Led by two attendants, Zuke was brought into the only palace-like structure on Zuno's planet, where he finally met the man known as the greatest information broker, Zuno.
Zuno looked almost identical to his attendants—chubby with big ears, sitting on a cushion and appearing wider than he was tall. He wore an outfit reminiscent of an ancient feudal lord and sat calmly in the hall, watching Zuke enter.
The moment Zuke saw Zuno, he summoned the Blackbird without hesitation—his thought was simple: he wanted to see if Blackbird would feel any "appetite" toward this rotund man.
Although Zuke had no interest in consuming people, Zuno's exaggerated information-gathering abilities piqued his interest. This was, after all, the man who could casually provide details even about the Super Dragon Balls.
If Zuno's "information ability" was something akin to omniscience, there was a chance that Blackbird could absorb Zuno, granting Zuke a similar power.
Unfortunately, although Blackbird appeared, Zuke did not sense any "appetite" directed toward the chubby figure in front of him.
Zuke could tell when Blackbird felt an urge to consume something to acquire abilities, just as he had sensed when facing severed limbs left by Vanilla Ice's miasma.
"Tch, seems like this guy's information ability can't be acquired through consumption."
Though slightly disappointed, Zuke hadn't expected too much; he was just testing the waters. Since directly obtaining Zuno's abilities wasn't possible, he'd simply have to force the information out of him.
Zuno's usual rule was that visitors had to kiss his cheek, and depending on his interest in them, he'd decide how many questions to answer.
This rule was clearly a playful touch from the original author, Toriyama Akira, which Zuke had no intention of entertaining.
"I'll ask, and you answer—better not waste time with pointless chatter."
Seeing that Zuno didn't seem to realize how close he'd come to death's door, Zuke wasted no time and issued his command.
One of the attendants took offense and immediately frowned as he tried to explain, "But according to Lord Zuno's rules…"
Before he could finish, Zuke had Blackbird kick him, sending him flying across the room and knocking him unconscious against the wall.
"Who told you to speak?"
Zuke cast a sidelong glance at the interfering attendant, then turned his attention back to Zuno.
This show of force had a clear effect; a flicker of panic crossed Zuno's face, evidently not expecting Zuke to act so decisively without a second thought.
The only fortunate thing for Zuno was that Zuke had held back from outright killing. The attendant had only been knocked out.
Zuke didn't kill outright, fearing that it might provoke resistance in Zuno. A moderate display of strength would be enough.
"First, give me the coordinates of the Super Dragon Balls."
Zuke said as he pulled out a notebook and pen from his combat suit—he'd come prepared to seek out Zuno, and he had the tools ready to record information.
A hint of surprise flickered in Zuno's eyes, as he hadn't expected a Saiyan of seemingly low status within Frieza's army to know about the Super Dragon Balls.
But Zuke's stern gaze left him no choice but to comply, so he quickly provided the coordinates of the Super Dragon Balls.
As in the original story, the seven Super Dragon Balls were distributed across the Sixth and Seventh Universes, with three in Universe 7, where Zuke was, and the remaining four in Universe 6.
It seemed that in the original story, the God of Destruction from Universe 6, Champa, had secretly taken two of them from this side.
The Super Dragon Balls were the most powerful wish-granting orbs in the Dragon Ball universe, able to restore even universes destroyed by the Omni-King. They were practically omnipotent. If Zuke could find the Super Dragon Balls, he could accomplish much more.
Becoming the universe's strongest without any cost wouldn't be out of reach.
"Is there a way for me to travel to other universes on my own?"
After learning the Super Dragon Balls' coordinates, Zuke naturally began to consider inter-universe travel.
If he could gather all the Super Dragon Balls, even Frieza would become a minor concern.
"Not possible. Only gods from the rank of Kai and above have the ability to cross universes."
Zuno shook his head; he was an information broker, not a wish granter.
Gods ranked as Kai and above… That meant Kai, Supreme Kai, God of Destruction, Angels, the Grand Priest, and the Omni-King. In the original story, it was indeed those characters who facilitated the protagonists' inter-universe travel.
Even Zamasu, as a Kai at the time, had traveled on his own to Universe 7 to find Zuno.
With this in mind, Zuke's thoughts turned again to the Super Dragon Balls. If approaching beings above Supreme Kai was too risky, he could set his sights on the North Kai of this universe—Zuke remembered that North Kai's power level was only around 3,500.
If he slightly increased his own power, he might be able to convince North Kai to take him to Universe 6.
"Next, give me the coordinates of Namek and Earth as well."
After recording the Super Dragon Balls' coordinates, Zuke pressed on with his questioning.
The Super Dragon Balls could wait; they were hard to collect. It would be easier to start with the more accessible Dragon Balls.
The Earth's Dragon Balls and Namek's Dragon Balls, though far from as powerful as the Super Dragon Balls, were at least more useful than the Cerealean Dragon Balls.
More importantly, the Grand Elder on Namek possessed the ability to unlock latent potential, so Zuke wanted to see if he could unlock his own potential there.
Everyone has latent potential that's hard to draw out by oneself. Even Krillin, after having his potential unlocked by the Grand Elder, experienced a dramatic power boost that astonished Vegeta.
As a Saiyan, Zuke might not have the greatest potential, but he certainly had some to unlock.
"Earth's coordinates are…"
Zuno looked at Zuke, his expression sour but compliant, and provided Earth's coordinates.
However, when he got to Namek's coordinates, he added:
"Namek has already been destroyed, and several groups of Namekians escaped. Which Namek do you want to know about?"
Zuke paused, then realized what Zuno meant—more than just the Grand Elder had escaped, and some Namekians had gone to other planets, like those on Cerulean.
There might be Namekians on other planets calling them "Namek," but within a few years, they would either go extinct or abandon the Namek name for various reasons.
In the original story, only one Namek was left in the end.
"I want the Namek where the Grand Elder is."
Zuke's target was, of course, the Namek where the Grand Elder resided. Although other "Nameks" might also have Dragon Balls, their effectiveness probably wouldn't compare to the seven crafted by the Grand Elder.
And whether they possessed the Grand Elder's ability to unlock potential was questionable. Safer to go to the confirmed Namek.
To be continued…
Psst, Ningen, you are under arrest! Gand over your Power Stones if you wanna live!
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