Earth.
With a dull thud, Tien's heavy elbow strike sent the Saibaman flying and slammed it into the ground.
"What the hell?" Nappa stared, stunned.
"No surprise there. That's Tien for you," Krillin said, relieved.
"Awesome!" Chiaotzu shouted, excited.
"Hoo…" Tien let out a slow breath.
"Heh. Just like I thought—this is getting more interesting," Vegeta said, the corner of his mouth curling into a faint smile.
The Saibaman gritted its teeth and pushed itself up again.
"Damn it. A Saibaman's battle power is 1,200! That should be on par with Raditz," Nappa growled.
"Maybe he's already stronger than a Saibaman," Vegeta sneered.
"How is that even possible?" Nappa was in disbelief.
After a brief struggle, the Saibaman finally stood again, glaring at Tien with vicious eyes.
"Tien, it got back up!" Chiaotzu called out.
"Pop."
Vegeta raised a finger. Invisible energy wrapped around the Saibaman.
In the blink of an eye, the creature was ripped into pieces, hacked apart by Vegeta's power.
Everyone jumped.
Krillin and Tien were dumbstruck.
Yamcha and Chiaotzu were shaking.
Gohan's lips trembled.
"Vegeta, why'd you do that?" Nappa asked, confused.
"Keeping it around would be a waste of time. It wasn't going to win," Vegeta said with a snort. "From the start it underestimated him. I told them not to underestimate their opponents."
The remaining Saibamen all shivered.
"What a vicious guy…" Merus sighed. "Ken, good thing hanging around him hasn't turned you bad."
"You should be saying 'good thing he hasn't turned good by hanging around me.' That's the depressing part," Ken said with a small smile.
Merus had no comeback for that.
He's… not wrong, actually.
"By the way, Merus, what level are you now?" Ken asked suddenly, studying him. "Or rather, how pure is your angel power at this point?"
"Me? I finally reached level 50," Merus said with a grin. Then he asked curiously, "What about you?"
Ken lowered his head.
"It's fine. You just became an angel—you should be about where I was when I was born," Merus said, trying to comfort him.
"What level were you when you were born?" Ken perked up.
"Members of the angel race are born above level 30," Merus said. "After all these years with the Galactic Patrol, I was level 40 when I met you. While you were going through your angel transformation, I improved a lot again and finally broke through to level 50."
"Not bad," Ken said, giving him a thumbs-up.
"You're too kind," Merus said, a bit shy. "So, your level?"
"I'm only level 58," Ken said calmly.
Merus's eyes went round. His whole face froze.
"Y–You're level 58?" He felt like his whole soul had just taken a hit.
How is your level climbing that fast?
"Wait a second. If you're level 58, why did you hang your head just now?" he asked, half laughing, half crying.
"I was embarrassed. I didn't want to say it and make you feel bad," Ken sighed.
Merus: "…"
That just makes it hurt more…
"Who's up next? We can't afford another loss," Nappa said, irritated, baring his teeth at the remaining Saibamen.
"I'll go," Krillin stepped forward.
"Let me. Game's about ready to end," Yamcha said, stopping him.
"Yamcha, let me—" Krillin blinked.
"Krillin, the Dragon Balls already brought you back once. If you die again, you're not coming back," Yamcha said with a relaxed smile. He walked out onto the field without hesitation, ready to fight.
"He's really fired up," Vegeta said, amused.
"Show him how strong Saibamen really are," Nappa snarled at the next Saibaman in line.
The Saibaman nodded, its expression unusually serious.
"Whoosh."
In the next instant, Yamcha and the Saibaman vanished from where they'd been standing.
"Th–They disappeared!" Gohan yelped, his face draining of color.
"Idiot. They're moving at high speed. Try sensing their ki," Piccolo said sharply. "Everyone but you can see them."
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Yamcha and the Saibaman traded blows in a fierce exchange, evenly matched for a moment.
After a few passes, the Saibaman sprang backward and leapt onto a tall rock behind it.
Yamcha flew after it.
The Saibaman dove down at him in a sudden pounce.
Yamcha grinned and flickered out of sight.
The Saibaman hit nothing but air and, panicking, began to fall.
Yamcha cupped his hands, gathering a Kamehameha. A column of energy crashed down from above, slamming into the Saibaman.
The creature screamed as it smashed into the earth, carving out a small crater.
When they looked again, smoke was curling from its body. It looked like it was done.
"Another one lost!" Nappa said, frustrated.
Vegeta only glanced over, expression unchanged.
Tap.
Yamcha dropped lightly onto the rim of the crater, looking down on the monster below.
"These things aren't nearly as strong as we thought," he said with a cocky grin. "The other four can come at once. I'll take care of them myself."
"Click."
As he finished speaking, the Saibaman's fingers twitched.
Vegeta's lips curved. "Heh. Now you're the one letting your guard down."
"What?" Yamcha froze.
"Pop!"
The Saibaman suddenly burst out of the crater and latched onto him.
Yamcha was caught completely off guard.
Krillin, Tien, and the others all felt the same terrible feeling in their gut.
The Saibaman looked up at Yamcha, its smile stretching even wider.
Yamcha's expression turned ugly.
"Boom!"
Without hesitation, the Saibaman self-destructed.
If it had to die, it was going to take someone with it.
If it failed, Vegeta would have killed it anyway.
At least this way, it could say it died with some dignity.
When the dust finally cleared, Yamcha lay at the bottom of a crater, smoke drifting off his body. There was no ki left.
"Now this is entertaining," Vegeta said. His smile only grew stronger.
Merus: "…"
"Uh… he died," Merus said quietly to Ken.
"Yeah, I see him," Ken nodded.
Just then, Bulma walked out. She glanced up at the projection and saw the scene.
"What happened to Yamcha?" Bulma froze.
"He died," Ken answered.
Bulma: "…"
"Could you at least sound a little less… dead inside when you say that?" Bulma said weakly.
"Then ask again," Ken said.
Bulma went silent for a moment and repeated, "What happened to Yamcha?"
"I don't know," Ken said, shaking his head. "Might've just croaked."
Bulma simply gave up on talking to him.
As for Yamcha's death, Ken really didn't feel anything. There wasn't much to say.
Earlier, when Broly knocked him flying, the fact he hadn't died on the spot was already pure luck.
Dying to a Saibaman now… you could argue he at least died doing what he does best.
Still, thinking over Yamcha's life, it really had been rough.
His luck in battle had always been terrible.
Ken remembered the World Martial Arts Tournaments. Yamcha would pass the preliminaries every time, only to run into some god-tier opponent in his very first main-match.
And every time, that opponent would show up acting like a nobody.
Of the three tournaments, two of the guys who beat him in round one went on to become champion.
The one who didn't… was literally the Guardian of Earth.
The first time, Yamcha ran into Master Roshi in disguise and assumed he was just some weird old man.
Roshi smacked him out of the ring with a single invisible slap.
The second time, his opponent was Tien.
Tien didn't pretend, but he still snapped Yamcha's leg.
The third time, he fought the Guardian of Earth posing as a middle-aged man and got absolutely wrecked.
And then there was the girlfriend he dated for years… only to have her stolen by Vegeta.
By any measure, Yamcha's life was a tragedy.
What he probably didn't know was that even his way of dying had been memed to death by readers—the classic "Yamcha death pose," a punchline for years.
Even in death, people were still dragging him out for a beating…
"Yamcha!" Krillin shouted, sprinting toward him.
When he reached the crater and looked, Yamcha was completely gone.
"He must've felt something bad coming, and that's why he went instead of me," Krillin thought, grief crashing over him. "Damn it… I'm not letting you get away with this!"
"A Saibaman that strong only managed a draw. Pathetic," Nappa muttered.
"Everybody get out of the way," Krillin said, voice shaking with rage. "Let's see what all my training has done!"
He raised his hands and suddenly thrust them forward.
"Boom!"
A huge blast of energy roared from his palms, racing toward Vegeta's group.
"Run, Chiaotzu! Don't let it hit you!" Tien shouted as he took off.
Chiaotzu followed him into the air.
"Big attack, but slow. Easier to dodge than tank," Piccolo said. Then he noticed Gohan had already taken off running.
Piccolo: "…"
The Saibamen scattered, panicking.
"Ha!"
Krillin suddenly jerked his Kamehameha upward.
The beam shot into the air. At a certain height, it exploded, splitting into six streams of light that rained down toward Vegeta and the others.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!"
Six blasts slammed into their targets.
Other than a single Saibaman that managed to slip away, everyone was hit.
"We got them!" Tien said, delighted.
"Huff… I still let one get away," Krillin said, panting but grinning.
"That was amazing," Gohan said, eyes shining.
But just as he finished speaking, a green figure shot out of the fading smoke, its long claws reaching straight for Gohan's head.
"Oh no! It's that thing!" Tien shouted.
The Saibaman was just about to land its blow when—
"Smack."
A big hand clamped around its arm.
Its body locked up in midair, unable to move.
The Saibaman looked up and saw another green-skinned fighter: Piccolo.
Gohan stared up at Piccolo, then at the Saibaman beside him. The fear on his face hadn't faded at all.
"Coming here just to die?" Piccolo snorted. He drove a heavy punch into the Saibaman's gut.
The creature practically coughed up its intestines.
Piccolo flicked his arm and flung the Saibaman into the air.
He opened his mouth wide. A column of purple energy blasted out, engulfing the creature completely.
In the blink of an eye, the Saibaman was nothing but bones.
As the beam faded, even the skeleton disintegrated into dust, scattering in the air.
"As expected of Piccolo… he finished it that fast," Tien said, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Thanks, Uncle Piccolo," Gohan said.
"Feel the difference now? Think they can protect you?" Piccolo said with a smile. "This is just the warm-up before the real fight."
Right then, Vegeta and Nappa walked out of the dissipating smoke.
…
Planet Sadala, royal palace.
Cabba and Lusen led Raditz into the main hall.
On the throne at the far end sat a middle-aged man.
He wore a crown and a long red cloak over his short hair, looking sharp and imposing.
This was the Saiyan king—King Sadala.
"Your Majesty!"
Cabba and Lusen bowed together.
Raditz blinked over and over beside them, feeling like he'd stepped into another lifetime.
He was stunned to find that the decorations and layout of this palace were incredibly similar to King Vegeta's back home.
Of course, there were plenty of differences, but the feel of it was almost the same.
Even the throne, with its inlaid gems and ornaments, looked nearly identical.
Raditz genuinely felt like he had time-traveled.
"Prince Vegeta, can you hear me? I've already met the king. This palace looks almost exactly like your father's," Raditz said quietly into his scouter.
"Quiet!" Cabba snapped, and punched him in the mouth.
Raditz grunted in pain, unable to speak.
Lusen wasn't gentle either. He kicked Raditz behind the knee, shoved his head down, and forced him to kneel before the king.
"Well done, Cabba," the king said. "You're still so young, yet you're already serving in the peacekeeping forces, and you handled your mission so well."
"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty," Cabba bowed.
"This is the tailed Saiyan you mentioned?" the king asked, his gaze turning sharp as he studied Raditz.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Cabba said.
"Tailed Saiyan, raise your head," the king ordered coldly.
"Peh."
Raditz spat out a mouthful of blood, then snapped his head up and glared straight at the man on the throne.
"On which planet did you live as a Saiyan?" the king asked. He stepped down from the throne and stopped in front of Raditz, voice calm.
"What, you call yourself the Saiyan king and you don't even know Planet Vegeta?" Raditz snorted.
King: "???"
The king glanced sideways at an older Saiyan with a white beard standing next to him.
The old man was essentially the Saiyan grand scholar, reputed to know everything there was to know—astronomy, geography, history, all of it.
"I've never heard of a Planet Vegeta," the elder said, shaking his head. "He made that name up."
"I made it up?" Raditz was so angry his insides hurt. "Fine, let's say I did. But you at least know Frieza-sama, right?"
The king looked at the elder again, clearly confused.
The elder only looked more lost. He had never heard the name Frieza.
"You've got to be kidding me. From the way you're looking at each other, you really don't know Frieza-sama," Raditz said, half laughing, half crying. "He's the emperor of the universe! Fine—what year is it right now?"
"Sadala Year 2023," Lusen said.
Raditz: "???"
Now he was even more confused.
What kind of year is that supposed to be?
"I must have jumped through time. I slipped into the past by accident," Raditz said quickly. "I really am one of your descendants. You can't treat me like this."
The king also looked puzzled. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on anymore.
"Your Majesty, he was saying stuff like that before," Cabba said. "I think I might've hit his head too hard."
"Lock him up for now," the king ordered.
"Your Majesty, that device over his eye can be used as a communicator," Cabba added.
"Send it to the tech department," the king said. "See if they can track down whoever he's working with."
…
Earth.
As Vegeta and Nappa walked out of the smoke, their bodies completely unscathed, Krillin, Gohan, and the others all froze in terror.
"Just like you wanted, the game's almost over," Vegeta said with a small smile.
"Time to get serious," Nappa said, a cold grin on his face.
"What's going on? They're not hurt at all," Tien muttered, wiping away sweat.
"I used everything I had in that blast… So this is a Saiyan?" Krillin shivered.
"Kakarot's probably already in hiding," Nappa said with a mocking little laugh. "He must know that no matter how hard he trains, he can't surpass me—let alone a genius warrior like Prince Vegeta. I bet Ken's too embarrassed to show up too. After saying so much, now he's getting slapped by reality. Hilarious."
But just as Nappa finished talking, a figure streaked in from far away.
In a heartbeat, Broly appeared on the battlefield.
…
Mr. Satan's house.
"Huh? Where'd Broly go?" Satan rubbed his eyes. The kid who'd been eating just a second ago was gone. "What happened?"
"Maybe he had to pee," Buu said with a big, goofy grin.
"I saw him just suddenly disappear," Satan said, scratching his head.
"I can do that too," Buu said, smiling even brighter.
…
Bulma's home.
When Merus saw Broly appear on the battlefield in an instant, he looked like he was about to die of jealousy.
Why didn't I find a God of Destruction that good?
That guy Broly… does he have some kind of super hearing?
You're supposed to be far from the fight.
And you still heard them?
"With God of Destruction-level power, even if you're thousands of kilometers away, it's easy to pick up their conversation," Ken said, smiling.
Merus knew that perfectly well. His envy was written all over his face.
But when he remembered that Kale was also a Legendary Super Saiyan, that mix of envy and jealousy slowly faded.
Fine. I'll just make my own female Broly.
He knew Broly's growth path like the back of his hand.
When the time came, he'd arrange for Kale to "disappear" as well. She'd definitely break her limits and unleash all her potential.
Merus was very confident in his choice.
…
On the battlefield.
The moment Broly popped into view, Nappa froze, then his expression twisted into pure terror.
Vegeta's face went through several shades as well.
"B–Broly… what are you doing here?" Nappa stammered. "Didn't you say you weren't going to fight?"
"I'm not," Broly said, his face dark. "But you badmouthed Ken."
"I…" Nappa scrambled for an excuse. "I didn't! I only said he was too embarrassed to show up. That's not that bad, right?"
"Don't think I didn't hear you," Broly snorted. "You say the wrong thing, you get punished."
He started walking toward Nappa one heavy step at a time.
Nappa kept backing up.
Vegeta didn't dare say a word.
He knew full well that compared to this Legendary Super Saiyan, he was on a completely different level.
This was a Legendary Super Saiyan.
One appears only once every thousand years.
Sure, he was a genius warrior—but in front of a Legendary Super Saiyan…
Krillin and the others felt like their luck had turned in an instant.
At the critical moment, Broly really was reliable.
Broly studied Nappa silently for a while, clearly thinking something over. Then he made a smooth turn…
…and stuck his butt out.
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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