Escape

With his tail severed, Turles immediately reverted to his normal human form, his Battle Power plummeting.

Raditz gave Yajirobe a thumbs-up, not sparing any praise. Without him, things might have gotten much worse. Yajirobe, however, scrambled away, acting as if it had nothing to do with him, putting as much distance between himself and the situation as possible.

"He left with his mission accomplished, hiding all fame and glory." Now that was a legendary, awesome figure.

But Yajirobe was thinking: Who knew if Turles had any more tricks up his sleeve? He didn't want to take any chances.

In reality, Turles was at his wit's end, completely out of options. Although Raditz, Goku, and Vegeta facing him had expended a lot of energy, when the eerie red light flared, their Battle Power would surge. He knew that would be his end.

Just then, Kakarot crawled out of the ground, finally able to breathe fresh air. Tien Shinhan had blasted him into the earth but failed to kill him, merely shattering his propulsion unit, preventing him from accelerating his flight and stripping him of some of his power.

Kakarot, having finally managed to climb out, was undiscovered. Seeing Lord Turles surrounded, his first thought was whether he should flee. Since everyone else had failed, why not save himself? As a bounty hunter roaming the universe, he knew the importance of self-preservation.

Without almost any hesitation, he took off, ready to leave. Abruptly, he looked up and saw a plane flying towards the Sacred Tree.

On the plane were an old man and a pig, with a beautiful woman beside them. The one flying the plane was a young, blue-haired girl. Kakarot's eyes darted, and a sinister smile spread across his face.

He figured these people must have some connection to those Earthlings to have found this place so precisely.

So Kakarot leaped up, landed above the plane, and pressed a hand down on it, riding it as it approached the encirclement.

"Get out of the way! Or you'll be picking up corpses! Lord Turles, I'm coming!"

His shout startled everyone else. Turles, who was surrounded, saw hope rekindle in his eyes. Kakarot was actually coming to save him!

Kakarot, holding the plane hostage, was thinking about the seeds of the Sacred Fruit. Only Turles had the seeds. If he fled alone, he probably wouldn't have such a good method to increase his strength in the future, which was why he decided to risk saving Turles.

With hostages in hand, he feared nothing.

"What's wrong?" Bulma suddenly felt the controls becoming unstable, something pressing down from above.

Master Roshi sensed a powerful Ki on the plane and made a landing gesture. "We seem to have gotten too close and been hijacked."

"Ah? What do we do! What do we do?!" Oolong yelled in terror, his face pale. "I told you I didn't want to come! We're dead for sure!"

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

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

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

Bulma prepared to land but found the plane was no longer under her control, completely seized by Kakarot, who was heading straight for Turles. She had originally wanted to see the outcome of the battle, but unexpectedly, the Earth's environment rapidly deteriorated, and reports kept coming in, making her uneasy. So, using the location signal left by the Scouter, she picked up Master Roshi, Oolong, and Launch from Kame House Island, and they all headed to the battlefield to investigate.

Who would have thought they would become captives?

The plane slowly stopped, skimming the ground. Hearing Bulma and Oolong inside the plane repeatedly shouting for Goku, Goku, Kakarot and Turles laughed triumphantly. Wasn't Goku Kakarot? These people indeed knew Kakarot and the others, which made things much easier.

Turles panted heavily, pressing a hand against the cockpit.

"Hmph, Turles, do you think holding a few Earthlings hostage will stop me from killing you?" Vegeta extended his hand, aiming at Turles, an Energy Blast rapidly forming before his palm.

"Wait, Vegeta!" Raditz quickly moved forward, grabbing Vegeta's wrist. "There are our people on the plane."

"I don't care!"

"I'm going to save them. If you want to deal with Turles, wait a while longer." Raditz's tone was also firm. The two locked eyes, sparks flying.

"Hmph!"

Vegeta shook off Raditz's hand and turned his back.

"That's how it is, Raditz. Now let us leave, and you're not allowed to chase us!"

"Impossible. What if you kill them? Don't push me too hard, consider the consequences!" Raditz thought he had to be firm, otherwise Turles might make even more outrageous demands.

"Then only you can come along. No one else is allowed to move!" Turles dug his fingers into the aircraft's frame, lifting the plane slowly into the air. "Otherwise, we all die together!"

"Fine."

Raditz made a "don't worry" gesture to the others and followed alone.

After a fierce battle, Turles still failed. The bitter ending filled him with a touch of anger, but looking at the ravaged Earth being absorbed by the Sacred Tree from the sky, he suddenly smiled.

So what if he lost? He still made them pay a price, an irreparable one!

I still won, Turles thought.

The three, along with the plane, reached the landing spot of the spaceship. It was a massive ship, its doors wide open as if welcoming someone's return.

"We've arrived. Hand them over," Raditz said, extending his hand for the people.

"Don't rush. Let me get on the ship first."

"No!"

Kakarot made a move as if to unleash an energy blast, looking provocatively at Raditz.

"Don't be impulsive, Kakarot," Turles stopped him in time. With a wave of his hand, he tore off half of the frame and tossed it aside. "The old man, the pig, and that beautiful woman, get out."

Upon hearing this, everyone scrambled down. Turles reached out and pushed Bulma back, blocking her. "Not you. You stay in the plane."

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

Bulma quickly covered her vital areas, exclaiming in alarm, "No! Even though I'm beautiful, I still..."

"Be quiet, or I'll kill you!" Turles withdrew his hand, threateningly.

Master Roshi and the others ran behind Raditz, hiding, leaving only Raditz confronting the two.

"Kakao, you keep holding onto the plane and ascend. Once the ship is powered up, you can let go. If Raditz doesn't want her dead, he'll save her and won't intercept us."

As Turles spoke, he retreated to the entrance of the spaceship, aiming one hand at Bulma while his eyes darted between Raditz.

Kakao continued to float upward, holding the plane. He only dared to let go after the spaceship had started.

The tense standoff ended with a violent tremor. The tail of the spaceship successfully ignited, and Kakao released his grip! In an instant, he shot into the spaceship.

This was the opportunity Raditz had been waiting for. His Kaio-ken's speed boost was much faster than the ship! He exploded forward, swiftly catching Bulma and tossing her to Master Roshi, while he continued upward, pursuing the spaceship.

What happened next was unexpected. The large spaceship exploded with a roar, smoke and fire blocking Raditz's path. At the same time, a single-person ship burst out from within and shot out of the atmosphere!

Kakao's shattered body was flung in all directions by the explosion, appearing incredibly grotesque amidst the flames.

Raditz hadn't expected Turles to kill Kakao!

Turles had known from the start that the large spaceship's slow acceleration would be caught up to, and he never intended to bring Kakao along. In the end, Kakao had merely become a sacrifice to obstruct Raditz.

"Hahahahahaha..."

The rampant laughter echoed within the single-person ship.