I Am Raditz

Turles flew backward for hundreds of meters, leaving a human-shaped imprint on the mountain.

"I couldn't defeat him..." Nappa panted rapidly, his face pale as he wobbled weakly, looking as though he might collapse at any moment.

Raditz stood protectively in front of him, his own condition far from ideal. He spoke between labored breaths: "You did well."

"It's always strange hearing praise from you."

In the past, Raditz had commended Nappa with the air of a superior, but now their roles seemed reversed.

"Next time we're sparring, I'll let you try one more technique on me."

"Deal." With a dull thud, Nappa collapsed to the ground as if, having fulfilled his duty, he could finally rest.

Behind them, Goku and Vegeta landed slowly with Gohan in tow. Krillin and Tumat, who had just arrived, had followed the Dragon Radar's signal to their location.

Krillin had originally taken Tumat to search the ocean, but finding no trace of the Dragon Ball, he'd returned to the canyon to retrieve the radar before setting off again. He discovered several Dragon Balls moving at high speed and pursued them, but Turles kept changing positions after acquiring them, which explained Krillin's delayed arrival.

"Krillin, give Tien a Senzu Bean. He's nearly gone."

"Okay... sure."

Krillin had just arrived and didn't understand what had happened, assuming everyone was simply exhausted...

Tien, however, was at death's door. Excessive use of the Tri-Beam was extremely dangerous—firing twelve in rapid succession while sustaining only a single breath had been nearly fatal.

Everyone surveyed their surroundings, noticing the towering Tree of Might rising once more from Namek's surface. The fruits had begun to mature, and the planet's ecology had been completely devastated.

Lava erupted everywhere as the continent split into small islands. Tsunamis, storms, and other natural disasters occurred simultaneously. The sky had turned gray, with lightning and thunder mixed with brilliant sparks creating a scene like a prairie fire.

Turles appeared beneath a lightning flash, half his body illuminated, half in shadow.

"They're not dead... Frieza is such a waste! But they look severely weakened. If I eat a few more fruits..." Turles muttered to himself, his face grim.

His plan had been flawless. He had calculated the battles between all parties, believing he had abundant time. He only needed to find the last Dragon Ball to wish for immortality! Yet somehow Raditz and the others had survived!

Unwilling to abandon his previous efforts, his spaceship still contained all the Dragon Balls he'd worked so hard to collect! Wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, Turles gazed longingly at the fruit hanging from the tree.

The ripe fruit possessed an alluring color and luster, tempting anyone to pluck it. While Raditz and the others were talking, Turles rushed to the treetop, grabbed several fruits, and devoured them ravenously, fearing intervention.

To his surprise, Raditz and the others simply watched him fly away without attempting to stop him.

Were they completely drained? Turles seemed to have forgotten the pain of Raditz's earlier strike, lost in fantasy as he gorged himself on the Tree of Might's fruit.

"Turles, had enough? Come down!" Raditz called out calmly.

Finally trying to stop me? Too late! Come down? I'll make you die! The arrogant Turles clutched the last ripe fruit as he landed confidently, surveying the exhausted group with excitement.

"Your sneak attack enraged me. For the sake of our past acquaintance, I'll give you some advice—prepare to die!"

SPLAT!

A stream of blood erupted as Turles's body flew backward, his chest bones shattered.

Raditz had driven his elbow into Turles, slamming him into the mountain wall several meters deep.

Blood splattered across Raditz's face and body, making his already scarred appearance even more terrifying.

"You..."

Turles stared at Raditz in disbelief. Despite his obvious exhaustion and labored breathing, how could he still possess such power?

He didn't understand that even a weakened tiger is stronger than the mightiest house cat...

With another gush of blood, Turles felt his lungs collapsing. Just one blow had brought him to death's door.

The fruit! The Tree of Might's fruit!

Turles's first instinct was to eat more—surely consuming enough of the spiritual fruit would make him stronger! He still clutched one tightly, quickly stuffing it into his mouth.

The blood in his mouth stained the fruit an even more vibrant crimson. He gnawed off a piece with trembling teeth, his throat bubbling with blood as it soaked the flesh. His face turned a sickly blue-white as he finally swallowed.

Turles's face contorted in an exaggerated expression of pleasure, as if he'd found salvation.

Without a word, Raditz delivered a final punch, leaving Turles's face frozen in a strange expression—both psychedelic and manic.

It's over for him.

Turles's obsessive, tragic belief that the Tree of Might's fruit was his only path to power had instead exposed his inner weakness and ignorance.

His schemes had been meticulous, yet in the end, he was defeated by overwhelming power—dying a pitiful, insignificant death. Vegeta responded with nothing more than a contemptuous sneer.

Raditz gave the corpse one final look before flying down and urgently announcing: "Piccolo will be coming after us soon. The whistle only stopped him temporarily, and the shockwave he fired into the ground has already destroyed the planet's core. Namek will explode soon—we need to leave immediately."

Remembering the violent Piccolo they'd encountered earlier, everyone felt an inexplicable chill. His power had been terrifying—if Raditz hadn't instinctively whistled, they'd all be dead!

Even so, the unstoppable Piccolo had unleashed energy in every direction. His explosive shockwave had pierced the sky and earth, striking directly at the planet's core!

Disaster had arrived. Planet Namek, already ravaged by the Tree of Might, now faced an even greater crisis of destruction. A dying star and an exploding Death Star weren't so different...

Krillin looked confused, quickly asking, "Piccolo? What happened to him?"

"No time to explain. I need to activate the spaceship..." Raditz reached to extract a capsule from his pocket, only to find nothing. His face turned ashen.

The capsules were gone!

The capsule box he'd given to Krillin contained basic supplies and daily tools, but he'd kept the spaceship capsule himself.

During the intense battle, clothing had proven unreliable, so Raditz had deliberately placed the capsule in his trouser pocket. Unfortunately, half the fabric had been torn away—including the crucial capsule!

They say pants never fail you, but that's not absolute! Next time, he'd need to store it in his underwear—surely the safest, most secure location.

"What about Slug's spaceship?"

"It was pierced through during the battle," Tien replied, having regained his strength and approached Raditz.

"Wait, then we're..."

"The Dragon Balls! We still have the Dragon Balls!" Krillin shouted suddenly.

Tien, carrying Gohan and Nappa on his shoulders, echoed enthusiastically, "Yes! We can make a wish with the Dragon Balls!"