One by one, the cages were opened. Everyone cheered, some even weeping with joy at regaining their freedom.
But a red alarm immediately sounded, plunging them back into tension before they could celebrate.
"Everyone, follow me!" Raditz roared, cutting through the crowd's noise.
Before entering Metal Planet, they had devised a series of plans. They had entered from several directions to launch a surprise attack and disrupt Bundless's judgment. After rescuing the test subjects, they would head to the nearest transport room. Since it was used to transport newly manufactured machines, it had a one-way portal leading outside.
The transport room was nearly unguarded, but the route there passed through a stronghold packed with enemies. Everyone would gather at that stronghold before charging out together.
Everyone followed Raditz's lead and ran toward the rendezvous point, while Goku kept watch at the rear.
When they arrived, Vegeta and the others had just gotten there as well.
They had made it out, but on the broad avenue, dark-red Metal Warriors had already detected the disturbance and were closing in by the countless hordes.
"Troublesome bastards. They're surprisingly alert."
"Who cares what they are? Just kill them!" Vegeta had fought his way here from the mecha hangar, destroying who knew how many enemies. He did not take these things seriously at all. He gathered two Kikoho in his hands, swung his arms, and blasted them forward.
The explosion he expected never came. More than a dozen Metal Warriors arranged themselves into a massive shield, its surface a transparent barrier that completely absorbed Vegeta's energy.
The Prince's signature move—"throwing Kikoho"—had officially failed.
Vegeta stared in shock. "How...?"
"Listen. They can learn our fighting styles and evolve ways to counter them. From their initial firepower assaults, to later cold-weapon attacks, then swarm tactics, and now these energy-absorbing shields—it's all the result of their evolution," Raditz analyzed. "But one thing hasn't changed: they're still weak. Don't use Kikoho. Just punch through them, one fist at a time!"
"Just what I wanted!" Nappa bellowed. His solid muscles gleamed with oil, and his brand-new battle armor made him look even more imposing.
With a roar, he charged toward the Metal Warriors before him like a rolling boulder. Even the Metal Warriors were confused. Their data contained no fighting style like this—no energy blasts, no flanking, no high-speed movement, not even a stance?
For a moment, their data reset, and the Metal Warriors before Nappa returned to their most basic instinctive combat state.
But Nappa did not care what state they were in. He thundered up to them, grabbed three cold metal machines in his arms, and crushed their bodies with savage brute strength. Though they were made of high-strength alloy, they were forcibly deformed by Nappa's power, squeezed and twisted into bizarre shapes.
The struggling Metal Warriors extended the curved blades on their arms. The unknown metal gleamed with a silver chill as the blades slashed at Nappa like lightning.
"Move!" Vegeta suddenly shouted.
But Nappa ignored him. Instead, he raised his head toward the blades, and a white aura erupted around him. With a bang, it blasted away an entire Metal Warrior arm. Then he suddenly exerted force with both hands, crossing them and squeezing!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
All three metal bodies broke in half and fell to the ground with loud crashes.
"Vegeta, you're not the only one who got stronger. He's put effort into training too." Raditz walked over to Vegeta's side, looking approvingly at the burly Nappa. "He spends no less time training than you do."
Vegeta gave Raditz a meaningful glance.
"Of course, there are also them." Raditz tilted his head and smiled.
At that moment, Tien Shinhan had already darted lightly to the front. He weaved among the Metal Warriors and caught them off guard with the Four Wielding Fist. The strength unleashed by his four arms might not have matched Nappa's, but it was more than enough to punch through their armor.
The Metal Warriors immediately began gathering data. After analyzing it, they deployed various piercing weapons and sprayed curtain-like sheets of flame to block the attack.
"Hmph. These scrap heaps are nothing special." Piccolo extended his arms, wrapping them around many enemies like long snakes. His elongated arms circled beneath them, difficult to notice, and bound them all at once.
Then Piccolo yanked his arms, immediately binding the Metal Warriors' legs and dragging them along, knocking down an entire group.
Goku scratched his head, his hands itching for a fight. He exchanged a glance with Vegeta, and they immediately launched a fierce assault on the enemy. Their crossed gazes already revealed their competitive spirit—they wanted to see who could defeat more opponents.
With experience now under his belt, Goku concentrated his power into a single point on his fist and slammed it viciously into their bodies. Their heavy plate armor could not withstand the blow and instantly shattered, their blinking electronic lights dimming.
His relentless barrage of heavy punches smashed countless mechs. Heaps of fragments piled up in the passageway, while explosions rang out one after another.
"You..." The girl was stunned. She had never imagined there could be people this powerful, people who could beat those terrifying machines until they could not fight back at all. And there was Raditz, still holding her hand.
"Don't worry. We're very strong." Raditz smiled faintly.
As if in response, life gradually returned to the girl's blank face. She smiled at Raditz, radiant as a flower.
Through everyone's hard fighting, they carved a bloody path forward. The group advanced down the passageway toward the transport room. The path gradually widened, and there were fewer and fewer machines left to intercept them.
"Data collection complete! Data collection complete!" Suddenly, the Metal Warriors all came to a stop and issued stiff warnings. "Mission complete! Mission complete!"
As the alarm ended, their bodies lost power and automatically fell apart into scrap metal, collapsing limply to the ground.
Dozens of mechanical warriors scrapped themselves at once, creating a spectacular sight. But no one knew what had happened. They remained on high alert, afraid of falling into another trap.
"Has their time run out?"
"I don't know. Forget them. Let's use this chance to leave."
"We're inside the planet right now, so we should be careful," Piccolo said calmly, casting a cold glance at the test subjects behind them. "Especially with so many people."
Raditz nodded. "But we still haven't confirmed the chip's location. If we don't stop it, our ship will still have a hard time breaking through the atmosphere. How about this? You take the hostages and leave. I'll go stop Bundless!"
"Forget it!" Vegeta stopped Raditz. "I'll deal with him."
"What? I want to fight it too. What if there are even stronger ones?"
"Kakarot, you were the one who suggested rescuing them, so you should be the one looking after them." Vegeta snorted coldly.
Goku frowned and continued arguing.
The two went back and forth, fighting over it, while the test subjects' gazes swayed from side to side in complete confusion.
"No one can escape my control!" Suddenly, a shrill voice drifted out from the depths of the vast emptiness.
It called itself "I"!
Then it was Metal Planet itself?
Everyone tensed and looked toward the far end of the long passageway. The lights there shone blindingly, leaving everything white. What was there?
Tien Shinhan's eyes were once again the first to spot the target, but this time, his pupils could not stop trembling.
"Goku... that's Goku..."
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