A swarm of aliens flew toward Nail. Behind him were his people, and to avoid dragging them into the fight, Nail charged forward to engage the aliens directly.
The aliens, with battle powers in the hundreds, were like mere pests before Nail. He unleashed a barrage of continuous ki blasts, and within moments, the aliens ahead were all taken down.
Despite his success, Nail remained vigilant. He sensed multiple energy signatures approaching, each on par with his own. Realizing he had no choice, and with his people still finding safe hiding spots, Nail shouted to them, "Find somewhere safe to hide! Don't come out until the fight is over!"
Hearing his command, the pace of his people's retreat quickened.
Without hesitation, Nail turned his attention to the approaching foes and flew toward them. "I'll take them down myself!"
Three aliens in transit checked their scouters and noticed the energy signatures of the guards had vanished. Realizing something had gone wrong at the mining site, they accelerated their flight.
One of the aliens, with a battle power of around 900, suddenly felt a ki blast heading his way. The speed was so great that he couldn't dodge and had to shield his vital areas with his arms.
Boom!
The blast hit directly, sending the alien reeling. Nail stood on a distant rock, hands clasped together in the pose of having just released the blast. He exhaled heavily.
White smoke rose from the alien's body. When the smoke cleared, the alien looked disheveled, with an unknown viscous liquid dripping from his mouth. Though only lightly injured, the alien glared at Nail with a contorted, furious expression. "Damn you, you filthy runt! I'll kill you!"
The three aliens descended toward Nail. One, a towering figure, checked his scouter and burst out laughing. "So, a battle power of 700, huh? No wonder the guards were wiped out. And look at that—an escaped Dirt Mound native."
Despite the loss of their comrades, the aliens felt no anger. Their loyalty mirrored the cruelty of their leader, the Cold family. Ruthlessness ran deep in their ranks.
The three aliens eyed Nail like a cat playing with a mouse. Confident in their numerical and power advantage, they had no reason to worry. The weakest among them had a battle power of 900, and the strongest reached 1,200—far beyond Nail's assumed strength.
The towering alien sneered. "You fool. Instead of hiding and clinging to life, you come running out to die? Perfect. I could use a warm-up before sending you to meet your king."
The medium-height alien chuckled, playing along with his leader's theatrics, while the 900-power alien glared at Nail with hatred. Being struck by Nail earlier had been a grave humiliation.
The towering alien prepared to attack but was interrupted by the 900-power alien stepping forward. "Boss Shatz, let me handle him! I'll personally tear this runt apart!"
Shatz glanced at his injured subordinate and nodded. "900 against 700? You'd better not lose."
Nail saw the injured alien approaching and couldn't help but smile. "The plan worked!"
Watching from a distance, Krillin also smiled. "What a sly fox. Acts simple-minded, but he's pretty crafty when it counts."
Through training in the gravity chamber, Nail had not only boosted his battle power but also drastically improved his speed, at least double that of others with the same power level. He had even reached a level of precision and agility comparable to Goku after training under 100x gravity.
Sensing three aliens with battle powers close to his own, Nail had known he couldn't win a straight fight. His strategy was simple: eliminate the weakest first to even the odds.
To that end, he concealed his true battle power of 1,000, leading them to underestimate him. Now, with the injured alien's energy reduced to about 800, Nail's full-power attack should be more than enough to end him.
The alien, still fuming, advanced toward Nail. Nail stood still, silently gathering his energy.
"You little rat. How dare you ambush me? You're dead meat. Don't worry—I won't let you die too easily!" the alien snarled, his voice venomous.
Nail didn't respond. Thinking Nail was scared, the alien laughed arrogantly.
Suddenly, Nail grinned widely, his brilliant white teeth gleaming. The alien's laughter stopped abruptly, replaced by confusion.
Nail leaped high into the air, raising his hands to his forehead. Facing the other two aliens outside the battlefield, he shouted, "Solar Flare!"
The sudden flash of light caught the attention of the other two aliens. Both cried out in pain, clutching their eyes and dropping to their knees. "Ahh! My eyes!"
Krillin smirked as he watched from afar. "Classic move. Always effective."
The disoriented 900-power alien hesitated, stunned by the sudden turn of events. Nail took advantage of the opening, shifting direction and accelerating toward him.
With blinding speed, Nail delivered a crushing punch to the alien's abdomen. The alien gasped, his mouth wide open as he spewed a foul liquid, his face contorted in agony.
Not giving him a moment's respite, Nail followed up with a side kick to the neck, sending the alien flying. Nail pursued, unleashing a flurry of punches and finishing with a heavy blow to the alien's head.
The alien's eyes rolled back, his tongue lolling out as he lost consciousness, his body hurtling through the air.
Landing smoothly, Nail clasped his hands together, shouting, "HA!"
A powerful ki blast shot from his hands, engulfing the alien in a blinding explosion. When the smoke cleared, nothing remained but a spray of crimson mist.
Breathing heavily, Nail observed the distant smoke with a faint smile. "One down."
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