It looked like an unexpected sneak attack.
The dust kicked up by the explosion from the energy clash still carried waves of heat and flames.
An ordinary person wouldn't have come out of it unscathed. But for someone who had reached a certain level of strength, it was nothing worth mentioning.
Lin Chuan stood at the center of the explosion, unable to stop himself from coughing.
To borrow one of Raditz's famous lines: useless attacks could do no more than stir up some dust.
Once the explosion's shockwaves had completely subsided, the smoke and dust drifted away with the wind.
Under Piccolo and Son Goku's watchful gaze, their last hope was extinguished.
Not only had they failed, they hadn't even managed to harm a hair on their opponent's head.
Lin Chuan had caught the Special Beam Cannon with one hand and then crushed it. That alone showed just how great the gap in their strength was.
Even Raditz, who had already been injured, had managed to protect himself from the explosion.
"We... lost... Damn it...!" Son Goku panted, then collapsed onto the ground, his limbs spread out in a starfish shape.
He had given it everything he had.
His final all-or-nothing attack had drained all his strength, and now he couldn't even stand.
He wanted to fight on and refused to admit defeat, but the truth was cruel.
Piccolo was in much the same state as Son Goku.
He had already reached his limit, and that last attack had used up everything he had.
Now, with the situation as it was, he felt as if he had fallen into an abyss.
Their plan had failed.
"Who would've thought that I, King Piccolo, would one day become a frog at the bottom of a well... How... ridiculous..."
"...Earth... is doomed!!!"
Having the courage to face death was a breakthrough in their State of Mind, and it was actually a good thing for both Piccolo and Son Goku.
Before Lin Chuan could say or do anything, Raditz got excited that he had blocked their finishing move and began to gloat.
The overwhelming advantage had clearly gone to his head again.
"Heh heh heh~~! Kakarot, my foolish little brother, I told you that your end was coming."
"You didn't have to die. All you had to do was join us, and you'd have become a member of the Frieza Force!"
"Now you've thrown away that wonderful opportunity and brought disaster upon Earth."
As he spoke, Raditz moved closer to Son Goku.
His arrogant bearing made it seem as if Death itself were knocking at the door.
Son Goku was too weak to answer. Piccolo could do nothing. Son Gohan kept crying.
Raditz really is the classic bully who picks on the weak. That wishy-washy personality of his is what gets him killed.
Thinking back to the scenes in the Original Work, the guy had come up with plenty of lines to show off, but that same personality was what had cost him his life.
Seeing Raditz about to torment Son Goku, Lin Chuan wasn't going to just stand by.
If Raditz actually tried to kill Son Goku, Lin Chuan would stop him in an instant.
As for Piccolo and Son Goku's sneak attack, he hadn't taken it to heart at all.
Honestly, when you didn't know how strong your enemy was, attacking in that split second had been a sensible move.
Seize the opportunity and strike for the kill!
Too bad the gap in strength had been too great, and Lin Chuan had been confident enough not to fear them.
To put it simply, why would an adult care if two children standing nearby slapped him?
Only someone like Raditz would hold a grudge over something like that.
Besides, Lin Chuan had told Piccolo to attack him. He wanted to see how powerful the Special Beam Cannon was.
"What's wrong? Don't you even have the strength to stand up? You're pathetic!"
"If you're too stupid to understand what's good for you, then die! I'll take your son and train him properly in your place."
Standing before Son Goku, Raditz struck such an overbearing pose that it seemed he wanted to make sure everyone knew he had beaten his own little brother.
The weak could only find a sense of importance at times like this.
Against the strong, someone like Raditz was utterly insignificant.
"D-don't... Gohan... run!!!" With his son threatened again, Son Goku somehow found a burst of strength.
It was as if he were rallying in his final moments.
The sight startled Raditz once more.
Having been caught off guard several times already, he backed away more than ten meters the moment Son Goku flared up.
He had been wary from the beginning, afraid of getting caught off guard again.
"You really are useless! He's in that state and you still let him scare you! You've got 1,500 Combat Power, and you'd be better off giving it to a dog, Raditz!" With that, Lin Chuan had insulted Raditz as badly as he possibly could.
The truth was, Son Goku probably had less than a hundred Combat Power left. Even after that burst of strength, how much could he have managed?
Raditz was injured too, but he could still bring more than a thousand Combat Power to bear.
Getting scared by someone whose Combat Power had already hit rock bottom was just pathetic.
Honestly, Raditz was hopelessly weak.
He had an overwhelming advantage and had started with a perfect hand, yet he'd still managed to make a complete mess of things and get killed by Son Goku and Piccolo working together.
Hearing Lin Chuan's words, Raditz had no idea what he really meant. He thought Lin Chuan was looking down on him, and the insult left him seething.
Lin Chuan's Combat Power really was as high as 5,000, but they were all working for King Frieza.
Raditz might be one rank below him, but the three Saiyans were still one of the most capable teams under Frieza.
"Though I don't know who you are or which team you belong to..."
"But we're both soldiers in the Frieza Force. There's no need to mock each other, is there?"
"We see each other all the time. Maybe you'll find yourself in the same situation one day..."
As he spoke, Raditz suddenly stopped, as if something had happened to make him fall silent.
A moment later, his expression shifted, and he continued, "Now that we've met here on Earth, it must be fate. We both work for King Frieza, so I assume you came here to scout out whether Earth is worth invading, right?"
"You're on your own, and your Combat Power is as high as 5,000! Why not work with us?"
"Forget Earth. Our Saiyan squad discovered a planet of tremendous value a while ago. I came to Earth to ask this useless little brother of mine for help, so we'd have more hands and could finish the invasion faster."
"With you on board, I'm sure we could take care of it quickly! Then we can split the rewards and credit evenly!"
After Raditz had finished his long speech, Lin Chuan was briefly taken aback by his sudden change of heart.
After all, he'd been insulting Raditz without the slightest restraint. He wasn't worried about Raditz fighting back; he was worried Raditz wouldn't.
Otherwise, he'd have no excuse to attack him.
And yet, somehow, Raditz had suddenly changed his tune and said all this to him.
Not only was he acting like a completely different person, even the look in his eyes had changed.
Lin Chuan was baffled.
But then he noticed a faint red light flashing on Raditz's Scouter and realized someone behind him was sending him a message.
It probably wasn't Nappa. In the Original Work, that musclehead wasn't stupid, but his intelligence certainly wasn't anything to write home about. He definitely wouldn't have coached Raditz to say something like that.
So if it wasn't Nappa, it had to be Vegeta.
Who would've thought they were keeping such a close eye on what was happening here, even from the other side of the stars?
Before you continue