Defeating the Prince

Above the clouds, Vegeta panted heavily, having nearly been blasted off Earth by the Kamehameha.

He simply could not understand how Kakarot, a warrior with such low combat power, could use some unknown method to multiply his own power again and again.

"Damn it! What the hell is wrong with this planet? Being able to freely control ki is one thing, but they can even multiply their strength!"

Vegeta clenched his fists so tightly that he nearly bit through his teeth!

He had worked so hard to become the strongest warrior among the Saiyans, yet now he not only had to endure Frieza's control, but had also been beaten into this state by a low-class Saiyan warrior.

"Now isn't the time to care about appearances. Hahahaha!" Vegeta had made up his mind. He would transform into a Great Ape and completely destroy this planet!

But after looking around, he found no sign of the moon.

"Damn it, did they destroy the moon in advance? Or does this planet not have a moon...? Whatever."

With that, Vegeta raised his hand and fired a pale white spherical energy ball into the sky. The energy ball hovered above him, continuously expanding and growing larger as it radiated an intense light.

Vegeta stared at the artificial moon, his blood gradually beginning to boil as his eyes slowly lost focus.

"Thump, thump, thump..."

As his heartbeat grew louder and louder, Vegeta's ki swelled along with his body.

Lin Yuan was searching for Vegeta's ki from the ground when he suddenly saw a brilliant light flare above the clouds. At some point, a round sphere had appeared in the sky.

"Oh no!" Realizing what might be happening, Lin Yuan shot into the sky at top speed.

"Roar!!!"

Lin Yuan had only flown halfway up when a deafening roar came from overhead. Then he saw a gigantic black ape diving down at him from the sky, like some ancient beast.

"Roar—!!!" Great Ape Vegeta crashed straight into the ground, roaring continuously and pounding his chest. The sound made the earth tremble. His terrifying aura rippled outward, and the mere shockwaves of his ki crushed all the surrounding rocks.

Lin Yuan watched Vegeta with a grave expression. The ki emanating from Vegeta was the strongest he had ever felt, nearly twenty times stronger than Lin Yuan's own!

After venting for a while, Great Ape Vegeta turned his gaze toward Lin Yuan and spoke in human language. "Where is that Kakarot? I'm going to kill him first, then it'll be your turn!"

"Sorry, Goku was only responsible for the first half. Now it's my turn to deal with you."

After hearing Lin Yuan's words, Great Ape Vegeta leaped and arrived right in front of him, his pair of crimson eyes staring directly at Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan felt that if a Great Ape could show expressions, Vegeta would definitely be looking at him with a mocking grin right now.

"Forget it, it's all the same. I'll kill you first, then. I'm quite curious about you as well, so let me see your true strength. Oh, and I should remind you—when we Saiyans transform into Great Apes, our combat power increases tenfold!"

Having said that, Vegeta expected to see surprise, shock, or fear on Lin Yuan's face. But Lin Yuan did not react as he wished. Instead, he calmly said, "You don't need to remind me. Actually, I know Saiyan power even better than you do. That includes your weaknesses, of course!"

What? He's bluffing, Vegeta thought. An Earthling knew Saiyans better than he did? He was the Saiyan prince!

"For example... how about this?"

While Vegeta was still stunned, Lin Yuan slowly spoke and spread his hands before him.

"Solar Flare!!!"

The intense light instantly blinded Vegeta. He covered his eyes and cried out repeatedly.

"Damn it! My eyes!"

Taking advantage of the moment, Lin Yuan used Instant Transmission to appear behind Vegeta. He formed his ki into a blade and slashed viciously at the base of Vegeta's tail!

Splat.

Bang!

With a crisp sound, Vegeta's tail was severed and crashed heavily to the ground.

Still blinded, Vegeta felt his entire body go numb. Then his enormous body rapidly shrank, slowly returning to human form.

Vegeta fell to his knees, his face deathly pale. He turned to look behind him and screamed in horror.

"Argh!! My tail!! Damn it!!"

Seeing Vegeta's fury, Lin Yuan helplessly shrugged.

"See? Do you believe me now? I told you I knew more than you, but you wouldn't believe me!"

Vegeta glared at Lin Yuan furiously, his eyes seeming ready to devour him alive.

"Cut the crap! I'll kill you!"

With that, he charged at Lin Yuan in a rage.

Lin Yuan immediately activated the twofold Kaio-ken. Facing the charging Vegeta, he merely shifted slightly to the side before driving a heavy punch into Vegeta's abdomen. He followed it with a rising knee that sent Vegeta flying into the air. Lin Yuan shot after him, clasped his hands together like a hammer, and smashed them down hard onto Vegeta's back, blasting him into the ground.

After the dust settled, Vegeta lay in the center of a crater-like pit, unable to move. His battle armor was severely damaged and covered in cracks.

"H-How is this possible...? I'm... Vegeta..." Even now, Vegeta refused to accept reality.

In truth, if Vegeta had been at full strength, Lin Yuan might have needed to put in some effort to defeat him. But after his intense battle with Goku, firing a full-power blast, and then having his tail suddenly cut off—

It could be said that Vegeta's debuffs had fully stacked. On top of that, Lin Yuan had gone all out from the start, which was why he had been able to defeat Vegeta so quickly.

Using his last bit of strength, Vegeta pulled a remote control from his clothes. After pressing it a few times, the round spacecraft he had arrived in soon descended beside him.

Vegeta painfully crawled toward the machine. He had to escape this place. Once he recovered, he would return and take his revenge.

Seeing this, Lin Yuan slowly walked toward Vegeta, whose face was filled with despair.

At that moment, Goku flew over as well. Thinking Lin Yuan was about to finish Vegeta off, he called out to him.

"Lin Yuan, how about we let it go? Spare him..."

Before Goku could finish, Lin Yuan gave him a reassuring look. He walked up to Vegeta, reached out, removed the scouter he was wearing, and crushed it in one grip.

Vegeta had no idea what Lin Yuan meant. He no longer had the strength to resist, not even enough strength to speak. If Lin Yuan wanted to kill him, he would undoubtedly die.

Lin Yuan smiled at Vegeta.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. I'm sure you know that the scouter just now was being monitored by someone, right?"

Vegeta's pupils contracted sharply. How did this person know about that? And from his tone, it seemed he even knew Frieza?

"I just wanted to remind you: since he already knows that Namek has Dragon Balls, then... there's a good chance he'll go looking for them too. For all we know, he might already be on his way."

As he spoke, Lin Yuan took a scouter identical in model to Vegeta's from his pocket and placed it on Vegeta's head.

"I modified this scouter. There's a button here. Press it, and Frieza will be able to hear what you say. Press it again, and he won't hear anything. You can use it to feed him false information. That way, you might still have a chance."

Ignoring Vegeta's stunned expression, Lin Yuan left with Goku.

Meanwhile, Vegeta, his mind a complete mess, climbed into his spacecraft and vanished into the depths of space.