The Sky Splits Open, Invaders Arrive

A year had passed in what felt like an instant, spent in intense focus on training and preparation.

The final deadline had finally arrived.

138 degrees east longitude, 36 degrees north latitude.

Above the barren red Gobi, the air seemed to have congealed into a heavy block of lead.

Even the wind seemed to sense something. It had stopped howling, leaving behind only deathly silence and an oppressive feeling so intense it was almost suffocating.

The Z Fighters had long since taken their positions. They stood spread out according to the formation they had rehearsed countless times, their auras faintly connected yet with enough distance between them to respond to any changes.

Every face was grave, every gaze sharp as a hawk's, fixed on the unchanging, yellowish sky.

A year of hellish training had transformed every one of them. Their auras were far more powerful and refined than they had been a year ago.

The sweat that had just appeared on Krillin's bald head evaporated at once. He clenched his fists and murmured to Tien Shinhan beside him, "Are they here? Why hasn't anything happened?"

Tien Shinhan's three eyes swept across the sky in every direction. "Don't rush. Keep calm. What's coming will come."

Yamcha assumed the starting stance of the Wolf Fang Fist, his body leaning slightly forward like a beast poised to pounce. Yet he couldn't help muttering, "Tch, I hope Lin Fan's array really comes in handy..."

After a year of grueling training and the aid of pills, his strength had improved beyond recognition. But deep down, his fear of the Saiyans hadn't completely faded.

Chiaotzu floated behind Tien Shinhan, his little face full of nerves. "Mm... It feels... so scary..."

Piccolo stood alone atop a massive boulder some distance away, his green figure seeming especially solitary against the empty landscape.

He folded his arms and rested with his eyes closed, as if indifferent to the battle that was about to begin. But the surging, barely restrained aura around him showed that he was already prepared to fight with everything he had.

After a year of secretly competing with Lin Fan, and with help from the Spirit Gathering Array, his battle power had reached an astonishing 4,200!

Lin Fan stood near the center, slightly ahead of the others. He wore simple training clothes, but his aura was the strangest of all.

The Golden Core within him turned slowly, his True Essence reined in to the utmost. If not for the fact that he could be seen with the naked eye, he would have been almost impossible to sense.

His mind, however, was intensely focused. His divine sense scanned the heavens again and again like the most precise radar, while he maintained a subtle connection to the massive Lesser Five Elements Origin Array beneath the ground.

He was the eye of the array, and the key to activating it.

Bulma, Master Roshi, Oolong, and Puar waited far away in a camouflaged observation base, equipped with the strongest energy shield they could manage.

More than a dozen screens in front of Bulma displayed footage of the battlefield from every angle, along with energy-monitoring data. Her palms were slick with sweat.

"Everything will be fine... They've all gotten so strong..."

She murmured to herself, as if trying to reassure herself.

Suddenly!

Lin Fan jerked his head up, his eyes flashing. "They're here!"

Almost in the same instant, two tiny specks high in the distant sky abruptly grew larger!

They tore through the clouds with a piercing shriek unlike anything an Earth aircraft could make, hurtling straight toward the designated wasteland with almost savage force!

They were moving far faster than sound!

In the blink of an eye, the two specks became flaming meteors, wreathed in blazing fire!

"So fast!"

Krillin cried out in shock.

"Get ready!"

Tien Shinhan roared, instantly drawing up his ki.

BOOM!!!!

A deafening explosion erupted. The earth shook violently, as if struck by a magnitude-ten earthquake!

A terrifying shock wave, carrying scorching air and sand, spread wildly in every direction like a tsunami!

The Z Fighters steadied themselves with their ki. Their clothes snapped in the wind, and they could barely keep their eyes open.

Dust surged into the sky, forming two enormous mushroom clouds that lingered for a long time.

As the swirling sand began to settle and the scene at the impact site gradually came into view, everyone's pupils contracted involuntarily.

Two enormous, grotesquely shaped spherical spaceships were embedded deep in the wasteland, like a pair of evil seeds.

Their surfaces still radiated dark-red heat, melting the sand around them into glassy crystals.

Craaack—

The hatch of one spaceship let out a shrill metallic screech as it slowly opened upward.

An icy, brutal, wild aura surged out of the hatch as if it had a physical form. It instantly enveloped the entire battlefield, making the air feel several degrees colder.

The first to step out was an immensely broad and muscular giant.

He wore a standard Saiyan Battle Suit beneath a simple set of shoulder guards.

Scars crisscrossed his bald head, and a thick beard covered his face. His eyes were fierce and arrogant, and his grin exposed a beastly smile.

He rolled his thick neck, producing a series of cracking sounds, his immense aura radiating without restraint.

Then another figure slowly emerged.

Unlike the giant's swagger, he had a more balanced build. Yet his bone-chilling arrogance and air of looking down on all things were even more unsettling than the giant's savagery.

He wore the same style of Battle Suit, with a white, long-sleeved, short jacket over it.

His black hair stood straight up like flames, with a few bangs hanging over his forehead.

With his arms crossed, he coldly surveyed the desolate land and the Z Fighters standing ready before him. He looked at them as if they were a bunch of ants blocking his path.

It was Nappa and Vegeta!

"Hmph. So this is the godforsaken, poverty-stricken planet?" Nappa rumbled. "Kakarot, that useless fool, got taken out here? What a disgrace to the Saiyans!"

Vegeta paid no attention to Nappa's complaints. He tilted his head slightly and glanced from the corner of his eye at the Battle Power Detector over his left eye.

The detector immediately beeped electronically and reported its scan results.

"Oh?" Nappa activated his own Scouter as well, a cruel, amused grin spreading across his face. "Well, well. Looks like the bugs on this planet have a little fight in them. One has a battle power of 4,200... Not bad, I suppose. And a few others are over a thousand, some just above two thousand... A tiny bit stronger than expected, but still trash."

His gaze passed over Piccolo, Tien Shinhan, Krillin, and the others like a butcher selecting livestock.

Suddenly, Nappa's Scouter pointed at Lin Fan, who stood at the front. The numbers on its screen began jumping wildly and erratically.

"Hm?" Nappa's grin stiffened. He tapped the Scouter hard with a finger, puzzled. "What's going on? Is this piece of junk broken? This guy's energy reading... Why is it so weird? It's at 50... 150... 800... Then it drops back to 100... Damn it, it even jumped to 3,000 at one point, but it won't stay there! What the hell is this?"

Vegeta had also noticed Lin Fan's abnormality. For the first time, a trace of surprise entered his icy gaze, though it was mostly impatience and lofty contempt. "Hmph. He's probably so weak the Scouter can't get a steady reading, or he's using some pathetic trick from a low-level civilization to hide his energy. Ignore him."

He didn't believe Earth could have anyone strong enough to warrant his attention. He dismissed Lin Fan's strange readings as a malfunction or a sign that he was simply too weak.

Vegeta stepped forward, his gaze finally settling on the group. His eyes seemed to have already pronounced their death sentence. His voice was quiet, but carried unquestionable authority and utter indifference.

"Hey, trash. Tell me, where is Kakarot?"

"If you answer honestly, and I'm in a good mood, I might give you a quick death."

The sky seemed to split wide open. Boundless killing intent swept over the entire wasteland like a freezing tide.

The battle was about to begin!