Intimidation

Time flew by, and before long, a week had passed since Roland arrived on Planet Mapa.

During that time, Roland had made no contact with the outside world. Instead, he had focused single-mindedly on increasing his strength.

His hard training had paid off handsomely. Though he still hadn't grasped the nature of ki, he could vaguely feel that he had changed significantly. He couldn't put his finger on exactly how; it was just a feeling.

He had planned to steal a spaceship from the Mapa People within the next few days, but during one training session, he experienced firsthand the inconvenience of the Saiyan tail weakness. The moment he squeezed his tail tightly, a wave of weakness swept over him, and he could barely stay on his feet.

"A Saiyan's tail is a liability in battle!"

Roland sighed. He had no choice but to spend more time training his tail.

On Planet Vegeta, all adult Saiyans—and those with some experience—deliberately trained their tails to overcome their weakness. The original Roland had been too young, and there had been no one around to teach him, so he had never realized this.

But it wasn't too late to figure it out now.

In the days that followed, Roland focused on training his tail. It was an extremely painful process. Every time he touched it, the resulting weakness made him feel as if he might pass out. It was even more grueling than training his body.

He would rather do high-intensity weighted training.

About a month after arriving on Planet Mapa, Roland still hadn't eliminated the side effects of his tail, but he had managed to overcome the dizziness that came from having it grabbed. By then, his battle power had reached 350. It was only 40 points higher than before, but on Planet Mapa, that was already enough to make him a formidable fighter.

The most dangerous things on Planet Mapa were its ferocious beasts. The strongest came close to 500 in battle power. By comparison, the Mapa People were much weaker as individuals. They had survived on Planet Mapa thanks to their advanced technology.

As long as he targeted a city somewhere on the outskirts, Roland didn't think anyone would be able to stop him.

With that in mind, Roland decided to head for a Mapa city.

Time to go rob them!

After tidying up the shelter where he had lived for over a month, Roland laughed and shot into the air. He flew along the mountain range, with hills and lakes racing past beneath him. Soon, he reached a city of around a hundred thousand people, enclosed by high walls.

Moss covered the surface of the towering walls, and some sections had begun to crack, showing that they had stood for quite some time.

A series of black gun barrels had been mounted on the towers above the walls to defend against beast attacks.

Though the beasts on Planet Mapa possessed tremendous energy, they had little intelligence and couldn't use attacks like energy blasts. So, apart from the flying beasts, the enormous cannons here were enough to hold them off.

"This city's defenses are pretty strong, but they can't stop me."

With a light laugh, Roland flew right into the city.

Rows of buildings crisscrossed beneath him, arranged in geometric patterns. The streets were bustling with people. The Mapa People were short, barely over a meter tall, and had white skin. When they spotted a figure suddenly streaking across the sky, they all stopped to stare, then scattered in panic.

They mistook Roland for a rare beast.

The bustling streets quickly fell quiet as everyone took cover behind sturdy shelters.

"They're real cowards, but that works out perfectly." With a laugh, Roland flew to the city's largest plaza. It was a landing site for spaceships, and several transport ships that traveled between cities were docked there.

Crash! Roland's appearance quickly caught the attention of the soldiers on guard. They immediately raised their weapons and pointed their black barrels at him.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Everyone, be alert!"

"Woooooo..." A loud wail rang out around the plaza, and before long, urgent alarms began blaring as well. Soldiers stationed around the landing site converged on Roland and shouted at him, trying to scare him off.

Roland picked his ear with a finger, then blew on it. He hadn't understood a word the Mapa People had said.

After a light cough, Roland tapped the Scouter by his ear, activating its voice-synchronization function. His childish voice echoed across the plaza:

"Find me a spaceship capable of interstellar travel, now. Otherwise, don't blame me for what happens next."

No response?

Roland sneered and raised a hand, forming a ball of energy.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Over a hundred beams of bright energy shot out. Countless rays rained down from the sky, striking the Mapa People's weapons. Flames burst up, and the weapons were smashed to pieces, reduced to heaps of scrap in an instant.

Looking at the debris scattered across the ground and the thick black smoke, Roland nodded in satisfaction.

But he soon realized that his show of force hadn't worked. The Mapa People below hadn't retreated—instead, they'd grown even more aggressive. Row after row of soldiers were being brought in from afar, a dense mass of them arriving with all kinds of weapons, seemingly ready to fight back.

Roland raised an eyebrow, displeased.

They really didn't know what was good for them. From Roland's perspective, he was a Saiyan who had come to wipe out this planet. He was only taking one spaceship out of kindness, which was already incredibly generous. If he were some other Saiyan, they wouldn't have been so lucky.

"So you want to fight back!"

Looks like I'll have to show them even greater power.

Roland snorted and prepared to unleash something big.

He raised a clenched fist as he began gathering energy. As it continued to build, the air around his fist began to warp. A humming sound followed, and dazzling light blazed around him. A massive amount of energy gathered around his fist, shining like the sun.

"Hah!"

"Watch this!" he growled, thrusting his arm forward with all his strength.

A blue-glowing energy sphere shot from his hand. In an instant, it roared like a ferocious tiger, flying over five thousand meters at tremendous speed before crashing into the towering mountain outside the city.

Then, under the bewildered gazes of the Mapa People, an astonishing sight unfolded.

Whoosh... BOOM!

Vast waves of air surged and churned like the end of the world. A deafening roar echoed in every direction, and a blinding flash rose into the clear blue sky.

The full-force attack of someone with a battle power of 350 was astonishingly powerful. At the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, Piccolo had been able to destroy an entire island with ease. Roland was far stronger than he had been.

Rumble!

The earth shook, and a gigantic mushroom cloud, visible to the naked eye, shot into the sky with terrifying energy. One devastating shock wave after another swept across the area as gale-force winds ravaged the entire city. When the storm finally began to subside, the Mapa People stared in horror at the towering mountain outside the city, which had been completely flattened.

In an instant, every Mapa Person in the city turned deathly pale and cowered on the ground in terror.

The tremendous shock of that nuclear-bomb-like explosion was overwhelming. Roland's attack had terrified the Mapa People.