Escape

The moment his tail was severed, Turles immediately reverted to his normal humanoid form, and his Battle Power rapidly dropped.

Raditz gave Yajirobe a thumbs-up and praised him generously. Without him this time, things might have ended badly. Meanwhile, Yajirobe hurriedly slipped away, acting as if none of this had anything to do with him and running as far away as possible.

"Gone when the deed was done, hiding both merit and name." This was what a true badass looked like.

But what Yajirobe was thinking was: Who knows if Turles has another trick up his sleeve? I don't want to take that risk.

In truth, Turles had already reached the end of the road and had no options left. Though Raditz, Goku, and Vegeta had expended considerable stamina, he knew that once that strange red glow appeared, their Battle Power would surge—and that would be the end of him.

At that moment, Kakao crawled out of the ground and finally breathed fresh air. Tien Shinhan had blasted him into the earth but failed to kill him, only shattering his jet port, leaving him unable to accelerate in flight and costing him part of his strength.

Kakao had barely managed to crawl out without being noticed. Seeing Lord Turles surrounded, his first thought was whether he should flee. Since everyone had failed, why not save themselves separately? As a bounty hunter who roamed the universe, he understood the importance of self-preservation.

Without much hesitation, he turned to leave. Then he suddenly looked up and saw an aircraft flying toward the Sacred Tree.

There was an old man and a pig aboard, along with a beautiful woman. The pilot was also a young blue-haired girl. Kakao's eyes shifted, and a savage grin appeared on his face.

He figured that since these people had found this place so precisely, they were probably connected to those Earthlings.

Kakao leaped into the air and landed atop the aircraft, pressing one hand against it as he rode it toward the encirclement.

"Move aside! Otherwise, prepare to collect their corpses! Lord Turles, I'm coming!"

The shout startled everyone else. Hope sprang up in the eyes of the surrounded Turles. Kakao had actually come to save him!

Yet what Kakao truly wanted was the seeds of the Sacred Fruit. Only Turles possessed those seeds. If he fled alone, he might never again find such an excellent way to increase his strength, so he had decided to risk saving Turles.

With hostages in hand, he feared nothing.

"What's going on?" Bulma suddenly felt the controls becoming unstable. Something was pressing down from above.

Master Roshi sensed a powerful Ki on the aircraft and gestured for them to land. "We seem to have gotten too close. We've been hijacked."

"Huh? What do we do?! What do we do?!" Oolong screamed, his face pale. "I told you I didn't want to come! We're dead now!"

"Shut up! Weren't you the one who wanted to see if there were any beautiful alien women?"

"You lecherous old man, wasn't that you?"

"Everyone, be quiet! We can only count on Goku and the others now."

Bulma prepared to land, only to discover that the aircraft was no longer under her control. Kakao had completely taken over, and it flew straight toward Turles. She had originally come to see the outcome of the battle, but Earth's environment had suddenly deteriorated at a rapid pace, with report after report pouring in and leaving her deeply uneasy. So, using the location signal left by the Scouter, she picked up Master Roshi, Oolong, and Launch from Kame House Island, and they headed to the battlefield together to see what was happening.

Who could have expected them to become prisoners instead?

The aircraft slowly came to a stop, skimming the ground. Hearing Bulma and Oolong constantly shouting "Goku" from inside, Kakao and Turles grinned smugly. Wasn't Goku Kakarot? These people really did know Kakarot and the others. That made things much easier.

Turles breathed heavily and placed one hand on the cockpit.

"Hmph, Turles, do you think I won't kill you just because you're using a few Earthlings as hostages?" Vegeta extended his hand toward Turles, and an energy blast rapidly formed in his palm.

"Wait, Vegeta!" Raditz rushed forward and grabbed Vegeta's wrist. "Our people are inside that aircraft."

"I don't care!"

"I want to save them. If you want to deal with Turles, wait a little longer." Raditz's tone was equally forceful. Their eyes met, sparks flying between them.

"Hmph!"

Vegeta shook off Raditz's hand and turned away.

"That's more like it, Raditz. Let us leave now, and don't follow!"

"Impossible. What if you kill them? Don't push me too far. Think carefully about the consequences!" Raditz thought it was better to be tougher, or Turles might make even more excessive demands.

"Then only you may follow us. No one else is allowed to move!" Turles dug his five fingers into the cabin and lifted the aircraft slowly into the air. "Otherwise, we'll all die together!"

"Fine."

Raditz gave everyone a reassuring gesture and followed alone.

After such a fierce battle, Turles had still lost. The bitter outcome made him feel a flicker of rage, but when he looked down from the sky and saw how the Sacred Tree had ravaged Earth, he suddenly laughed.

So what if he had lost? He had still made them pay a price—and one they could never make up for!

I still won, Turles thought.

The three of them, along with the aircraft, reached the landing site of the spaceship. It was an enormous vessel, its hatch wide open as though welcoming someone's return.

"We've reached the destination. Hand them over." Raditz held out his hand for the hostages.

"Don't rush. Let me board the ship first."

"No!"

Kakao made as if to launch an energy wave, staring provocatively at Raditz.

"Don't act rashly, Kakao." Turles stopped him in time. With a wave of his hand, he tore apart half the aircraft's frame and flung it aside. "The old man, the pig, and that beautiful woman, get out."

At those words, everyone hurriedly climbed down. Turles stretched out a hand and blocked Bulma. "Not you. Stay in the aircraft."

As he spoke, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he reached past Bulma.

Bulma hurriedly covered the important parts of her body and cried out, "No! I may be beautiful, but I still..."

"Quiet! Say another word and I'll kill you!" Turles withdrew his hand and threatened her.

Master Roshi and the others ran behind Raditz and hid, leaving only Raditz facing the two of them.

"Kakao, carry the aircraft higher. Once the ship launches, let go. If Raditz doesn't want her dead, he'll save her instead of stopping us."

Turles spoke as he backed away toward the ship's entrance, keeping one hand aimed at Bulma while his eyes repeatedly swept over Raditz.

Kakao carried the aircraft upward, not daring to release it until the spaceship had launched.

The tense standoff ended with a violent tremor. The ship's engines ignited successfully, and Kakao released his grip! In an instant, he darted into the spaceship.

This was exactly the opportunity Raditz had been waiting for. His Kaio-ken speed boost was far faster than the spaceship! He burst forward, swiftly caught Bulma, tossed her to Master Roshi, then continued rising in pursuit of the ship.

Then something happened that he hadn't expected. The enormous spaceship exploded with a thunderous boom, smoke and flames blocking Raditz's path. At the same time, a single-person spacecraft shot out from within and blasted through the atmosphere!

Kakao's shattered body was flung in every direction by the explosion, looking incomparably grotesque amid the flames.

Raditz had not expected Turles to kill Kakao!

Turles had known all along that the large spaceship accelerated too slowly and would be caught. From the beginning, he had never intended to take Kakao with him. In the end, Kakao had merely become a sacrifice used to hold Raditz back.

"Hahahahahaha..."