Timely Arrival

Chapter 34: Untimely Arrival

"Ah... Ah..." Goku found himself unable to comprehend what he had just experienced for a moment. 'That's definitely the guy Dad saw in his visions. I think callin' him "sketchy" is an understatement...!'

Vegeta and the rest looked on in concern. "Kakarot, what is it? Did you find Moro's ki? ...Let me try-"

Goku shook his head with his arm out. "Wait, wait, wait! Don't, Vegeta! He could sense that I was searching for him!"

Vegeta looked at him perplexed. "What?! How could he-?"

"I don't know. It's like no other ki I've felt before," Goku responded, his gaze lowered. "It wasn't even that big of a ki signature, either. But still, it felt terrifying. It was as though a whole lot of people were... screaming in pain."

"Yikes...! That's a spooky way to describe it!" Jaco commented nervously.

"Moro is known to absorb planets to enhance his own life force and power. In that sense, his amassed power is comprised of slaughtered individuals," Merus stated. "This also explains how he has lived for so long."

"What the..." Vegeta said in disbelief.

Goku asked uncomfortably, "If he's known as Planet-eater Moro, how many planets has he... y'know... eaten?"

"Far too many," Merus answered solemnly, shaking his head.

———

The cloaked goat and his crewmate were travelling through space in a ship with a run-down interior. The goat looked distracted.

"Wh... What is it?" the helmeted goon asked.

"Two beings tried to ascertain my location just now - One via a power sensing technique, the other via some manner of clairvoyance," Moro responded, simultaneously intrigued and annoyed.

"Huh? Really? Has the Galactic Patrol found us already?"

Moro ignored him in favour of attempting to look around himself both physically and spiritually. He looked up at the ceiling as he did so, noting, "In my time away, life has managed to spread far across the universe."

"True enough. You were locked up for ten million years, remember?" the goon responded.

Moro sighed heavily.

"Y- You okay?" the helmeted one wondered.

"Even something as simple as sensing my surroundings has taken me to my limit. My magic is in a pathetic state," Moro explained, growing more irritated by the second.

"W- Well, we're almost there! Just hang tight a little longer!"

Moro grinned at the reminder. "Indeed. I can hardly wait."

The helmeted one took this tone as a cue to pick up the pace, so he boosted the ship's speed.

———

Jaco asked, "Where exactly is Moro going then? You got any ideas? Because I don't. There are no planets in that direction."

Goku turned to the window as something occurred to him. "No, wait... I've been that way before! When I went to see Dende!"

Vegeta's head whipped round real fast. "What?! So you mean he's headed towards the planet the Namekians moved to?!"

"Wait a minute!" Jaco interrupted. "I thought their whole race got wiped out when their planet blew up!"

"No, we managed to save 'em all," Goku replied. "But for their own safety, nobody's supposed to know where they are."

Merus said, "Moro has most likely regained enough of his power to scan for nearby planets with life. And if they're still alive, then Moro's goal must be-"