First Meeting with Goku

Mistaken identity?

Mercenary Tao's expression darkened instantly, and the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably. As the world's greatest assassin, being ignored like this was simply too humiliating.

"Who are you looking for?"

"None of your business," Raditz said flatly.

Damn, how arrogant! Mercenary Tao froze. It was the first time he had ever encountered someone so insolent. His old face flushed red at once as he gritted his teeth. "You're too arrogant."

"Save it. You're no match for me," Raditz said calmly.

"Heh heh, kid, it seems you only know my name and have no idea how terrifying I am." Mercenary Tao clasped his hands behind his back. His mechanical eye spun forward and protruded slightly as a cold smile appeared on his lips. "I'll give you one hundred million for free."

"One hundred million?"

"My usual fee for killing someone is one hundred million. Today, I'll send you to see King Yama for free!" Mercenary Tao shouted softly, his figure flashing away.

The next second, he appeared behind Raditz and swung a leg at Raditz's lower back. By his estimation, that kick would certainly break Raditz's spine and leave him unable to stand again.

Just as he was feeling smug, a tremendous rebound shot through his leg. His heart sank, and sweat seeped from every pore.

Raditz showed no reaction at all. He stood where he was without moving.

"Im... impossible..." Mercenary Tao wore an incredulous expression as he launched attack after attack. As Master Crane's younger brother and a top-class assassin, his martial arts techniques were indeed exceptional, with endless combinations flowing one after another. His only weakness was that—to Raditz—their power was far too weak!

"Master, are you done?" Raditz casually grabbed his full-force punch, then squeezed slightly and crushed the entire mechanical arm.

"Y-you..." Mercenary Tao was dumbfounded. Not only was his head covered in sweat, but snot had also slipped from his nostrils and hung above his lips.

At that moment, he could not even form a complete sentence. His jaw trembled violently.

Raditz tapped his Scouter, and the number 180 popped up on its screen.

"Oh, your Battle Power is 180, Master Mercenary Tao." Raditz walked closer as he spoke. "My Battle Power is exactly ten times yours!"

Raditz finally understood the thrill Frieza felt when he declared, "My Battle Power is 530,000." The absolute suppression of Battle Power combined with such a grand, swaggering declaration felt indescribably wonderful.

Ten times!

Mercenary Tao shuddered in terror. He knew the strangely dressed man before him was not lying. The Ki that he casually leaked told him everything.

After some inward deliberation, Mercenary Tao decisively withdrew his imposing air and bowed repeatedly, looking incomparably humble.

"I'm sorry! I was wrong! I shouldn't have been so arrogant! Since you know me, please spare me! You can have all the payment for this job too!"

"Uh..." Raditz had not expected him to surrender so quickly.

"Is that not enough? It's fine, I have plenty of savings! You can take those too! I won't kill anyone again! Please spare me!"

Mercenary Tao was quite adept at going with the wind. He beat his chest and stamped his feet as he spoke, his attitude utterly sincere. His acting was good enough to win awards. If Raditz had not known what kind of person he was from the start, he might truly have been fooled.

"Actually, I admire you, Mercenary Tao. Your outfit is so distinctive. Legend says your soft tongue can shake men to their core, and your long pillar can pierce the Yellow Dragon. You're ruthless and sinister as well—a true model among villains!"

"You... flatter me..."

"You've got it wrong. I wasn't praising you." Raditz's expression changed as he spread his fingers toward Mercenary Tao's head. "What I mean is, you're worth one hundred million."

The moment he finished speaking, a blue beam erupted from his hand and instantly engulfed Mercenary Tao, not even giving him a chance to scream. His headless body crashed to the floor, adding another corpse to the filthy bar.

Mercenary Tao had done plenty of evil. Raditz thought that eliminating him counted as doing his part to clean up the world.

After leaving the abandoned bar, the Scouter issued another warning. This time, the distance was as far as 4,899, and the energy was even greater than Mercenary Tao's.

Goku! There was no doubt about it!

He could detect that the source of the energy was moving at high speed before suddenly stopping. According to his estimate, Goku should have gone to Master Roshi's island, with four-year-old Gohan beside him.

Raditz immediately sped up and flew toward Kame House Island.

Before long, Raditz saw the outline of the island. Under the brilliant sunlight, the sea seemed scattered with countless fragments of gold. Dazzling light glittered amid the rolling waves, while Kame House Island stood alone in the vast ocean. The warm, damp sea breeze brushed past the wooden house, dappled sunlight filtered through the coconut trees onto the sand, and seagulls occasionally glided by, tracing beautiful arcs through the sky.

Several people stood in front of the house. Raditz's Scouter had already locked onto one of them—the person with the highest Battle Power on this planet for the time being, Goku.

Raditz slowly approached Kame House Island, looking down at everything from above.

They had been chatting and laughing, but as Raditz drew near, Goku sensed an extraordinary energy. He suddenly looked up at the sky and shouted warily, "Who?! What powerful Ki!"

Knowing he had been noticed, Raditz simply accelerated his descent and appeared before them. At the sight of the protagonists and companions from Dragon Balls, an indescribable excitement welled up inside him.

"Ah! This... such powerful Ki..." Master Roshi exclaimed in shock.

Krillin beside him widened his eyes as well, utterly astonished.

"Y-you, who are you?"

"How should I put this? Let me think..." Raditz had just been about to make a domineering introduction when he suddenly became conflicted.

At first, he had only thought about finding Goku, but he had never considered what to do after finding him.

Take him away? Definitely impossible. Kidnap Gohan? That was what the original Raditz had done. He was different. Acknowledge Goku as family, then live under the protagonist's halo? No, he needed to control his own fate!

Vegeta and Nappa, far away on the other side of the universe, both knew he had come to Earth. Sooner or later, they would come. In Frieza's plans, Earth was also among the short-term targets for conquest, and Frieza, who had long been displeased with the Saiyans, would eventually exterminate the last surviving Saiyans.

Taking all that into account, he had only one path left: resist Vegeta and Frieza!

He was still too weak. To accomplish his great ambition, he needed more power, and he also needed comrades like Goku and Piccolo. He even needed to bring Vegeta and Nappa under his command.

Although he hated the brainless Nappa, Raditz still planned to spare him. The most important reason was that he truly wanted to see what Nappa would look like as a Super Saiyan. For the transformation everyone had been waiting for, he had to keep Nappa alive no matter what.

So the question was, should he stir things up now?