Weakness

After passing through several layers of iron walls and broad electronic tunnels, Raditz finally approached the world beyond the white light at the end of the passage.

Within the soft white glow stood only a long dark-gold bridge. All around was emptiness, like the desolate environment inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. The heavy atmosphere seemed like an invisible sheet of glue stuck to his body, impossible to tear away and unbearably uncomfortable.

After an unknown amount of time, Raditz finally saw the end. At the other end of the bridge stood a pitch-black shadow, like a castle beneath the night sky.

The replica opened a black spatial vortex for him and led him onward into another space. After walking for who knew how long, they arrived outside a spherical building that was not made entirely of metal.

Grass and stone slabs spread across the ground here. There was even a tree growing beside the building. Simulated sunlight brightly illuminated the gloomy space, and the air was fresh.

Raditz was startled. He had never expected this thing to cultivate flowers and plants inside itself. It actually had a hobby like that?

Before Raditz could finish looking around, the replica sent him into the spherical building and then withdrew.

The interior had changed considerably. It was still a dreary dark gold, with scattered lights flickering around them in only yellow and blue. What was somewhat surprising was that the walls and the instrument platform in the middle were covered in rust. Old electronic equipment emitted harsh sizzling noises, as if it had been abandoned for a very long time.

Raditz guessed that this was the laboratory where it had first been born, preserved by it ever since.

Inside a transparent sphere at the central hub floated a chip. Countless lines extended from it and connected to the sphere's surface. Beside it stood a tall cylindrical container filled with green culture fluid, within which something stirred faintly.

"Welcome to the core."

The voice came from the surrounding speakers, delivered in a stiff, matter-of-fact tone.

"Bundless, so you really are just a chip. The Tumarts really were incredible to create something like you." Raditz stepped closer and examined it carefully.

Suddenly, the brittle, scrap-like floor flashed repeatedly. A metal dragon over one and a half meters in diameter shot vertically upward. It coiled around the chip, its mouth firing a dark blue energy beam into the air and erupting with lava-like heat.

It faced Raditz directly. Its blade-like scales stood on end, and its charcoal-red eyes radiated astonishing ferocity as it bared its fangs.

"I am sorry, but I cannot allow you to approach. Your danger index is very high."

"If we're talking dangerous, aren't you the most dangerous one?" Raditz stopped. To seize the initiative, he spoke first. "What did you bring me here for?"

"Purpose... What does purpose mean?"

Bundless asked a question for the first time.

"This... Simply put, what do you want to do? You devoured planets, plundered resources, and conducted experiments on human bodies. There must be a reason for all that, right?"

"Growth. Evolution."

"What comes after evolution?"

"Growth. Evolution."

"I mean, to what extent do you intend to evolve? And once you reach that point, what will you do?"

"Growth. Evolution."

Raditz was speechless. He felt as though he were talking to an idiot, and the absurd part was that this "idiot's" scientific intelligence far surpassed anyone else's.

In an instant, he understood.

Bundless had originally been created for planetary evolution. Back then, it had still been controllable, existing as a technological creation. Who could have known that the optimal method it calculated would be one of extermination? Those violent methods had made the Tumarts suffer the consequences themselves. Aside from its obsessive pursuit of evolution, Bundless could even be called "pure" in every other respect.

Yet it was precisely because of that "purity" that it was terrifying. It had no reservations and listened to no reasoning. It could do anything for evolution, and it would do so with madness.

"My calculations have encountered an obstacle. I require experiments on lifeforms. You are the one I selected." Bundless spoke bluntly, treating human lives as if they were nothing more than toys.

As it spoke, the cylindrical transparent tank beside them discharged a large amount of murky green fluid and was refilled with pale mucus. Gradually, Raditz saw clearly what was inside.

It had the shape of a human—a completely naked human body!

"I used every necessary element to create a human. Its vital signs and functions are complete, yet it still cannot be like the experimental subjects. I cannot calculate the result. I have failed many times. The only method is to analyze more experimental subjects and obtain more data."

"So you imprisoned so many humans just to study how to create a human body?"

"The data they provide will grant me more information and perfect my research. You are the best among them, because you caused me to undergo rapid changes in a short period of time."

Bundless's words sounded as if it were praising Raditz, yet they also carried the feeling that a pig should be slaughtered once it had grown fat. Raditz felt helpless. Being outstanding isn't my fault!

"Why are you researching human bodies?"

"I cannot answer your question. You need only cooperate."

"Cannot answer? Your thoughts are the reason you do this. It is simply a kind of 'thought' beyond your programming and data."

"Thought?"

Raditz suddenly laughed. "Looks like you don't only know how to evolve after all. Otherwise, you wouldn't be so obsessed with creating humans. Creating people has nothing to do with your path of growth and evolution, does it?"

Bundless fell silent, as though it had been stumped.

"Or are you actually envious of humans? Is that environment outside also proof that you want to live like a human? Did you create this body for yourself?" Raditz fired off question after question, his gaze as sharp as a sword stabbing straight at the chip.

"This is part of evolution!" Bundless's tone changed for the first time, revealing an emotion akin to human rage.

As its tone intensified, dozens of metal tentacles burst through the walls and lashed toward Raditz.

By now, Raditz's energy had been drained dry, leaving him without the strength to resist. The tentacles easily bound him and lifted his entire body into the air, their thorny claws digging into his flesh.

"Just as I thought. Even though you don't know it yourself, you already possess thoughts. That is your weakness!" Raditz hung in midair with his limbs spread wide, but his expression remained cold and stern, without the slightest trace of fear.

That unexpected reaction caused another error in Bundless's data analysis, leaving it able only to remain silent.

After a long while, it uttered one sentence. "I have no weakness."

"No, you do! Your ability to learn and grow is powerful. You can calculate almost everything, but there are some things about humans that you cannot calculate! So no matter how many experiments you conduct, you will fail! Things like emotion, things like conviction, things like Saiyan potential!"

"Like me!"

Veins bulged across Raditz's body, and bloodshot filled his eyes. His swollen muscles strained against the tough tentacles. Pouring all his strength into it, he bent one arm just enough to shove a Senzu Bean into his mouth.

After chewing it, Raditz let out a roar and shattered his restraints. Red light engulfed the entire space, shining as brightly as a crimson sun!