Chapter 178: InoShikaCho
“King Slug, we just received a message from our spy inside Cooler Corps. Cooler is currently looking for the fruit of the legendary Tree of Might!”
Just as King Slug was wallowing in the frustration of being denied his long-cherished dream, a sturdy green-skinned alien ran over, stood before him and reported.
“Tree of Might’s fruit?”
His cloudy and dim eyes suddenly lit up as Slug became spirited.
“Is this Tree of Might’s Fruit, as recorded in a document, the fruit of life that is condensed after absorbing the essence of a whole planet?”
Slug asked with an urgent tone. If it really was the fruit in legends, that is condensed after absorbing the essence of an entire planet, then it definitely could extend lifespan by a significant margin after eating.
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The green alien hollered, its face flushed with excitement.
Legend states that when Tree of Might’s Fruit grows, it would absorb the whole essence of a life planet. Once the fruit had fully grown, the planet would turn into a desert and be completely barren for a few hundred years. How wonderful was the fruit since it has been condensed from so much vitality!
“Tell me the details!”
Slug felt as though his vitality was abundant again; he had rediscovered his purpose for struggling.
“It’s like this… ” The alien reported everything in detail and explained the reason behind the clash of Cooler’s and King Cold’s Forces, and also gave a proper analysis.
“In other words, Cooler has chosen four planets as the likely targets?” Slug stroked his chin, and his cloudy eyes suddenly lit up. “Meiji, immediately deploy people, I have to quickly get the news of Tree of Might’s Fruit before Cooler.”
“But King Slug, Cooler has sent the Armored Squadron personally to execute the mission, so our people may not be their match!” The green alien said, somewhat perplexed.
Slug waved his hand and replied: “Don’t worry about the Armored Squadron. The East Area is far away from here, and, what’s more, we are much closer to the East Area than Cooler and the others. Even if the Armored Squadron found the whereabouts of Tree of Might’s fruit, we could be the first one to rush there and obtain the Tree of Might’s fruit.”
“So, the most important thing for us is to quickly and thoroughly search the Southern and Eastern regions of the North Area, before Cooler’s people arrive. That is the territory of Frieza and King Cold, after all. I won’t feel at ease as this concerns the Frost Demon Race! If by any chance the Tree of Might’s fruit appears in these two areas, it would be too bad!”
Slug had been extremely afraid of the Frost Demon Race since he lost to them.
“Yes, this subordinate understands!”
The green alien answered in a loud voice. They were the aliens who had followed King Slug from early on. From their standpoint, their days would only become good if King Slug became more powerful.
……
Earth.
The bright sun shone down on the beach and revealed a bit of sparkling crystal-clear lights. The sunlight on the beach wasn’t scorching, instead, it gave off a warm feeling.
Xiling and Myers frolicked around in the sea. Launch, who was dressed in a green swimsuit and a tied red ribbon, was also playing with them on the side. However, Launch remained on the shore and hadn’t entered the water.
A few days ago, after departing Korin Tower, Xiaya brought Launch along with him to Xiling’s villa, which was purchased in the peninsula city.
Initially when the first time they met her, Xiling and Myers had no interest in Launch, who had a gentle and demure nature. Especially as Launch’s Battle Power was weak, only slightly more than forty. They feared that they might kill her just by breathing close to her.
However, after interacting with each other for a period of time, and especially after tasting the delicious food that Launch cooked, Xiling began to look at Launch in a favourable light and gradually adapted to Launch’s existence. The gap between the three girls soon disappeared.
“Launch, aren’t you going over to play with them?”
Xiaya asked as he walked over and pointed at Xiling and Myers, who were flying above the sea surface and occasionally stirring up enormous waves.
Launch quietly shook her head: “Xiling and Myers are too powerful, so I will just watch from here!”
Upon hearing this, Xiaya nodded his head. Indeed, an average human wouldn’t be able to survive playing together with people like Xiling. Huge waves rose with every movement they makes, and the waves crashing back down has a force exceeding tens of thousands of tons. Wouldn’t that scare normal people to death?
“Hey, Launch, why are you sitting there? Come and play with us!” After playing with Xiling for a while, Myers who had started feeling bored shouted towards Launch, who was sitting on the shore.
“Go, I will have them pay attention.”
“OK.” Launch, who had long been itching to go, ran towards the sea.
Leisurely, Xiaya basked in the sun. He found the warm sunlight spraying down on his body very comfortable. He raised his head, looked towards the clear blue-sea and saw the three girls having fun. Xiling was the oldest among them, nearing adulthood.
As he thought about all this, a wave of exhaustion assaulted him, and under the warm sea breeze, Xiaya inadvertently fell asleep. When he woke up, he found Xiling and Myers building a sand castle around him while Launch watched from the side.
“Oh, by the way, Myers, is the tail behind you real?” Launch pointed at the hairy brown tail behind Myers. She wanted to ask this question a long time ago but felt embarrassed.
“Every Saiyan has a tail.” Myers coiled the tail at her waist and answered as if it was something natural.
“Then, how come Xiaya and Xiling don’t have tails? They are also Saiyan.”
“Heh heh, because Saiyans transform into a Great Ape during a full moon. If their latent talent is not good, they would likely lose their rationality after body transformation. So, I and Xiling jad removed our tail very early on.”
Xiaya answered with a smile.
Although a Saiyans can transform into ten-times strength Great Ape with the help of a tail, it was easy to lose rationality if it isn’t controlled properly. Xiaya could still recall the time when Xiling had transformed on Planet Selma; that night was fraught with grave danger.
“Oh!”
“Erm, I want to go back to my home village to have a look. Xiaya, can you accompany me?” Launch suddenly asked.
It has already been several years since Launch had returned to her home village where the villagers had been killed by bandits.
“Okay!”
Xiaya agreed. But, speaking of Launch’s home village, he hadn’t heard her mention it before. When he first met Launch, she was wandering around outside by herself. He had heard that her family was killed by the bandits. Now that she sought to go back, it may be to offer sacrifice to her family.
So, they returned to the villa to change their clothes. Xiaya put on white training clothes, while the girls changed into beautiful fashionable clothes. Soon, they flew high into the sky; Launch flew as well— on the Flying Nimbus.
Launch’s home village was a remote village. There was only a rugged path cut into a mountain, leading outside.
It was a simple mountain village, far away from the bustling mundane world.
Many villagers had fled after the village got plundered by bandits a few years ago. But, after a few years had passed, sighs of human habitation gradually again became apparent in the surroundings. In a desolate corner of the old village, Launch knelt in front of a grave. It was the grave of her grandfather.
After offering sacrifice to her grandfather, Launch wiped away her tears, returned to Xiaya’s side and thanked him: “Thank you for coming with me.”
Xiaya patted Launch’s beautiful deep-blue hair and signalled Xiling to step forward and comfort her. This was because Xiling’s words would be much more effective, as she too was a girl.
“That’s all right, we will be your family in future,” Xiling said.
“Yes, Yes.”
On the side, Myers nodded her head repeatedly, but her eyes turned as she thought of Launch’s delicious cooking. This brat has completely grown crafty.
“Okay, it’s getting late, there is no need to return, so we will just go find a lodging nearby.”
“Hey, there seems to be a village on that mountain. We can stay there tonight!” Xiling suggested as she spotted the rising smoke on the other side of a huge mountain.
“Ok.”
This time, they did not fly. Instead, they walked towards the mountain.
On the undulating mountain, a zigzagged path extended out of the huge mountain. This was the only path that led to outside of the several nearby villages.
“Click clack …” The sound of an tractor starting up echoed, and black smoke appeared. A tractor filled with luggage moved at full speed, swiftly heading towards the other side of the mountain in apparent panic.
“What happened?” Xiaya blocked the tractor’s path and asked.
The driver, who was escaping with his family, got down from the tractor, wiped his sweat and said, “A monster has appeared ahead. You shouldn’t go forward. Right now, everybody is escaping!”
“What monster?” Hearing him, Myers immediately became spirited.
“It’s InoShikaCho, a mysterious monster that specializes in destroying villages. The villages that it has appeared in, in the past, were all completely destroyed.”