"That guy is absolutely not ordinary. The moment I saw him, it felt like something was tightly binding me in place," Piccolo said through gritted teeth.
"The powerful ki we sensed earlier was coming from him," Goku replied. "That guy is definitely not as simple as he looks on the surface. Even though we trained for a month on the spaceship, like I just said, with my current strength I'm probably still not his match."
"What do we do…? The Dragon Balls are in their hands," Krillin shook his head, feeling their future grow darker by the second.
"This is bad. Those guys are flying straight toward the direction of another Dragon Ball," Goku lowered his head to glance at the Dragon Radar, and his expression changed.
"Don't tell me they have a Dragon Radar too?" Krillin's face twitched.
"Goku, Ken told me before that I should find the Grand Elder of Planet Namek as soon as possible," Piccolo said after a brief pause.
"If Ken said that, he must have his reasons. Let's go look for the Grand Elder together," Goku suggested.
"What about the Dragon Balls over there?" Krillin asked.
"How about this: you and Gohan suppress your ki and go over to take a look," Piccolo proposed. "Remember, do not release your ki. They're probably using those things called scouters to detect our position! Now that we can hide our ki, those things are useless on us. You two have to be extra careful! We'll meet back here in about an hour."
"Got it." Krillin nodded gravely.
"Yes!" Gohan answered.
"Then we're heading out first!" Krillin said, turning his head toward Gohan. "Gohan, let's go!"
"Right!" Gohan replied.
The two said goodbye to Goku and Piccolo, then hopped off and ran toward the direction where Frieza and the others were.
"Piccolo, do you even know where the Grand Elder is?" Goku turned and asked.
Piccolo shook his head.
"Then how are we supposed to find him?" Goku was speechless. "I thought you knew."
"We search slowly. We'll figure out a way," Piccolo said, his expression heavy.
"At least give me a direction," Goku scratched his head.
"Focus and feel it carefully. In that distant direction there are two ki signatures. One of them is extremely strong. It might be related to the Grand Elder," Piccolo said, looking off toward one side.
Goku immediately opened up his senses and likewise picked up the powerful ki at that location.
"Let's go check it out first. Maybe the Grand Elder is there," Piccolo suggested.
"Let's go," Goku had no objections.
The two of them bounded forward, quickly moving across the ground.
…
After Vegeta's spaceship landed on Planet Namek, he immediately grabbed his scouter and first found a place to hide.
"Even though I've already grasped the technique, it's only at an entry level," Vegeta muttered to himself. "Right now, trying to erase Frieza might still be pretty tough."
Then Vegeta swept his gaze over the vast expanse of Planet Namek.
"I'll temper my Ultra Ego on this planet first," Vegeta grinned. "Once my destruction energy is strong enough to erase Frieza, I'll give him a proper beating."
The more he talked, the more his grin grew, along with his confidence.
"Oh? Kakarot came to Planet Namek too? Perfect. Once I've trained my Ultra Ego until it surpasses your Ultra Instinct, that's when I'm going to grind your face into the dirt," Vegeta's lips curled upward.
He then found a concealed spot and slowly raised his right hand.
Pop!
An instant later, a golden mass of energy appeared in Vegeta's hand.
"No! This isn't it! What I want is destruction energy!" Vegeta clenched his teeth, took a deep breath, and dispersed the energy he'd just formed.
A full ten minutes passed.
Pop!
Only then did Vegeta manage to condense a tiny purplish-red speck of energy in his palm, no bigger than a sesame seed.
Whoosh!
Vegeta casually flicked the purplish-red energy toward a nearby mountain.
Pa!
The moment the sesame-seed-sized purplish-red energy touched the mountain, the entire mountain instantly turned into something like soap bubbles and, right before Vegeta's eyes, vanished completely.
"That's it. This is the one!" Vegeta was overjoyed.
The only thing that annoyed him was… sometimes he could form this destruction energy, and sometimes he just couldn't.
I have to properly train myself.
If it fails me at a critical moment, that would be a disaster.
Frieza, just you wait.
Once I've brought Destruction up to par, that will be your death day.
But first, I need to find the Dragon Balls.
If Frieza really becomes immortal, I don't even know if I will be able to erase him…
…
Krillin and Gohan were moving at high speed.
"We're getting close. Gohan, keep your ki completely hidden and ease in slowly," Krillin reminded him.
"Right." Gohan nodded seriously.
"They're just under that cliff," Krillin whispered, pointing ahead at a rocky overhang.
The two carefully walked forward, then lay flat at the cliff's edge and peered down. They could see Namekian buildings, as well as the aliens standing beside those structures.
"Their houses look a lot like our spaceships," Gohan lowered his voice.
Krillin: "…"
Krillin suddenly fell silent.
"What's wrong?" Gohan blinked.
"I just remembered… Ken never actually left the spaceship with us…" Krillin said, troubled.
Gohan suddenly realized the same problem and couldn't help pulling a bitter face.
"How are we supposed to get back to Earth?" Krillin said, half laughing, half crying.
"Ken-san will come pick us up, right?" Gohan guessed.
"Let's hope so," Krillin could only think that way. He glanced down again. "I don't recognize most of them, but those three over there… especially the one sitting in the baby hover pod Piccolo mentioned, his ki is insanely strong. Even Goku doesn't think he can beat him."
As he watched, Krillin's pupils shrank. He immediately noticed the Dragon Balls tucked under Dodoria and Zarbon's arms.
"Gohan, look at what they're holding… Those are Dragon Balls!" Krillin gasped. "They're huge!"
"Yeah…" Gohan was just as stunned.
Because they were so shocked, their voices accidentally spiked a few decibels louder.
Dodoria seemed to hear something and immediately turned his head toward their direction.
Fortunately, Gohan and Krillin reacted quickly and yanked their heads back out of sight.
"What is it, Dodoria?" Frieza asked with a sidelong glance.
"Nothing. I just picked up a tiny energy reaction from that direction, but it vanished right away. Might've been some little animal or something," Dodoria replied.
"That was close just now," Krillin clapped a hand over his mouth, not daring to even breathe loudly.
"Yeah," Gohan nodded gravely.
Down below, Frieza's underlings had gathered all the villagers into one place.
"Frieza-sama, we only found five people. It looks like the others aren't home," one henchman reported.
As he finished speaking, three elders and two children were dragged out of their homes by Frieza's men.
"What do you think they're going to do to those Namekians?" Krillin muttered.
"Are they all Saiyans?" Gohan asked curiously.
"No. The battle armor is the same, but they're clearly not the same race," Krillin shook his head. "Right now, the only Saiyans left are probably Ken, Broly, and Vegeta. Oh, and you and Goku…"
"Mm." Gohan understood and nodded lightly.
"Right, Raditz should still be alive too. He's Goku's older brother—your uncle," Krillin added.
"I haven't heard anything about him since then," Gohan said.
"Maybe he died drifting in space," Krillin said offhandedly.
Gohan: "…"
"Your uncle said before that they wipe out all the inhabitants of any planet with a suitable environment, then sell the planets to some group called the Heeter Organization… Could these guys be from the Heeter Organization?" Krillin whispered, speculating.
The three elders below were the same Moori, Delta, and the other elder Ken and Vegeta had met when they arrived on Planet Namek.
One of their names just wasn't important.
Moori glanced up and immediately saw the Dragon Balls in Dodoria and Zarbon's arms.
Each of them was holding two Dragon Balls. They'd already collected four.
Moori's face darkened.
…
Universe 6, Champa's Planet.
A streak of light as dazzling as a falling star descended from the sky and landed beside Vados.
"My, my, back so soon? Did you get everything taken care of?" Vados asked with a playful smile as she looked at Ken.
"More or less," Ken nodded.
Vados held up her staff and examined him closely, sighing softly. "But as things stand now, those Namekians in Universe 7 are probably going to face a catastrophic crisis."
"For us angels, as long as we don't vanish, we're practically immortal," Ken said thoughtfully. "That's what it boils down to, right?"
"Yes, you're not wrong. That's exactly what it means," Vados nodded. "Strictly speaking, as long as your soul still exists, you're not truly dead."
"This is their tribulation," Ken said quietly. "Last time, I already helped them clear the negative energy from their planet. This time, I hope they can handle the crisis on their own."
"Indeed. An angel should maintain a calm, neutral heart. The fact that you understand this will help you a lot in your future training," Vados replied. "I didn't expect that after being away for so long, the purity of your angel power has improved again. Did you gain some new insight?"
"No big insights," Ken shook his head. "I just think about you every day."
Vados: "…"
"My, my… What am I seeing here? The purity of your angel power is already at fifty-nine!" Vados suddenly scanned Ken's body with her staff, a bit surprised. "Last time we talked, you were only at fifty-eight, weren't you?"
"Where exactly are you scanning with that staff?" Ken glared at her. "What are you looking at?"
Vados was speechless.
I'm just checking your level.
What else would I be looking at?
"Amarella, not coming out to chat?" Ken asked inwardly, calling to Amarella inside his body.
"No," Amarella refused instantly.
"That was way too blunt a rejection," Ken said, exasperated.
"Vados and I have known each other for over a hundred million years. We've already talked about everything there is to talk about. There really isn't anything new," Amarella shook her head lightly. "What, do you want us to chat about when Universe 18 is going to be restored? You're an angel now too—you should know how insanely complicated it is to restore a universe."
"Then get some sleep. Want me to sing you a lullaby?" Ken chuckled.
Amarella: "…"
"I'm not sleeping. I already figured you're into Vados, so I'll just stay inside you and watch how you try to court her," Amarella said with a bright smile, blooming like a flower.
"Amarella… I'm just saying, I suddenly realized people's tastes really do change," Ken looked at Amarella inside his body, then at Vados standing beside him, and couldn't help letting out a sigh.
"What are you trying to say?" Amarella asked.
"It's like how I used to love sweets, but now I'm more into spicy food," Ken said thoughtfully.
"Just say it straight," Amarella was getting confused.
"When I first saw Vados, it felt like she was a peerless beauty. I kept thinking, how can there be such a stunning woman in this world, not a single flaw anywhere on her," Ken said, still full of emotion.
"And then?" Amarella raised an eyebrow.
"After I became an angel and looked at Vados again with the same eyes, that overwhelming sense of awe just wasn't there anymore," Ken replied.
"That's because you grew up," Amarella said with a laugh. "When humans are young, most of them feel a special pull toward older members of the opposite sex. Once they truly mature, they might realize the prettiest scenery has been right beside them all along."
"That's what I think too," Ken nodded seriously.
"So you're saying Miss Bulma looks better, right?" Amarella finally understood.
"No. The one I'm talking about is you," Ken said, looking at Amarella with a solemn expression.
Amarella: "…"
"So after all that, am I the spicy one or the sweet one?" Amarella asked.
"That question really caught me off guard…" Ken wiped at an imaginary bead of sweat.
"My, my, why did you suddenly zone out?" Vados waved a hand in front of Ken's face.
"Vados, change your skin color for me. I want to see," Ken said, looking at her.
"No," Vados refused immediately.
"I'll give it a try then," Ken said, lifting his staff and pointing it at Vados from a distance.
Vados tilted her body just a little and slipped right past it.
Ken's angel power swished through empty air.
"This is the natural angel color," Vados said with a smile. "I don't want to change it. I'm not a chameleon."
…
Universe 7, Planet Namek.
Watching Frieza and the others collect Dragon Balls, Moori's expression grew uglier and uglier.
"Take a good look, all of you. I am Frieza, the one gathering the Dragon Balls," Frieza said with a squinting smile to the three Namekian elders. "Tell me, where did everyone else go? According to our intel, there should be ten of you here."
Moori and the others stayed silent and said nothing.
"Planning to keep quiet?" Frieza chuckled coldly. "Do you believe I won't kill you?"
Moori's face went from bad to worse. Because of fear, cold sweat streamed down his back and cheeks.
Finally, he gritted his teeth and said something to Frieza in the Namekian language.
"Humph. Don't speak Namekian. Use a language we can understand. I know you can speak the universal language I'm using right now," Frieza said with a mocking smile.
"Let me be honest with you. I've seen far more of the universe than you have. I've visited other universes beyond this one and seen many races there. What I'm speaking now is the universal language of the cosmos. Even true gods usually use this language to communicate."
Moori: "…"
Moori's face shifted several times. Knowing he couldn't stay silent, he finally said in a low voice, "The others went to work. Only us elders and the children stayed behind."
"Very good. Give me honest answers like that and your lives won't be in danger," Frieza smiled in satisfaction.
Krillin and Gohan both fell silent. They looked at each other, their expressions very complicated.
He just said his name is Frieza?
This guy is no joke.
He's even been to other universes!
"Then let's move on to my next question," Frieza said pleasantly, looking at Moori. "Where is your Dragon Ball? I assume there's one in this village too."
"I don't know. We don't have anything like that," Moori shook his head.
"Heh," Frieza's lips curled upward as he turned to Dodoria. "Dodoria, the second Namekian we killed told us something very interesting, didn't he?"
"Yes. He said the Dragon Balls are only given to those recognized as warriors," Dodoria nodded repeatedly.
"That one was extremely stubborn and refused to cooperate with us. To punish him, I killed the first one," Frieza said with a smile, as if killing someone were no more difficult than wringing a chicken's neck.
Moori, Delta, and the third elder all looked even more grim.
"So he told us everything," Frieza went on, still wearing that faint, mocking smile.
"He said the Dragon Balls were created by the seven eldest elders on this planet, and that those seven Dragon Balls are each safeguarded by one elder. They judge one another's wisdom and strength, and debate the worthiness of those who seek the Dragon Balls. Only those they recognize as warriors are qualified to receive one. Just like I said, they were stubborn and refused to hand them over, so I had no choice but to kill them. I went through a lot of trouble to get my hands on the first Dragon Ball."
Anger flared in Moori's heart, but he held his tongue.
The Dragon Balls were made by the Grand Elder, not seven elders.
Good thing he hadn't said anything about the Grand Elder.
He was clearly feeding them false information on purpose, trying to send them down the wrong path.
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]