A Saiyan's Journey

Bardock's voice was filled with shock, clearly not expecting to receive a communication from Zuke.

As one of the few Saiyans who genuinely cared about his comrades, Bardock actually felt a bit of guilt.

He had noticed that Zuke wasn't in good condition at the time, but he still didn't keep him on Planet Vegeta. As a result, after going to Planet Cereal, Zuke had simply disappeared.

After Frieza's forces inspected Planet Cereal, they unanimously concluded that Zuke must have died, and no further investigation was conducted.

Although the Saiyans were considered an important part of Frieza's army, Frieza's attitude toward them had never been particularly good.

This extended to the rest of Frieza's forces, who also treated the Saiyans with little respect. While they feared the Saiyans' power, they were more than happy to cut corners whenever possible.

Bardock had long since accepted the "fact" that Zuke had died on Planet Cereal, but he never expected to receive a communication from him today.

"It's me, Bardock. How are things on the Saiyan side?"

Hearing Bardock's voice, Zuke responded with a smile—just from Bardock's tone, he could tell that Bardock had assumed he was dead.

This also meant that Frieza's forces hadn't discovered Zuke's whereabouts, and his identity had been marked as "deceased" in Frieza's army records.

"Same as usual. A few days ago, another group was sent to clear out the natives on another planet."

Bardock's voice paused for a moment, and after sensing that Zuke seemed to be in good condition, his tone relaxed considerably.

"What's your situation now? Where are you? Why haven't you returned to Planet Vegeta? Do you need me to come get you?"

Bardock fired off a series of questions, all stemming from his concern for Zuke—after all, Zuke was his comrade. Bardock's popularity among Saiyan warriors was largely due to his caring nature.

"No need. I deliberately chose not to return to Planet Vegeta. After all, there are too many of Frieza's people there now."

Zuke calmly explained his reasoning—despite Planet Vegeta being the Saiyan stronghold, it was now teeming with Frieza's forces.

On the surface, Frieza was providing the Saiyans with better accommodations, food, combat inspections, training facilities, and other forms of support. In reality, however, he was monitoring their every move.

King Vegeta had long been dissatisfied with this situation, but faced with Frieza's overwhelming power, he couldn't muster the will to resist and had no choice but to tolerate Frieza's overbearing presence on Planet Vegeta.

"You don't want to return to Planet Vegeta... That makes sense. Many Saiyans are also unhappy with Frieza's actions."

Bardock's voice grew somber—the Saiyans' nature wasn't just violent; they also possessed the pride of a warrior race. Being subjugated by Frieza's forces naturally bred resentment.

Unfortunately, Frieza's power was too great. Even some of his underlings could easily overpower the Saiyans—take, for example, the infamous Ginyu Force within Frieza's army.

As a result, even though the Saiyans were discontent, they had no choice but to bow their heads and obediently work for Frieza.

"Bardock, what do you think? Are you satisfied with the way the Saiyans are living now?"

Just as the conversation lapsed into silence, Zuke suddenly spoke up again, and his words were enough to put Frieza on high alert—though Frieza couldn't hear their conversation at the moment.

The communication device on the scouter could be set to not transmit to headquarters—this allowed for private conversations without being monitored by Frieza's forces.

The Saiyans had never held much goodwill toward Frieza, so their communications were typically not transmitted to Frieza's headquarters.

It was only after the Saiyans were nearly wiped out that the few remaining Saiyans, like Vegeta, let their guard down, leading to their conversations being intercepted by Frieza.

This was precisely why Zuke dared to say things in his conversation with Bardock that would have been enough to earn him a death sentence in Frieza's eyes:

"Are we just going to keep being suppressed by Frieza, dutifully working for him until he loses patience with the Saiyans?"

"What do you mean, Zuke? What do you mean by Frieza losing patience with the Saiyans?"

Despite his rough Saiyan nature, Bardock also had a keen attention to detail. He quickly picked up on Zuke's choice of words, and his tone grew serious.

"Let me put it this way, Bardock. The reason I don't want to return to Frieza's forces is that Frieza might soon make a move against the Saiyans."

Zuke stated this matter-of-factly, directly pointing out what Frieza was planning to do to the Saiyans.

If he were speaking to another Saiyan, Zuke might not have been so direct, but since it was Bardock, he felt comfortable being upfront.

He knew Bardock would believe him—not just because Bardock cared about his comrades, but also because Bardock had already sensed this possibility.

Zuke was merely voicing what Bardock had already suspected.

"...Are you sure about this, Zuke? This isn't something to joke about."

Sure enough, after hearing this, Bardock's voice grew even more somber.

Zuke faintly heard the sound of a door closing—it seemed Bardock had shut the door, likely to prevent his wife, Gine, from overhearing.

"You've already had a feeling about this, haven't you?"

Zuke didn't mince words, directly pointing out what Bardock had been thinking.

In the original timeline, Bardock had felt uneasy after invading Planet Cereal, sensing that Frieza might be planning to move against the Saiyans.

This premonition had only grown stronger, filling Bardock with a sense of impending crisis. It was what drove him to send his son, Kakarot, to the distant planet Earth in a spherical pod.

Unfortunately, his premonition didn't change anything. Bardock was no match for Frieza and was ultimately destroyed along with Planet Vegeta.

There was no time travel, no transformation into a Super Saiyan—Bardock died a simple death, and Frieza didn't even know his name.

"It's true. Recently, Frieza's forces have been acting more and more independently of the Saiyans, almost as if they're trying to separate the Saiyans from the rest of the army."

Bardock's voice was calm, but it carried an undercurrent of suppressed anger.

"It seems he's already made up his mind. This way, after wiping out the Saiyans, the rest of Frieza's forces won't be affected."

As a Saiyan who valued his comrades, Bardock naturally didn't want to see the Saiyans be so easily eradicated by Frieza:

"Zuke, since you went out of your way to contact me, it means you must have some kind of plan, right?"

To be continued…

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