Stop

Nappa wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and glared viciously at Goku, breathing heavily.

He could not believe any of this. How could a low-class warrior contend with, or even surpass, a warrior of noble birth like him?! There had to be some mistake! It had to be a mistake!

"Impossible! Kakarot, I can defeat you!" Nappa screamed madly. Then, the sound vanished from his open mouth as a ghastly white beam shot out!

The sudden energy wave was incredibly fast, startling Goku the instant it fired.

But Goku reacted quickly, counterattacking almost on instinct. He unleashed a Kamehameha at the critical moment, and its pale blue radiance instantly overwhelmed the white beam, swallowing Nappa's hill-like body.

"Whew... that was close. He could fire blasts from his mouth too, just like Piccolo." Goku wiped away his sweat and could not help complaining.

Piccolo's ear twitched as he turned sideways. "Hmph. Boring."

As the light faded, Nappa was left wearing nothing but an ultra-heavy pair of briefs. Covered in wounds, he stood frozen in midair with his eyes wide. His mind was completely blank, and he had no idea what to do.

He had lost. Completely and utterly. The pride of a descendant of Saiyan nobility had been crushed again and again, and his rage had long since been spent. Yet... it had done absolutely no good.

He stared blankly at Goku, and unexpectedly felt the fear of facing death.

"Nappa, you're no match for him. Come back!"

At that critical moment, Vegeta gave the order. He truly could not bear to watch any longer and had no choice but to call Nappa back. With Goku's strength, he might very well kill Nappa outright.

For a brief instant just now, he had seen Goku's Battle Power rise directly from 5,000 to 10,000. No matter how much Nappa pushed himself, his Battle Power could only reach around 6,000 at most. The gap between him and Goku was simply too great. The fact that Nappa was still alive was already the result of Goku deliberately holding back. Vegeta had to step in personally and put an end to this farce.

Upon receiving Vegeta's command, Nappa obediently landed at once and stopped fighting. In truth, he had already lost the will to battle and did not dare continue fighting Goku.

But then his eyes fell upon Gohan and the others, and a sly thought surfaced in his heart. If he could not beat Goku, could he not beat Goku's son?

Nappa secretly glanced at Goku. Seeing that Goku was not paying attention to him, he sneered and charged at Gohan!

His certain-to-hit punch, filled with strength and fury, came crashing down.

Thud!

He came fast, but flew back even faster. Nappa was sent tumbling away and crashed down at Vegeta's feet.

A closer look revealed that one of Nappa's arms had bent completely out of shape, more than half ruined. Drool streamed from his mouth, and his expression was hideous. Thinking back to just now, he had clearly been about to hit Gohan, yet that Namekian had ambushed him and crippled his arm with a single kick!

He had humiliated himself again.

Vegeta could no longer endure it. He grabbed Nappa by the wrist, lifted him up, and hurled him into the air. "You useless trash!"

"No, Vegeta! Please, no!"

No matter how foolish Nappa was, he knew what Vegeta intended to do. He hurriedly begged at the top of his lungs, using the last of his strength to cry out.

Even his hysterical screams could not change Vegeta's mind. At this point, Vegeta still believed in primitive principles: anyone useless to him would be eliminated. Nappa was now nothing but dead weight, with no reason to keep him alive.

A spherical ball of light flickered into existence beside him, like a glowing little sun. The stones around it crumbled into dust before being devoured by the energy. That Battle Power moved everyone present; no one dared underestimate it.

Suddenly, a blazing ray shot upward from the light sphere, like a dragon ascending to the heavens.

"Such powerful Ki!"

"This Saiyan is far stronger than that big brute!" Piccolo shielded his eyes from the blinding light and gritted his teeth lightly.

From the corner of his eye, he saw a figure charge straight toward that blazing energy. The utterly fearless posture shocked him. It was Raditz!

"Don't go around killing people at the drop of a hat!"

As Raditz roared, he hurled an energy blast he had been charging for some time. The blue sphere spun through the air and struck Vegeta's energy wave dead-on, knocking it several meters aside before it flew into the endless blue sky.

At the same time, Goku flew over, caught Nappa, and then walked back toward his companions.

"Why?"

"Why did you save me, Kakarot?"

Nappa had already fallen into despair when faced with death, but he had never expected Raditz and Kakarot to rush forward and save him. Countless emotions surged through him, along with an indescribable feeling in his heart.

"We're all Saiyans." Goku answered simply, dragging him farther away and setting him down on the ground.

The others also moved aside in silent understanding, clearing a place for Raditz and Vegeta to fight their decisive battle.

Among them, Raditz was the strongest, but Nappa did not know that yet. He said to Goku, "Raditz is courting death. If you join forces with the Namekian, you might have a chance. You have no idea how terrifying Vegeta is..."

"No, you have no idea how terrifying Raditz is." Before Nappa could finish, Piccolo cut him off.

Goku nodded as well. "I've fought my brother many times, but I've never won even once. I believe he can defeat Vegeta."

"Haha, there was even one time when all of us got beaten up by him alone. What a frustrating memory. A past too embarrassing to look back on..." Krillin added.

As he listened to them, waves of shock washed over Nappa's heart until he was completely stunned.

"You... just what are you..."

The wind swept his voice away, carrying it between Vegeta and Raditz.

Unlike Nappa, Vegeta had recognized Raditz's unusual nature from the start. Though he could not believe how much someone could improve in one year on Earth, Goku's performance just now had already delivered Nappa a resounding slap in the face. He could no longer afford to be careless.

"Raditz, what exactly have you done? Your Battle Power should only be 1,500, and those Earthlings should never have Battle Power exceeding 2,000!"

"The answer to your question is the key to defeating Frieza." Raditz deliberately kept him in suspense. "Want to hear it?"

"Hmph!" Vegeta snorted coldly and said nothing.

"One word means yes, two words mean no. It's up to you. I'm guessing you don't want to spend your entire life as Frieza's underling, do you?"

"I'll beat it out of you until you tell me, Raditz. You've made me very angry." Vegeta approached Raditz step by step, flames of fury flickering in his eyes as though they would burn everyone to ashes. His Ki surged sharply, making the earth tremble!

"I am the prince of the Saiyans. Perhaps you have forgotten that. Let me remind you again today!"

Before his words had even faded, Vegeta vanished. He suddenly appeared beside Raditz, his fist already buried in Raditz's stomach. The Battle Suit was as fragile as paper, shattering into scraps.

Raditz's eyes widened as his abdomen caved in sharply. Violent pain spread throughout his body.

A mouthful of blood slowly trickled out...