A searing white light erupted, a brilliance so intense it could blind. The world turned pure white. Then came the violent trembling of the earth, and finally a thunderous roar.
Farther away, Invisible Woman and the others clearly saw the flash of white light, and then an enormous mushroom cloud rising from the ground.
The white light shifted in color, from a faint golden tint to blazing hot crimson. The colossal cloud swelled at a monstrous speed, layer upon layer of sonic boom clouds stacking from bottom to top like a raging beast's roar, expanding outward with terrifying majesty.
The surface was first scoured away by the extreme heat, then deeper layers of earth were hurled into the sky by the shockwave. As far as the eye could see, everything was a blur of gray.
The overwhelming heat annihilated everything. Any life form within the range suffered only one fate: vaporization. Over a dozen kilometers, concrete was burned into glass, charred black soil crumbled to powder at the slightest touch. From high above, nothing remained. The buildings farther out were not spared either; the superheated hurricane winds swept through, leaving only chaos and wreckage.
A long time later, aside from the dust still suspended in the sky, everything fell silent. The scalding temperature slowly cooled, from the outside in.
A single living being had unleashed such cataclysmic power, energy exceeding even that of an atomic bomb. Everyone was dumbfounded.
As for the Green Hulk, who had taken the brunt of that terrifying energy attack, there was no more movement. No one knew if he was dead or merely unconscious like Ben Grimm, the Thing.
And just when everyone was sinking into despair, a dark figure appeared in the sky.
The Dark Knight Zod!
"That guy… why does he always show up at the last second?"
Tony Stark complained. Of course, he knew Zod Hess was incredibly busy. He carried the heavy responsibility of directing S.W.O.R.D., was the head of the Umbrella Corporation, and the developer of all kinds of advanced technology. He probably had very little free time.
Still, facing Raditz, who had just unleashed such a horrifying attack, could Zod win?
Zod landed on the ground.
"Who are you?" Raditz asked.
"Dark Knight. Saiyan. Is it true what you said about selling planets?" Zod Hess voiced the question on everyone's mind.
"Of course. We Saiyans make our living selling planets with good environments. Earth is that kind of planet." Raditz spoke while seizing the moment to recover his ki.
"What about the humans?" Zod Hess asked.
"Foolish question. We kill all the life forms on those planets, of course. Otherwise, how would we sell them?" Raditz sneered, his ki finally restored.
"So there is no room for compromise?" Zod Hess nodded. Raditz immediately fired an energy ball to test Zod's strength.
The scouter oddly failed to detect the opponent's power level.
Yet the fearsome energy ball was perfectly neutralized by Zod, who simply extended one hand and formed an energy shield.
"Energy neutralization technology. One way to apply an energy shield," Zod explained to Raditz, who could not comprehend what happened, and to the other Earthlings.
"Hmph, I can still take care of you with my fists!" Raditz vanished in an instant, reappearing directly in front of Zod and throwing a punch.
Zod remained unruffled, reaching out and catching Raditz's fist. All Raditz felt was a high-frequency vibration from the other's hand, and his immensely powerful punch seemed to destroy nothing at all.
"Vibration can diminish kinetic effects. It's excellent for defense against purely physical attacks, and just as destructive when used offensively." Zod continued his commentary. His right hand clenched into a fist, which began vibrating at high frequency.
"Every substance has its own natural frequency. Once you find that frequency, you can destroy anything through resonance."
In the next instant, Zod Hess struck. Raditz instinctively blocked with his arm, but Zod's fist vibrated at high frequency, intensifying the vibration in Raditz's arm. When the amplitude reached its limit and exceeded the arm's resistance, Raditz's arm snapped.
"AAAAAHHHH!"
Raditz clutched his broken arm. He never imagined his arm could be broken so easily.
What happened?
Natural frequency? Resonance?
What was all that nonsense?
Aside from Tony Stark, who had a thoughtful expression, everyone else was completely baffled.
Raditz frantically fired energy balls from his remaining left hand at Zod. This time Zod did not even raise a hand. He simply advanced steadily, a light blue energy shield flickering to life on the surface of his nanotech armor. Every energy ball Raditz launched at the shield was neutralized and dissolved on impact. The terrifyingly powerful attacks that had plagued the superheroes and caused heavy casualties now seemed flimsier than feathers.
Raditz could not accept this. Gritting his teeth, he gathered his ki, preparing to unleash another of those devastating energy cannons.
"Don't let him attack, Zod!" Tony shouted urgently.
Zod Hess nodded and casually waved his hand. Raditz instantly froze in place.
An invisible attack cleanly bisected Raditz. This time, no one saw what Zod Hess had done.
Zod Hess did not bother to explain further. After all, the enemy was gone.
The Saiyan invasion made everyone feel the crisis, an imminent threat looming right before them.
So outer space wasn't safe after all!
But Raditz, split in half, still struggled and sneered.
"What are you laughing at?" Zod asked.
"E-Earthling… you are very powerful… but I am only a low-class warrior among Saiyans… the weakest kind… Just wait, stronger Saiyans will come… They'll kill all Earthlings and avenge me…"
Raditz died with a crazed laugh.
But his final words plunged the people of Earth into panic.
Powerful Saiyans would come to Earth again, in unknown numbers. Perhaps in ten years, perhaps tomorrow…
The overwhelmingly strong Raditz was only a low-class warrior among Saiyans.
Americans could not fully grasp this new term "low-class warrior," but they understood well enough what "low" meant.
Next time, could humanity survive?
…
A week had passed since the insane Saiyan incident. Governments around the world were drafting policies.
The various governments' leadership had been going crazy with work. Under the pressure of survival, they set aside past conflicts without a word. Everyone united and cooperated wholeheartedly.
No one mentioned buying spots for the moon base anymore. After all, the appearance of the Saiyans had thoroughly frightened Earth's people. Coupled with the dark forest theory put forward by Zod Hess, all high-level officials felt an extreme sense of peril.
/-\
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