In an unknown galaxy, incomprehensibly far from the Solar System.
On a gray-black planet teeming with life, two men dressed in Frieza Force Battle Armor were devouring the creatures that lived there.
Of course, they'd roasted them over a fire first.
There was no doubt about it: they were Vegeta and Nappa.
They hadn't cared in the slightest that Raditz had gone to Earth to look for his younger brother, Kakarot.
After all, he'd been born a Low-Class Warrior with a Combat Power of only 2.
Even if he'd survived and grown up, how strong could he possibly be?
He couldn't even help clean up the battlefield, as far as they were concerned.
After all, even someone like Raditz was nothing but a piece of trash in Vegeta's eyes.
Having him around made no difference. Neither would getting rid of him.
If there weren't only a handful of Saiyans left, Vegeta would have abandoned him long ago.
Now that Raditz had reached Earth, Vegeta still wouldn't have bothered paying attention if he and Nappa hadn't already taken this planet.
The developments at first had certainly caught him by surprise. It turned out that people on Earth had a way to control their Combat Power.
But when he learned that Raditz had nearly been killed several times, his temper flared.
As far as he was concerned, he'd spent all these years raising a useless glutton.
Raditz was actually weaker than Kakarot, who'd been born with a Combat Power of only 2 and now had a Combat Power of less than a thousand!
Useless at everything, but first in line for a meal.
Still, Raditz had brought him some particularly interesting news: someone else had gone to Earth.
He didn't know who it was, but the fact that their Combat Power was as high as 5,000 meant that Earth had attracted the attention of the Frieza Force.
A planet that remote was practically worthless. No one would bother investigating a world that couldn't fetch much money.
"Vegeta, are you really fine with letting that kid Raditz pass on the message? That planet's worth at least as much as a hundred large, mineral-rich worlds teeming with life." Nappa swallowed the food he'd been chewing, then spoke.
People said that those with simple minds had strong bodies, but Nappa wasn't as stupid as he was portrayed in the Original Work.
He had a brain; he was just single-minded.
"Doesn't matter! I want to see how the other guy reacts. He's in the same force as us, yet he dared to talk that way even after learning Raditz was my subordinate. Who's the captain leading him? I'm quite curious." A cold gleam entered Vegeta's eyes. Then he continued, "No matter how useless Raditz is, he's still my subordinate! No one gets to bully him."
He had his reasons. He was doing this for a purpose.
As far as he was concerned, if the other man could be of use to him, all the better!
If he refused to cooperate, Vegeta could decide what to do after learning the details.
Though he'd always been stuck in the upper-middle ranks of the Frieza Force, never even counted among its top fighters, Vegeta had a Combat Power of 18,000 and feared no one but Frieza and the Ginyu Force. Even facing Dodoria and Zarbon, he'd always maintained his pride!
It took a beating on Planet Namek, like the one he'd suffered in the Original Work, for someone as arrogant as him to finally wake up.
Earth.
Looking at Raditz before him, Lin Chuan's expression shifted unpredictably.
If they'd tried recruiting one of the Frieza Force's scouts, that offer would probably have been accepted.
After all, who'd turn down an achievement handed to them on a platter?
What a shame!
Whether it was Vegeta's idea or Raditz's plan, they'd picked the wrong person.
Lin Chuan wasn't interested in this sort of thing at all.
Looking at Raditz, Lin Chuan's initial feeling that he was a total loser gradually gave way to a trace of pity.
To be honest, Raditz really was pitiable.
He'd never achieved anything worth boasting about in his life, and in the end, he'd died a gruesome death on Earth at the hands of his own younger brother.
Was he evil? He certainly was pretty evil.
To make Son Goku obey him, he'd told him to prove his loyalty by killing a hundred Earthlings.
He'd even kidnapped his own nephew to use as leverage.
But was that really evil?
Not really!
Most likely, Raditz had simply wanted to show off his strength and force his younger brother, Son Goku, to listen to him.
From the moment he'd arrived on Earth until he and Son Goku died together, the only person he'd killed was the farmer who'd attacked him with a gun...
In other words, Raditz had died a pretty unjust death.
He'd been the first boss to appear in the early days of the great cosmic saga, ushering in a new era only to disappear from the story almost immediately.
If there were just one word to describe Raditz's life, it would be "tragic."
In the beginning, he'd followed the king's orders and stayed by Vegeta's side. But after Planet Vegeta was destroyed, he'd become a lowly laborer.
Then, after finally managing to make himself matter a little, he'd been dragged into dying alongside his younger brother just like that.
Sure, he'd brought it on himself. But who could say for certain it wasn't a plot-driven death?
If Raditz had truly been beyond redemption, he wouldn't have asked Son Goku to kill a hundred Earthlings to prove his loyalty. He'd have wiped out the whole planet.
Raditz had been strong enough to do it.
Simply put, Raditz still had some humanity in him.
Just look at Nappa's mindless brutality, torturing and killing people at the slightest provocation.
And Vegeta's cold-blooded cruelty, not even sparing Nappa, his most loyal companion.
By comparison, when Raditz came to Earth, he neither caused widespread destruction nor immediately attacked Goku once he found him. He tried to persuade him first.
Even after Goku refused, he'd only resorted to threats and tempting offers. If it had been Nappa or Vegeta, would they have given him so many chances to choose?
And that wasn't even the most tragic part.
Even as he lay dying, Raditz had believed his loyalty would earn him a trip from Vegeta to Earth, where he'd use the Dragon Balls to summon Shenron and bring him back to life.
His life had been miserable, living had been miserable, and dying had been even worse.
The saddest thing was that he didn't even know how tragic his life was...
At first, Lin Chuan had wanted to kill Raditz to earn a place among the Z Fighters. Now, he felt a little compassion for him.
Lin Chuan was moved.
He was a real person, and this was a real world.
It wasn't a game, and he wasn't following a plot... His thoughts could change with his experiences.
As he watched Raditz talk terms with him, still so full of himself, Lin Chuan genuinely wanted to tell him that no matter how obedient he was, Vegeta and Nappa didn't even care about him.
Lin Chuan took a deep breath, his gaze sharpening as he began to speak:
"First! I wasn't just mocking you. I look down on you from the bottom of my heart! You seem like you have a brain, but you're actually pretty stupid."
"Second, as a fellow Saiyan, you've got a Combat Power of 1,500, but this is all you can do with it? You're so weak that all you can do is bully your own younger brother for fun. To me, that's the most pathetic thing of all."
"We Saiyans should grow braver and stronger with every battle, but in front of your younger brother, you acted so timid and afraid, even downright cowardly!"
"Finally, you've been sold out and you're still helping the seller count the money! What an idiot! Those words you just said—you were taught them by Vegeta, who's far away on another planet, weren't you? Don't you think this could get you killed?"
"This is Earth, separated from them by an endless stretch of stars. If I decide to kill you on a whim, who could save you?"
When he finished, Lin Chuan wore a mocking expression.
He'd suddenly changed his mind. He wanted to reach out and help Raditz.
Of course, Raditz had to be willing to take his hand and climb out of the abyss.
Since Vegeta was using him to test and recruit Lin Chuan, Lin Chuan would change Raditz around a little and have him face Vegeta a year from now.
Raditz versus Vegeta. What a fun fight that would be.
He didn't expect Raditz to beat Vegeta. But after Lin Chuan trained him, Raditz should have no trouble beating Nappa.
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