When Bardock tried to take Raditz away, Vegeta set a condition: if Bardock could defeat him, he would allow Raditz to leave.
A battle was inevitable.
As for the outcome, it was never truly in doubt.
Bardock's combat power had already exceeded ten thousand long ago. After the destruction of Planet Vegeta, his strength continued to rise, eventually reaching the tens of thousands. And when he faced Frieza's planet-destroying attack head-on, his power surged to an unprecedented level.
Although his strength declined somewhat after his resurrection, it still hovered near twenty thousand—slightly surpassing Vegeta. Combined with years of relentless combat experience, far beyond that of the young prince, Bardock held a decisive advantage.
With superior power and vastly greater experience, the result was inevitable: Prince Vegeta suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Bardock, a low-class Saiyan warrior.
After the battle, and given their strained relationship, Bardock wasted no time. He took Raditz, reunited with Gine, and left.
Originally, they intended to head straight to Earth. However, Frieza's army had deployed scouts across the universe, relentlessly hunting the remaining Saiyans. Their movements were frequently exposed.
It was only thanks to Bardock's growing strength—and his instinct to retreat at the first sign of danger, taking Gine and Raditz with him—that the three managed to survive.
Under such pressure, their plan to travel to Earth and find Kakarot had to be postponed.
Earth was a remote world, and aside from them, only Vegeta and a handful of others knew of Kakarot's whereabouts. Given Vegeta's pride, he would never willingly reveal that information.
To avoid drawing Frieza's attention to Earth—and to prevent placing Kakarot in even greater danger—Bardock and the others stayed away, despite Gine's constant worry.
It wasn't until more than two years ago, when turmoil spread across the universe, that things began to change. News circulated that Zarbon, the leader of the Universe Pirates, had been utterly defeated—only to vanish without a trace.
No one knew what had become of him. Many believed he had died in silence.
Bardock and the others paid little attention. Both Zarbon and his mysterious opponent were far beyond their level.
Yet with Zarbon's disappearance came something unexpected: Frieza's army abruptly ceased its hunt for surviving Saiyans.
Cautious by nature, Bardock, Gine, and Raditz spent time confirming the truth. In the end, they were certain—Frieza had indeed called off the pursuit, and they had not been tracked for a long time.
Once this was verified, Bardock and Gine made their decision.
They would go to Earth.
Years of hiding, fleeing, and constant battle—combined with deliberate training—had greatly increased their strength. Bardock's combat power had risen to over sixty thousand. Raditz, now fully grown, had just surpassed ten thousand. Gine, though not a warrior by nature, had reached slightly over five thousand.
This was precisely why Raditz was so shocked when his scouter detected power levels on Earth exceeding ten thousand—and one individual reaching as high as fifty-three thousand.
As a Saiyan prodigy, Raditz himself had only just crossed the ten-thousand mark. For such power to exist on a remote, backwater planet like Earth was utterly inconceivable.
"Gine, don't worry. Kakarot will be safe," Bardock said, trying to reassure her.
Then his gaze shifted to Raditz, who was visibly agitated after reading the scouter's data.
"Is something wrong?"
He had clearly heard the numbers Raditz shouted earlier, and even he looked surprised.
Raditz quickly stepped forward and reported, "The strongest person on Earth has a combat power of fifty-three thousand!"
Even as he spoke, doubt crept into his voice. He pointed to Bardock's scouter.
"Mine might be malfunctioning. Dad, check it yourself."
"Fifty-three thousand?"
Both Bardock and Gine were taken aback.
Gine's expression changed immediately. The thought of such a powerful being on Earth sent her worry for Kakarot soaring.
Even Bardock, whose strength now exceeded that of the former King Vegeta, was only slightly above sixty thousand. Worse still, during their years on the run, they had encountered many strange races—some capable of fluctuating or concealing their true power.
If the scouter read fifty-three thousand, the actual strength could be even higher—possibly beyond what even Bardock could handle.
"Beep… beep… beep…"
With grim expressions, both Bardock and Gine activated the scouters on their ears.
These models had extremely high detection limits—capable of measuring power levels well beyond one hundred thousand.
As the data continued to compile, Bardock and Gine's expressions grew increasingly solemn.
The readings from their scouters matched Raditz's exactly. There were several individuals with combat power exceeding one thousand, one surpassing ten thousand—and the strongest of them all reached fifty-three thousand.
More importantly, according to the scouter data, all of these individuals were gathered in the same location.
And beyond those few with exceptionally high power levels, there were many others at that same place whose strength far exceeded that of ordinary Earth life forms.
Were they holding some kind of event?
"Dad, Mom… are your readings the same?" Raditz asked, his expression turning uneasy as he noticed their grim faces.
"They are," Bardock confirmed.
Gine clenched her teeth, her worry written plainly across her face as she turned to him. "Bardock… what should we do?"
Though she didn't say it aloud, a dreadful thought had already taken root in her heart—Kakarot was most likely gone.
Bardock understood. He had reached the same conclusion.
Still, he shook his head. "We're going to check it out. That strongest one might be powerful… but we're not without our own trump cards."
Even if the worst had already happened, they needed to see the truth with their own eyes.
Just as the three of them prepared to move, a figure appeared silently before them.
It was Rhode's clone.
Ever since their spaceship had landed on Earth, Rhode had been watching their every move. Now, seeing that they were heading toward the World Martial Arts Tournament—and possibly intending to cause trouble—his clone had come to intercept them.
"Who are you?!" Raditz demanded, startled by the sudden appearance. He immediately glanced at his scouter—
—but the reading showed the opponent's combat power as only five.
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