Error in Evolution

The dull echo of metal was like a somber symphonic movement, sending wave after wave reverberating through their ears.

Hearing Raditz's words, the native Tumartians all lowered their heads. Raditz knew he had guessed correctly.

"And then?"

"Then we gathered over a hundred of the finest scientists, ancient linguists, historians, and archaeologists to decipher the secrets of ancient technology. At last, we discovered the reason Planet Tumart had prospered in its golden age."

"The Metal Planet?" Raditz pressed.

"No! That was a mistake. We don't know why, either." The old man shook his head wildly. "We replicated the original records exactly, without a single error. In the end, what we created was an intelligent technological chip called 'Bundless.' This chip could serve as the core of a planet, providing energy and evolutionary calculations. According to the records, it could absorb energy from stellar systems and even extragalactic systems. Furthermore, the technological products it created possessed eternal energy reactions! And as the core, it could offer the most rational and rapid evolutionary path, making Tumart strong!"

At that point, the old man could not continue. He looked around, and everything was left unsaid.

Clearly, they had failed. Planet Tumart must once have been a habitable world much like Earth, but now not a blade of grass grew there. It had become a "dead planet" made entirely of metal, from its core to its surface.

"The chip soon began its first evolution. On its own, it transformed part of the planet into metal, then drew vast amounts of energy from other planets to build a mechanical army. Once it had gained sufficient power, it turned us natives into slaves and began transforming the entire planet. As you can see, nearly all the land has become metal, and it is still expanding, intending to devour other planets and increase its mass."

"How long has it been?" Raditz suddenly asked.

"Hm?"

"I mean, how long has it been since that disaster?"

"More than ten years, approximately. Since our technological decline, the average Tumartian lifespan is now only fifty years."

The old man hung his head, his hair snow-white. Raditz had thought he was over eighty, but it turned out that reaching fifty already counted as an exceptionally long life.

At last, Raditz understood everything.

The spaceship being drawn in was merely one of Bundless's feeding urges. But Raditz had also discovered a weakness. After more than ten years of evolution, its energy must be enormous, yet dealing with Saiyans whose Battle Power exceeded a hundred thousand was not as easy as expected. That meant it still could not concentrate all its energy. Or rather, its evolution was still in its initial stages!

"I'll take you away!" Raditz reached out, preparing to sever the electronic chains.

All the Tumartians panicked and shouted for him to stop.

"No! It will kill us!"

"You may not fear it, but we do! It can track our locations. New machine patrols will be here soon! You should leave too!"

"Its intelligence is far beyond your imagination."

Everyone waved their hands. Fear had been carved deep into their hearts.

"Do you want to remain its slaves forever?" Raditz grew angry.

"For now, it still needs to study our physical conditions to understand human lifeforms, so it will not threaten our lives. Your spaceship is the most dangerous thing here. If you really can accomplish the impossible, then please stop it!"

Damn it! Raditz realized that Bundless's target was any object with energy. Their spaceship was its finest meal.

The old man was right. Even if they saved these people now, they could not eliminate the planet's pursuit. The true key still lay in stopping the chip. Since these people were not in danger for the moment, Raditz swept his gaze over them and immediately flew back.

When he returned to where the spaceship was, mechanical fragments littered the ground. Severed parts belching thick smoke still crackled with electricity, and the burnt stench was pungent. Sure enough, they had come. These mechanical weapons were dark blue, larger in size, and equipped with a greater variety of weapons. Besides ordinary shells, they had cluster lasers, electromagnetic missiles, lightsabers, and more.

It seemed that in order to recover the spaceship, it had dispatched an elite force. Unfortunately, it had once again misjudged the strength of Goku and the others, resulting in the annihilation of its entire army.

"Raditz, what exactly is going on?" Vegeta had just finished fighting, and his Ki had not yet settled.

The others had questions as well and all turned to look at him.

"These are guards produced by the planet itself. Their objective is to capture everything that approaches. As for the details, I'll explain them to you..."

Raditz organized the main points of what the Tumartian elder had said and told everyone. They were all shocked by this sudden information. It was their first time hearing of a living planet!

Independent consciousness, a powerful mechanical army, and unknown powers...

"All right, then let's save those people!" Goku cracked his knuckles, looking ready to charge straight into the chip's territory in one go.

"Wait, is there any way we can get out of here quickly?" The more Krillin thought about it, the more terrified he became. He hugged his arms and kept rubbing them.

"Even if the spaceship regains power, we'll still have to break through the blockade. That metal giant and the tentacle-like mechanical arms around it are difficult to deal with, and next time there may be more than one."

Raditz spoke in a low voice.

Just then, the ground began to shake. Deep, thunderous sounds echoed beneath the earth, as though tens of thousands of wild beasts were about to charge out from somewhere!

"An earthquake?"

"No. Its power is approaching!"

Before the words had faded, the dark-gold buildings in the distance were covered by a murky black glow. It expanded like a vortex, spiraling from the base of the buildings into a circle at least five hundred meters wide. In an instant, it became a pitch-black abyss, and flying weapons like a swarm of bees emerged from it!

Though small, they were incredibly numerous. Each had a sharp head and two pairs of fan-like wings, and they surged toward them in a dense mass, producing an earthshaking buzz!

"Everyone, be careful!" Goku shouted a warning.

Everyone took up their stances and focused their attention, standing in a line as they faced the tide of enemies pouring toward them.

The flying weapons rushed in at high speed. The lead one was already about to strike Raditz's body.

Bang!

Suddenly, an explosive blast rang out. The flying weapon trailed thick smoke as it crashed to the ground and exploded violently.

Raditz abruptly turned toward the source of the sound. In the distance, several modified blue mechanical armored vehicles were driving toward them, with someone standing on the hood holding a sniper rifle.

Had they fired that shot?

"Move aside!" the person on the hood shouted.

Then the mechanical vehicles sped forward. Many people emerged from inside, holding all kinds of weapons and firing continuously. Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!!!

Raditz and the others dodged aside to avoid being hit. To their surprise, there were actually other humans here!

"Hey, get over here! We have weapons!" A burly man operating a turret inside one of the vehicles shouted, exposing his thick arms.

Standing on the hood was a young, beautiful woman in a crop top, with long legs and a slender waist. Her red boots wrapped around her delicate feet like flames. She looked valiant and dashing, every movement brisk and confident.

She fiddled with her snake-patterned earring and looked at them. "Get over here, quickly! Their assault is too fierce. We can only hold them back for now!" With that, she threw an explosive device, blasting a small mushroom cloud amid the "bee swarm" weapons.

"Um... we can help..." Before Goku could finish, he was cut off by the bombardment.

A busty older woman jumped out of a vehicle, grabbed Gohan in her arms, and hurried back while saying, "Such a cute little boy. Don't get hurt, okay?"

"I want to fight with Dad!"

"Kids shouldn't try to act tough. Come with your big sister!"

Gohan was helpless even as he was carried away, separated from the group.

A massive bee-shaped decisive battle weapon suddenly flew out of the black vortex. Its entire body was dark red, sleek and glossy, gleaming with the luster of rippling metal.

It was completely different from the little ones. Its mere appearance was enough to overwhelm the area.

"The Dark Bee King is here! Retreat!"

A cry of alarm came from the loudspeaker. In an instant, the faces of everyone in and around the vehicles changed. Their equipment had all been modified from discarded mechs. It was fine against ordinary enemy aircraft, but against such a massive thing, they were powerless.

The brave team made the wise decision and chose to avoid its edge.

They retreated in a panic, leaving Raditz and the others two armored vehicles. "Use these mechs! As long as you hide inside and activate the masking system, you won't be detected."

Vegeta snorted disdainfully and stepped in front of a blue armored vehicle, directly facing the Dark Bee King. Piccolo and Goku did the same. In front of them stood Raditz, one hand raised. Krillin, Tien Shinhan, and Nappa stood at the edge, while Krillin even leaned casually against the tracks, looking relaxed.

Were their brains broken? They were told to run, but they refused. Were they looking to die?

"You..."

The leading woman was both afraid and furious—afraid of the Dark Bee King's attack power, furious at Raditz and the others' stupidity. But her voice suddenly vanished into the air...

What had she seen?

Several of them had actually gathered enormous energy in their hands, then fired it like laser cannons! White, blue, and green light slammed into the Dark Bee King in overlapping waves, directly blasting it into ashes. The surrounding area was reduced to dust as well, with scorched smoke rising everywhere.

One straggler slipped past the obstruction and flew toward the busty woman. With Gohan in her arms, she had no time to raise her gun.

Gohan swiftly raised his hand and fired an energy sphere, striking it at high speed. The sound of its explosion rang out beside everyone's ears.

Everyone froze, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads. The busty woman unconsciously loosened her grip, while the burly man nearly choked on his saliva.

Was this fake? Could humans really do something like this?

What happened next shocked them even more. The group continuously fired Kikoho, forcibly suppressing the enemy firepower until the black vortex in the distance began shrinking shut and finally disappeared...

Clatter— The sniper rifle fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

Raditz was the first to turn back. "I think we scared them." He gave Goku and the others beside him a wry smile.

Vegeta remained disdainful. "Hmph. Boring. These people's Battle Power is far too weak."

"But they have managed to survive here and evade the pursuit of the Metal Planet's soldiers. They must possess some special abilities. It would be good for us to find a place to hide first." After thinking for a moment, Raditz stored the HOPE in a capsule.

"Hello, I'm Raditz. These are my companions."

"Y-you... hello..."

Faced with the powerful Raditz and the others, they stammered out only one sentence...