[50]. Visitors from Beyond the Stars

"Argh—damn it!"

Bardock gritted his teeth and cursed. Caught off guard, he could do nothing but take the hits, completely unable to fight back.

Don't let Ausbi'er's small size fool you—her strength was nothing to scoff at. Every punch she landed on Bardock connected with bone-rattling force, leaving him wincing in pain.

"Uncle Bardock! Time for you to eat dirt!"

Ausbi'er channeled her energy into her legs, spinning rapidly in the air—eighty-two rotations in total. With each turn, power gathered in her limbs.

At the peak of the eighty-second cycle, her leg glowed with radiant energy. With one mighty kick, she slammed her foot square into Bardock's back.

"Argh!"

With a terrifying force, Bardock was blasted down like a cannonball, crashing straight into the desert below.

BOOM!

The previously calmed desert exploded once again into chaos, yellow sand billowing high into the sky.

A while later...

Whoosh, whoosh!

Hot winds blew away the suspended sand clouds, slowly restoring visibility.

Bardock lay half-buried in the dunes, only a furry tail sticking out from the ground, occasionally twitching.

"Heehee, Uncle Bardock, you okay?"

Ausbi'er giggled and descended slowly beside him.

The furry tail twitched twice, but the person buried beneath didn't move.

Eventually, Bardock managed to wiggle out of the sand. Spitting out a mouthful of grit, he grumbled, "You brat… help me up already."

Still feeling the sting from those blows, Bardock sighed in relief. Thankfully, Ausbi'er had held back a little—otherwise, he might have needed to use one of those precious senzu beans.

But still… she told him to "eat dirt," and he literally ate a mouthful of sand.

What a humiliation.

Bardock had felt confident not long ago that Ausbi'er still wasn't a match for him. When she suddenly challenged him to a spar, he thought she just wanted to practice some battle techniques.

Who would've thought she meant to bury him?

Right now, Bardock's battle power was around 50,000—and yet he'd been crushed. Just how strong had Ausbi'er become?

The realization sent a chill down Bardock's spine.

Are upper-class warriors all this scary? That casual about it?

He glared at Ausbi'er like a wronged housewife.

"Heehee!"

Ausbi'er helped him up, flashing an innocent grin.

Looking at her playful, unbothered face, Bardock felt completely defeated. He couldn't even bring himself to scold her.

What was he supposed to say—"Little girl, stand still and let me beat you up to get even"?

No way he had the guts for that.

"Let's go," Bardock muttered, spitting out another mouthful of sand.

...

In the mountain valley.

A small river meandered by peacefully, and under the shade of towering trees stood a wooden cabin.

With a soft whoosh, two figures appeared outside the cabin.

Ausbi'er had used Instant Transmission to bring Bardock back.

"Captain, you're back!"

Garis looked up and smiled when he saw the two. "So, who won?"

Bardock: "…"

Garis hadn't said anything offensive, yet somehow Bardock felt like he was being mocked.

He couldn't beat Kaso or Ausbi'er… but Garis? That punk he could deal with.

In a cold tone, Bardock said, "Garis, I think your training's not nearly enough today. Go do ten more sets of Kaso's routine."

"Wha—?"

"What 'wha'? Make it twenty. And if you don't finish, I'll—"

Before Bardock could finish the sentence, Garis vanished in a puff of smoke, bolting away like a terrified rabbit.

He could still be heard muttering curses as he ran.

Ausbi'er couldn't help but giggle behind her hand as she watched them.

"Gine, where's that brat Kaso?" Bardock asked as he entered the house, seeing Gine busy with lunch prep.

"Dunno," she answered without even looking up.

Bardock nodded. Kaso disappearing randomly wasn't anything new.

At present, all the Saiyans needed to do was train diligently with the gravity chambers and senzu beans. As for what was happening out in the galaxy, they were better off ignoring it for now—especially with Frieza's forces still hunting down survivors from Planet Vegeta.

If Frieza's army ever discovered the 150-plus remaining Saiyans hiding on Planet Sadala, it'd be war all over again.

Bardock didn't want that. Thankfully, with Kaso's Instant Transmission, he at least didn't have to worry about the boy being caught.

"Lunch is ready!"

Gine called out, laying out the dishes.

"Alright."

One big and one small figure sat down at the table, waiting for her to serve the food.

"Ausbi'er, you—"

Before Bardock could finish his sentence, Ausbi'er suddenly interrupted him with an unusually serious tone. "Uncle Bardock, don't speak yet."

As soon as she said that, the entire wooden house fell into eerie silence. Her chilling voice made Bardock's heart clench.

What was going on?

Gine was still working in the kitchen, and the living room fell completely still.

As the tension built…

Bardock didn't even dare breathe.

Ausbi'er frowned deeply. "Someone's entered Planet Sadala."

"What?!"

Bardock shot up from his seat in alarm. Could Frieza's men have found them?

After Planet Vegeta exploded, Frieza knew many Saiyans had been away and escaped. His orders were to eliminate every last one of them.

Of course, plot-armored leads like Goku and Vegeta got a pass, but for the rest? It was kill-on-sight.

Which is why Bardock was so on edge. The last thing they needed was for Planet Sadala to be discovered.

"No mistake."

Ausbi'er nodded firmly.

Without scouters, it made sense Bardock couldn't detect it. But thanks to her mastery of ki sensing, she had felt two distinct clusters of unfamiliar energy descending toward the planet.

One was in front, the other behind—the second one even stronger than the first. It looked like a chase.

"Take me to where they landed!" Bardock was already panicking.

If they really were from Frieza's army, they'd have to evacuate the Saiyans immediately.

Before Frieza himself arrived, or it would all be over.

"Uncle Bardock, calm down. They're not strong. Any one of us could beat them."

From what Ausbi'er could sense, the two energy clusters were made up of about a dozen individuals each. But their power levels were weak—the strongest only around 5,000.

The Saiyans had been using the gravity chambers for two months now.

Even though not everyone was a Goku-level prodigy capable of jumping from 8,000 to 90,000 in one month, their strength had grown significantly.

From what Ausbi'er knew, aside from a few logistical staff, even the weakest Saiyan now had a battle power above 6,000.

And yes, that included the women.

So there was no need to worry about the "guests from the stars."

"But I'm not worried about them," Bardock said grimly. "I'm worried they'll reveal our location."

Hearing that, Ausbi'er suddenly realized the seriousness of the situation. A cold chill ran down her spine.

"You're right. Uncle Bardock, let's go—now!"

Without wasting another second, she placed her hand on Bardock and activated Instant Transmission.

~~~------------------

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