Chapter 25: The Crusher Force at Work!

Mepple stood resolutely outside her space pod, her gaze fixed upon the planet she had failed to subjugate. An uncharacteristic frown etched on her face, she summoned the energy within her hand, igniting a vibrant pink glow that radiated from her arm. As her power intensified, a spherical orb of pulsating pink energy materialized above her palm, hovering ominously in the air. With each surge of energy she channeled, the destructive sphere grew larger, its potential for devastation expanding exponentially. Once it reached its full potential, a meteor shower of rapidly falling ki blasts shot toward the Tree of Might and the planet it drained dry.

The impact was cataclysmic, as the planet shattered into countless fragments, torn apart by the sheer force of Mepple's relentless assault. Nothing remained of the planet or the tree, erased from existence by the ruthless power of Mepple's Pink Meteor Shower. She left no trace behind, eradicating any evidence of her failure. Failure was not an option for Mepple, especially as a member of the notorious Crusher Force, a squad rivaling the infamous Ginyu Force. She couldn't afford to drag down her team.

After the destruction of Planet Wagashi, the Crusher Force set their sights on the next suitable planet for subjugation or the planting of a Seed of Might. With their scouters destroyed by Turles, communication among the team members became impossible during their space travels. This precaution was necessary to prevent accidentally exposing Lord Frieza to the existence of the Tree of Might, as well as concealing Turles' secret resources for rapid growth and strength.

Turles couldn't show off his strength until he was confident that he was stronger than Frieza. Until that day, he was going to continue lying low and building his strength. As one of Frieza's soldiers, who he actually might put his trust in. Turles was confident in his choice of plans. But it was still far too early to be careless. He had so many years until things kicked off. Turles needed to be alert, cautious, and informed. Maybe he should have left Naba behind to collect information for him…

As the Crusher Force scoured the universe in search of suitable planets for the Tree of Might, they encountered various challenges. Not every planet possessed the optimal conditions for the Tree's growth, resulting in a decline in fruit yield. In these circumstances, the Crusher Force resorted to playing rock-paper-scissors to determine who would have the opportunity to consume the scarce, low-yielding fruits.

"Rock!" Mepple declared.

"Paper!" Appule readied his hand.

"Scissors," Bonyu thought dismissively.

Each member played their hands: Turles with scissors, Mepple with rock, Appule with paper, Sai with scissors, Bonyu with paper, and Naba with rock. Turles called it a tie, as they all played an equal number of hands. When they tried again, Sai emerged victorious with confident scissors. "Kyah! Gii gii!" Sai celebrated his win.

"I should've stuck with rock!" Mepple exclaimed, frustrated with herself.

"I was so close!" Appule anguished over his defeat.

"It's just a game of chance," Bonyu remarked, crossing her arms and turning away.

"How stupid," Naba pouted in disappointment.

"Congratulations, Sai. You won, buddy. Enjoy your reward," Turles congratulated Sai, patting the big Saibaman on his muscular arm.

As the Crusher Force departed the planet's atmosphere, it was now Sai's turn to eradicate any evidence of the Tree of Might's growth. Standing on the door of his attack ball, Sai gripped his towering greatsword with both hands. A dense green glow enveloped the massive weapon, concentrating its power. Sai thrust the glowing sword forward, pointing it toward the planet. The ki-infused blade expanded in size, its energy growing to a magnitude capable of cleaving planets. With a swift slash, Sai unleashed a devastating blow.

The Crusher Force watched in awe as the planet was cleanly bisected. Within seconds, the severed halves erupted into a fiery explosion, sending countless fragments hurtling through space at incredible speeds. Sai returned to his pod, and Turles whistled in amazement. Rarely did he witness such a spectacle. He wondered how the hell did Sai make a planet explode by cutting it in half. Did it have to do with the planet's core or something else?

…

"I am Appule of the Crusher Force! Surrender now, and I'll spare you the pain of being forced to kneel," Appule declared with authority.

"I am Chiwak of the Galactic Patrol! Leave this planet immediately, or I will be forced to apprehend you!" Chiwak countered, aiming his ray gun at Appule.

Chiwak's head was primarily light blue in color, while his scalp was adorned with a vibrant shade of purple. His eyes are a piercing yellow, which adds a striking contrast to his overall appearance. On top of his head was a pilot's helmet with a clear visor. Similar to other Galactic Patrolmen, Chiwak donned the standard patrolman uniform, which included a fitted suit designed for mobility and functionality. While his physical appearance set him apart, the uniform unified him with his fellow patrolmen and symbolized his membership within the Galactic Patrol.

"Ah, a member of the Galactic Patrol. It's my first time encountering them," Turles expressed genuine interest, freely swaying his tail from side to side. "We must have ventured beyond Lord Frieza's part of the universe if we've come across them out here," he observed.

"It has been quite some time since I've seen those absurd uniforms," Bonyu remarked dismissively, with a disdainful look.

"Hey, patrol loser! The long-headed guy is your only opponent! We'll just watch, okay?!" Mepple taunted the universal defender.

"Hmm..." Naba, intrigued by Chiwak's spaceship in the distance, decided to explore it for herself. "Don't mind me," Naba said as she walked past Chiwak.

Chiwak turned to fire his ray gun at Naba. This gave Appule the perfect opportunity to kick him across the face while he was distracted. The Galactic Patrol member groaned as he was sent flying toward the planet's inhabitants he was defending. He flipped back up and readied himself to take on Appule.

Appule and Chiwak rushed forward at the same time. When their fists clashed, Chiwak's arm snapped. The bone in his arm snapped upward, piercing through his skin. A loud but restrained shout escaped the Galatic Patrol member's mouth. Blood dripped from his lips as he stopped himself from screaming. He jumped back and pulled out a tiny capsule.

"Extinction Bomb!" Just as Chiwak was about to press down on the capsule, Turles stopped time by holding his breath.

He casually walked over to Chiwak, grabbed the capsule out of his hand, and returned back to his original position. Air flowed into Turles's lungs once more, allowing time to move once again. A small smile appeared on the corner of Turles's lips as he looked at Chiwak, desperately pressing down his thumb on nothing at all.

Appule didn't hesitate to appear in front of the confused patrolman and blast him to smithereens. Turles tossed the capsule-sized bomb in the air and caught it before making his way over to Naba. "Be right back." He flew off on his lonesome. "Appule, just keep going at your own pace," Turles advised.

"Yes, Captain Turles!" Appule replied.

"Find anything interesting?" Turles asked Naba.

"No, it's a hunk of junk. Our attack balls are far superior in every way to the Galatic Patrol's spaceships." Naba sighed as she was carefully taking it apart piece by piece with her bare hands.

Thanks to the Fruits from the Tree of Might, Naba is perhaps the strongest engineer in the universe. Despite her massive growth in strength, Turles was surprised to see that she had little interest in using it for reasons commonly thought of by the Frieza Force. She didn't want to go around fighting, blowing things up, testing her strength, or much of anything else.

"I found something that might interest you." Turles shook the extinction bomb, cautiously shaping his ki around the unknown bomb just in case it did explode.

Appule, Naba, Mepple, and Bonyu still haven't been trained in ki control by Turles yet. They're still basically cavemen of the Frieza Force. They can't sense ki, concentrate it to empower their techniques, or use only the necessary amount of ki for their ki attacks. Somehow they're able to change their energy attacks between lethal and non-lethal, but if following Toriyama's words, they should be using their full force with every attack that has ki in it. But if that was how it worked, Zarbon should've killed him by now already with their training before.

"What's this?" Naba took a break from dismantling the Galatic Patrol ship.

"The patroller called it an Extinction Bomb. Do you think it's possible that there are bombs small enough to fit inside this, or do they have technology capable of shrinking things?" Turles wondered.

"I never thought I would hear something somewhat intelligent coming out of your mouth not related to fighting…" Naba stared at him with her mouth open.

"I don't think I like your tone, Sis." Turles thumped her forehead.

Naba would've hit her head on the stripped ship if she didn't stop herself in time. She glared at Turles and fired her energy blaster without hesitation at being punished by Turles! Naba was a grown woman. She didn't get punished by a child! Turles calmly side-stepped out of the way of the horizon-clearing beam.

He smiled at her. Even with her power boosted by numerous fruits, Naba was a major weakling with her power in the tens before. At least when compared to the rest of the Crusher Force. The 15x boost and subsequently lower boosts still aren't enough to put her on par with common soldiers like Appule and Mepple, who had power levels in the 1,000s.

"I'll teach you a cool trick that'll help your engineering once we're done getting the rest up to speed on how we should do things in the Crusher Force," Turles explained to her.

"I can't wait…" She narrowed her eyes at him, pocketing the extinction bomb in her chest and then going back to dismantling the ship.

"Be careful with that bomb. It's not called an Extinction Bomb for no reason, I'm sure." Turles teased while flying away.

"I'm the adult and an engineer! I know what I'm doing!!! Thank you!" Naba shouted back.

"Jeez. Just making sure…" Turles rubbed the back of his head.