"According to my investigation, there are no Dragon Balls on Planet Namek in Universe 6," Ken explained. "So if you want to revive your friends, you'll have to go to Planet Namek in Universe 7."
Ken had already checked: there really were no Dragon Balls on Universe 6's Planet Namek.
The Namekians of Universe 7 only gained the ability to create Dragon Balls and grant wishes because their ancient clansmen had once gathered fragments of the Super Dragon Balls.
But the Namekians on the Universe 6 side, thanks to all sorts of coincidences, had never obtained any fragments of the Super Dragon Balls. As a result, they couldn't create Dragon Balls capable of granting wishes.
As for where Goku and the others were and what they were up to, Ken had already been watching everything clearly from the start.
He had deliberately chosen this point in time to show up, just so he could send them over to Universe 7's Planet Namek.
Once again, Ken used his angelic power to create something very much like a wormhole.
As long as they passed through that wormhole, they would arrive directly on Universe 7's Planet Namek.
"So you're saying… if we go through this thing, we can get to Planet Namek in Universe 7?" Krillin finally understood.
Ken gave a slight nod.
"But… it looks terrifying in there… we're not gonna walk in and just get killed, right?" Krillin clung to the edge of the spatial crack, craning his neck to peer inside.
Of course he couldn't see anything.
"Relax, your life won't be in danger," Ken said with a small smile.
"That's good, that's good…" Krillin took a deep breath.
"Since Ken says it's safe, then there definitely won't be a problem. I trust him," Goku said, utterly unfazed, and jumped straight into the rift without a hint of hesitation.
Krillin: "…"
You really are decisive, huh.
But right after that, Krillin also steeled himself and got ready to jump in.
"Krillin, do your best. I'm counting on you," Ken said as he walked up and patted Krillin on the shoulder.
"Hahaha, does this count as taking down someone way above my level?" Krillin laughed. "My power level's only around 1,500, and that big bald guy's power level was something like 8,000, right?"
"Krillin, have a little more confidence. Your power level isn't just 1,500. Back on Earth, you'd already hit 1,700," Ken corrected him with a smile. "It's even higher now, though I won't bother quoting the exact number."
Krillin: "…"
Between 1,500 and 1,700… that doesn't sound like a huge difference…
"Being able to take out Nappa, who was at 8,000, with a power level of 1,700 really is worthy of praise. That deserves recognition," Ken said, patting Krillin's shoulder again. "Once you get to Planet Namek, that's going to be your stage."
"Got it." Krillin nodded excitedly, puffed himself up, and leaped into the rift, vanishing from sight in short order.
"Piccolo-san, we should hurry and go in too," Gohan suggested.
"Gohan, you go on ahead. I still have something to do," Piccolo said in a low voice.
"O-okay…" Gohan nodded, then jumped into the rift without hesitation.
In the end, only Ken and Piccolo were left on Universe 6's Planet Namek.
Piccolo's expression grew even more serious as he stared hard at Ken.
"Something you want?" Ken asked.
Piccolo: "…"
Piccolo felt like his whole mood had just collapsed.
So you really did forget your promise?
Didn't you say that as long as I brought Gohan out, you'd teach me properly?
Piccolo had just opened his mouth to speak when Ken suddenly remembered and smiled. "Oh, that's what this is about… The problem is, right now I don't have any techniques that really suit your training."
"That Ultra Instinct… I can't train in that?" Piccolo asked.
"Not everyone can learn Ultra Instinct," Ken shook his head. "But if you want to get stronger, there are actually a lot of shortcuts you can take."
"Shortcuts?" Piccolo froze.
"You Namekians can fuse with one another," Ken patiently explained. "This time, Planet Namek is going to face a huge crisis. The best way to deal with it… is for all the Namekians to fuse into a single person."
"All the Namekians fuse into one?" Piccolo was stunned, his face full of disbelief.
"That's the best way to resolve the crisis," Ken nodded. "And then you fuse with that Namekian who's already fused with everyone else. Just imagine how powerful you'd become."
Piccolo's eyes began to shimmer with light.
"On top of that, there's also the Kami of Earth, who you can fuse with. If your body becomes one again, your strength will skyrocket all over again," Ken said with a smile, laying out Piccolo's cultivation route step by step.
"You want me to fuse with that old geezer Kami?" Piccolo shook his head. "I don't want to fuse with him!"
"That part's not urgent. Your main goal on Namek this time is to find the Grand Elder first," Ken replied calmly. "Go on. The Grand Elder is on that planet somewhere. Make sure you find him."
"I understand." Piccolo answered with a grave expression. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he jumped into the rift.
"Whoosh!"
Piccolo's figure disappeared.
In the space of a heartbeat, Piccolo appeared on Universe 7's Planet Namek as well.
"Piccolo, look, there really is a Dragon Ball signal here," Goku said. He had already taken out the Dragon Radar and started scanning.
"That's great. Then Yamcha and the others can be saved," Krillin said, overjoyed.
"Dad, there's a really strong ki that way!" Gohan looked toward another direction.
"Yeah, Goku, I feel it too. Their ki is really strong… way stronger than the Namekians back in Universe 6," Krillin said, his face paling slightly. "Are they really Namekians?"
"You're not wrong. It feels like an evil ki," Goku replied, his brows knitting even tighter. Then he turned and asked Piccolo, "Piccolo, what do you think?"
Piccolo stayed silent, a bad feeling rising up in his chest.
"Either way, let's go take a look," Goku suggested.
Just as Goku finished speaking, a bright streak of light flashed across the sky at high speed and then plummeted toward the ground.
"Is that Vegeta's spaceship?" Krillin exclaimed.
"Eh? Vegeta finally showed up! That's awesome!" Goku was thrilled. "Let's go pick him up and bring him along."
"Let's not… Just let him move on his own. Why team up with him?" Krillin raised both hands in objection.
"All right, we'll talk about it when we run into him later," Goku said after thinking it over, nodding lightly in agreement.
"Someone's coming," Gohan suddenly sensed something and quickly turned toward the distance.
"Namekians?" Krillin blinked and looked in the same direction.
The next moment, the group saw two aliens in Frieza Force uniforms walk out from behind a rocky hill, coming face-to-face with Goku and the others.
"There's only one Namekian among them. Who are the rest supposed to be?"
"Who cares who they are? Our orders are to kill everyone on this planet. Maybe those other three are that Namekian's friends."
The two little Frieza Force grunts muttered to each other.
Goku and the others also silently studied the two Frieza Force underlings that had appeared opposite them.
"Look at their outfits, they're a lot like Saiyan armor," Krillin said in a low voice, cold sweat running down his face. "But they shouldn't be Saiyans… I've got a bad feeling about this… I feel like something terrible is going to happen to me on Namek… I don't even know why I feel that way."
"They really do have an evil ki about them," Goku commented.
"Are they Vegeta's allies?" Piccolo frowned.
Right then, the two of Frieza's underlings suddenly lifted off the ground, floating to a spot above and slightly ahead of Goku and the others.
Their scouters immediately picked up the battle powers of Goku's group.
"Their battle power is so low. Just a bunch of useless trash."
"They're probably just here sightseeing… Poor suckers, never thought they'd die here."
"Start with the smallest one!"
One of the grunts raised the cannon mounted on his left hand and aimed it at Gohan.
"Ziiip!"
A blast of energy fired from the cannon barrel, howling straight toward Gohan.
"Hmph." Piccolo snorted coldly, swung his arm, and smacked the incoming blast away, sending it flying up into the sky.
"Uh?" That grunt froze for a moment, staring at Piccolo in confusion.
"You're asking for it!" Piccolo snarled, rushing forward in a flash and seizing the throat of the grunt who'd fired the shot.
The underling struggled desperately, but it was useless.
"Know your place! A little Namekian dares to act up in front of us?" The other grunt roared, pointing at Piccolo and shouting.
"Bang!"
Piccolo fired a beam of energy, punching straight through that grunt's heart.
Right after, he twisted and snapped the neck of the one he was holding.
"Pah!"
Piccolo spat in the dead grunt's face.
Even in his final moment, the underling had to suffer that last humiliation. It was enough to make his mentality collapse.
Once it was all over, Piccolo descended slowly, landing beside Gohan and ruffling his hair.
Goku: "…"
Krillin looked at Piccolo, puzzled.
Why is this guy so good to Gohan?
Goku didn't say anything about how brutal Piccolo had just been.
In truth, while Goku is kind, he absolutely treats people differently depending on who they are.
In the original story, why did Goku suddenly start acting so pure-hearted and saintly?
Before the Saiyan Saga, Goku actually was quite decisive when it came to killing. In the battle against the Red Ribbon Army, he wiped out the entire organization practically single-handedly.
He did show a flicker of mercy during his fight with Tao Pai Pai.
But when Tao Pai Pai tossed out that bomb, Goku didn't hesitate to kick it high into the sky.
In the King Piccolo arc, Goku was even more ruthless toward the Demon Clan.
In the end, he literally punched a hole through King Piccolo's body, killing him outright.
It was only starting from the Saiyan Saga that Goku first let Vegeta go and then spared Frieza as well.
And during that time, he couldn't bring himself to go too far against the Ginyu Force either.
Was it because, as Goku grew older, his personality changed?
No.
It wasn't that at all.
It was because Goku had already died once.
In the story, he died in the battle against Raditz. From that point on, he truly understood the pain of death.
He once said something to Krillin: that dying is very painful.
Ever since that first death, Goku began to realize how precious life is, and he stopped killing so easily—even someone as utterly evil as Frieza.
Maybe it was that insight that pushed Goku, in his later training, to keep improving himself and breaking through his limits.
But the Goku here never died in the fight against Raditz, so he still hasn't learned how precious life really is.
So when Frieza's two underlings died, Goku didn't have much of an opinion about it either way.
"Let's go check things out over there," Goku suggested to Piccolo.
Piccolo nodded without objection.
"Goku, we should hide our ki, right? I've got a really bad feeling," Krillin said nervously.
"If you two want to hide your ki, go ahead. I don't really need to," Goku replied.
Krillin: "???"
He froze for a moment, then suddenly understood.
"After training Ultra Instinct, he's basically skipped having any detectable ki at all," Piccolo sighed.
"Maybe it's just a different kind of energy," Goku said with a smile.
The group stopped talking and prepared to head toward the source of that powerful ki.
…
Somewhere else on Planet Namek.
In the area where Frieza and his men had gathered—
"Beep, beep!"
Zarbon's scouter suddenly picked up a signal.
"What is it, Zarbon?" Frieza asked, glancing over.
"Frieza-sama, the scouts we sent out just now were wiped out," Zarbon reported. "The opponent's battle power spiked in an instant, and right after he defeated those two scouts, his reading vanished completely."
"Frieza-sama, Vegeta has already arrived on Planet Namek as well," Dodoria added from the side.
"Doesn't sound like Vegeta's doing. The readings are different from his," Zarbon added. "The one who struck had a battle power of around 1,500."
"Only 1,500?" Frieza chuckled, completely unconcerned. "I could kill someone like that with a fart. Forget him. We'll just wipe him out next time we run into him."
"But that reminds me, Frieza-sama, the operators on Planet 79 say Cui seems to have disappeared," Zarbon quickly reported.
"What? What do you mean, 'disappeared'?" Frieza asked, narrowing his eyes.
"They're not sure. No one can contact Cui anywhere," Zarbon answered.
"Isn't it obvious? It must have been Vegeta," Frieza said with a light smile. "On Planet 79, the only one who could beat Cui is Vegeta."
"But Frieza-sama, with Cui's strength, it shouldn't be that easy for Vegeta to kill him, right?" Zarbon shook his head, still puzzled. "And the base never picked up any trace of a battle."
"Just pull up the footage of their last meeting," Frieza snorted.
"Bad luck. The area where they last met just happens to be a camera blind spot," Zarbon replied with a bitter smile.
Frieza: "…"
"Forget it," Frieza said, too lazy to waste time on something so trivial.
It was just one dead Cui.
"But since Vegeta has openly started rebelling against me, his goal is probably the same as mine—using the Dragon Balls to gain immortality," Frieza sneered coldly. "We'll keep looking for the fifth Dragon Ball."
"Frieza-sama, I'm picking up ten Namekian signatures in that direction," one of the underlings said, pointing ahead.
"It'd be perfect if they happened to have the fifth Dragon Ball," Frieza said, smiling. "Don't let your guard down. Besides Vegeta, there are bound to be others who want the Dragon Balls."
"Yes, sir!"
Zarbon, Dodoria, and the rest of the underlings answered in unison.
The next moment, Frieza shot into the air first, flying up into the sky.
The whole group surged after him, streaking across the air in formation.
Goku and the others had just been about to go check out Frieza's location when they suddenly felt Frieza's ki and the others' ki roaring in their direction.
"What's going on?" Goku's face changed.
"There's an insanely powerful ki heading straight for us," Krillin said, looking absolutely stricken.
"This is bad! That ki is way too terrifying! We need to hide in that cave over there!" Piccolo's face darkened. He grabbed Gohan by the arm and dragged him toward a nearby cave.
Krillin hurriedly hauled Goku into the cave as well.
All four of them looked up toward the sky from inside the cave.
"It's definitely a terrifying ki… Even without fighting, I can tell I'm nowhere near his level with my current strength," Goku said, cold sweat running down his face.
"W-what? Even you can't beat him?" Krillin yelped.
Piccolo's expression just kept getting worse and worse.
"They're here!" Gohan cried, quickly ducking down.
Up in the sky, Frieza led the group flying at high speed right over their heads, then shot off toward another direction.
"Eh? Doesn't look like they came for us… They flew away!" Krillin let out a long sigh of relief, but his face was still as white as a sheet, his body shaking uncontrollably.
Gohan was trembling just as hard, his expression miserable.
Piccolo was sweating nonstop, his fists clenched tight, sheer horror reflected in his pupils.
Goku's expression grew more and more solemn, his eyes filled with gravity.
"Goku, check it first…" Krillin said in a low voice.
He didn't even need to say it. Goku had already opened the Dragon Radar and pressed the button.
At once, a signal appeared on the radar's screen.
Krillin leaned in to take a closer look, then laughed helplessly. "Just as I thought. They're holding four Dragon Balls."
"Goku, did you see him? That little runt sitting in the hover pod," Piccolo said in a low tone.
Goku nodded grimly.
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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