His lips moved a few times, and his voice came out hoarse.
"Who... are you, really?"
Raditz slowly descended to the bottom of the crater and stood before Turles, looking down at him.
"Raditz."
"I didn't ask your name," Turles said, panting. "With power like yours... you can't be some nobody."
Raditz paused for a moment, then answered.
"I'm a Saiyan, just like you."
Turles' eyes widened. He stared at Raditz in disbelief, looking him up and down several times.
Then he laughed, a touch of madness in his voice.
"Hahahaha... A Saiyan? You're a Saiyan?"
His smile froze, replaced by anger and humiliation.
He'd been defeated in an instant, and now he was going to die at the hands of a Saiyan? How pathetic.
"Where's your tail? Are you mocking me?"
Raditz's tone was even. "I sealed it."
"What?"
"My tail. I sealed it."
While training at Kami's Lookout, Raditz had made a point of studying and asking Kami how he'd sealed Goku's tail. Raditz figured that if he turned into a Great Ape, he'd probably lose control, too.
"What kind of reputation could Saiyans possibly have in the universe? Better to keep people from recognizing who I am at a glance and avoid unnecessary trouble."
Turles fell silent.
He lowered his head and looked at the remnant of his tail, blasted down to a stump.
Raditz was telling the truth.
Saiyans really did have a terrible reputation: Frieza's lackeys, madmen who wiped out entire races.
But Turles had never thought about hiding who he was.
He was proud to be a Saiyan.
"Since you're a Saiyan..." Turles looked up, frowning slightly. "Why not join me? Shouldn't our own kind get along?"
"You're too weak."
"I'm weak?" His voice trembled. "I've eaten so many fruits of the Tree of Might that my battle power is already higher than those Elite Warriors. You call that weak?"
"Yeah."
"Then why are you so strong?" Turles asked, a trace of bewilderment in his voice. "You're the strongest Saiyan I've ever met. Maybe you could..."
A glimmer of hope returned to his eyes.
"Strong? I think I'm far too weak."
Turles suddenly struggled to get up, bracing himself on the ground with his arms.
"Raditz, Planet Vegeta was supposedly destroyed by a meteor, but the truth is that Frieza feared the Saiyans' strength and attacked the planet. Most of the Saiyans were slaughtered, and the survivors have become nothing but tools in his hands."
"Since you're so strong..."
"Go defeat Frieza?" Raditz cut him off. "Don't get ahead of yourself."
"I can tell you for a fact that my battle power is five hundred thousand."
"But..."
"I can't even reach one percent of Frieza's power."
"How is that possible?!"
Turles' face darkened. He'd always believed that if he kept eating fruits of the Tree of Might as he had been, he'd eventually become strong enough to defeat Frieza.
But now someone with a battle power of five hundred thousand was telling him that he wasn't even one percent as strong as Frieza?
Just how high was Frieza's battle power?
Fifty million?!
"Looks like you understand the gap now." Raditz turned to leave. "Then I'll tell you one more thing. Even someone as strong as Frieza has to follow orders from someone else."
"Strength is relative. King Vegeta brought about the destruction of Planet Vegeta by provoking someone he shouldn't have."
"If you go around destroying planets and run into someone like that, no one will sit here and talk things through with you like I am."
Turles opened his mouth to argue, but no words came out.
"Wait!"
Raditz stopped.
"You're right. The Tree of Might has its limits. But Saiyans should act like Saiyans. Can you tell me how to get stronger?"
Raditz chuckled. "I really liked something you said earlier."
Turles froze.
"We're the last Saiyans left in this universe. We should get along."
Raditz rose into the air. "That's why I didn't kill you."
"Remember that. Make the most of your second chance."
Raditz and Daiz flew back to the palace.
As soon as he landed, Raditz called up the system in his mind.
[Quest submitted] [Integrating Seed of Life]
A wave of warmth spread through his body, as if something had taken root inside him.
It felt like a spring breeze, and even his mind grew a little clearer.
Raditz closed his eyes and felt the green energy circulate through him, merging with his body.
A moment later, he opened his eyes. "I see."
The Seed of Life's ability was much simpler than he'd expected. He could draw on a planet's life energy to heal himself.
Put simply, as long as he stood on a planet teeming with life, he could use its life energy to heal his injuries. Unless he was in a truly hopeless situation, he'd gradually recover.
However, it could only be used for recovery; it couldn't increase his battle power.
After all, he was "borrowing" the energy, not "stealing" it.
Besides, the Seed of Life produced life energy of its own, so even away from a planet, it would maintain a basic rate of recovery.
"Not bad."
Raditz was quite satisfied. The quest hadn't been particularly difficult, and the reward had exceeded his expectations.
"What are you planning to do now?" Daiz looked at Raditz beside him, the scene of him overpowering the Great Ape still fresh in his mind.
Unable to hold back, he asked, "Are you still planning to leave?"
"Yeah."
"Why not stay?" Daiz stepped forward, his tone sincere. "You saved the entire planet. If you want, everything on Pujinpa is yours."
Raditz turned to look at him.
Daiz's gaze was earnest, without a trace of ulterior motive.
Raditz was entirely responsible for stopping the planet from heading toward destruction.
Daiz had always understood that might made right. Having someone like Raditz watching over the planet wouldn't humiliate him; it would put his mind at ease.
"I'm not staying." Raditz shook his head. "Take good care of your planet. It's gradually recovering, but it's still badly weakened. You'll have to work hard to bring it back to how it was."
Daiz was about to try persuading him again.
Raditz raised a hand to stop him. "When this place is bustling again, I'll bring some friends to visit."
"Okay." That was all he could do.
Just then, a strange sound came from the sky. They both looked up as a spaceship streaked across the heavens and shot out of the planet's atmosphere.
Turles had left.
Daiz watched the fading trail and finally felt at ease.
He'd tried to persuade Raditz to stay not only because he genuinely admired his strength, but also because he feared those guys might return once Raditz was gone. Daiz wouldn't be able to stand against them.
Now that Turles had left, the weight on his heart finally lifted.
Raditz looked away as well.
"Alright." He patted Daiz on the shoulder and climbed aboard the spaceship he'd just taken out of a Hoi-Poi Capsule. "I'm off, too. See you next time."