"Interstellar Destruction Bullet!"
Frieza stood atop a massive meteor, raising a slender finger as a gigantic, sun-like red energy sphere formed at its tip.
The blazing attack roared toward Bardock like a falling star.
Bardock's battle armor was already shattered. His body was covered in wounds and dried blood.
He threw his head back and laughed.
"Bring it on!"
Without hesitation, he charged straight at the massive energy sphere.
Under Frieza's stunned gaze—and Toma and the others' nearly fanatical expressions—
Boom!
Bardock smashed the Interstellar Destruction Bullet apart with a single punch.
In the next instant, he appeared in front of Frieza and drove a fist straight into his face.
"How is this possible?!" Frieza screamed. "You took my Interstellar Destruction Bullet head-on without a scratch?!"
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed.
He saw Bardock's mouth moving beneath his cracked faceplate.
"Wait… what are you eating?!"
Bardock swallowed the Senzu Bean calmly.
He closed his eyes briefly, feeling the surge of restored vitality—and the sharp spike in his battle power.
Then he grinned.
"Nothing. Just beans."
Frieza immediately checked with his scouter and roared, "You damned wild monkey! You were hiding your strength against my final form! No wonder you dared to take that attack head-on!"
He sneered.
"Six million battle power? Is that your confidence? That's only five percent of my full strength!"
Bardock laughed inwardly but didn't bother explaining that he had only been at four million moments ago—the extra two million came from the Senzu Bean boost.
"If you say so."
"Hmph. The game is over," Frieza declared arrogantly.
"I'll use fifty percent of my power to end you. Be proud. Aside from my father and brother of the Frost Demon Clan, you are the first to force me to use half my strength."
A terrifying aura erupted from his body.
Toma and the others stared in shock.
"Six million is five percent?" Toma muttered, voice trembling. "Then his full power…"
Selypa calculated quickly.
"If that's true… his full power is 120 million."
Garna scoffed. "You really believe him? If he were that strong, would he have been beaten around like that earlier?"
Ignoring them, Frieza began powering up further.
His face twisted in strain.
Veins bulged on his forehead. His body trembled as violent energy fluctuations tore through space around him.
After a long moment, the raging power stabilized.
He looked proudly at Bardock.
"Sixty million battle power. Ten times yours."
He stared at Bardock, waiting for fear to appear.
It didn't.
"Well," Bardock replied calmly, "good for you."
Frieza either ignored the tone or chose not to notice.
"Saiyan," he said coldly, "I respect talent. Kneel now and submit. My offer still stands."
He truly wanted Bardock under his command. Six million battle power was no joke.
And more importantly—if he could recruit Bardock, he could finally show off in front of his brother and wipe away past humiliation.
Bardock shook his head.
"Saiyans don't kneel. And my knees are naturally hard."
Frieza's face darkened instantly.
"I'll see how hard they are!"
He shot forward and unleashed a storm of attacks.
This time, Bardock couldn't avoid everything.
He was struck brutally and sent flying like a broken kite, crashing into debris, blood spraying from his mouth.
But the next second—
He stood up again.
Completely restored.
Frieza froze.
He attacked again.
Bardock was smashed down.
Then stood up again.
This repeated over and over.
Frieza's stamina barely dropped—but mentally, he was unraveling.
Every time Bardock looked like he was on the verge of death—
He would pop another Senzu Bean and come back stronger.
Frieza roared in fury.
"If we're fighting, can you please stop eating those damn beans?!"
Even he had figured it out by now.
Those beans were the problem.
Meanwhile, Bardock felt the power boost from another Senzu Bean—and frowned slightly.
The increases had slowed dramatically.
What once surged by hundreds of thousands was now only about twenty thousand per recovery.
"So the Zenkai surge is tapering off…" he thought. "One last boost left."
He smirked provocatively at Frieza.
"None of your business. I'll eat whenever I want."
Veins bulged on Frieza's forehead.
"You damned wild monkey!"
He launched another energy wave and rushed forward, grabbing Bardock and pummeling him like a punching bag.
"Fight back! Why aren't you fighting back?!"
While being blasted backward, Bardock secretly tossed an Artificial Moon behind Frieza.
Then he swallowed another Senzu Bean.
This time—
No increase.
The Zenkai boost had completely stopped.
"Looks like that's it," Bardock thought with a faint smile. "The rest will have to come from real training."
Frieza, seeing Bardock still smiling despite being beaten, sneered.
"Go on. Eat more beans. I haven't had enough. You make a wonderful punching bag."
Bardock smiled calmly.
"No need, Frieza. You're useless now. Go to hell peacefully."
Frieza snorted.
"Still talking tough at death's door? Do you think you can defeat me?"
"You'll know if you turn around."
Frieza frowned and turned suspiciously.
Behind him—
An artificial moon hung silently in space.
"What is that thing?"
At that exact moment, Bardock's eyes went blank.
Then his pupils expanded.