Beneath a towering tree that stretched into the clouds, several ruddy fruits hung high above, nearly ripe.
Lakase stared up at the fruits and licked his lips. "Almost. Just a few more hours."
Reiz sat cross-legged on a tree root, fiddling with his Scouter.
Suddenly, his expression changed.
"10,000?" He stared at the number on the screen, his voice tense.
"What do you mean, ten thousand?" Lakase came over. "Reiz, don't be so jumpy."
"Lord Turles will be here soon. Get ready to welcome him."
"Idiot, put on your Scouter! Someone with a battle power of 10,000 just appeared on this planet."
"And he quickly joined up with the person who's been attacking us."
Lakase realized how serious the situation was and ventured, "Could your Scouter be broken? Try mine."
Lakase turned on his Scouter.
But the result was the same. The flashing number on the screen warned him of the other's danger.
The two exchanged a glance and immediately contacted Turles.
"Lord Turles, the Tree of Might's fruit is nearly ripe. It should be ready to harvest in a few hours." Reiz did his best to sound calm.
"Good." A deep voice came from the other end. "I'm on my way."
"Lord Turles," Reiz said through gritted teeth, "you'll need to hurry. Someone with a battle power over 10,000 has appeared on this planet..."
"Beep! Beep! Beep!"
Just as he was about to continue, the Scouter suddenly blared a piercing alarm.
The intruder's battle power was still climbing!
15,000?!
Why had it suddenly changed?
"F-fifteen thousand now, and he's heading this way. He'll be here in about ten minutes," Reiz said.
There was a three-second silence on the other end.
"Fifteen thousand?" Turles's voice grew more serious.
That battle power was already close to his own.
But it had taken a great many fruits to make him as strong as he was now.
"The fruit must not be lost," Turles said gravely. "I'll hurry. Hold him off until I get there."
The call ended.
Reiz slowly exhaled and looked over at Lakase.
"Let's merge for now, even if it won't increase our battle power by much."
As he spoke, Lakase slowly merged into Reiz's body.
It was a special ability of their race. Normally, only Reiz acted, but when they needed to split up, he would separate Lakase from himself.
Reiz put on his Scouter and rolled his neck.
In the distance, two dark specks rapidly grew larger.
Raditz spotted the giant tree from far away.
It was indeed magnificent.
Its black trunk reached straight into the clouds, and its branches spread out like a forest floating in the sky—except this "forest" was alive.
He sped up and landed by the tree's roots.
Daiz landed right behind him, his gaze fixed on the purple figure.
Raditz glanced at the other's Battle Suit and Scouter and got straight to the point. "Are you one of Frieza's men?"
He knew that getup all too well. It was standard-issue gear from the Frieza Force.
Reiz gave a cold snort, pride filling his purple face. "Frieza? Hmph! I serve Lord Turles, the greatest destroyer in the universe!"
Raditz: "..."
The greatest destroyer in the universe? Since when did Turles have a title like that?
He probably hadn't even seen Frieza in person.
If Raditz told him, "My battle power is 530,000," the guy would probably drop dead from shock.
Still, the other man had given Turles's name without prompting, confirming Raditz's suspicion. This tree was the Tree of Might.
"Where's Turles?" Raditz asked.
Reiz puffed out his chest, trying to look more imposing. "Lord Turles will be here soon. When he arrives, you'll have no choice but to surrender if you want to live."
Daiz's expression changed dramatically.
He'd assumed this purple-skinned man who could split himself was the leader. He hadn't realized there was an even stronger boss above him.
If Turles arrived and the two of them teamed up, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Attack now," Daiz said urgently. "Let's take him out before their boss gets here!"
The energy inside him began to stir as he prepared to charge.
"Don't rush."
Raditz's gaze swept over Reiz, then settled on several ruddy fruits among the Tree of Might's branches.
"Let's destroy the tree first."
Daiz paused and followed his gaze. Only then did he notice the fruits.
He had no idea what they were, but his instincts told him they couldn't be anything good.
"Fine."
Reiz's expression darkened. "You dare!"
He stepped forward and blocked the tree.
His mission wasn't to win. It was to stall them.
He darted forward, his body suddenly splitting in the middle of his charge. Reiz and Lakase lunged at the two men separately.
Lakase charged at Raditz.
Reiz went for Daiz.
Lakase was fast, at least from his own perspective. His fist shot toward Raditz's face with tremendous force.
As the punch closed in, Raditz tilted his head slightly and pressed a palm against him.
Blue energy quickly gathered and blasted Lakase away. He flew like a kite with its string cut and slammed into an exposed tree root.
"Cough, cough!"
Lakase struggled to get up, shock filling his purple face.
That energy blast hadn't killed him, but it had badly wounded him and left him unable to move.
"Damn it, the difference is too great."
He could tell the other man hadn't even been serious.
Raditz glanced over twice, then looked away.
Since his casual attack hadn't killed the man, he supposed Lakase was lucky.
The fight on the other side wasn't going nearly as easily for Daiz.
Their battle powers were both around 8,000, and neither had the upper hand.
Raditz didn't hurry to help. He flew alone toward the Tree of Might's fruit.
The fruit hung from a branch, its crimson skin covered in uneven bumps.
A waft of fragrance drifted over, and a thought occurred to him.
How much would his battle power increase if he ate just one?
As Raditz recalled, Turles had used these things to overpower Goku, who was using a tenfold Kaioken.
That had to mean an increase of at least hundreds of thousands?
Taking differences between planets into account, a single fruit should still raise his battle power by tens of thousands.
But these things were created by draining the life force of an entire planet. If he just ate one...
Raditz shook his head.
It left a bad taste in his mouth.
He could increase his battle power at his own pace.
Besides, the increase would only be modest, and there might be unknown side effects.
Not worth it.
He reached out, and blue energy gathered again, glowing more brightly than before.
Just as he was about to send it into the trunk, he caught sight of an energy blast shooting toward him from the corner of his eye.
Raditz casually swatted it back.
Reiz had broken free of Daiz and was standing in front of the tree.
"You think your attack will do anything to the Tree of Might?"
Despite his words, Reiz didn't budge an inch.
"Killing you will be easy." The energy ball in Raditz's hand continued to grow, showing no sign of stopping.
Daiz's expression grew grimmer.
But the next moment, he began to laugh, his laughter sharp and grating. "Hahahaha! Lord Turles is here! You're not getting away!"
A huge spaceship descended rapidly through the sandstorm, crossing the hazy horizon.
Its hatch hadn't even opened, but Raditz could already sense a chilling presence.