Desolation

Looking at the six short Saibamen standing before Vegeta and Nappa, each radiating a dangerous aura, Yamcha swallowed hard and slowly stepped forward.

"Let me go first. I'll show them the results of my training during this time."

Seeing this, Vegeta ordered one Saibaman to step forward and fight. It had only one instruction: kill its opponent at all costs!

The battle began quickly.

The Saibaman let out a piercing shriek and charged forward. Its movements were astonishingly fast; in the blink of an eye, it was before Yamcha, its claws aimed straight for his throat.

Yamcha twisted aside to evade, chopping the Saibaman across the neck with the edge of his hand at the same time. After taking the blow, the Saibaman quickly leaped backward. The two swiftly widened the distance between them and sized each other up.

"If that's all you've got..." Yamcha grinned. "I alone am enough to take care of all six of you!"

With that, Yamcha instantly unleashed all his power and charged at the Saibaman, driving a heavy punch into its abdomen. A dull thud sounded as the Saibaman doubled over, green fluid spraying from its mouth.

Yamcha gave the Saibaman no chance to catch its breath. He followed up with another kick, sending it straight into the air. Before the Saibaman could react, Yamcha had already appeared behind it. He clasped his hands together and smashed it viciously into the ground. Then he thrust both hands forward, firing an energy wave downward.

The entire combo flowed flawlessly. When the smoke cleared, only a lifeless corpse remained in the crater.

Yamcha returned to the ground and looked again at the remaining five Saibamen, curling a finger at them provocatively.

"Which one of you is coming up to die next?!"

The five Saibamen bared their fangs, itching to rush over and tear the human before them apart. But without Vegeta's command, they did not dare move.

Nappa silently cursed them as useless, while Vegeta wore a sinister grin. "No rush, Nappa. There's still a good show to come."

Suddenly, a sharp shriek rang out behind Yamcha. Every hair on his body stood on end. He spun around sharply, his pupils contracting. The Saibaman that should have been destroyed had actually burst out of the deep crater, spreading its arms and locking Yamcha in a death grip.

"Damn it!"

Yamcha struggled with all his strength, but it was still useless.

"Yamcha!" Krillin cried out in terror, trying to rush forward.

But it was already too late. A tremendous boom rang out as the Saibaman behind Yamcha self-destructed. The powerful shockwave from the explosion left everyone unable to open their eyes.

When everyone opened their eyes again, all they saw was Yamcha lying on the ground, covered in blood.

Krillin rushed over and gathered Yamcha into his arms, but Yamcha was barely breathing!

"Yamcha, no!!" Krillin fell to his knees, tears blurring his vision.

Tien Shinhan quickly recovered from his shock and took a Senzu Bean from the small pouch at his waist. "There's still a chance!" He rushed toward the bloodied Yamcha, placed the Senzu Bean in his mouth, and shouted anxiously, "Quick, swallow it! It's a Senzu Bean!"

Krillin naturally knew what a Senzu Bean was. Seeing Yamcha swallow it, he breathed a sigh of relief, but his fury remained.

He turned around and looked at the remaining Saibamen. His aura instantly surged wildly, veins bulging on his forehead as a yellow sphere of energy rapidly gathered in his hand.

Seeing this, Tien Shinhan carried Yamcha to safety.

"Die!!" Krillin thrust the energy sphere forward.

The energy blast was not particularly fast, and the Saibamen quickly scattered in every direction. It did not hit a single one of them.

But a sly grin appeared on Krillin's lips. "You fell for it!"

He swiftly raised his hand, then slammed it down. The energy blast came to an abrupt stop and flew into the sky before splitting into six energy blasts, which bombarded the five Saibamen below as well as Vegeta and Nappa.

The Saibamen had only just landed and had no time to evade. Under this attack, they were all reduced to ashes. Vegeta and Nappa neither dodged nor moved, taking the attack head-on.

"S-So... amazing, Uncle Krillin." *2, Lin Yiqi and Gohan exclaimed at the same time.

Vegeta and Nappa emerged from the smoke completely unharmed, following the law of smoke without injury.

"H-How is that possible?!" Chiaotzu cried out in shock.

The others were equally stunned. They had expected that attack to be unable to defeat the Saiyans, but it had not caused even the slightest injury! Just how strong were these Saiyans?

Nappa rolled his neck, producing a series of cracks. "Playtime's over, insects." He then turned to Vegeta. "Vegeta, let me kill them."

Vegeta said nothing, which counted as silent approval.

Nappa stepped forward, and a violent aura burst from his body, forming a layer of crackling yellow electricity around him. In the blink of an eye, he arrived before Tien Shinhan and threw a punch.

"Tien Shinhan!! Get out of the way!" Piccolo saw how powerful that punch was. If it landed head-on, Tien Shinhan would surely die.

Tien Shinhan wanted to dodge too, but the powerful aura emanating from his opponent left him unable to move. He could only raise his arms to block.

A cracking sound rang out as Tien Shinhan's arm bent directly to a ninety-degree angle. Then he flew backward like a kite with its string cut.

Piccolo stopped hesitating when he saw this and roared, "Get him together!!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Piccolo, Krillin, and Nam charged at Nappa at the same time. Chiaotzu formed a hand seal with his fingers and aimed at Nappa, trying to restrain his movements.

Yet Nappa was not affected in the slightest. He turned and began fighting the three of them.

Nappa blocked each of their attacks one by one, while each casual strike from him sent one of them flying.

From the moment Yamcha had "died," Lin Yiqi and Gohan had been trembling in terror. They stood there with their mouths wide open, unable to muster even a trace of strength.

There was no helping it—they were only two five-year-old children. Lin Yuan had originally told Lin Yiqi not to get involved, but when the latter heard that Gohan would be coming too, he had secretly followed along.

After knocking the three of them down, Nappa shifted his gaze to Chiaotzu in the sky. Then, with a burst of speed, he appeared behind Chiaotzu, grabbed him by the head, and smashed him into a nearby rock.

Chiaotzu weakly flailed his arms, but it was of no use at all. After being smashed several times, Chiaotzu gradually lost the strength to resist. His arms hung limply at his sides, and he stopped moving.

Within just a few breaths, Nappa had defeated everyone. He laughed arrogantly in the air.

"Ha ha ha, a bunch of insects think they can stop us Saiyans? What a joke...??"

Before he could finish, Nappa felt something latch tightly onto his back.

Nappa turned around and saw that it was the little runt from before! He reached out, trying to grab him, but his massive build and bulging muscles made it impossible for him to reach the small-framed Chiaotzu no matter how hard he tried.

Chiaotzu clung tightly to Nappa's back as a blue glow slowly lit up around his body.

By then, Piccolo, Tien Shinhan, and the others had recovered their senses and all looked at Chiaotzu, unsure of what was happening.

"Chiaotzu! Get down here!!" A terrible premonition rose in Tien Shinhan's heart as he shouted at Chiaotzu.

Chiaotzu squeezed his eyes shut, a trace of relief flashing through his expression. "Goodbye, Tien Shinhan. You absolutely can't die. I... I'm too weak. This is all I can do!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the energy within Chiaotzu's body rapidly swelled. Under Nappa's terrified gaze, it exploded.

"BOOM!"

The massive explosion rang out beside everyone's ears.

Tien Shinhan's eyes nearly split apart with rage. Scene after scene with Chiaotzu replayed endlessly in his mind—from their first meeting and growing acquainted in the Crane School, to meeting Lin Yuan at the Ultra Instinct Dojo, turning away from evil from then on, and becoming friends with Goku, Master Roshi, and all the others.

The final image froze on the moment before Chiaotzu blew himself up, his words echoing in Tien Shinhan's ears.

"Goodbye, Tien Shinhan..."

"AAARGHHHH!!"

Tien Shinhan roared in fury, veins bulging as his entire body took on an unnatural red hue. Even having his arm forcibly broken had not hurt this much, but Chiaotzu's death filled his heart with unbearable grief, rage, and pain.

Shenron had already revived Chiaotzu once. This time, even Shenron could not save him.

Piccolo, Krillin, and the others also wore sorrowful expressions. They had long prepared themselves for sacrifice, but when someone truly died before their eyes, the feeling was far more unbearable than being killed themselves.