"Curse you, Saiyan… Don't you dare lay a hand on the Dragon Balls!"
In less than a minute, only Zuke and the old Namekian, Monaito, were still awake in the room.
The other Namekians had already collapsed, unconscious on the ground—not because Zuke had killed them, but because he had merely knocked them all out.
It wasn't that Zuke was soft-hearted; he simply needed at least one Namekian to help him summon the Shenron.
The Namekian Dragon Balls require a specific incantation to be summoned. It's not as simple as Earth's Dragon Balls, where one can just say, "Come forth, Shenron," and have it appear. Zuke had long since forgotten the incantation to summon the Dragon Balls.
After all, who remembers the exact words to summon Dragon Balls when reading a manga? Besides, he read it before his own reincarnation—at that time, he never imagined he'd actually get a chance to summon the Shenron in real life.
"I didn't kill them; I just want to borrow the Dragon Balls."
Zuke's choice to leave Monaito conscious was straightforward: in the original story, Monaito had a particularly timid personality, making him easier to intimidate and coax than other Namekians who were harder to read.
"As long as you help me summon the Shenron, I won't kill them. How about that?"
"You… even if you spare us, your Saiyan comrades will surely annihilate us all, won't they?"
Monaito furrowed his brow. Despite his weak nature, he wasn't foolish. He could still hear the sounds of chaos from the nearby city through the window; the Great Apes were still rampaging through the Cerealian city.
Monaito had heard of the Saiyan reputation. As Frieza's henchmen, this brutal warrior race would destroy civilizations until nothing was left but barren, lifeless planets.
Although this Saiyan before him hadn't killed his people outright, without the Dragon Balls' help, the Saiyans would eventually wipe out the remaining Namekians.
Right now, their only hope of survival lay in summoning the Shenron and making a wish with the two Dragon Balls. How could he place that hope in the hands of a Saiyan enemy?
"Monaito, let me clarify—these two Dragon Balls are in my possession now. Even if you disagree, they won't return to you."
Zuke gazed at Monaito, fully expecting the old man's initial refusal—he was undoubtedly brimming with anger and lacked rationality in that moment.
"But if you agree to summon the Shenron for me, I will allow you to temporarily leave this planet to take refuge. This way, at least one Namekian survivor will remain."
Zuke's cold tone sent a shiver through Monaito, who had been overcome with fury, bringing him back to his senses.
Yes, the Dragon Balls were now in this Saiyan's hands. Even if he refused to summon the Shenron, Zuke wouldn't return the Dragon Balls to him, and the Cerealian Namekians would face annihilation.
If he agreed to Zuke's terms, at least the Saiyan had promised to let one Namekian live. Although abandoning his kin filled him with guilt, he couldn't bear the thought of letting the Namekian lineage perish entirely.
"Do… do you really agree to let us go?"
Now calmer, Monaito looked at Zuke, his eyes trembling. If he were a young girl, the expression would seem pitiable, but as an old man, it gave Zuke chills.
"I said I'd agree, so I will. Rest assured; you don't have another choice anyway."
Zuke toyed with the two small Dragon Balls in his hands. Compared to Namek's Dragon Balls, they were even slightly smaller than Earth's.
"Also, I said I would let 'you' go, not 'all of you.' My spaceship can only carry one."
Indeed, Zuke's plan was to send Monaito away on his spherical spaceship.
Frieza's army's spherical ships could set planetary coordinates and autopilot. Zuke had already set the spaceship to fly to the nearest life-sustaining planet, allowing Monaito to escape to safety.
As for Zuke, he wasn't worried at all. He knew he was in a "dream" right now, and with a few hours left of travel time, he estimated that he'd wake up soon enough.
He would take this chance to make "Zuke" a missing person in Frieza's ranks.
When Frieza's army investigated, the conclusion would be that "a Saiyan named Zuke had encountered an accident during the Cerealian invasion mission, and a refugee had stolen his spaceship."
This fit perfectly with the impression Zuke had left on Bardock of being "still not fully recovered," explaining why he'd encountered an accident on his mission.
…
"I… I agree."
Zuke hadn't given Monaito much time to consider. He didn't even need to push him, as Monaito quickly made his decision on his own.
The explosions and sounds of battle outside were getting closer, indicating that the Saiyan Great Apes' destruction was expanding. It wouldn't be long before they reached the city outskirts.
If Monaito didn't decide quickly, a single footstep from those Great Apes could end his chance to make any choice at all.
"A wise decision."
Zuke saw Monaito's resigned expression, walked over, holding the two Dragon Balls in his left hand, grabbed Monaito by the collar with his right, and jumped out of the building, landing on a nearby open field.
"The Great Apes and Cerealians are still some distance away from here… no one else around. Perfect."
On the open ground, Zuke scanned the surroundings again with his scouter, confirming that no one else was nearby.
He remembered that during the Saiyan invasion of Cereal, a group of alien merchants from the Heeters was observing from this planet—they were the ones who had commissioned Frieza's army for the invasion.
But fortunately, none of the Heeters were around at the moment, sparing him some trouble. After all, the kid from the Heeter clan, Gas, although not as strong as Frieza, was still beyond what he could handle at the moment.
"Alright, summon the Shenron."
After confirming there were no distractions, Zuke dropped the two Dragon Balls on the ground and turned to Monaito.
He wasn't worried about Monaito trying to steal the Dragon Balls—with his power level barely in the double digits, he wouldn't get far.
"…Understood."
Monaito closed his eyes, sighing in resignation, and extended his hands toward the two Dragon Balls, chanting the summoning incantation.
"Takaraputo Popurunga Pupiritto Paro!"
The night sky darkened further as Monaito chanted, and a mysterious aura began to emanate from the two Dragon Balls.
In the next moment, golden lightning surged from the Dragon Balls, intertwining in the air, eventually coalescing into a dragon with a face resembling that of an axolotl before Zuke.
This Shenron was smaller than both the Earth and Namekian dragons but still held an undeniable majesty. Facing Zuke and Monaito, it slowly spoke in a deep voice:
"You who have gathered the two Dragon Balls, state your wish. I will grant you one wish to the best of my ability."
To be continued…