"What... weren't the Saiyans destroyed when Planet Vegeta was annihilated?" Vegeta stared at the strangely dressed Saiyan with shock. "How could there be other Saiyans besides the three of us? And... this Saiyan is so powerful!"
Nappa, who had been knocked away moments earlier, came charging back with his mind filled with rage. He hadn't assessed the situation clearly,being hit by a silent sneak attack had wounded his pride beyond measure. How could someone as arrogant and domineering as Nappa endure such humiliation?
"You dare attack me? I'll kill you!" he roared.
He rushed forward and aimed a vicious blow at the back of the mysterious man's head. From the force behind his punch, it was obvious he intended to kill with one strike. His fist moved with lightning speed toward its target, and he was confident that at such close range, there was no way his opponent could dodge.
A trace of pride flashed in Nappa's violent eyes.
However, reality is often cruel. Just as Nappa's confident punch came within centimeters of hitting the back of his target's head, Karnel's head seemed to have eyes in the back of it. He moved slightly to the right, avoiding Nappa's fist effortlessly, then used minimal force to drive his elbow backward into Nappa's muscular stomach.
Bang!
The expression on Nappa's face froze. Severe pain in his abdomen made him bend like a shrimp, curling up with his hands clutching his stomach. His eyes bulged, and saliva dripped from his wide-open mouth.
"Don't be so arrogant," Karnel said lightly while continuing to eat his barbecue. "An ant should know its place and not try to challenge the dignity of an elephant."
"You're a Saiyan too? How is that possible?" Vegeta dropped his barbecue and stared at Karnel intently. "Weren't the Saiyans destroyed by Frieza along with Planet Vegeta?"
Raditz was equally shocked. "What? Vegeta, you're saying Planet Vegeta was destroyed by Frieza? That all the Saiyans on our planet were killed by Frieza?"
"It seems you know quite a bit, Vegeta," Karnel said, throwing away the bone in his hand and clapping his hands clean. "As for me, I left for other parts of the universe before Planet Vegeta was destroyed."
"Vegeta, what's going on? Why didn't Raditz and I know about this?" Nappa, who had just managed to get back on his feet while clutching his stomach, was stunned to hear that this powerful warrior was also a Saiyan—and even more shocked by this revelation about their homeworld.
"Impossible!" Vegeta ignored Nappa completely, gritting his teeth as he shouted angrily at Karnel. "How could there be someone stronger than me among the Saiyans? I am the Saiyan prince, a high-level warrior with a combat power of 18,000 when I was born! How could you be so much stronger than me?"
"Vegeta, his fighting power is... only..." Raditz seemed shocked when he looked at the number on his combat power detector.
Vegeta snapped to attention, wanting to know exactly how strong this person was. He pressed the switch on the combat power detector beside his ear.
Beep beep!
1!!
"This... how is this possible? How can it be only 1? Is the detector broken?" Vegeta crushed the detector in his hand.
"Combat power is only 1? So he's just a weakling after all..." Nappa was about to mock Karnel but was kicked away by Vegeta before he could finish his sentence.
"Nappa, I think your brain is all muscle!" Vegeta snapped. "If his combat power is only 1, how could he defeat you in one move? This guy has completely hidden his energy."
"Yes, I think so too," Raditz said in amazement. "I don't know where he learned the technique to hide his aura and escape detection."
"Saiyan, what is your real combat power?" Vegeta demanded arrogantly.
What use is combat power to me... Karnel thought with amusement.
"If you want to know so badly, I'll let you take a look," he said playfully.
The numbers on the combat power detector in front of Raditz suddenly began jumping wildly.
4,561...
25,005...
594,313!!
"What? This... this can't be real!" Raditz was so frightened he lost control of his bladder. His limbs trembled as he fell to the ground with a vacant look in his eyes.
"Raditz, how strong is this guy? You look terrified—let me see," Nappa said, turning on his own combat power detector after seeing Raditz's reaction.
Vegeta, eager to know the real strength of this mysterious warrior, kicked Raditz away and snatched the detector he was carrying.
Nappa's eyes suddenly bulged out as he stammered in a trembling voice, "594,313? This..."
"Yes, you're all quite foolish," Karnel laughed heartily.
Vegeta was also stunned. Nearly 600,000 combat power—this was even stronger than Frieza!
"Are you the legendary Super Saiyan passed down in our clan?" Vegeta broke out in cold sweat, but there was a hint of joy on his face that quickly turned to unwillingness and anger.
Why? Even an unknown Saiyan can become a Super Saiyan, but I, the fighting genius Vegeta... His thoughts raced. If he could teach me how to become the legendary Super Saiyan...
"You really are children who have never seen the world," Karnel said, shaking his head. "Getting this scared over such little strength."
It seemed that Vegeta and his companions had spent years conquering planets and bullying the weak throughout the universe. They had never experienced a decent battle—no wonder they couldn't become stronger.
Karnel poked at the dying flames on the ground and said casually, "If you say I am, then I am. If you say I'm not, then I'm not."
"No, you must be the legendary Super Saiyan!" Vegeta insisted desperately. "Otherwise, how could you have such incredible fighting power?"