Crisis

Propelled by the Kamehameha, the spaceship came back to life, like a trapped dragon ascending to the heavens, free of all restraint after breaking its shackles.

Raditz suddenly felt the ground's pull on them gradually weakening, as though it had been frightened witless by the Kamehameha and no longer dared make another move.

"Let's go."

"Wait! Look over there!" Goku pointed toward the hole blasted into the ground, his expression grim.

Raditz followed his finger and froze for a moment as well.

The dark-gold surface collapsed inward, rapidly tracing out a strange pattern. It looked like a forest painted in black ink, and dozens of long Mechanical Arms shot out from within! A faint glow flickered over them as the armor plating covering their elongated limbs opened section by section, revealing gun barrels!

Bullets spread outward in a torrential barrage, attacking from every direction without a single blind spot. At the same time, the long mechanical arms kept extending, trying to wrap around the spaceship.

"It changed its strategy." Raditz was alarmed. He rapidly launched energy blasts to shield the spaceship, darting along the edges of the mechanical arms. As long as he severed them, he could stop the shooting. "Goku, blow up the main body directly!"

Explosions rang out in the air. Raditz had already destroyed several mechanical arms, and metal claws reached into the sky before falling limply back down.

But even more mechanical claws rushed at the spaceship from the ground at blinding speed. They were larger and thicker, with sharper, heavier armor. Every joint was lined with pointed spikes, attacking madly like blood-drinking beasts grinding their teeth.

"Damn it!"

"Here they come!" Goku dodged a frontal claw strike and watched what seemed like an endless stream of Mechanical Arms burst from the black holes beneath him.

Surrounded by countless machines, the two could not break free. In terms of strength, these things were weak and could not withstand even a single move from them. But in numbers and sheer nuisance, the machines undeniably held the advantage.

Amid the chaotic battle, a large number of mechanical claws wrapped around the spaceship and began violently dragging it toward the planet.

Goku's countless combat experiences told him that the enemy's target was not them, but the spaceship.

At that moment, Vegeta also leaped out of the main cabin, forging ahead as if cutting through thorns. His Ki blasted apart a huge swath of mechanical claws.

"Raditz, Kakarot, what the hell are you two dawdling for?!"

"Vegeta, be careful."

"Hmph, I don't need you telling me what to do." As Vegeta spoke, he unleashed a fierce barrage of Kikoho. Explosions rose and fell in deafening succession.

The black holes suddenly seemed afraid of losing and stopped sending out mechanical arms. The remaining arms swayed in the air like densely packed trees in a forest.

Although they had suppressed the attack, the spaceship remained bound and was slowly being dragged toward the ground.

The crisis was not over.

The pattern on Metal Planet's surface expanded once again. The slender mechanical arms fell outward, clearing the space in the center. A massive black object surged out amid the dark-gold gleam, and the solid metal ground split open with a crash, carving several enormous trenches.

A giant figure towered between heaven and earth, its body continuing to rise. Its shape was not much different from a human's. At first, it had only a metallic skeleton and main framework, complete with a skull, shoulder blades, spine, arms... everything. Gradually, all the surrounding metallic elements gathered toward it, filling in its internal veins, blood vessels, and muscles, even imitating hair on its outer surface!

Only its upper body could move, while its lower half was deeply embedded in the black hole. Even so, it was unimaginably tall, as if it could touch the sky just by raising a hand.

"What the hell is this thing?! It's huge..." Goku said in shock.

"Who cares what it is? Just beat it!" Vegeta did not bother with such questions. He charged forward and unleashed a wild bombardment, Kikoho blasting out like mad. Brilliant spheres of light rained down upon the giant, and debris from the explosions filled the sky.

Vegeta's attack truly worked. He had spent the longest time training in the Gravity Chamber, and his Battle Power had long surpassed one hundred thousand. Now, any casual energy blast of his could send his former self flying.

The energy gathered in his hands held an overwhelming advantage, knocking the giant body to the ground. The mechanical arms trapping the spaceship also snapped one after another under the meteor-shower-like barrage, collapsing limply.

Raditz returned to the spaceship and prepared to restart the Super-Jet System while consulting the operating manual.

"Beep beep beep beep..."

Just as Raditz followed the procedure, a string of warning data appeared on the screen. Four lines of glaring red text filled the main display.

Raditz froze when he saw the words.

"What is it?" Piccolo hurriedly asked.

"The power supply is temporarily unavailable. We'll be forced to land..."

Raditz pointed at the text on the screen, his voice growing weaker. Although they had escaped pursuit, the spaceship's power system could no longer continue operating after running at full load for so long. It had to rest, or an explosion might occur.

"So that means we have no choice but to land on this planet?" Krillin's face was filled with terror. He had seen all those horrifying scenes just now. "Ah... Is there any other way?"

Tien Shinhan broke out in sweat as well, holding onto the transparent protective barrier. "Are we going to die?"

"Not necessarily. We still don't know what this planet is really like. It's too early to draw conclusions."

"But a metal planet has no food or water. We'll die sooner or later." Krillin swallowed hard.

Raditz shook his head and prepared for a forced landing. He carefully pulled up the data from earlier. "The earlier scan found that this planet's atmosphere is suitable for us to survive in, and the planet itself shows traces of water and soil, though only in very small amounts. In other words, while metal covers most of the surface, there is still at least a small patch of land where we can live." At the end, he looked at Krillin. "Besides, who said we're staying long-term? We only need five hours before we can take off again."

As they spoke, Vegeta was sent flying backward, streaking past the spaceship!

Raditz was shocked. He pressed the landing button and immediately flew out, with Piccolo charging out right after him.

"This..."

What they saw was a Metal Warrior even larger than the giant from before. Its pure gold pupils moved within their sockets, a ghostly gleam reflected from its jet-black body, and its armor was covered in jagged spikes. Dark liquid flowed slowly through metal pipes.

After Vegeta, Goku was also sent flying backward, only to be caught from behind by Raditz.

The force was so great that even Raditz was pushed back a long distance before stabilizing himself.

"Be careful. It can absorb our energy. Kikoho is useless against it!" Goku said between breaths, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.

At that moment, Vegeta returned as well, his fury blazing. His fists were clenched tight, and his surging Ki was filled with killing intent.