Frieza's subordinates were not very strong. Only Zarbon and Dodoria were slightly more powerful, but they were still only around Vegeta's level.
Zarbon also knew how to transform, but unfortunately, his transformation did not significantly increase his combat power. It only made him incredibly ugly. When facing Piccolo, it had no effect on the outcome of the battle, and he was cleanly taken down in the end.
Vegeta went after Dodoria. Among Frieza's two close subordinates, Dodoria was slightly weaker, yet still stronger than Vegeta.
As a result, Vegeta was drawn into a tough fight. At one point, he was severely injured and nearly died at Dodoria's hands, only to be saved by Raditz, whom he had once greatly looked down on.
Although Vegeta was extremely displeased, his frustration could not change anything. He could only accept the fact that his strength was still very weak and far from his goal.
It took some time to clear out Frieza's subordinates. Nappa used this time to put Vegeta into a healing pod inside Frieza's spaceship.
"Fortunately, this spaceship has the latest model healing pod. It won't take long to recover."
"..."
Vegeta closed his eyes. Although being defeated was frustrating, challenging strong opponents, even if he could not beat them and ended up severely injured, allowed him to improve by taking advantage of the Saiyan trait of increasing combat power after recovering from near-death states.
While he was recovering and increasing his combat power, Piccolo continued harvesting the lives of Frieza's subordinates. Even with Krillin and Goku not fighting, and Ethan resting, Piccolo and Yoruichi alone did not take much time to wipe everyone out.
Most of the time was spent searching for these people. As for the battles, they were basically instant kills!
"Tch, isn't this Frieza the Emperor of the Universe? Doesn't he have any decent subordinates?"
Piccolo was very annoyed. These enemies were not even qualified to warm him up. Only that Zarbon had a bit of strength.
By the time they returned, Ethan and the others were already inside Frieza's spaceship, examining the healing equipment.
"This healing equipment is pretty good."
The healing technology Frieza possessed was very effective. It could basically save anyone as long as they were not completely dead. However, it could not regrow lost limbs.
Anyway, they should collect it first. Taking this equipment back for Bulma and Dr. Brief to study might even elevate Earth's civilization to another level.
Although the progress of Earth's civilization did not have much to do with Ethan, it was something he could do along the way and would not interfere with anything.
Moreover, this medical technology would not be useless after being taken back. While Senzu Beans were good, they were not infinite. Even though Ethan's reminder made Korin pay enough attention to Senzu Beans, it was best not to eat them carelessly. For injuries that did not require urgent recovery, this equipment could be used.
After a delay, Vegeta had also finished his treatment.
For injuries like Vegeta's, older healing pods took several hours, while the newer models were much faster, allowing him to fully recover in no great amount of time.
Vegeta emerged from the healing pod, felt the power surging within him, and judged that if he faced Dodoria now, he could definitely defeat him.
"It seems this method is viable... but..."
Turning his head to look at Ethan, who was dismantling the healing equipment, he thought he might have to stick with these people for a while. At least until he had enough strength to protect himself, he was not planning on acting alone.
Vegeta was not stupid. He knew he had no relationship with these people. The only connection was being Kakarot's compatriot. To get them to take him along to cause trouble for Frieza's army, he had to at least show some value.
Looking around, he saw that this was Frieza's spaceship and quickly thought of something.
"Are you planning to clear out Frieza's forces next?"
"Yes, do you have any suggestions?"
"Among Frieza's subordinates, only the Ginyu Force is a threat. After dealing with the Ginyu Force, the remaining small fry can be slowly cleaned up with a bit more time."
Ethan stopped dismantling the equipment. He had already guessed Vegeta's thoughts, show a little value so he could follow them and gain experience.
"This is Frieza's spaceship. We can use this ship to issue some commands to the Ginyu Force."
The Ginyu Force usually operated separately, and it was quite troublesome to specifically search for them.
But after taking Frieza's spaceship, things became simple. Ethan immediately understood Vegeta's meaning, issue a command to the Ginyu Force telling them to gather at a certain location, thus saving them the trouble of searching.
"Let's do that!"
Vegeta nodded and went with Nappa to handle the matter. None of Ethan and the others kept an eye on Vegeta. As long as Vegeta was not insane, he would not try anything funny at this time. He had seen the strength of Ethan and Goku. If he did not stick with Goku and the others now, would he really defect to a force that was about to be destroyed?
Even if Vegeta was not planning to join the side of justice, he would not be stupid enough to seek death.
Ethan continued dismantling the equipment. He took down all the healing pods there, then swept through all sorts of items in the spaceship. Finally, with Raditz's help, he copied all the data parameters of the entire ship. Then, he met up with Vegeta, who had finished issuing the fake command, and together they left the spaceship. Only after completely blowing it up did they leave the planet.
They found the spaceship that had come to pick them up after receiving the message in orbit around the planet. After returning to the ship, Bulma happily patted Ethan on the shoulder.
"Oh my, you made it sound so scary before, but in the end, wasn't it easily resolved by you!"
Although she stayed on the spaceship, Bulma watched the entire battle livestream through the scouter Krillin carried. While she could not see the details clearly, the outcome was very obvious.
"We were well prepared, weren't we!"
Before the actual encounter, they had made as many preparations as possible. If not for this, how could they have dealt with Frieza so easily when they faced him?
Furthermore, they had to adjust their plans appropriately according to the situation. Otherwise, following his initial idea of focusing solely on training, his combat power would only be a little over two million, less than three million by now. How could he possibly contend with Frieza's 120 million?
Even if Frieza's 120 million had some exaggeration, his actual combat power was still over 60 million. This huge gap could not be bridged by just diligent training.
However, Ethan had not changed his initial idea.
Increasing regular combat power was the main path. Transformations were just emergency measures. Next, he still had to find a way to increase his combat power, that is, to tap into his potential.
"What are we going to do next?"
"We're going to wipe out the Ginyu Force... and then we can go back to Earth."
"Go back to Earth?"
Vegeta looked at Ethan strangely. He thought Ethan and the others would continue cleaning up Frieza's remnants in the universe until Frieza's forces were completely crushed before returning to Earth.
"Yes, back to Earth!"
Ethan briefly explained that it was not that they were not going to continue cleaning up Frieza's remnants, but rather that they were going back to rotate shifts, ensuring everyone had a chance to gain combat experience instead of just these few people doing all the work.
Moreover, wandering in space for a long time just to constantly fight was a life only Saiyans could accept. Perhaps Tien and Piccolo could too.
In any case, the next plan was set. Bulma reset the flight destination to the fake rendezvous point provided by Vegeta, located on the planet Frieza had stayed on before departing, which was also one of Frieza's strongholds.
A few days of travel brought them to their destination, and Ethan did not participate in this battle.
The Ginyu Force was Frieza's elite, but their combat power was far below their side. Krillin finally had a chance to show the results of his years of training this time. The Destructo Disc also made its official debut and achieved actual kills.
As for Piccolo, he was as steady as ever.
The only member of the Ginyu Force with any ability to resist was Captain Ginyu.
However, with a combat power of 120,000 facing Yoruichi, whose base combat power was close to two million, the outcome had no suspense at all.
The only thing they had to be careful of was the Body Change technique. After Ethan's subtle hint, Yoruichi naturally could not be hit by this move. Although the technique was strange, its activation was obvious, and the speed of the body-changing light wave was not fast. Given Yoruichi's speed, it would have been embarrassing if she got hit.
Therefore, Captain Ginyu's fate was sealed. He was cleanly killed by Yoruichi!
Vegeta did not challenge the Ginyu Force because his sworn enemy, Cui, was on this planet, and he considered it settling years of animosity.
Afterward, everyone proceeded to thoroughly purge Frieza's forces. When the battle ended, as they looked at the devastated planet, Vegeta and the other Saiyans did not feel anything, but Ethan and Goku suddenly had a strange feeling.
"Why do I have this illusion that we're the evil bad guys?"
Krillin scratched his cheek. He had started feeling this way since fighting the Ginyu Force, and now, looking at the planet that had almost turned into ruins, the feeling was even stronger.
"Let's think of it this way... these guys are big villains who have harmed the universe for years, so we're doing a good deed!" Although Ethan said this, a similar strange feeling did arise in his heart.
"That's what I keep telling myself."
As Krillin spoke, he saw Vegeta on the side firing a Ki blast and killing a guy who was not completely dead yet. On the other side, Piccolo was doing something similar. Even Bulma had run off the spaceship, occasionally throwing things she liked into the hovercar following her.
"It just feels weird."
(To be continued.)