To Ken, this was also a form of training his Divine ki.
Divine ki needed to be used continuously to be refined and increase in purity. If left idle, the purity would improve only slowly.
This time, by helping the Namekians, Ken not only greatly benefited them, but also gained quite a bit himself.
He felt that he had nearly expended all of the Divine ki within him during the process.
Perhaps once it regenerated, its purity would increase even further.
"You… are you an angel?" Moori asked, his eyes trembling with emotion as he looked at Ken.
"Uh… not yet," Ken replied with a shake of his head.
Ken understood that what Moori meant by "angel" was the kind who saves all living things—not the "angel" from the Dragon Ball universe.
But Ken's response referred specifically to the Dragon Ball kind.
Moori wiped his forehead.
What kind of answer is that?
What do you mean by not yet?
The three elders quickly checked the area for lingering negative energy.
To their surprise, they found that all the negative energy had vanished.
"You're the one who cleared all the negative energy from our village. You're our savior," Moori said, overwhelmed with gratitude as he warmly grabbed Ken's hand.
As for the unconscious Vegeta on the ground—he had been thoroughly ignored by the three elders.
"No need for thanks. It's nothing," Ken replied with a smile. "Helping you all through this hardship counts as a good deed on my part, I suppose."
"Hahaha, indeed!" Moori laughed heartily. Then he asked, "By the way, I still don't know your name."
"I'm Ken."
"Nice to meet you, Ken. I'm Moori, the elder of this village," Moori said, pointing to Delta and the other old man. "This is Delta, and this is—"
"Doesn't matter," Ken waved dismissively.
The unnamed elder broke into a sweat beside him.
Why does it suddenly not matter when it's my turn to be introduced?
Have you no manners?
"Ken, did you come to Namek in search of the Dragon Balls?" Moori asked kindly.
"That's right. And also for a bit of sightseeing," Ken nodded.
"The Dragon Balls are no problem. You've saved Namek. I've decided to take you to meet the Grand Elder," Moori declared resolutely.
"The Grand Elder?" Ken asked, playing dumb.
"Yes. He is the soul of our Namekian people," Moori replied.
Just as he finished speaking, a voice echoed in Moori's mind.
His expression immediately turned solemn with reverence.
"Yes… yes, Grand Elder!" Moori exclaimed. "You already know everything? What? You want to come here personally? Understood! I'll await your arrival!"
Then Moori seemed to receive another message from the Grand Elder—his expression turned to utter shock.
"All of Namek's negative energy has vanished?" Moori cried out in disbelief. "Is that true?!"
He glanced in Ken's direction in astonishment.
Just one orb of energy, and all of Namek's negative energy was gone?
This boy really was something else.
"Yes, I understand." Moori respectfully ended the mental communication.
"Ken, did you really purge all the negative energy from Namek?" Moori asked, wiping sweat from his brow.
"All of it?" Delta cried out in disbelief.
The other elder said nothing, but the shock in his eyes was obvious.
They had all naïvely assumed Ken had only cleared the negative energy around their village.
They hadn't expected that…
He'd cleansed all of Namek.
A glowing energy orb the size of a Dragon Ball had effortlessly resolved a crisis that had plagued Namek for centuries.
Many Namekians had been forced to abandon their home planet because of this energy.
Who would've thought the problem would be completely solved today?
"If you're gonna do something, do it thoroughly. Clearing one village isn't worth bragging about," Ken said casually with a grin.
The three elders suddenly didn't feel like talking.
Why did it sound like he was showing off?
"I'm really not an angel. I'm just an ordinary Saiyan," Ken added sincerely.
Moori: "…"
Delta: "…"
Elder: "…"
All three were speechless.
We didn't say you were an angel.
That was just a figure of speech.
"Ahem… Ken, the Grand Elder already knows you've saved Namek. He's decided to come meet you personally," Moori said.
"The Grand Elder is coming here himself?" Delta and the other elder said in unison, astonished.
But on second thought, it made sense.
Ken had become a hero of the Namekian people.
With a simple gesture, he had resolved a crisis that had persisted for hundreds of years.
"However, the Grand Elder is quite far from here. It'll take him over an hour to arrive," Moori added.
"I couldn't possibly…" Ken sighed. "Didn't I say? It was just a small effort. Since he's your Grand Elder, I should be the one to go meet him."
As he spoke, Ken sat down in a nearby chair.
Moori: "…"
Delta: "…"
Elder: "…"
All three silently wiped their foreheads.
You just said you should go meet him… so why did you sit down?
"Oh dear, I accidentally sat down. How rude of me," Ken said with a sheepish grin.
Moori and the others were at a loss.
Suddenly, Ken's eyes lit up. He turned toward a Dragon Ball resting atop a nearby pedestal and pointed. "Hey? What's that? What a unique ornament… is that the Dragon Ball?"
Moori wiped his brow again.
Delta gave a helpless chuckle.
The other elder chose not to say a word.
After a moment of hesitation, Moori hurried over, picked up the Dragon Ball, and handed it to Ken with both hands.
"For me?" Ken asked calmly.
"This is the Dragon Ball…" Moori replied.
"Aha! So I was right," Ken muttered as he examined the orb. "But the number of red stars inside is different. This one has three, while mine only had one."
(End of Chapter)