After clearing away the Tree of Might, Goku found Vegeta barely clinging to life.
Even Piccolo—who was stronger—had died in the fight, and yet Vegeta had somehow survived. His vitality was seriously impressive.
Without hesitation, Goku gave him a Senzu Bean, and Vegeta was healed instantly.
Goku turned to Raditz.
"Big bro, I'm heading home to check on Bulma. You take him to the training chamber."
Raditz nodded.
"Ah, right! I almost forgot. Your wife's just a normal human—I'll handle it. You go!"
Goku shot off at full speed.
Meanwhile, Vegeta stood trembling.
The familiar surge from surviving near death, now amplified by a Senzu Bean, gave him another massive power boost.
He screamed, energy erupting from his body like a volcano.
"Unbelievable! Earth has something this amazing? I've gotten even stronger!"
For the first time in a long time, he felt alive—free to unleash his strength without holding back.
Still buzzing from the rush, he turned to Raditz.
"Hey, Raditz… do you have more of those beans?"
Raditz immediately understood where this was going.
"Wait… You're not thinking of abusing the Saiyan near-death recovery trait with Senzu Beans, are you?"
Vegeta paused.
"Is there a problem?"
Raditz nodded seriously.
"Yeah. Sure, it works. But it's just burning through your potential faster. You'll hit a wall soon."
"The best way to get stronger is still through smart, efficient training."
Vegeta's face stiffened. His wild idea was snuffed out before it even began.
A little later, the rest of the group arrived in a rush—only to find the situation already resolved and the Tree of Might gone.
Everyone relaxed.
"If we'd known Goku would solo it, we wouldn't have rushed," someone muttered.
"Seriously, that wore me out…"
Krillin glanced around.
"Wait—where's Goku?"
Raditz said casually,
"He came, killed Turles, destroyed the tree, and left without even staying three minutes. Rushed straight home."
Krillin blinked.
"That fast?"
Yamcha laughed.
"Man, Goku's so whipped. Probably worried the tree drained Bulma's life force and she'd drop dead. Hahaha!"
Krillin's face paled.
"Oh no—Snow and my daughter are still at home! I gotta go!"
He immediately activated Kaio-Ken x20 and vanished in a streak of red light.
Tien and Yamcha stared, dumbfounded.
Chi-Chi smirked.
"What's the matter? Not funny anymore? Tastes more like couple envy now, doesn't it?"
Now Tien and Yamcha scratched their heads awkwardly.
"…Dang, I wanted to fight. My hands are still itchy."
Before anyone could respond, a sudden Ki blast struck Yamcha—engulfing him in an explosion.
Vegeta flinched, sweat forming on his brow.
"…Looks like we've still got enemies."
Above them, a large alien spaceship descended. Its hatch opened, and twelve bizarre-looking alien warriors flew out.
Tien, Chi-Chi, and even Chiaotzu grinned in anticipation.
To them, this was a long-awaited warm-up.
As the smoke cleared, Yamcha emerged unharmed.
"That sneak attack pissed me off! There's twelve of them—three each! No stealing!"
Chi-Chi cracked her knuckles.
"Agreed."
Chiaotzu pointed at two bald shorties.
"Those two are mine!"
They didn't even see enemies—they saw exercise dummies.
Vegeta stared in disbelief.
They're… excited?
These Earthlings were just humans—yet they were eager to fight. They had the battle lust of Saiyans.
He wanted to jump in too, to test his power after his recent boosts.
But the moment they started fighting… he froze.
Even now, after two back-to-back power-ups, he couldn't keep up.
'The Tree of Might was destroyed… so why haven't the fruit-eaters weakened? Did I misunderstand something?'
Just as he was about to join the fight, a shockwave sent him flying backward.
"Dammit!"
Vegeta growled, clenching his fists.
He had no idea the gap was this wide.
He, the Prince of Saiyans, couldn't even participate. His fury meant nothing—he may as well be an angry ant.
An inferno of humiliation smoldered inside him.
Raditz stepped in, trying to calm him.
"Easy, Vegeta. This isn't the time for you to jump in. Let me show you the gravity chamber and gravity wristbands first. Once you see what we've been working with, you'll understand how brutal our training's been."
"Gravity chamber…? Gravity wristbands?"
Vegeta was stunned.
He knew about gravity training—but didn't expect a backwater planet like Earth to have that kind of tech.
Wasn't Earth supposed to be primitive?
Yet here it was—crude on the surface, hiding absurd advancements underneath.
Up above, flashes of battle lit the sky.
Vegeta watched the Earthlings beat the Tree of Might-enhanced aliens like toddlers.
His worldview collapsed a little more.
He wasn't angry that they were strong—he was angry they were stronger than him.
"How… how can this be? I'm the Prince of the Saiyan race… and I can't even compare to them?"
His mouth stayed shut, but his sour face said it all. His entire body language screamed I refuse to accept this.
Raditz smirked.
It was just like when he first came to Earth—shocked, humbled, and completely out of his depth.
"Hey, Vegeta. Watching them fight… what do you think?"
Vegeta's pupils flickered.
"Raditz, tell me honestly—what's their power level?"
Raditz tilted his head.
"Last year's readings—Goku was the strongest. Around six million."
Vegeta's jaw dropped.
Raditz continued.
"The bald one that just left? That's Krillin. Last year he was 4.8 million. Strongest Earthling by far. Grew up training with Goku."
"Then there's Chi-Chi—Goku's second wife. Last year she was around 4 million."
Raditz pointed up at the woman battling aliens midair.
Before he could finish—
"FOUR… WHAT?!"
Vegeta interrupted him, nearly choking.
Raditz nodded calmly.
"Yep. Minimum of one million across the board—except Chiaotzu. He's just under."
Vegeta's jaw hung open. It looked like he could fit an egg in his mouth.
He stood frozen, world collapsing around him.
"Six… six million?! That's ten times Frieza!"
"But… but… I'm not even at twenty thousand…"
"Kakarot was just a low-class warrior—how the hell is he this strong?"
He staggered, feet losing their grip.
Then, voice trembling:
"You're sure it's six million? You didn't mean six thousand, right?"
Raditz patted his shoulder sympathetically.
"No mistake. And that's last year. He's probably stronger now."
Vegeta was in full existential crisis.
He remembered the message in his scouter back when he came to Earth:
"Come to Earth, Vegeta. Let's team up to take down Frieza."
He had taken it as a joke—a wild fantasy.
He thought maybe he'd meet some interesting fighters.
But what he found…
He was the joke.
Even the minions of the enemies here could swat him like a bug.
He wasn't qualified to lead anything.
Any of these Earthlings could kill him with a flick.
And suddenly, he was grateful.
Grateful he hadn't tried to invade Earth.
Grateful he sent Raditz instead.
Grateful Raditz was Goku's brother.
Otherwise, he and Nappa would've died without anyone even blinking.
As he struggled to digest it all, the battle ended.
The twelve warriors from Turles' ship were all beaten half to death.
Vegeta's head swam.
'These Earthlings… they're ruthless…'
And then Tien said:
"Nice work, everyone. Even Chiaotzu controlled his power well—not a single one died."
Chiaotzu grinned.
Yamcha added, "Alright, now that everyone's warmed up…"
"Time to finish them."
Chi-Chi nodded. "Go ahead, I'm too lazy to bother."
Yamcha didn't hesitate—he raised his hand and obliterated all twelve with a single energy blast.
Not even dust remained.
Vegeta stood frozen, his earlier thoughts about naïve Earthlings now buried in shame.
'…Good thing I kept my mouth shut.'
West City – Capsule Corporation
When Goku burst into the house in a panic, Bulma jumped.
"What's wrong, Goku? You look pale!"
Seeing she was unharmed, Goku finally relaxed.
"You didn't feel anything strange earlier?"
Bulma thought for a moment.
"You mean those weird branches in the sky?"
Goku nodded.
"Yeah, when they appeared, I suddenly felt really weak. But it passed…"
She paused—then her expression softened into a gentle smile.
"So… is that why you came rushing home? You were worried about me, huh?"
Goku didn't say anything.
Instead, he reached out and pulled her into a hug, breathing in the scent of her hair.
Bulma, surprised but moved, wrapped her arms around him, nuzzling into his chest.
"I was training on King Kai's Planet when I suddenly got a really bad feeling," Goku murmured. "So I came back."
Bulma whispered,
"False alarm then…"
"…Let's hope so."
Meanwhile, on TV—
Multiple experts were arguing about the mysterious sky-tree phenomenon.
Suddenly, a breaking news report interrupted:
"We bring you major breaking news!
The enormous sky-tree has vanished! Sunlight has returned, and the desertified land is blooming again!
Elderly citizens and young children who were affected have made full recoveries!"
Another anchor added:
"According to eyewitnesses, this incident began in East City.
Multiple citizens claim to have seen spherical spacecraft and humanoid aliens disembark.
Reports suggest Earth's hero, Mr. Krillin, may have been involved in the rescue.
Media outlets are en route to his home for interviews!"
Vegeta stared blankly at the TV.
And once again, silently, deeply… questioned everything.