I Am Raditz

Raditz held the Dragon Ball in his hand, his spirits soaring.

They had finally collected all seven Dragon Balls—now there was genuine hope for saving Earth. The proud Saiyan laughed out loud, his face beaming with joy.

Suddenly, his celebration was interrupted by the arrival of several well-equipped warriors flying in from the sky. All wore battle armor, immediately identifying them as Frieza's subordinates. Judging by their energy signatures alone, none of their power levels exceeded a few thousand.

Though numerous, they were nothing but cannon fodder. Obviously, they had come searching for the Dragon Ball on Frieza's behalf, swaggering in with arrogant confidence as if they had no rivals.

"That's... that's Raditz?" One of them recognized him and shouted.

"Look! He's holding a Dragon Ball—that's what triggered our readings!"

"Are the Saiyans on this mission too? Hey, let's take that Dragon Ball—the credit will be ours! When Lord Zarbon gets his reward, we'll share in the spoils!"

"Let's go—together!"

One soldier sneered, "Hey, Raditz, want to join forces? I don't even need to use my full strength. Watch this!" After speaking, he charged forward with a battle cry.

"Go to hell!"

Raditz looked at them coldly, feigning concern. As the warrior rushed toward him, he waved his hand dismissively. He didn't even bother using an energy blast—his raw power formed an impenetrable barrier that blocked the attack like an iron wall before he counterattacked. The soldier was instantly sent flying backward, crashing into a rock formation. His bones shattered, his battle armor fragmented into pieces—his death was instantaneous.

"He killed Danyi!" The others gasped, shocked by Raditz's display of power.

Among them, the warrior named Danyi had been above average in strength, with a power level of 2,500—yet Raditz had dispatched him in an instant. Checking Raditz's power level on their scouters, everyone was dumbfounded.

The space soldiers exchanged terrified glances, trembling with panic. The roles of hunter and prey had reversed in an instant, transforming them from predators to potential victims!

Unanimously, they all chose to flee!

But escape was impossible. With a single burst of speed, Raditz overtook the lead runner in a heartbeat. He spun around to face the fleeing soldier and, without a word, delivered a punch that crushed the man's skull.

Bright red blood sprayed outward like a blossoming flower, vivid and grotesque.

The remaining soldiers immediately halted their retreat, facing Raditz with terror etched on their faces.

"Raditz... We've never crossed paths before! The credit is all yours—we won't contest it! I promise not to tell Lord Zarbon!"

"Zarbon? You think you can still contact him?" Raditz sneered. "He's already gone to the afterlife to wait for you."

"What?"

The soldiers were stunned. As mere subordinates, they weren't privy to high-level communications and knew nothing of Zarbon's death. But Raditz's icy expression and even icier tone suggested he wasn't bluffing at all. They frantically checked their communication devices, receiving no response—something was definitely wrong.

"You killed Lord Zarbon? Lord Frieza will punish you!"

"Really? You don't understand Frieza at all. If I'm stronger than Zarbon, Frieza would simply have me take Zarbon's place and continue to exploit my value—he'd never waste resources on punishment. Regardless, your death is certain!"

The soldiers grew more confused. They had assumed this was merely a competition between two forces vying for the same prize—they never imagined the Saiyans would betray Lord Frieza! For Raditz to speak so boldly was unthinkable!

Most terrifying of all was the realization that they were currently facing Raditz alone—a dead end.

While they stood paralyzed with indecision, Raditz raised his hand. A yellow energy wave erupted forth, sweeping across the area. The terrified expressions on the soldiers' faces were frozen in place as the wave of energy reduced them all to ash.

Smoke filled the air, forming gray clouds above the battlefield.

"Clap... clap... clap... clap!"

Suddenly, applause echoed from the distance.

Raditz followed the sound and saw a tall figure in simple clothing walking slowly toward him. The man wore just two pieces of cloth wrapped around his body, secured by a belt. His powerful muscles visibly rippled with each movement, betraying his considerable strength. His face bore some resemblance to Zarbon's—handsome, but with two sharp horns protruding from his head, giving him a more mischievous appearance.

This was Angila, one of Lord Slug's subordinates.

Raditz smiled wryly. Why were even Slug's people here? Did everyone have Dragon Ball radar now? He shook his head, realizing things had become more complicated. While he wasn't concerned about this particular opponent, Lord Slug himself was a different matter—a genuine threat at the overlord level.

"Very impressive. You dispatched those weaklings with such ease. Besides myself, I've never seen anyone do that," Angila praised, his expression one of smug confidence.

Unable to sense energy signatures and lacking a scouter, he simply assumed that since both he and Raditz could easily eliminate Frieza's soldiers, they must be of similar strength.

Raditz couldn't help but feel exasperated at being so severely underestimated.

"I'm quite interested in that Dragon Ball you're holding. Lord Slug has ordered me to bring it to him. Hand it over now, and I'll let you live." Angila extended his hand, a slight smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

He had been tracking Frieza's forces in their search for the Dragon Ball, never expecting to actually find it. The barely contained joy in his heart was evident on his face for anyone to see.

"Is Slug here himself?"

"How could Lord Slug possibly come to a place like this in person? He has far more important matters to attend to. This minor task is well within my capabilities."

"That's good news." Raditz formulated a plan, landing on the ground and beckoning to Angila. "If you want it so badly, come take it yourself!"

"Interesting!" Angila snorted, rotating his neck and wrists with audible cracks.

Seeing Angila begin to unfasten his wristbands, Raditz waved dismissively. "I said... don't bother removing those."

"Oh? Are you frightened? Don't worry—you'll experience true despair soon enough!" Angila smiled triumphantly as he grabbed his wristbands and let them drop. "BOOM!"

A thunderous noise erupted as they struck the ground, sending dust and debris billowing upward.

The weight of the wristbands was impressive, causing Raditz to raise an eyebrow slightly in surprise that they could create such an impact. However, it was only "slightly" surprising.

Angila misinterpreted his expression as fear and laughed loudly. "Now you understand my terrifying strength! My home planet's gravity is ten times that of this barren world! That's why I usually wear these weighted accessories—I've lived my entire life under such gravitational conditions. And..." His tone suddenly shifted to one of mysterious pride, "I've recently been training at twenty times gravity! Hahahahaha!"

Twenty times...

Raditz was momentarily speechless.

Was twenty times gravity supposed to be impressive?

"Hurry up, I don't have all day," Raditz waved his hand impatiently.

What was this? Was Angila actually looking down on him? He was becoming genuinely irritated now!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Support me at [email protected]/goldengaruda and check out more than 60 chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~