Thoughts on the Frieza Force
Zuke wasn't senile yet. He clearly remembered that he had killed Frieza and taken over the Frieza Force just last night.
Or, to be more precise, it was something that had only concluded in the early hours of this morning—meaning only about ten hours had passed since he entered the Dragon Ball world.
But Jaco claimed that he had replaced Frieza a week ago?
"W-what's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"
Under Zuke's intense and strange gaze, Jaco seemed a little frightened and instinctively shrank back.
Although Zuke had behaved quite amiably at the Galactic Patrol headquarters, Jaco wasn't foolish enough to let his guard down.
After all, Zuke was the one who had killed the Evil Emperor Frieza. The Frieza Force, which had ruled nearly 70% of the galaxy, had now been renamed the Zuke Force.
Jaco might love to boast and save face, but he was well aware of his own limitations.
"...No, it's nothing. Keep leading the way."
After studying Jaco's expression for a moment, Zuke concluded that he wasn't joking and shook his head, signaling him to continue.
However, as he followed Jaco to Merus' room, Zuke pondered the reason behind this strange discrepancy.
"From my perspective, it's only been a dozen or so hours since I dealt with Frieza, but to Jaco, it's already been a week."
Zuke watched Jaco quicken his pace and thought carefully.
"The flow of time in the Dragon Ball universe should be fixed. Aside from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, there shouldn't be any regions where one hour passes in one place while a whole day passes in another."
If such time discrepancies existed in the Dragon Ball world, then Merus wouldn't have needed to specifically use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to train Goku.
He could've just taken Goku to a slower time-flow region for training.
"If it's not an inherent issue with the Dragon Ball world, then it must be the system's doing."
Zuke quickly figured out the reason—it was likely because the Dragon Ball world was currently generating its main storyline quest.
"When the JOJO world was generating its main quest, it took about a week, causing the timeline to jump from Part 3 straight to Part 5."
Recalling how the JOJO world's timeline had skipped from Part 3 to the eve of Part 5 after the main quest was generated, Zuke made an educated guess.
"So, during the main quest generation period, the world's timeline rapidly advances to a point where the main quest can begin?"
If that were the case, it would explain why, despite Zuke having just dealt with Frieza a few hours ago, Jaco claimed a week had passed.
However, the system probably hadn't anticipated that Zuke could enter the quest world through "Gate of Babylon."
At the very least, after Zuke entered the Dragon Ball world, the time flow would temporarily return to normal. Otherwise, he'd see everyone moving at dozens of times their usual speed.
As for whether the world would remain at normal speed or accelerate again after he left, that would have to wait until his next visit.
"We're here. This should be Merus' room."
While Zuke was lost in thought, Jaco had already led him to Merus' door. Before he could knock, however, the door swung open from the inside.
Merus, having sensed their presence, had opened it himself. He looked at Zuke behind Jaco and smiled.
"I've been expecting you. Please, come in."
---
"I see… So Frieza's final power level reached 120 million…"
Inside the room, after listening to Zuke's account, Merus gained a concrete understanding of Frieza's strength.
"Which means your current power level exceeds 120 million, Mr. Zuke?"
Zuke nodded with a smile—even without using "Berserk" or "Numeral of the Saint," his base power level had already surpassed that.
The life energy absorbed from Frieza and King Cold had granted him an enormous boost in strength.
No wonder, in the original story, Moro had been so obsessed with Goku and Vegeta's life energy, even wanting to nurture them to grow stronger before devouring them.
If not for Zuke's concern that Frieza's training might lead to an uncontrollable power surge, making him too difficult to defeat, he might have considered letting Frieza grow even stronger before finishing him off.
"So, Mr. Zuke, you are now the acting agent of the God of Destruction. Destroying planets would now be within your rights."
Merus smiled.
"Of course, within reasonable limits. Excessive destruction would still invite disaster… I assume you're well aware of that, Mr. Zuke?"
If the universe's rating dropped too low, it would attract the attention of the Grand Priest and Zeno, potentially leading to erasure.
Though Merus had never explicitly explained this to Zuke, given how knowledgeable Zuke usually seemed, he assumed Zuke already understood.
"…That aside, regarding the Frieza Force—no, it should be called the Zuke Force now."
After congratulating Zuke, Merus brought up a new concern.
The Frieza Force had been seamlessly absorbed by Zuke, with its original strategists and administrators smoothly transitioning into his subordinates.
On the surface, everything continued as usual.
Merus, of course, disapproved of the Frieza Force's former methods. Despite calling themselves "real estate developers," Frieza's rampant destruction of civilizations had caused immense harm to the universe.
While the God of Destruction's duty involves destroying planets, Frieza's approach—annihilating civilizations while leaving planets intact—was a violation of the rules.
"That… I've actually given it some thought already."
Hearing Merus' words, Zuke chuckled—he had, of course, already considered this matter.
Transforming the force would be troublesome but not impossible.
Back when he eliminated the Heeter Force, Zuke had already envisioned the Zuke Force taking advantage of his newfound fame to absorb the Heeter Group's operations.
Then… follow the Heeter Group's business model.
Given how the Heeter Group had amassed immense wealth—enough to even catch Frieza's attention—it was clear their methods were highly profitable.
And when it came to making money…
"Merus, I might need your help with this plan… You wouldn't want the Frieza Force to continue harming civilizations like before, would you?"
"Eh?"
Merus was taken aback—partly because he didn't know how he could help, and partly because Zuke's phrasing felt a little… off.
It almost sounded like a threat, though he couldn't quite put his finger on why.
To be continued…
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