WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Dragon Ball Super Chapter 52, by Akira Toriyama and Toyotarou, available now in English from Viz Media.

After Moro and his escaped convicts thoroughly bested Goku, Vegeta, Buu and the Galactic Patrol, the villain set his sights on Earth as a potential place from which to draw power. Dragon Ball Super Chapter 52 sees the first of Moro's scouts arriving on Earth. While there, they face Piccolo, who makes a grave error that significantly accelerates Moro's timeline with regard to the planet.

The chapter opens with Vegeta arriving on Planet Yardrat, where Goku learned Instant Transmission in Dragon Ball Z. Vegeta discovers the alien species only studies one thing: Spirit Control. Spirit is explained as something equivalent to chi/ki, one of the mainstays of the franchise and roughly equivalent to power level. It's revealed the technique allows for such moves as Instant Transmission, a user to make copies of themselves and manipulation of size. Vegeta decides to learn Spirit Control, which could prove immensely useful in a fight against Moro, who has the ability to absorb energy.

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Elsewhere, the Galactic Patrol decides to recruit Piccolo to the their cause, who is meditating at The Lookout. He realizes many of his fellow Namekians must be dead, rightly deducing that a tragedy has befallen New Namek. He's interrupted by scouts from Moro's forces (called the Macareni Gang), who land on the planet. Piccolo goes out to meet them and easily bests the escaped convicts, tying them up as he figures out what to do with them.

As they fight, Bulma arrives with a message from the Galactic Patrolman Jaco regarding Piccolo's recruitment to the organization. However, Dende quickly puts together that recruiting Piccolo might have to do with New Namek, so they talk to Jaco directly to get the relevant information. Jaco explains Namek and many other planets are now dead because of Moro. They rush off to warn Piccolo. However, they arrive too late.

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Moro's forces convince Piccolo to let them go, and the hero tells them not to come back. Just as they start taking off, Dende arrives on the scene and gives Piccolo enough of an explanation that the hero manages to blast the Macareni Gang's spaceship. But they've already sent a message to Moro and the rest of the forces. This draws Moro's attention to the planet, and he decides to send a stronger scouting party than before, indicating the high-quality of the planet may make him come down and devour it himself. Although Moro would have certainly arrived on Earth eventually, this has seemingly accelerated his timeline for planet and its powerful denizens.

Although Piccolo's act of mercy is definitely proof of his character growth over the course of the long-running franchise, choosing to let the Macareni Gang go may prove a devastating mistake, as the Z-Fighters need all of the time they could get in regards to Moro. Vegeta is relatively far away and Goku is now training with Merus in a new version of the Chamber of Spirit and Time (one that allows those inside to trade one day for the equivalent of three days), the Z-Fighters are going to have to duke it out with Moro's forces and hold them long enough for their heaviest hitters to return in time to defeat Moro and save not just Earth, but the galaxy.

Dragon Ball Super Chapter 53 releases Oct. 20.

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