The Hope of The Universe

On a distant planet with a primitive atmosphere, a small spacecraft bearing Frieza's unmistakable design hovered ominously in the sky.

"Commander Cui, the Fourth Squad has been deployed. It won't take long to conquer this planet. We should receive confirmation of completion shortly," a subordinate reported aboard the vessel.

"It's all the fault of those cursed Saiyans," Cui replied, his purple fish-like features contorting with annoyance. "If they hadn't rebelled against Lord Frieza, they wouldn't have been destroyed. A backwater planet with such pathetic combat power would normally be delegated to the Saiyans." He rose from his seat, stretching his armored limbs. "Come, let's descend and kill some natives myself. I need the exercise."

The beautiful planet Yardrat, Karnel's destination, was caught not in war, but in slaughter...

"Father, I'm scared!" Pajelli, a young Yardratian child, wept as he clung to his father's leg.

"Ha! This planet will soon be under Lord Frieza's rule, and you natives deserve to die!" Several foot soldiers laughed, firing wildly at the fleeing locals with high-tech energy weapons.

An elderly Yardratian rushed toward Pajelli and his father. Before he could reach them, an energy blast struck him squarely in the chest. He collapsed to the ground, motionless.

"No! Father!" The Yardratian named Hush cried out, his heart shattering at the sight of his father murdered before his eyes. "Pajelli, run! Quickly!" He charged toward the soldiers, hoping to buy time for his child to escape.

"Ha! We just killed an old one, and now a young one comes to die!" The soldiers laughed among themselves as they watched Hush's desperate charge.

Hush closed his eyes, expecting death, but instead, a strange young man with distinctive black hair materialized directly in front of him.

It was Karnel, freshly teleported from Namek by Porunga's power. Taking in the scene instantly, he dispatched the Frieza soldiers with casual efficiency, barely needing to exert himself.

"Are you alright, friend?" Karnel asked Hush, who stood frozen with his eyes still closed.

A wave of sympathy washed over Karnel as he watched the child Pajelli crying over the fallen elder. These massacres by Frieza's army happened constantly throughout the galaxy. He silently vowed: Frieza's forces truly are everywhere, like locusts devouring every planet in their path. Sooner or later, I'll cleanse the Northern Galaxy of Frieza's taint.

"You... you saved us," Hush stammered in disbelief, opening his eyes. "My child and I... but my father..." He looked sorrowfully at his father's body lying in a pool of blood and his son weeping beside it.

"The dead cannot return," Karnel said gently, placing a hand on Hush's shoulder. "But you and your child must live on. Take heart, I'll eliminate the remaining invaders."

The inhabitants of Yardrat possessed minimal combat power, not unlike the humans of Earth. They had developed little technology, instead relying on ancient mystical arts passed down through generations, including their famous Instant Transmission technique, which had drawn Karnel to their world.

With the Saiyan race nearly extinct, Frieza hadn't bothered sending any elite warriors for this conquest. Cui had been dispatched simply because no one better was available for such a trivial assignment.

Hundreds of Frieza's soldiers were scattered across Yardrat, carrying out their slaughter. With Karnel's immense power, it wasn't practical to eliminate them all at once, but it didn't take him long. Flying across the planet's surface, he systematically destroyed every soldier he encountered with precisely aimed energy blasts.

Along the way, he witnessed countless atrocities that darkened his expression, his eyes flashing with murderous intent. His resolve strengthened with each casualty he discovered, Frieza's empire of aggression must be destroyed, this cancerous growth excised from the galaxy.

"Well, well! Another Saiyan who escaped our purge?" Cui's voice rang out as he descended from the sky, applauding mockingly. "You dispatched all my men so efficiently. Impressive strength, let me see just how high your combat power really is." The death of his soldiers concerned him not at all; they were mere cannon fodder, expendable tools in Frieza's vast army.

The scouter over Cui's eye beeped as it calculated, finally displaying a reading of 5,000.

"Not bad for a Saiyan," Cui remarked with a smirk. "A combat power of 5,000 is respectable. Come, entertain me for a while. If I'm amused enough, perhaps I'll let you live." Relief spread across his features at the manageable power level, and a cruel smile played at the corners of his mouth.

Karnel stared impassively at Cui, who strutted before him like a performer. In his mind, the commander's fate was already sealed.

"Your damn Saiyan eyes sicken me," Cui snarled, his initial amusement fading at Karnel's unflinching gaze. "I've decided to kill you here and now. After I eliminate you, I'll report to Lord Frieza. Perhaps I'll even earn his favor." His pupils dilated with bloodlust as he raised his hands.

"Remember in hell that it was Commander Cui, Lord Frieza's loyal servant, who sent you there!" His ugly mouth twisted into a sneer as he gathered a dense, one-meter-wide sphere of energy between his palms and launched it toward Karnel.

To Karnel's enhanced perception, the attack moved with the speed of a crawling turtle. He casually caught the energy sphere with one hand, compressed it, and infused it with several times its original power before sending it back toward its creator.

Cui's combat power of 20,000 was laughably inadequate against Karnel's might. The commander didn't even have time to react before his own amplified attack engulfed him. The violent explosion of energy consumed his form as he screamed in agony.

When the light faded, Cui lay battered and bloody on the ground, teetering on the brink of death.

Karnel approached unhurriedly, placed his foot on Cui's head, and pressed down, eliciting a sickening crunch. "You appeared as nothing but a clown in my eyes," he said coldly. "It seems everyone with a little power in this universe loves to posture. It makes them predictable."

Cui spat out a gush of blood, his body convulsing as his eyes began to lose focus. He couldn't process the reality of being defeated so effortlessly. "No... this can't... I can't be..."

Before he could finish, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle, and his body went still.

With a contemptuous gesture, Karnel incinerated Cui's remains with a blast of energy. "Trash. Don't pollute this planet's air even in death."

The expanding fireball consumed what remained of Commander Cui, leaving nothing but ash on the wind.