Raditz's Choice

"Bardock?"

After hearing Raditz, Vegeta and Nappa remembered, too. Raditz's father, Bardock, was quite famous among the Saiyans. Though he was a Low-Class Warrior, his battle power exceeded ten thousand, earning him the admiration of many Saiyans.

Even Vegeta, as he was now, had no grounds to look down on Bardock, a Low-Class Warrior. He still wasn't strong enough to surpass Bardock by a wide margin!

"Uh, I'd love to accept you as my son, but I'm really not your father!"

Turles was at a loss for words. What was Raditz looking at? Though Bardock, Son Goku, and Turles all had the same face, there were still plenty of differences. At the very least, Turles didn't have any scars on his face.

After hearing Turles, the three examined him carefully and realized that he really wasn't Bardock. The age didn't match—the man before them was far too young. Once they noticed, Vegeta and Nappa turned and glared at the "blind" Raditz. Nappa even cracked his knuckles, a nasty grin on his face.

Seeing Nappa's malicious smile, Raditz was terrified. He held the lowest rank in the group. Though he had once been called an Elite Warrior, his strength hadn't grown as much as Vegeta's over the years, so Nappa often bullied him.

"Enough, Nappa. Whatever you have to say can wait. First, let's find out what this 'Bardock' wants!" Vegeta interrupted him. His voice grew heavier when he said Bardock's name, showing that he was displeased, too.

"Heh!"

Turles didn't respond to the displeasure in Vegeta's words. He simply looked at the frightened Raditz and said with a smile, "Raditz, since you called me Dad, I'll give you a choice. How about joining me?"

"Are you looking to die?"

Vegeta flew into a rage when Turles not only ignored him but tried to poach one of his men right in front of him. He cursed and immediately attacked!

That was human nature. You might not care about something you already had—in fact, you might even dislike it—but the moment someone else tried to take it, you couldn't stand it.

Turles stood where he was, as if he hadn't reacted. He kept smiling at Raditz, watching the shock on his face and Nappa's gleeful expression.

Only when Vegeta's fist was about to reach his handsome face did Turles raise his right hand in a flash. He moved after Vegeta, yet struck first, catching the attack.

The force of the blow swept across Turles's cheek, blowing his hair back. As he looked at the fist right before his eyes, unable to advance even an inch, the corners of Turles's mouth curled up even higher.

Vegeta was shocked. As the Saiyan prince, he'd been born with a battle power of 1,250—stronger than many Low-Class Warriors—and had been hailed as a super genius among the Saiyans. Now, at twenty-four, he had lived up to that reputation, reaching a battle power of 13,000. Yet this fellow Saiyan, who was also from the younger generation, had stopped his attack with ease, and Vegeta couldn't even break free. That meant the man before him was stronger than he was. Vegeta couldn't accept it!

"So, what do you think? Joining me can't be worse than following this prince, can it?" Turles still paid Vegeta no mind. Holding Vegeta's fist tightly in his right hand, he smiled and repeated the question to Raditz.

Raditz was afraid. He didn't know why this man wanted him to join him, but looking at that face, which resembled his father's, and seeing that he was even stronger than Vegeta, Raditz couldn't help hesitating.

Nappa saw Raditz's reaction and flew into a rage. He was about to teach the traitor a lesson, but then remembered that even Vegeta couldn't beat this man. He had no chance at all, so he quickly wiped the anger from his face and stood off to the side like he wasn't there.

Seeing their reactions, Vegeta grew even angrier. He'd been ignored again and again, and at last he couldn't take it anymore. With a roar, he raised his power and finally wrenched himself free of Turles's iron grip!

While airborne, Vegeta unleashed Prince Tactics, sending countless Ki Blasts flying toward Turles. Soon, they completely swallowed him in a cloud of smoke!

After stopping his attack, Vegeta began panting heavily, his eyes fixed on the thick smoke on the ground.

"What are you looking at? Are you looking for me?"

Suddenly, a voice sounded behind Vegeta. His pupils contracted at once, but before he could react, a heavy blow struck his neck. His eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness.

Turles looked at Vegeta sprawled on the ground and suddenly felt disappointed. Vegeta was still too weak. He wasn't even strong enough to make Turles take him seriously.

Landing in front of Raditz, Turles glanced at Nappa, who was pretending to be dead. The smile had disappeared from his face. He spoke coldly, "I won't say this a third time. Raditz, what's your choice?"

Raditz looked at Turles's cold expression, then turned to look at the unconscious Vegeta and Nappa beside him. He gritted his teeth and finally stepped behind Turles.

Now that Raditz had made his choice, Turles had nothing more to say. He'd only made the offer on a whim and didn't care much about Raditz's answer.

"Nappa!" Turles called out.

"Yes, sir! What can I do for you?" Hearing Turles call him, Nappa hurried over without delay. He bent his broad upper body as low as he could and wore an ingratiating smile.

Turles's mouth twitched at the sight of the burly, brutish man making such an expression, but he still gave his orders. "Keep an eye on Vegeta. When he wakes up, tell him I'll be on this planet for two days. He's welcome to challenge me during that time!"

With that, Turles rose into the sky and flew off in the direction he'd come from.

Seeing Turles fly away, Raditz took one last look at Nappa, then hurried after him.

Watching the two fly off, Nappa's face showed a hint of envy. He really did envy Raditz's good fortune. If he could, he'd like to join this fellow Saiyan, too.

The Saiyans were a power-hungry race. As long as you could make them submit through strength, they didn't mind becoming your followers. Of course, if you became useless, you'd better watch out for their betrayal. Turles had clearly already won over this fierce brute.

Saiyans had sturdy bodies. It wasn't long before Vegeta woke up.

When he came to, Vegeta didn't notice that Raditz had left. Like a lion that had been roused to fury, he glared around him with bloodshot eyes, searching for the fellow Saiyan who'd humiliated him.

Seeing Vegeta in a rage, Nappa figured he didn't really need to tell him anything. Vegeta would probably go looking for Turles anyway. But for reasons of his own, Nappa still repeated Turles's message to him. That only made Vegeta angrier, and his expression grew even uglier!

Then Vegeta suddenly noticed that Raditz was missing and immediately asked Nappa about him. Nappa naturally embellished the story, especially emphasizing that Raditz had betrayed them.

After hearing Nappa out, Vegeta didn't go looking for Turles as Nappa had expected. Instead, his expression shifted as he thought it over, making Nappa uneasy.

"Nappa, I remember Raditz once had a younger brother whom his father sent to a remote planet, right?" Vegeta suddenly asked him something else.

"I think so?" Nappa didn't understand at first. But when he saw Vegeta's dark expression, he jolted and answered confidently, "Right. Raditz mentioned him before. I think his name was Kakarot. Raditz said his brother looked exactly like Bardock when he was a child, so..." Nappa suddenly caught on and asked uncertainly, "Vegeta, are you saying that man was Kakarot?"

"That's right!" Vegeta nodded, his expression growing even darker.

"But didn't Raditz say Kakarot had a battle power of just two when he was born? How could that weakling among Low-Class Warriors be so strong?" Nappa didn't believe it.

Vegeta was a little displeased to hear Nappa call Kakarot strong, but he still retorted, "Bardock was a Low-Class Warrior, too. Does that mean Bardock was weak?"

"Fair enough!" Nappa was persuaded. Then he cautiously glanced at Vegeta and asked, "Vegeta, are you still going after that Kakarot?"

Hearing Nappa bring the subject back around, Vegeta's recovering mood immediately crumbled. He glared at Nappa for bringing it up again and said unwillingly, "Wait for now. We'll look into his background. The most important thing is to find out his exact battle power!"

With that, he switched on the Scouter and began scanning in the direction where the Kakarot Nappa had mentioned had gone.

"Beep, beep, beep!"

The numbers flickered. At last, a figure appeared on the screen that left them both stunned.

"22,590!" Nappa couldn't help shouting.

Even Vegeta fell silent.

Turles had no idea that Vegeta had already mistaken him for Raditz's younger brother, Kakarot. He stared in dismay at Raditz, who had gone from being his "son" to his "older brother."

"How on earth do your eyes work, huh?" Turles had tried to hold it in, but in the end, he still questioned Raditz.

"But you look just like Dad, and you're around the right age, too! You may be stronger than me now, but I'm still your older brother. Before Mom and Dad sent you away, they even asked me to look after you!"

Though Turles had frightened him a little, Raditz weakly stuck to his claim.

"Who's whose dad? Kakarot is still on Earth, and my name is Turles!"

Turles looked at Raditz, who still didn't believe him, and at Paragus, who was laughing uncontrollably beside him. He was a little depressed. If he'd known this would happen, he wouldn't have brought this goofball back.

"What a mess!" Turles raised his head and sighed!