Krillin stood in front of Trin, his orange Turtle School uniform fluttering as if moved by an invisible wind.
He didn't adopt any flashy stance. His arms hung loosely by his sides, and the smooth surface of his bald head reflected the blinding sunlight.
[Ding! Host detected extreme anger. S-Rank emergency task triggered: Exterminate pest.]
[Mission Objective: Eliminate the Saiyan Nappa with absolute overwhelming force.]
[Mission Reward: Saitama Template Fusion +1% (current 36%), skill "Serious Beatdown" proficiency increased, new achievement unlocked: "Overprotective Dad."]
Krillin didn't even blink. He casually swiped the system prompt from his vision.
Right now, he only had one thing in mind.
"Huh…"
He exhaled gently.
Instantly, a wave of white energy radiated outward from him in a perfect circle.
This was no longer the soft, intimidation-based aura he sometimes used. It was pure, brutal energy, capable of tearing the atmosphere itself.
All this time, Krillin had deliberately suppressed his power to around 5,000 to avoid damaging Earth's ecosystem and to give the Z Fighters room to grow.
Now, those limits were gone.
Rumble!
The entire East City trembled.
Distant mountains began to crumble. Clouds tore apart in the sky, revealing the vast, black expanse of space.
"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!"
Vegeta's new combat sensor on his left eye screamed a piercing alarm, like a violin string about to snap.
The numbers on the lens no longer ticked they spun wildly, faster than the retina could track.
5,000… 8,000… 12,000… 18,000…
"This… this is impossible!"
Vegeta leapt to his feet, face pale, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.
He pressed the sensor's side button, trying to reset the clearly "malfunctioning" device.
"Fault! It must be faulty! How could anyone on a desolate frontier planet like Earth reach these numbers?!"
Reality gave him the loudest slap imaginable.
Bang!
With a sharp crack, Vegeta's prized sensor exploded into pieces. Smoke rose, and a streak of blood ran down the corner of his eye.
The final reading had stopped at 22,000.
And this was only the initial surge, the first moment of Krillin's intimidation.
At the center of the battlefield, Nappa was completely dumbstruck.
A seasoned Saiyan warrior, he had massacred countless planetary inhabitants and faced many formidable foes.
But never had he felt such hopelessness.
The bald man in front of him was no mere human.
He was an abyss.
Nappa tried to move, to flee, even to beg on his knees.
But to his horror, his body refused to obey.
His legs felt like they were filled with millions of tons of mercury, nailed to the ground. Not a single finger could twitch.
This was primal fear.
Like a tiny rabbit caught in a Tyrannosaurus' gaze there was nothing to do but tremble.
"You… what… are you…"
Nappa's teeth chattered uncontrollably, the sound shattering the air like a wind-chest being ripped.
Krillin said nothing.
He slowly raised his right fist.
The motion was excruciatingly slow, like an old man doing Tai Chi in the park.
But to Nappa, it moved faster than time itself, cutting off every avenue of escape.
Krillin's gaze was empty. No malice, no rage only a chilling calm that made the heart seize.
His lips moved, and he spoke a few words:
"Just an ordinary punch."
No special effects.
No charging of ki.
Not even the sound of wind.
Krillin vanished from his original spot.
The next moment, he appeared in front of Nappa, his right fist lightly pressing against the Saiyan's rock-hard abs.
Time seemed to freeze for a tenth of a second.
Then,
Smack.
A crisp, sharp sound.
Like a ripe watermelon hit with a hammer, like a water balloon punctured with a needle.
Nappa's mountain-like body didn't even have time to register pain. From the point of impact, he exploded outward.
Boom!
The terrifying force didn't spread across the surface. It penetrated entirely, detonating within Nappa's body.
His eyes bulged, fear still burning within them, and his form disintegrated into a cloud of blood and mist.
The shockwave tore outward.
The mountains behind him, even the ocean several kilometers away, were blasted into a vacuum trench over a hundred meters wide, seemingly endless.
Water evaporated, rocks vaporized.
Seconds later, the delayed sonic boom rolled across the sky, rattling everyone's eardrums.
Nappa, elite Saiyan warrior with a power level of 7,500, was gone.
Not a single bone fragment remained.
Only blood rained across the scorched earth, mixed with splintered organs, hissing as it hit the ground.
A deathly silence enveloped the battlefield.
Everyone's jaws dropped, eyes nearly popping out.
Yamcha swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing nervously. His legs felt weak.
"So… this is Krillin's true strength? How much was he holding back during our training? This… this is like unleashing the entire Pacific Ocean!"
Tien's three eyes all lost focus, cold sweat streaming down his face into his neck.
"One punch… and he didn't even use ki. Nappa's energy was gone in an instant."
Piccolo's green-skinned gaze fixed on Krillin. His fists clenched, nails digging into his palms.
"So this… is the difference? I thought after six months of training, I could at least keep up. Turns out, I don't even deserve to look up at him."
Trin jumped up, waving his little hands excitedly.
"Dad is awesome! That's the move! I want to learn it too! Just one punch, and that big meanie went up in fireworks!"
Krillin stood amid the blood rain, not a single drop staining him.
Anything unclean that came within three inches of his body was automatically repelled by an invisible protective aura.
He slowly withdrew his fist and flicked it lightly, as if he had just swatted an annoying mosquito.
Then, he turned to the distance, where Vegeta was completely petrified.
"Next."
Krillin's voice was soft, yet it carried across the battlefield.
Vegeta shivered, finally coming to his senses.
He glanced at the spot where Nappa had vanished, now only a smoking crater remained.
The air reeked of blood and charred flesh, the only proof that his companion had existed.
Fear?
No.
Vegeta's cold sweat evaporated instantly, replaced by a twisted exhilaration.
Hahaha… hahahaha!
Vegeta threw back his head and laughed, madness lacing every note.
"This is fun! Too fun!"
He ripped off his tattered battle jacket, revealing his muscular frame.
Golden energy flared around him, blasting surrounding rocks away.
"I thought this trip to Earth would be a boring cleanup mission.
Never imagined such monsters lurk on a remote, abandoned planet!"
Vegeta's eyes locked on Krillin, flames of battle practically visible.
"Power over 20,000… maybe even higher! Even in Frieza's army, that would be top-tier!"
"Good. Only by defeating an opponent like you can I prove the pride of Prince Vegeta!"
He assumed a fighting stance, muscles coiled like drawn bows.
"Come! Baldy! Let's see whether your fists are stronger, or the bones of a Saiyan prince!"
The moment Vegeta prepared to charge,
[Ding! Congratulations, Host has completed mission: Exterminate pest.]
[Reward granted: Saitama Template Fusion +1% (current 37%).]
[System Rating: SSS (Perfect Strike).]
Krillin glanced at the system reward, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Objective complete. Threat neutralized. Experience gained.
Next, it was time to hand the stage over to the real protagonist.
After all, if he cleared all the monsters, Goku's half-year Kaioken training would be wasted.
And according to the original timeline, the upcoming battle between Goku and Vegeta marked the start of their complex bond.
If Krillin intervened too much, it could disrupt the Namek storyline.
With that thought, the suffocating, overwhelming aura around him deflated instantly, disappearing without a trace.
His posture, once as tall as a pine, slumped.
"Oy…"
Krillin bent over, clutching his lower back, making a face of exaggerated pain.
"I can't… can't do it! Ow, my back! That last punch… overdid it! Old age is no joke, bones weakening!"
Everyone: …
Vegeta staggered mid-step, nearly face-planting.
He glared at Krillin, blue veins throbbing on his forehead.
"You… are you joking?! That kind of power… and you hurt your back?!"
Krillin ignored Vegeta's roaring. He pounded his back and pretended to hobble backward.
He even pulled out a bottle of eye drops, adding a few "tears" for effect.
"Goku! Goku! I'm done. The rest is up to you. You can test your Kaioken training on them."
"I need to take Trin aside. The kid was terrified and needs some fatherly comfort."
With that, Krillin Instant Transferred next to Trin, scooped up his dazed son, and ducked behind a rock several hundred meters away, cracking open a pack of sunflower seeds.
Trin looked confused, chocolate still half in his mouth.
"Dad, your acting is so exaggerated."
"Shut up and eat your chocolate," Krillin whispered.
At the center of the battlefield,
Goku watched, scratching his head, his trademark goofy grin spreading across his face.
"Krillin… man, he didn't even break a sweat."
Goku flexed his wrists, pressed his boots firmly into the ground, and began walking toward the furious Vegeta.
"Since Krillin's giving me the opportunity, I won't hold back."
Goku stopped, his gaze sharpening.
His energy began to rise, radiating pure, heated combat intent, different from Krillin's imposing dominance.
"So you must be the Saiyan called Vegeta, huh?"
Goku assumed the Turtle School stance, his red sash fluttering in the wind.
"I'm Son Goku, also known as Kakarot, the Saiyan raised on Earth."
"While I don't really buy your kill-first philosophy, as a martial artist, I want to see exactly how strong a Saiyan prince really is."
Vegeta sized up the man, noting a resemblance to Raditz. The anger in his eyes cooled slightly, replaced by disdain.
"Hmph. Kakarot. A low-class warrior sent to a backwater planet dares to boast in front of me?"
Vegeta sneered, floating upward to tower over Goku.
"The bald guy earlier had some skill, I'll give him that. But you? I saw Raditz's data. Your power level back then didn't even reach 400. Even resurrected, what can you do?"
"Then let's find out."
Goku grinned, and a burst of white aura exploded around him.
"Ha!"