have been noticed immediately.
"It's the Heeters."
However, Bardock quickly provided an answer—one that Zuke hadn't expected.
"The Heeters hired a race that can detect ki signatures to investigate Planet Cereal. They confirmed that two ki signatures had clashed in the forest."
At this point, Zuke roughly understood—it must have been a race capable of sensing "ki" that the Heeters hired to investigate Elec's death.
And unfortunately, Zuke and Elec's ki had been detected by them.
"Moreover, they determined that one of the ki signatures killed Elec and then left the planet."
Bardock's voice sounded helpless, as this was something he couldn't have prevented.
"Later, the Heeters brought that race to Planet Vegeta and checked the house you used to live in. They confirmed that the ki signature left behind was yours."
This answer made Zuke's mouth twitch.
The mission world had given Zuke a very reasonable identity, but it had been too thorough—even his "former house" had traces of his ki.
This led the Heeters to successfully identify him as Elec's killer.
To be honest, it had been so long since Zuke killed Elec that he had almost forgotten about it.
Otherwise, he could have used "Black Bird Requiem" to fix the outcome and prevent anyone from noticing.
"Now, the Heeters have placed a massive bounty on your head—so large that I think if they actually paid it out, the Heeter Clan would probably disband."
Speaking of this, Bardock couldn't help but sigh—the Heeters were one of the top intelligence organizations in the universe, and the bounty they could offer was naturally astronomical.
"Frieza is also very interested in that money, so he's searching for you everywhere—after all, if Frieza demands the money, the Heeters wouldn't dare refuse."
Indeed, if someone else found Zuke and tried to claim the bounty, the Heeters might try to weasel out of paying.
But if Frieza came asking for the money, the Heeters wouldn't dare refuse—even if paying it would cripple them.
As for why they were willing to offer so much money, it was probably because Elec had been the backbone of the Heeter Clan.
Without Elec, a business genius, the others had little confidence in maintaining the Heeter Clan's wealth, so they might as well use it for revenge.
"You're now a prime target for space pirates. Frieza has even sent the Ginyu Force after you."
Bardock's voice was serious as he spoke to Zuke.
"Although the scouter in your hand has been modified by the Galactic Patrol and can't be tracked by the Frieza Force, most of its components are still Frieza Force technology... It's best to discard it as soon as possible to avoid being discovered."
"Then how will I contact you afterward?"
Zuke smiled—this scouter was his only way of communicating with Bardock.
If he discarded it, how would he know when to execute the plan?
"Discarding it is out of the question. The plan remains unchanged—you continue gathering the Saiyans and bring them back."
Zuke calmly told Bardock.
"As for the Ginyu Force... if they can really find me, then let them come."
Even if he couldn't defeat the Ginyu Force in front of the Saiyans, bringing back their corpses should still serve as a deterrent, right?
To be continued...
Guys, my country has been in state of war since last night and my city is on the borders so my update schedule might get unstable. I am not sure though cuz it depends on power outages and other complications.