In the end, Karnel proved to be the superior driver, surpassing Son Goku by just a few points to reach the finish line first. What made the victory bittersweet was learning about Goku's motivation for perfecting his racing skills.
"You know, I've got to make money somehow to help Chi-Chi with little Gohan," Goku had explained with his characteristic earnest smile. "He's not even two years old yet, and raising a kid is expensive! So I figured I'd put these driving skills King Kai taught me to good use and become a taxi driver."
"So Goku's not focusing on his martial arts training, but he's become a professional driver instead," Karnel mused to himself as he returned alone to the villa, settling onto a bench in the back garden. He shook his head with a rueful smile. "But maybe that's for the best. At least Chi-Chi won't have to struggle financially like she did in the original timeline."
The afternoon sun warmed his face as he considered his next move. "I wonder if Bulma has finished the radar yet. Let's go check it out."
Karnel stretched and made his way back to Bulma's room, where he found her hunched over her workbench, tools scattered around her.
"Karnel! The radar is finished. Look!" Bulma exclaimed as he entered, grabbing the small device from the table and rushing over with a proud expression lighting up her face.
"Amazing! Our Bulma really is a genius," Karnel praised without hesitation, taking the radar and gently stroking her blue hair. "Making such high-tech equipment looks so easy for you."
"Karnel, are you going out again?" Bulma asked softly, raising her face to look at him. There was something in her expression, a hesitation, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't quite bring herself to speak.
Seeing her uncertainty, Karnel couldn't help but smile gently. "Well, we do need to find all these black star Dragon Balls. What's on your mind? Just say it, don't worry about anything."
A few days later, Karnel found himself on a most unusual planet, one composed entirely of some kind of liquid, with no solid land in sight. The entire world seemed to be an ocean of mysterious fluid that glowed with an inner light.
This posed no problem for someone of Karnel's abilities. Having survived in any environment on Namek before, he dove directly into the liquid world. After hours of searching, he finally located the second Black Star Dragon Ball at the edge of a star core that was slowly condensing into solid form.
From there, he continued his relentless collection of Black Star Dragon Balls throughout the universe, traveling from world to world without pause.
"This is the fifth one," Karnel said to himself as he paused by a small lake on a verdant planet to wash his hands. "Together with the one I already had, there's only one left."
He activated the radar, and the location of the final Dragon Ball appeared on the display. His expression grew serious as he studied the coordinates.
"This place seems to be near one of King Cold's clones," he murmured, his mind racing through the implications. "Which means the Dragon Ball might be in Frieza's possession."
Extending his senses, he detected ten distinct energy signatures in the area, nine clustered together, and one separate from the group.
"Let's go have a look," he decided.
Karnel materialized instantly in front of the nine King Cold clones. The false Kings tensed, ready to attack when they saw someone suddenly appear beside them, but they relaxed when they recognized Karnel.
As he studied the nine figures carefully, Karnel noted that their strength had grown considerably during this period. Each of them now possessed a combat power of nearly 60 million, they would soon be able to recover to the original King Cold's level.
"Who is approaching Frieza now?" Karnel asked without preamble.
Number 3 stepped forward. "It's Number 8. For all these days, we've followed your instructions, with each of us approaching Frieza alone at different times. He hasn't noticed anything unusual."
"Excellent. Keep it up," Karnel nodded approvingly. "By the way, what has Frieza been doing these days?"
Number 5 responded: "Nothing out of the ordinary. Every day is the same routine, sending forces out to attack stubborn planetary populations. In just over a year, he's launched more than twenty missions, and more than twenty worlds with life have been destroyed."
"As expected of the cruel and cold-blooded Frieza," Karnel said grimly, pacing back and forth. "He never stops his reign of terror in the Northern Galaxy."
"I just returned from reconnaissance," Number 7 interjected. "Frieza seems to be taking a keen interest in the Western Galaxy. Several years ago, when he sent the Ginyu Force to conquer a planet on the edge of the Northern Galaxy, they accidentally encountered a powerful warrior from the Western Galaxy who was temporarily staying there. This warrior cooperated with the planet's natives to defeat the Ginyu Force, and he claimed the title of 'Keeper of Order of the Western Galaxy.'"
Karnel crossed his arms and murmured thoughtfully, "Is that so? What a coincidence. The planet conquered by the Ginyu Force should be Durastar"
"By the way," he continued, pulling out a Black Star Dragon Ball and showing it to the nine clones, "did any of you find a sphere like this near Frieza?"
Number 4 thought for a moment before replying, "I think I saw a black orb on Frieza's spaceship before. The sphere was placed casually in a cabinet, looking very ordinary, and it seemed like he didn't value it much."
"Whose turn is it next?" Karnel asked. "Bring me that sphere when you go."
The final piece of the puzzle was within reach. Soon, he would have all seven Black Star Dragon Balls, and then he could begin to uncover their true purpose and the danger they represented.