Fruit

Beneath a tree that soared straight into the clouds, several translucent red fruits hung high in the distance, nearing maturity.

Lakase tilted his head back to stare at the fruits, licking his lips. "Almost there. Just a few more hours."

Reiz sat cross-legged on the tree roots, fiddling with his scouter.

Suddenly, his expression shifted.

"10,000?" He stared at the digits on the screen, his voice tightening.

"What 10,000?" Lakase walked over. "Reiz, stop being so jumpy."

"Lord Turles is coming soon; get ready to welcome him."

"Idiot, put on your scouter! Someone with a combat power of 10,000 just landed on this planet."

"And they've already linked up with the person who's been attacking us."

Lakase realized the gravity of the situation and probed, "Your scouter isn't broken, is it? Let me try mine."

Lakase activated his scouter.

But the result was the same; the flickering numbers on the screen served as a reminder of the danger they faced.

The two exchanged a glance and immediately opened a communication channel to Turles.

"Lord Turles, the Tree of Might fruit is about to ripen. We expect to harvest it in a few hours." Reiz tried his best to keep his voice from sounding nervous.

"Very good," a deep voice replied from the other end. "I am on my way."

"Lord Turles," Reiz gritted his teeth, "I'm afraid you need to get here as soon as possible. A guy with a combat power of over 10,000 has appeared on this planet..."

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

Just as he was about to continue, the scouter suddenly emitted a piercing alarm.

The intruder's combat power was still skyrocketing!

15,000?!

Why was it changing so suddenly?

"1... 15,000. And they are heading this way. Estimated arrival in ten minutes," Reiz reported.

There was a three-second silence on the other end of the communicator.

"15,000?" There was a hint of gravity in Turles's voice.

Such combat power was already approaching his own.

Yet, he had only reached his current strength after consuming a large number of fruits.

"The fruit must not be lost," Turles said solemnly. "I will speed up my arrival. Until then, stall him."

The communication cut off.

Reiz exhaled slowly and looked at Lakase beside him.

"Let's merge. It won't add much to our combat power, but it's something."

As he spoke, Lakase slowly merged into Reiz's body.

This was a special ability of their race; usually, only Reiz acted alone, but when they needed to split up, Lakase would separate.

Reiz adjusted his scouter and cracked his neck.

On the distant horizon, two black dots were rapidly growing larger.

Raditz spotted the massive tree from afar.

It was truly spectacular.

The pitch-black trunk pierced the clouds, and the branches spread out like a forest suspended in mid-air, only this "forest" was a living organism.

He accelerated and landed in front of the tree roots.

Daizi followed closely behind, landing and fixing his gaze on the purple figure.

Raditz glanced at the other's battle armor and scouter, cutting straight to the point: "Are you one of Frieza's men?"

He was far too familiar with that attire; it was standard Frieza Force equipment.

Reiz let out a cold snort, his purple face full of arrogance. "Frieza? Hmph! I serve the greatest destroyer in the universe—Lord Turles!"

Raditz: "..."

The greatest destroyer in the universe? Turles had a title like that?

He probably hadn't even met Frieza.

If he were to say, "My combat power is 530,000," it would probably scare this guy to death.

However, the fact that the opponent voluntarily mentioned Turles's name confirmed his suspicion: the tree before him was indeed the Tree of Might.

"Where is Turles?" Raditz asked.

Reiz puffed out his chest, trying to look more imposing. "Lord Turles will be here soon. When he arrives, your only option will be to surrender if you want to avoid death."

Daizi's expression changed abruptly.

He had originally assumed this purple-skinned creature capable of splitting was the leader, never expecting there to be an even stronger boss above him.

If that Turles arrived and the two joined forces, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Hurry and strike," Daizi said with an urgent tone, "before their boss arrives, let's finish this one off first!"

The ki within him began to surge as he prepared to charge forward.

"Don't be hasty."

Raditz's gaze swept past Reiz and landed on several deep-red fruits nestled among the branches of the Tree of Might.

"Destroy this tree first."

Daizi was stunned; he followed his gaze and only then noticed the fruits.

Although he didn't know what they were, his intuition told him they were definitely nothing good.

"Fine."

Reiz's face turned grim. "You wouldn't dare!"

He stepped forward, blocking the front of the tree.

His mission wasn't to win, but to stall.

He lunged forward, his form splitting instantly as he dashed; Reiz and Lakase charged toward the two men respectively.

Lakase rushed toward Raditz.

Reiz met Daizi head-on.

Lakase's speed was fast, at least in his own estimation, and his fist slammed toward Raditz's face with full force.

As the wind from the punch drew near, Raditz tilted his head slightly, and a palm was already pressed against his opponent.

Blue energy gathered rapidly, blasting him away instantly; he flew like a kite with a broken string, crashing into the exposed tree roots.

"Cough, cough!"

Lakaz struggled to climb up, his purple face filled with horror.

That energy blast hadn't taken his life, but it had left him severely injured and unable to move.

Damn it, the gap is too large.

He clearly felt that his opponent hadn't even been serious.

Raditz glanced at him twice before withdrawing his gaze.

He had struck out casually; if the guy wasn't dead, he could count himself lucky.

On the other side, Daizi's battle was not so easy.

Both of their combat powers were around eight thousand, and the two were trading blows back and forth.

Raditz didn't rush to help, flying alone to the fruits of the Tree of Might.

The fruit hung from the branch, its scarlet skin covered in uneven bumps.

As the fragrance drifted by, a thought popped into his mind.

If he ate one of these, how much would his combat power increase?

In Raditz's memories, Turles relied on eating these things to suppress Goku even when he was using the ten-fold Kaio-ken.

That was at least a boost of several hundred thousand, right?

Considering the differences between planets, a single fruit like this should still be able to increase his power by tens of thousands.

However, this thing was formed by draining the life force of an entire planet, and for him to just eat it like that...

Raditz shook his head.

It was repulsive.

He could perfectly well increase his combat power at his own pace.

Besides, the combat power increase was only marginal, and he might have to face unknown side effects.

It wasn't worth it.

He extended his hand, blue energy condensing once more, the light even more intense than before.

Just as he prepared to push it toward the trunk, his peripheral vision caught an energy wave firing toward him.

Raditz flicked his hand casually, swatting it back.

Reiz had broken free from Daizi's entanglement and was blocking the tree.

"Do you think your attacks will have any effect on the Tree of Might?"

Even though he said this, Reiz didn't retreat a single step.

"It's more than enough to kill you." Raditz's energy ball grew larger and larger, showing no signs of stopping.

Daizi's expression grew increasingly ugly.

But the next moment, he began to laugh, his laughter sharp and grating. "Hahaha! Lord Turles has already arrived; you have nowhere left to run!"

On the gray horizon, a massive spaceship pierced through the sandstorm and descended rapidly.

Before the hatch had even opened, a cold, sinister aura had already appeared within Raditz's senses.