Departure (35.2)

Game

Thoughts

"Talking"

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"Man," Gray hummed, staring at the Saiyan pod in front of him, "This feels strange."

The wind blew through the mountain range, the snow under their feet glistening under the bright sun overhead. 

"How so?" Celia asked to his side, looking at him curiously.

"It's nothing," Gray replied, shaking his head as he let out a sigh, "I just got a bit too comfortable here."

Even though they had only been on Earth for a few weeks, it had felt much longer. This wasn't the same Earth that Gray had called his home in the past life, but it was the closest thing to it. 

It's not the same, but it's familiar. I… I almost don't want to leave.

But, he knew he had to. Just a day prior, Cui had received the official order to send the Raditz's Squad back to Planet Vegeta. As much as Gray wanted to stay on the familiar planet, he couldn't. 

I'll miss it. I'll miss it a lot.

His time on Earth hadn't gone how he had expected it - as it was mostly filled with near-death experiences, fighting a certain Legendary Super Saiyan, and training. 

But, this training was a lot more fun than the training in the academy. At least, the second half of the training - his hellish training with Mr. Popo couldn't be called anything close to fun, and his battle with Yamoshi was a different type of fun.

His training over the past week hadn't been much different from his training in the academy - he had essentially just worked on grinding every skill he could find and think of. No, that wasn't the part that he would be missing. He was going to miss the little things.

The way he could look forward to Asuna interrupting his training every day with a meal. The way he wouldn't know if he'd wake up to Celia in his bed or not on any given day. The way Saeko would relentlessly tease him, trying her best to distract him from his training. The way Ranfan would drag him on day-long shopping trips.

He would miss it all. But, not too much.

Afterall, Tamari and Asia are waiting for me.

It had only been a few weeks since he had last seen the two girls, but it felt like a lot more. Celia, Saeko, Asuna, and Ranfan were great companions, but he still missed the two girls who had been there to greet him when he first arrived in this world.

And, it's been too long since I last gawked at Asia's bubble butt. Even clapping Celia's cheeks can't make up for it.

"I, um…" Ranfan trailed off behind him, the girl looking uncertain at her words, "I… I know I should stay here. I'm not strong enough - I don't want to be a burden to you. I don't want to get in your way, but…"

Ranfan looked down, her eyes locked onto her feet, "I… I don't want to say goodbye."

"Hah," Ranfan blinked, looking up again as Gray suddenly placed his hand on her head. He looked down at her with a comforting grin, "What are ya saying goodbye for? I'll be coming back. I'll be back in no time!"

+400 Reputation with Ranfan (For comforting her) [4x from [Ladies Man], [A Humble Master]] 

Ranfan looked up at him, her eyes softening as she let out a giggle, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Why didn't I get that sad speech?" Saeko asked teasingly, placing a hand on Ranfan's shoulder, "Are you going to miss Gray more than me? I'm hurt."

"I-It's not like that!" Ranfan blushed, and Saeko giggled.

"We will be awaiting your return," Kami said, breaking the wholesome moment as he stood stiffly nearby.

"Don't die," Piccolo grunted simply, standing next to the elder Namekian, "It'd be disappointing."

"I should be the one saying that," Gray hummed, smirking up at Piccolo, "You didn't hold up your side of our deal. We were supposed to train together."

"We will," Piccolo grunted in reply, looking sideways at Gray, "I didn't know you'd be leaving so soon. I was busy."

Gray couldn't actually blame the Namekian for not getting around to his training with Gray yet, as while Gray had been training alone for the last week, Piccolo had been training with someone much scarier.

Apparently, the Namekian's pride had been hurt when he saw Gray so easily take out Carrot. So, he'd gone to Mr. Popo to request more intense training.

I was swimming around tropical islands while eating food handmade by a cute girl, and he was being tortured by Mr. Popo.

Speaking of Mr. Popo…

"Popo will be waiting for you," Gray felt a chill go down his spine, and he didn't have to look in Mr. Popo's direction to know his huge eyes were staring at him, "Don't make Popo wait. You won't like what Popo will do to you."

"R-Right!" Gray nodded rapidly, quickly walking towards his Saiyan pod as he eagerly tried to get out of Mr. Popo's watchful eyes, "I'll be back before you know it!"

Unfortunately, a certain orange-haired waifu was missing from the departure party. While she clearly liked Gray, she still hadn't seemed thrilled about staying around a bunch of aliens - even if one was 'super hot.'

So, once she was safely back in West City, Gray had seen very little of Nami - though the girl had apparently been working with Bulma at Capsule Corporation, so hopefully she'd put in a good word for him.

I'll need to work on gaining more reputation with her when I get back. I can't miss out on such a top-tier waifu.

"W-Wait! Before you go!" Ranfan suddenly shouted, cutely running up to him. She stared at him for a moment, blushing. Gray turned around, raising an eyebrow at her.

Abruptly, Ranfan stood up on her tiptoes. She leaned forward, her lips puffed out as they pressed into his. Then, just as abruptly as she had initiated the kiss, she turned around a scurried away, leaving Gray standing there dumbly.

Didn't expect a goodbye kiss, but I won't complain.

"I didn't think she had it in her," Celia said dryly, the woman opening up her Saiyan pod and crawling into it. The three women and Gray were the only members of the Raditz Squad, that were alive at least, to still be on Earth. He had sent Raditz ahead earlier, giving him strict orders not to speak to King Vegeta about anything until he arrived.

"S-She… did she just…" Meanwhile, Asuna looked like she was malfunctioning. The girls face was beet-red and her jaw was dropped as she stared at Ranfan. 

"Yes, she did," Saeko chuckled, casually pushing Asuna forward and towards her own pod, "You have a whole ride home to think about it, so don't think too hard right now."

As he watched Saeko pushed Asuna into her pod, and then walk toward her own, Gray gave one last look at the planet behind him.

Goodbye, Earth. I'll be back.

He turned around, climbed into his pod, wedging his sword into the small seating area next to him, and got comfortable for the long ride. As he glanced around the pod's interior, he couldn't resist feeling impressed.

There was a whole war in this mountain range, and yet most of the pods are still fine, huh? That's impressive.

Gray suddenly felt a chill go down his spine, and a bad feeling filled his body.

Did I just jinx it?

A moment later, his Saiyan pod shot up from the planet, just moments after Saeko's left. 

Notably, it was not on the same trajectory as the three pods that left before him.

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"C-Can we not speed up the experiment, Doctor Gero?!" The rather plain-looking alien behind me shouted, the orge of a man being as impatient as ever, "The General might be gone, but that doesn't mean we can slack off! You said it'd be done in a week! If the General comes back, or if Lord Cooler sends another supervisor, both of our asses will be in trouble!"

"Shut up! If I have to listen to your idiocy for a moment longer, I might go insane," I grunted, my eye twitched as I was interrupted during my work again, "The General won't be back, and Lord Cooler won't send any more supervisors! He was called back to help with the war effort, which means Lord Cooler can't afford to be sending any big shots here, you moron!"

"S-Still," The alien behind me stuttered, and I could feel my annoyance rising with every word his obnoxious voice spoke, "You shouldn't be slacking off! You have a very important job! Remember that this experiment is the only reason you're alive right now!"

"I'm not slacking off," I growled back, "I finished the initial project ahead of schedule. It's been finished for days."

"Then why aren't we utilizing them?" The alien huffed again behind him, towering over my shoulder. My nose wrinkled as the pudget smell of his disgusting body filled my nose.

"If these robots are as great as you say they are, then the entire planet would be ours in an instant!" He shouted again, causing me to wince as spit literally flew from his mouth and onto my neck.

"As great as they could be, dumbass," I hissed back, "The experiment as a whole is far from finished. The finished products right now are far from perfect! They can be improved, and I will improve them!"

"S-Still, can we not at least test out the ones that are finished?" The alien asked again, seemingly more doubtful this time, "The lieutenants are growing restless. The way they're treating our department is getting worse and worse every day. The General isn't here to vouch for us anymore - any day now they could bust down the door and kill us for being useless!"

"Relax," I merely said in response, "We can let them loose soon. If we do it now, they could be destroyed prematurely and all that work will be for nothing. Soon, our biggest threat will be leaving the planet entirely."

"Huh? Why would that Namekian leave the planet?" The alien asked incredulously - it was getting annoying to refer to him as 'the alien' in my head constantly, but I didn't remember his name, and I wasn't going to ask. Wasting such precious brainpower on remembering this idiot's name wasn't worth it. 

I was going to kill him soon anyway - I can't stand to let such an annoying existence plague me for much longer.

"Not the Namekian," I said dismissively, turning and looking directly at a small computer screen nearby. The camera broadcast was shaky as it seemingly stuttered and was flung around erratically - this was normal, of course. When you disguise a camera as an insect, it has to move like an insect.

"The current models could deal with him easily," I explained further, my eyes locked onto the screen, "They can utilize power that is multiple times what he can muster. He is not the concern."

I took a step forward, the alien behind me fading from my mind as the figure on the screen filled it. He had been on my mind for countless hours over the past few months. 

"The only unknown variable. The only thing that could stop my plans," I muttered, staring at the figure on the screen. A muscular body. A handsome face. Unnaturally blonde hair. And, most importantly, an unnaturally long body.

"Gray," I muttered, staring at his figure on the screen as he stood by the Saiyan spaceships, "He'll be leaving soon. When he comes back, he won't even recognize the planet anymore."

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"There's been a development on Planet #77,799, Lord Frieza!," A minion stated, his head bowed as he stared at the floor. In front of him, a large, floating chair slowly turned around from where it had been looking.

As the figure in front of him turned around, a huge pressure suddenly filled the room. They were stationed on a large spaceship with a huge window staring out into the space around them in the front. The alien shriveled, his shoulders slumping as his eyes were wide from the pressure.

"You think someone like me should remember every lowly planet we conquer, worm?" Frieza hissed, his body silhouetted in a shadow as he stared down harshly at the alien minion, who was clad in the typical Frieza Force armor.

"P-Please forgive me, my lord! P-Planet Earth! T-The planet with the magical balls that can grant a wish!" The minion sputtered, his body feeling as if it would explode at any minute under the intergalatic rules gaze. He didn't dare look up as he spoke.

"Continue," Frieza merely said, and the minion quickly nodded.

"The reinforcement squad that King Vegeta sent has not only survived, but one of the Saiyans has killed Monster Carrot, a formidable leader on the planet!" The minion spat out again, his words coming out as quickly as he could say them.

"A Saiyan?" Frieza mused, his eyes boring into the top of the minion's head as he became more interested, "Who was the Saiyan?"

"W-We are not sure, my lord, as we have conflict-" The minion's words were cut off abruptly as a laser shot through his head, frying his brain instantly. His body slumped over, and a pool of blood slowly surrounded him.

"That was rather rude, Lord Frieza," A green, absurdly handsome alien chuckled from the corner of the room, stepping out from the shadow covering him.

"I hate bad minions," Frieza merely stated, amusement filling his voice as the bloody corpse laid in front of him, "A good minion would've done his research. Who was the Saiyan, Zarbon?"

"I'd rate him an above-average minion. He wasn't entirely wrong," Zarbon hummed, "The report from the Saiyan's indicates that it was done by Raditz. Our spy indicates that it was one of the young Saiyans in his squad by the name of Gray."

"Gray, hmm?" Frieza muttered, turning around as another minion quickly ran into the room and started cleaning up the body, "Interesting. Remember his name for me, Zarbon."

"Of course, Lord Frieza."

"I hate when a monkey oversteps their position," Frieza hummed, staring out into the vast expanse of space, "But I also love it. It makes blowing their heads off all the more enjoyable."

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Gray Tanaki:

[Saiyan Squad Captain]

Age: 18

Wallet: 4,595,770 Coins

Lvl: 23 (3,922,770/10,000,000 XP)

PL: 3,637,430,200

Available Points: 450

HP: 1,889,950/1,889,950

TKI: 2,582,475/2,582,475

STR: 1525

AGI: 1780

END: 1340

INT: 1415

CHA: 1245

LUK: 795

KI: 1655

HREG: 1176

EREG: 1176

Skills: [Observe LVL 10], [Running LVL 17], [Determination LVL 20], [Ki Control LVL 17], [Ki Gun LVL 14]. [Ki Enhancement LVL 10], [KI Suppression LVL 12], [Ki Sense LVL 9], [Pushup LVL 17], [Punch LVL 17], [Kick LVL 17], [Jump LVL 17], [Flight LVL 9], [Prediction LVL 7], [Zenkai Boost LVL 6], [Cognitive Acceleration LVL 9], [Ah! Lord Freiza! LVL 7], [Mouth-Beam LVL 6], [Ki-Blade LVL 8], [Cooking LVL 10], [Ki Barrage LVL 9], [Ki Explosion LVL 7], [Ki Vision LVL 7], [Attack Boost LVL 1], [Swimming LVL 9]

Perks: [Gamer's Mind], [Gamer's Body], [Double-edged Sword], [Legendary Super Saiyan], [Perfect Ozaru], [A Cute Pawn], [A Humble Master], [Ladies Man]

Fighting Styles: [Boxing Style: Kolra LVL 2], [Fighting Style: Broly LVL 1]

Party: [Saeko, Celia, Asuna, Ranfan]

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AN: Thank you for reading! This is the end of the post-Earth mini-arc!

The next chapter will be out in about a week, or you can read 20 chapters ahead of my overall public publishing schedule at Patreon.com/Koyon !