Found the wrong person?
Tao's face darkened instantly, the corners of his mouth trembling uncontrollably. For the world's number one assassin to be so casually dismissed was an unbearable insult to his pride.
"Who are you looking for?"
"None of your business," Raditz replied coolly.
So arrogant! Tao was taken aback—he'd never encountered someone so dismissive. His weathered face flushed instantly as he gritted his teeth. "You're too cocky for your own good."
"Forget it. You're not worth my time," Raditz remained indifferent.
"Hmph, boy, it seems you know my name but not my reputation for terror." Tao placed his hands behind his back, his mechanical eyes extending forward slightly as a sneer crept across his face. "I'd normally charge one million zeni, but I'll send you to the afterlife for free."
"One million zeni?"
"Usually I charge one million to kill someone, but today I'll send you to meet King Yemma at no charge!" Tao shouted, his figure flickering.
In the next instant, he appeared behind Raditz and delivered a powerful kick aimed at the Saiyan's lower back. By his calculations, the blow should have shattered Raditz's spine, leaving him permanently paralyzed.
Just as he was congratulating himself, a shocking realization struck him—his leg felt as though it had hit solid steel. Cold sweat involuntarily beaded across his skin.
Raditz hadn't even bothered to move, standing perfectly still.
"No... impossible..." Tao's face registered pure disbelief as he launched attack after attack. As the younger brother of the Crane Hermit and an elite assassin, his martial arts were truly exceptional, unleashing an endless barrage of sophisticated techniques. The only problem was—for Raditz, they were pathetically weak!
"Are you finished yet, Master?" Raditz casually caught Tao's full-speed punch. With minimal effort, he completely crushed the mechanical hand.
"You... you..." Tao was dumbfounded, sweating profusely as his composure crumbled.
He couldn't even form complete sentences, his jaw trembling uncontrollably.
Raditz checked his scouter, which displayed the number 180.
"Oh, your power level is 180, Master Tao." Raditz approached slowly. "My power level is exactly ten times yours!"
Raditz finally understood how satisfying it must have been for Frieza to declare, "My power level is 530,000." The crushing superiority combined with a dramatic statement of power was truly magnificent.
Ten times!
Tao shuddered in terror, understanding that the strangely dressed man before him wasn't bluffing. His casual demeanor and overwhelming aura said everything.
After a brief internal calculation, Tao abruptly changed his approach, bowing respectfully with extreme humility.
"I'm so sorry! I was wrong! I shouldn't have been so arrogant! Please forgive me! I'll give you all the payment from this job!"
"Uh..." Raditz hadn't expected him to surrender so quickly.
"Not enough? No problem, I have plenty of savings—take it all! I'll never kill again! Just let me go!"
Tao's performance was impressive—beating his chest and stomping his feet while speaking, with seemingly genuine remorse. These acting skills would have fooled many. If Raditz hadn't already known what kind of person he was dealing with, he might have been deceived.
"Actually, I do admire you, Tao. Your distinctive clothing, your legendary silver tongue that inspires fear, that pole you use to travel great distances—you're truly a model villain!"
"I'm... flattered..."
"You misunderstand. That wasn't a compliment." Raditz's expression hardened as he opened his palm toward Tao's head. "What I meant was, you're worth negative one million."
The moment he finished speaking, a blue beam of light erupted from his hand, instantly engulfing Tao without giving him a chance to scream. The headless body collapsed to the floor with a thud, adding another corpse to the bar's dirty floor.
Tao had committed countless atrocities, and Raditz felt that eliminating him was a small contribution toward making the world safer.
Walking out of the deserted bar, his scouter alerted him to another energy signature—this one much farther away, with power exceeding Tao's.
Goku! It had to be!
He could detect that the energy source was moving rapidly before suddenly stopping. According to the original timeline, Goku should be heading to Master Roshi's island, with his four-year-old son Gohan accompanying him.
Raditz immediately accelerated, flying toward Kame House.
After a while, he spotted the island's outline. Under the bright sun, the sea's surface sparkled like scattered gold, with rolling waves reflecting dazzling light. Amid the vast ocean, Kame House stood in solitary splendor. Warm sea breezes rustled through the wooden house, as dappled sunlight filtered through coconut trees onto the sand. Occasionally, seagulls soared past, tracing beautiful arcs across the sky.
Several people stood in front of the house, and Raditz's scouter locked onto one of them—the person with the highest power level on the planet, Son Goku.
Raditz slowly approached the island, observing everything from above.
The group was laughing and talking happily, but as Raditz drew near, Goku sensed an extraordinary energy. He suddenly looked skyward and called out warily, "Who's there?! That's an incredible power!"
Knowing he'd been detected, Raditz accelerated his descent, appearing before them. Seeing the protagonist and his companions from Dragon Ball in person sent an indescribable thrill through him.
"Whoa! This is... so powerful..." Master Roshi exclaimed in shock.
Krillin beside him widened his eyes in astonishment.
"You... who are you?"
"How should I put this? Let me think..." Raditz was about to make a dramatic declaration, but suddenly hesitated.
Initially, he'd only planned to find Goku, without considering what would come next. Why exactly was he seeking him out?
Take him away? That wasn't possible. Kidnap Gohan? That's what the original Raditz had done, but he was different. Meet Goku as a relative and live under the protagonist's protection? No, he needed to control his own destiny!
Both Vegeta and Nappa, somewhere across the universe, knew he'd come to Earth and would arrive sooner or later. In Frieza's conquest plans, Earth was also a short-term target. And Frieza, long resentful of the Saiyans, would eventually exterminate the last survivors of their race.
Considering everything, Raditz had only one path forward—to stand against both Vegeta and Frieza!
He was still too weak. To achieve his grand ambition, he needed to increase his strength significantly. He also needed allies like Goku and Piccolo, and even Vegeta and Nappa would need to be brought to his side.
Though he despised the mindless Nappa, Raditz was prepared to spare him. The most compelling reason was his curiosity about what Nappa's Super Saiyan form might look like. For the sake of witnessing that long-awaited transformation, he would show mercy regardless of the circumstances.
So the question remained: what should he do now?
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