Chapter 23: Cooperation
The next day, Turles arrived alone at the Mercenary Arena.
At the entrance, Belus stood smiling, watching Turles approach with elegant composure.
"Mr. Turles, welcome to the Mercenary Arena. Please, this way!" Belus bowed slightly with a welcoming gesture.
"Mr. Belus, a pleasure to see you again. After you!" Seeing Belus's courtesy, Turles responded with equal politeness.
The two exchanged pleasantries at the arena entrance. Noticing they were attracting attention, Belus finally led Turles inside.
Arriving at a reception room, they exchanged a few more courtesies before settling into their respective seats—host and guest.
Turles sampled the prepared refreshments while watching the intense competition through the floor-to-ceiling windows with interest, not speaking first.
After a considerable silence, seeing Turles had absolutely no intention of initiating conversation, Belus had no choice but to break the stillness. "Mr. Turles, regarding yesterday's incident, the Mercenary Union sincerely apologizes. To express our regret, please accept this gift."
Belus slid a black metal card across to Turles.
Picking up the metal card, Turles examined it carefully. Though he couldn't identify the specific material, it resembled something like Earth's credit cards.
Seeing Turles's confusion, Belus helpfully explained: "This is a Black Gold Card issued by the Galactic Commerce Guild. It contains one million credits. You can use it across all planets under Galactic Commerce Guild, Galactic Mercenary Union, and Galactic Patrol jurisdiction. That includes the North Galaxy, naturally."
Listening to the introduction, Turles's expression grew subtly amused. He regarded Belus with a half-smile. "Does Universal Emperor Frieza also recognize the Mercenary Union's authority?"
"Heh, you jest. Lord Frieza maintains close business relations with the Commerce Guild. Naturally, he extends some courtesy to the Mercenary Union." Belus showed no reaction to Turles's complete disregard for Frieza's imperial dignity.
Turles nodded. "Makes sense. Frieza's primary business is selling planets. Without suitable buyers, why would he bother with such thankless work? And among the wealthy elite who can afford planets, the Commerce Guild is indispensable."
His tone shifted. "However, for a mere misunderstanding, this seems rather excessive compensation, wouldn't you say?"
Belus didn't argue. Instead, he changed topics: "Mr. Turles, what do you think of the Mercenary Arena?"
"Hm?" Turles paused, then quickly caught on. "Not bad. Looks quite lively."
Belus didn't respond, simply watching Turles.
Seeing this, Turles also fell silent. The reception room grew quiet.
After a long moment, Turles spoke: "Mr. Belus, I can roughly guess your purpose in seeking me out. If you agree to three conditions, I'll consider your proposal."
"Please, go ahead."
"First, I need an unclaimed living planet. Location must be within Galactic Center territory. The planet's history must be clean—no disputes or complications."
"Second, the Mercenary Union must unconditionally assist me in locating my scattered people throughout Galactic Center until I leave the Union."
"Third, I have the right to selectively accept Mercenary Union missions. No mandatory assignments."
"Just these three conditions. Take your time considering."
After hearing Turles's demands, Belus frowned slightly. Given Turles's demonstrated 50,000 battle power, these conditions weren't particularly harsh. But agreeing immediately would make the Mercenary Union look too easily pushed around.
"I can agree to those three conditions. However, you must fight one match annually at the Obsidian Mercenary Arena. We'll select your opponent—naturally, their strength won't exceed yours by too much."
Now it was Turles's turn to frown. After pretending to consider, he spoke with slight reluctance: "Fighting once a year isn't unreasonable. But I definitely won't be staying on Obsidian constantly. If travel time becomes excessive, I won't accomplish anything else."
"You needn't worry about that. The Mercenary Union possesses hyperspace vessels—ten times faster than standard spacecraft. From Galactic Center to the North Galaxy's furthest edge takes only one month. If you reside on the planet the Union selects for you, travel might require only half a day."
"That fast?" Turles was genuinely shocked. He hadn't expected the Mercenary Union to possess such technology. If true as Belus claimed, these ships rivaled Whis's universal travel speed.
With such a vessel, several plans he'd been considering suddenly became viable. Even reaching Earth wouldn't require excessive time. And once on Earth, he could use the Dragon Balls for wishes—whether for Instant Transmission or other desires.
"Whew!" Releasing a long breath, Turles calmed his somewhat excited emotions before asking Belus: "If I wanted to use this hyperspace ship, what would be required?"
Belus hadn't expected Turles to show interest in the hyperspace vessel. After a moment's surprise, he considered carefully before deciding to do Turles a favor: "If you want to use it immediately, I can authorize the application right now. However, you should ideally complete this year's arena match first. That way, when I submit the request to my superiors, I'll have proper justification."
Turles looked deeply at Belus before speaking slowly: "Acceptable. You can arrange it immediately. Opponents with 50,000 to 60,000 battle power are fine. Apply to your superiors as quickly as possible. I need a prompt response."
"Absolutely. I'll arrange it at once!" Belus stood excitedly, bowing once more to Turles before leaving the reception room.
Watching Belus's departing figure, Turles remained seated, falling into contemplation.
The past two days' events had completely disrupted his plans.
Due to Frieza's threat, he'd initially fled the North Galaxy for Galactic Center. Originally, he'd intended to pursue Dragon Balls only after establishing basic security—ensuring he could maneuver even if encountering Frieza.
Unexpectedly, he'd not only met exiled Namekian descendants but also established good relations with Deru. This would enormously help future Dragon Ball pursuits on Namek.
Plus, joining the Mercenary Union had revealed hyperspace ship access, allowing him to reach Earth or Namek with minimal travel time. His concerns were eliminated. Indeed, coming directly to Galactic Center had been the right choice.
Regarding joining the Mercenary Union, Turles wasn't particularly concerned. The Union was essentially a loose organization maintained by recruiting various powerful individuals across the universe. Besides core members, restrictions on ordinary mercenaries weren't severe. Joining would barely affect him.
Besides, he'd already wanted to fight different strong opponents to improve himself. Belus's conditions perfectly aligned with his desires.
Though plans had shifted unexpectedly, this benefited Turles overall. Having reasoned through everything, he felt refreshed. Standing, he stretched, then walked to the floor-to-ceiling window to continue watching the arena battles.
Currently fighting were two aliens with battle power under 10,000. One was the mantis-armed warrior who'd fought Deru yesterday.
The mantis warrior wielded both blade-arms like twin sabers, constantly restricting his opponent's space. Occasionally, energy slashes flew out, leaving cracks across the arena floor.
Facing the mantis warrior's razor-sharp limbs and energy blades, his opponent quickly found himself in an impossible position, finally conceding defeat.
Watching this, Turles fell into thought, stroking his chin while considering how he'd handle such an opponent.
Actually, contestants capable of arena combat all possessed significant battle power—minimum 5,000—plus unique trump cards, whether special racial abilities or unusual techniques.
Even Turles could potentially suffer if caught off-guard by such moves. Like Captain Ginyu in the original timeline—without prior knowledge of his body-swap ability, who could defend against it under carelessness? So despite Turles's strength, he watched with genuine interest.
"Seems like you find this quite engaging!"
Suddenly, Belus's voice rang out. Hearing it, Turles turned around.
Seeing Belus's smile, Turles's instincts stirred. He smiled back: "Looks like Mr. Belus has brought good news!"
"Hahaha! Mr. Turles truly is perceptive!" Belus offered a compliment before continuing: "Indeed! Headquarters has approved the application. A hyperspace vessel has an available window in one month. It will dock directly at Obsidian. You can use it then."
"Also, we've matched your opponent. The match is scheduled in three days. Battle power approximately 55,000."
Turles felt secretly excited but showed nothing externally, simply nodding.
After chatting with Belus a while longer, Turles left the Mercenary Arena. However, his wrist now bore a watch—the arena's points tracker. Victories would accumulate points usable across all Mercenary Union planets, convertible with Commerce Guild currency. Belus's parting gift.
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