Inside the Big Gete Star's core prison—
Bulma rubbed her sore wrists and looked around carefully.
Thankfully—
Everyone was still alive.
They had merely been captured and locked inside an enormous prison chamber.
Each prisoner wore a strange restraint bracelet.
As long as the device remained attached—
They couldn't properly use their strength.
To Bulma's right was another prison cell.
Several elderly and child Namekians huddled together weakly inside.
Suddenly—
One child-sized Namekian noticed Bulma and widened his eyes in surprise.
"You're Bulma… right?"
Bulma looked confused.
To her, most Namekians looked pretty similar.
With so many gathered together, she genuinely couldn't recognize him.
"Sorry… my memory's not great."
"Who are you?"
The young Namekian answered immediately.
"My name is Dende."
"A few years ago, on Namek, I saw you once."
"QUIET! QUIET!"
Before they could continue—
The prison robots outside began threatening them aggressively.
Bulma and Dende both flinched.
Lowering her voice, Bulma whispered,
"How long have you all been imprisoned here?"
An elderly Namekian slowly raised his head.
"…Half a year already…"
"The younger ones are forced into labor."
"As for us old and weak ones…"
"We're used as energy sources."
"Energy sources?!"
Android 18 narrowed her eyes.
The elder sighed weakly.
"They extract our energy…"
"It powers the Big Gete Star…"
"And manufactures more machines…"
"He said…"
"Once enough energy is gathered…"
"The Metal Cooler army will conquer the entire universe."
Bulma suddenly stood up furiously.
"These bastards!"
"I'm a genius scientist!"
"And they're using ME like a damn battery pack?!"
"How outrageous!"
Tights immediately gestured frantically for Bulma to lower her voice.
Bulma wanted to argue—
But when she noticed the red mechanical eyes outside staring directly at her—
She shivered and shut up instantly.
Marron curled up beside Krillin, trembling.
"It's all your fault…"
"Why did we HAVE to go on some stupid space vacation…"
Krillin lowered his head guiltily.
"…Sorry."
Bulla rubbed her eyes.
"Mom…"
"I'm hungry…"
Bulma twitched helplessly.
"Just endure it for now…"
"All the food's still on the spaceship…"
Bulla sighed.
"I hope Dad and Uncle Vegeta hurry up and defeat the bad guys…"
Right then—
The monitor mounted on the prison wall suddenly lit up.
Onscreen—
Goku was tearing through hordes of Metal Coolers while wrapped in blue lightning.
Every punch carried apocalyptic power.
Metal fragments rained from the sky endlessly.
"Goku is incredible!"
Krillin stared in awe.
Bulma clenched her fists tightly.
"Come on, Goku!"
"Rip those tin cans apart!"
Even 18's eyes flickered with hope as she watched Goku dominate the battlefield.
Suddenly—
Bulla pointed excitedly at the screen.
"Look!"
"Even though the Metal Coolers can regenerate…"
"There are clearly WAY fewer of them now!"
Piccolo's eyes narrowed sharply.
"She's right."
"Their numbers HAVE decreased."
Bulma rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"I get it now."
"Repairing themselves must consume massive amounts of energy."
Piccolo nodded.
"Exactly."
"Just like Cell restoring his body consumed huge amounts of ki."
18 immediately understood too.
"So their regeneration isn't truly infinite…"
"It burns enormous energy reserves."
Krillin looked worried.
"But Goku's stamina has limits too…"
"He's already slowing down…"
Everyone looked toward the monitor again.
And indeed—
Goku's movements had become noticeably slower.
His speed and power were declining.
"Oh no…"
"Goku's running out of stamina…"
Right then—
Goku suddenly pulled out two Senzu Beans from his belt.
He ate one—
And stored the other again.
The prisoners' eyes instantly lit up.
"YES!"
"Goku still has Senzu Beans!"
"We're saved!"
After consuming the bean—
Goku exploded with power once more.
He transformed into a living blender of destruction.
Metal Coolers shattered endlessly before him.
Soon—
The number surrounding Goku shrank dramatically again.
Even Goku himself seemed to realize the Metal Coolers weren't limitless.
He fought even harder afterward.
Then suddenly—
A shrill alarm echoed throughout the prison.
"WARNING."
"WARNING."
"Energy consumption exceeds projections."
"Reserve power insufficient."
"Immediate replenishment required."
Everyone became overjoyed.
Bulma laughed excitedly.
"YES!"
"Goku alone is draining this entire planet dry!"
Krillin grinned.
"That's our Goku!"
"I knew no problem could stop him!"
Even Marron stopped blaming Krillin.
She stared hopefully at the screen.
The countless Metal Coolers had now dwindled to barely over a dozen.
Victory seemed close.
But suddenly—
The prison cells released violent electric currents.
Everyone instantly weakened.
The Namekians screamed in agony as their energy was forcibly extracted.
Piccolo's expression changed drastically.
"Damn it!"
"I get it now!"
"The Big Gete Star is absorbing OUR energy to sustain the Metal Coolers fighting Goku!"
Bulma nearly exploded with rage.
"…The karma boomerang hit US instead?!"
Tights weakly supported herself while looking at the monitor.
"Goku…"
"Hurry and save us…"
Bulma suddenly looked toward 18.
Unlike everyone else—
18 appeared completely unaffected.
"18?"
"How are you okay?"
18 shrugged calmly.
"Feels normal to me."
"These currents can't absorb my energy."
Bulma's expression grew serious.
"So Androids really DO have advantages…"
"At least your energy can't be drained…"
18 shrugged again.
"Hopefully they don't notice I'm useless and dismantle me early."
Bulma facepalmed weakly.
"Please don't joke right now…"
"I already feel like dying…"
Meanwhile—
Vegeta was suddenly carried into the prison by four Metal Coolers.
His eyes were barely open.
His body was covered in wounds.
"VEGETA!"
Molly rushed toward the bars in panic.
Everyone assumed Vegeta would be imprisoned too—
But when he passed a gigantic machine—
Mechanical arms suddenly locked onto his body.
"Detected: High-density life energy."
"Commencing extraction."
The next second—
Vegeta screamed in agony.
At the same time—
The prison's draining currents stopped completely.
Apparently—
Vegeta alone now functioned as an enormous power source.
As his energy was extracted—
The effect became immediately visible.
Onscreen—
More Metal Coolers began appearing again around Goku.
18's expression changed sharply.
"This is bad…"
"They're using Vegeta's energy against Goku!"
Krillin sweated nervously.
"But Goku still has one more Senzu Bean…"
"He can definitely endure!"
Bulla clenched her fists tightly.
"Hang in there, Dad!"
Piccolo looked furious.
"Damn it…"
"I can't do anything…"
Vegeta continued screaming as the Big Gete Star intensified the extraction.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
Hearing his cries—
Molly panicked completely.
She rushed toward the prison gate desperately.
"STOP!"
"PLEASE STOP!!!"
A small robot near the prison instantly targeted her with glowing red eyes.
"LOW-LEVEL LIFEFORM."
"DO NOT INTERFERE WITH ENERGY COLLECTION."
But Molly ignored it entirely and kept screaming hysterically.
The next instant—
A laser beam fired from the robot.
BIU!!!
Molly was blasted backward instantly.
"MOLLY!"
Bulma rushed toward her frantically.
After checking the wound—
Her face immediately turned pale.
"This is bad…"
"She's been pierced clean through…"
"She's bleeding badly!"
Even Tights turned frightened.
"So these robots…"
"…WILL kill people…"
At that moment—
Vegeta, who had been restrained and drained—
Suddenly opened his eyes.
BOOM!!!
A golden aura exploded violently around him.
"You bastards…"
"WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION…"
"…TO HURT MY WIFE?!"
Vegeta roared furiously.
The mechanical restraints exploded instantly.
Golden Super Saiyan 2 energy erupted from his body, lightning crackling wildly around him.
The Big Gete Star's core suddenly panicked.
"WARNING!"
"ENERGY OVERLOAD!"
Vegeta ripped the cables away violently—
But instead of attacking—
He immediately looked toward Molly.
Frantically—
He searched his belt for the single remaining Senzu Bean.
He wanted to feed it to her immediately.
But the bean was tiny.
In his panic—
He couldn't find it.
Sweat poured down his face.
Right then—
The nearby Namekians suddenly shouted.
Dende yelled urgently toward Bulma.
"Quick!"
"Bring her here!"
"I can heal her!"
Bulma stared in shock.
"You can HEAL people?!"
The elder Namekian nodded immediately.
"Yes!"
"Dende's healing ability is extremely powerful!"
"As long as she's still alive, he can save her!"
Despite her weakened state—
Bulma still possessed power levels over 200.
She carefully lifted Molly and carried her toward the bars separating the cells.
Dende extended both hands.
A warm healing light shone brightly.
Molly's wound visibly closed at astonishing speed.
Within moments—
Her breathing stabilized.
Her eyes slowly opened again.
Seeing this—
Vegeta's expression instantly brightened with relief.
But right then—
A gigantic fist smashed directly into him.
BOOM!!!
Vegeta crashed violently onto the ground.
Ironically—
The impact caused the Senzu Bean he'd been searching for to bounce out by itself.
Vegeta stared at the bean.
Then looked toward the Big Gete Star's core.
A ruthless light flashed across his eyes.
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