On the smoke-filled battlefield, the two stood back to back.
Aside from the subtle differences in their hairstyles and the deep cross-shaped scar on Bardock's cheek, the two looked almost identical.
Bardock, his back to Son Goku, his chest heaving, asked in a hoarse, low voice, "Who are you?"
Son Goku looked surprised. He pointed to himself and answered with a naive and matter-of-fact expression:
"Huh? You're asking me? I'm Son Goku!"
He scratched his head, a signature innocent smile on his face.
"I'd also like to ask you who you are?"
Son Goku?
Bardock's newly risen hope was instantly extinguished by a bucket of cold water.
Bardock stared at the face before him, seemingly unwilling to give up, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Are you Saiyan?"
"Hmm!" Son Goku nodded subconsciously as he casually smashed the head of an onrushing ghost, his tone matter-of-fact. "I'm Saiyan grew up on Earth!"
When the word "Earth" reached his ears, Bardock shuddered violently.
The deathly grayness in his eyes was suddenly torn apart by a beam of light.
He slightly opened his mouth, and the deep cross-shaped scar on his weathered face seemed to soften a bit.
Back then, it was he who personally placed his weak second son into that small, circular spacecraft and set the coordinates of that remote planet.
"It really is you..."
Bardock's voice was almost drowned out by the surrounding sounds of fighting.
" Kakarot!"
Upon hearing this, Son Goku looked surprised. With a swift and clean whip kick, he shattered the breastbones of two undead, then turned back to look at this strange fellow with a puzzled expression.
"Huh? How do you know my name?"
Bardock did not answer his question.
His gaze passed over the layers of the dead, landing on the elegant and composed silver-white figure high in the sky, who was fighting against multiple opponents single-handedly. His eyes suddenly became sharp and complex.
Why did you help Frieza?
Bardock's voice suddenly rose, carrying a questioning tone.
"Do you know?! It was him! He destroyed the Saiyan ' home planet— Planet Vegeta!"
Son Goku dodged a dark red energy beam that shot from a tricky angle, and then unleashed a Ki Wave that cleared the area in front of him.
He nodded calmly.
"Yes, I know."
"My grandfather taught me from a young age that evil will be punished." Son Goku's tone was calm, without any heavy burden of carrying the weight of a blood feud. "Perhaps that's the Saiyan ' retribution!"
"Those kinds of guys, invading everywhere, it's hard to imagine them ever becoming good! So, they deserved it!" Son Goku continued, as if stating a very simple fact.
"But now, King Frieza has changed for the better, and over the years, Frieza Force has made great contributions to universal peace."
"Everything he's done can be seen as retribution for the sins he committed before!"
retribution?
Did he deserve it?
Bardock was stunned...
What kind of talk is that?
Is this something Saiyan should say?!
Something feels off...
And it sounds like... even Frieza has become better?
This world is becoming increasingly incomprehensible.
Bardock suddenly chuckled softly, a laugh tinged with self-mockery and an unprecedented sense of relief.
"I see..."
" Frieza and the Saiyan... have actually reunited in such a bizarre way?"
He remained silent for a moment, then swung his iron fist, smashing an approaching undead skeleton to pieces.
Then, as Son Goku attacked forward, Bardock was suddenly caught off guard and torn to shreds by the oncoming undead warrior!
Son Goku stared wide-eyed, his expression tense as he looked at the spot where Bardock's figure had vanished.
But soon, Bardock's figure reformed.
Son Goku finally breathed a sigh of relief, watching Bardock frown, looking hesitant and as if wondering why this person, who was clearly like those undead warriors, was helping him, or perhaps he was thinking of something else...
" Raditz..." Bardock's voice rang out again.
He asked the question seemingly casually, but his tone carried a hint of anticipation that he himself was unaware of.
"... how's it going?"
Son Goku was taken aback again upon hearing this. He scratched his head and put on his signature innocent smile.
" Raditz... he's doing well now, isn't he?"
"Although they don't have strong Power Level, their life should be very easy..."
"Yeah..."
Bardock nodded in satisfaction.
Finally, a smile appeared on his lips, a smile that showed he had completely let go of all his burdens.
The two stood back to back, working in perfect harmony to deal with the relentless onslaught of undead warriors.
However, the surrounding pink gas grew increasingly dense, and the shattered undead, enveloped in the deathly aura, reassembled at a rate even faster than they had destroyed anything.
The situation on the battlefield is deteriorating at a visible rate.
"You... seem as kind as her!" Bardock murmured something, but even Son Goku couldn't hear him clearly.
"So... this is really confusing..."
After speaking, Bardocks looked up abruptly, as if he had made a decision.
" Kakarot!"
He called out loudly.
"These guys! They're unkillable!"
Bardock abruptly raised his hand, pointing below at the massive, nightmarish Metal Planet that hovered above Planet Frieza's atmosphere.
"That planet! It's releasing ' Ki of Utter Death '!"
Bardock's tone became extremely solemn.
"We can't eliminate these guys without destroying that planet!"
"Even if you don't die from exhaustion, you will still die from poisoning due to inhaling too much of this Ki of Utter Death!"
Son Goku looked in the direction he was pointing, and his expression became serious!
The Namekian ' superhuman hearing allowed Piccolo to hear every single word of Bardock and Son Goku's conversation.
Piccolo's movement of unleashing the energy wave paused for a moment.
His peripheral vision swept over the massive Metal Planet clinging to the surface of Planet Frieza, then glanced at the undead around him, shattered and writhing and reforming in the pink gas.
I see.
Is that thing the source?
Piccolo's eyes instantly turned cold and sharp.
"Drink it!"
A loud shout!
Piccolo's thick arms suddenly jerked outwards!
A violent green shockwave, centered on him, swept out like a tsunami!
This force is no longer simply about repelling the enemy, but rather a crushing force containing extreme destructive power!
All the undead warriors who attempted to approach him were instantly vaporized and crushed into the most primitive energy particles by the destructive shockwave, along with the pink death aura surrounding them!
A huge circular vacuum zone with a diameter of over 100 meters was forcibly cleared out!
" Piccolo..."
Son Goku stared at the area that had been instantly cleared away.
Piccolo abruptly raised his head, his sharp gaze locking onto the Metal Planet!
He put his index and middle fingers together and touched his forehead.
Accompanied by a high-frequency energy buzzing sound!
Extremely violent, highly concentrated spiraling flames gathered wildly at Piccolo's fingertips!