The Wrong Evolution

The dull echo of metal was like a somber symphony, causing waves of sound to reverberate in their ears.

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

"And then what?"

"Then, we gathered over a hundred top scientists, ancient linguists, historians, and archaeologists to decipher the secrets of ancient technology. We finally discovered the reason for Planet Tumart's prosperous era."

"A metal planet?" Raditz pressed.

"No! It's a mistake, we don't know why either." The old man shook his head frantically. "We replicated it exactly according to the original data, without a single error, and the result was an intelligent technological chip called 'Bundless'. This chip can serve as the core of the planet, providing energy and evolutionary calculations. According to records, it has the ability to absorb energy from star systems, and even from other galaxies. Furthermore, it can imbue its creations with eternal energy reactions! And as the core, it can provide the most rational and rapid evolutionary path, making Tumart powerful!"

At this point, the old man could say no more. He glanced around, and everything was self-explanatory.

It was clear they had failed. Planet Tumart must have once been a habitable planet similar to Earth, but now it was barren, a "dead star" with metal from its core to its surface.

"The chip began its first evolution quickly. It autonomously turned a portion of the planet into metal, then absorbed vast amounts of energy from other planets to build a mechanical and electronic army. Once it gained enough strength, it turned us, the native inhabitants, into slaves, thus beginning the transformation of the entire planet. As you can see, almost all the land has turned into metal, and it's still expanding, intending to annex other planets to increase its mass."

"How long ago was that?" Raditz suddenly asked.

"Hmm?"

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

"About a decade. Since the decline of technology, the average lifespan of a Tumartian is now only fifty years."

The old man hung his head, his hair white. Raditz had initially thought he was over eighty, but he hadn't expected fifty to be considered a very long life.

At this moment, Raditz finally understood everything.

The spaceship being attracted was merely Bundless's desire to consume. But Raditz also discovered a weakness. After more than ten years of evolution, its energy must be immense, yet it wasn't as easy to deal with a Saiyan with over 100,000 Battle Power as expected. This indicated that it couldn't concentrate all its energy. Or rather, its evolution was still in its initial stages!

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

The Tumartians panicked, shouting to stop him.

"No, it will kill us!"

"You're not afraid of it, but we are! It knows our location, and new machine patrols will be here soon! You should leave too!"

"Its intelligence far surpasses your imagination."

Everyone waved their hands, their fear deeply ingrained.

"Are you going to be its slaves forever?" Raditz grew somewhat angry.

"For now, it still needs to study our physiology to understand living organisms and won't threaten our lives. Your spaceship is the most dangerous thing. If you can truly do the impossible, please stop it!"

Damn it! Raditz realized Bundless's goal was to possess objects with energy, and their spaceship was the best food source.

The old man was right. Even if he saved them now, he couldn't stop the planet's pursuit. The real key was still stopping the chip. Since these people were not in immediate danger, Raditz glanced at them and immediately flew back.

He returned to where the spaceship was. The ground was littered with mechanical debris, smoking severed limbs still sparking with electricity, and the acrid smell was pungent. They had indeed arrived, and these models of mechanical soldiers were deep blue, larger in size, and equipped with a variety of weapons, including not only conventional cannons but also cluster lasers, electromagnetic missiles, and lightsabers.

It seemed that to recover the spaceship, it had dispatched an elite force. Unfortunately, it had still misjudged the strength of Goku and the others, resulting in their complete annihilation.

"Raditz, what's going on?" Vegeta had just finished fighting, his Ki still lingering.

The others also had questions and looked at him.

"These are guards autonomously manufactured by the planet, their objective is to capture any approaching objects. I'll explain the specifics to you..."

Raditz summarized what the Tumartian elder had told them and informed everyone. They were all very surprised to receive this information; it was the first time they had heard of a living planet!

Autonomous consciousness, a powerful mechanical army, and unknown power...

"Alright, in that case, let's go save those people!" Goku rubbed his fists, eager to charge into the chip's territory.

"Wait, is there any way we can leave here quickly?" Krillin grew more and more frightened as he thought about it, rubbing his arms.

"Even if the spaceship regains power, we still need to break through the obstructions. That giant metal figure and its tentacle-like mechanical arms are difficult to deal with, and next time there might be more than one."

Raditz said gravely.

Just then, the ground began to shake. A deep, heavy sound echoed underground, as if tens of thousands of beasts were about to charge out from somewhere!

"An earthquake?"

"No, its power is approaching!"

Before the words were even out, the dark golden buildings in the distance were covered by a layer of dark light. It expanded like a vortex, and from the base of the buildings, a circle with a diameter of at least five hundred meters began to spin, suddenly becoming a pitch-black abyss. A swarm of flying machines appeared!

Though they were small, they were extremely numerous. Each had a sharp head and two pairs of fan-like wings. They flew in a dense mass, emitting a deafening vibrating sound!

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

Everyone got into position, focusing their attention, standing in a line to face the enemy that surged like a tide.

The flying machines charged at high speed, the lead ones almost reaching Raditz's body.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, with a loud explosion, the flying machine plummeted to the ground, emitting thick smoke, and detonated with a roar.

Raditz abruptly looked towards the source of the sound. In the distance, many modified blue mechanical armored vehicles were driving towards them, with a person standing on the front of a vehicle, holding a sniper rifle.

Was that their shot just now?

"Get out of the way!" the person on the vehicle shouted.

The mechanical vehicles then sped closer, and many people emerged from them, firing continuously with various weapons, "Da da da da da da—!!!"

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

"Hey, come over to us, we have weapons!" shouted a burly man operating a turret from inside the vehicle, revealing his muscular arms.

Standing at the front of the vehicle was a young and beautiful woman, wearing a crop top, with long legs and a slender waist. Her red boots looked like flames wrapped around her delicate feet. She appeared heroic, her every move sharp and decisive, full of spirit.

She fiddled with her snake-patterned earrings and said to the group, "Hurry up and come over! Their assault is too fierce, and we can only hold them off for now!" With that, she threw an explosive device, creating a small mushroom cloud amidst the "swarm" of weapons.

"Um... we can help..." Goku's words were cut short by the explosion.

A buxom older sister leaped out of a vehicle, embraced Gohan, and hurried back, saying as she ran, "Such a cute little boy, don't get hurt."

"I want to fight with Papa!"

"Little kids shouldn't be so willful, come with big sister!"

Gohan was helpless being held, and was separated from the group.

Suddenly, a giant bee-shaped decisive battle weapon flew out of a black vortex. It was dark red all over, shiny and lustrous, reflecting a metallic sheen like rippling water.

It was completely different from the other small ones; its mere entrance exuded an aura that could overwhelm a crowd.

"'Dark Bee King' has appeared, retreat quickly!"

A scream blared from the loudspeaker, and instantly, the expressions of the people in and out of the vehicles changed. Their equipment was modified from old mechs, which was fine for dealing with ordinary enemy machines, but useless against such a large opponent.

The brave team made a wise decision and chose to retreat.

They hastily retreated, leaving two armored vehicles for Raditz and the others. "You can use this mech. As long as you hide inside and run the shielding system, you won't be detected."

Vegeta snorted dismissively and stood before the blue armored vehicle, facing the "Dark Bee King" directly. Piccolo and Goku did the same, with Raditz standing in front of them, his hand raised. Krillin, Tien Shinhan, and Nappa stood at the very edge, with Krillin leaning casually against the treads, looking relaxed.

Have they lost their minds? These people aren't running even when told to, aren't they just asking for death?

"You guys..."

The leading woman was a mixture of fear and anger. She feared the "Dark Bee King's" attack power, and was angry at the foolishness of Raditz and the others. But her voice abruptly vanished into the air...

What did she see?

Several people gathered immense energy in their hands and then shot it out like laser cannons! White, blue, and green beams of light impacted the Dark Bee King, directly blasting it into ashes. The surrounding area also turned to dust, with smoke billowing everywhere.

A straggler bypassed the obstacles and flew towards the busty older sister. At that moment, she was holding Gohan and didn't have time to raise her gun.

Gohan quickly raised his hand and fired an energy ball, which swiftly struck the straggler, and an explosion sounded in everyone's ears.

Everyone froze, their eyeballs almost popping out. The busty older sister unconsciously let go of Gohan, and the burly man almost choked on his own spit.

Is this fake? Can humans really do this?

What happened next surprised them even more. The group continuously fired Ki blasts, forcefully suppressing the enemy's firepower, causing the distant black vortex to shrink and close, finally disappearing...

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

Raditz was the first to turn back. "It seems we've scared them," he said with a wry smile to Goku and the others beside him.

Vegeta remained dismissive. "Hmph, boring. The Battle Power of these guys is too weak."

"But if they can survive here and evade pursuit from the Metal Planet warriors, they must have some special abilities. It might be good for us to find a place to hide first," Raditz mused for a moment, then put the "HOPE" into a capsule.

"Hello, my name is Raditz, and these are my companions."

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

In front of the powerful Raditz and the others, they could only stammer out a single sentence