On Namek's open plains, Nappa fled with breath heavy as a bull's.
The five Dragon Balls thudded and clinked together with every stride, ringing out in crisp, merciless chimes.
His left shoulder blade had been pierced clean through. His left arm hung limp at his side, and his right eye was so swollen he could barely pry it open.
"Little rat's pretty fast!"
Burter's mocking voice drifted in from behind, crushing Nappa with despair.
At that moment, a ki blast flashed past—grazing Nappa's bald head—and slammed into the mountain ahead of him.
The mountain detonated instantly, collapsing into a rolling storm of shattered rock.
"Oops. Missed!"
Jeice said with exaggerated regret.
"Next time I'll nail your butt for sure!"
Chunks of rock rained down like a hailstorm, pelting Nappa's body. He jerked to the side and changed direction, forcing himself onward.
But the ground in front of him suddenly split open.
Recoome burst out of the earth, striking a ridiculous bodybuilder pose.
Yellow teeth bared, he boomed, "Hellooo! Miss me, baldy?"
Nappa was already broken. He stumbled back a step—
and in the next instant, a hand clamped around his throat from behind.
Captain Ginyu leaned in close, whispering in that signature warped tone of his.
"Gotcha, Nappa~!"
With a flick of his arm, Ginyu snatched the Dragon Balls from Nappa's grasp.
"A filthy wild monkey dares steal Lord Frieza's Dragon Balls? You really don't know when to die."
Nappa stared at Ginyu, trembling. Sweat streamed down his face.
Then—
Frieza arrived.
Nappa's pupils shrank.
"L-Lord Frieza!"
Frieza descended slowly in his floating pod, tail elegantly curled around the armrest.
His voice was like an ice blade scraping across glass.
"I'm curious," he said coolly. "Who gave you the courage to steal from me?"
Nappa spat out a blood-tinged wad of phlegm.
"These Dragon Balls never belonged to you, Frieza!"
The air instantly froze.
The Ginyu Force all took half a step back—no one had dared speak the lord's name so bluntly in a long time.
Nappa's voice dropped suddenly. Now that he could sense ki, he understood Frieza's terror far too well.
Frieza didn't seem angry. He simply smiled and stepped closer, the corners of his mouth lifting.
"If you dared steal my Dragon Balls, that means you must've found others as well.
I am, by nature, very generous.
Tell me where the other Dragon Balls are, and I can spare your life."
There was no hesitation in Nappa's eyes.
"I don't know."
"Oh? You don't know?"
Frieza's smile widened sharply.
"Captain Ginyu," Frieza said pleasantly, "he says he doesn't know. Help him remember."
Ginyu snapped into an over-the-top salute. "As you command, Lord Frieza!"
Then he looked at his teammates.
"Showtime! And don't mess up and kill him by accident!!"
The other four responded immediately, "Understood!"
Jeice was first.
A knife-hand chopped down onto Nappa's collarbone.
CRACK!
The sound of bone breaking was painfully clear.
Nappa let out a muffled groan, cold sweat popping on his forehead—but he didn't scream.
"Pretty tough~," Burter whistled. Then he drove a punch into Nappa's abdomen.
The force was perfectly controlled—not fatal, but enough to make a man wish he were dead.
Nappa doubled over, vomiting blood mixed with stomach acid.
Recoome seized the opening.
An uppercut smashed into Nappa's jaw, launching him into the air—only for him to crash back down hard.
"Up up~," Ginyu danced a few bizarre steps and said cheerfully, "we're not done playing yet~!"
Nappa gritted his teeth so hard they trembled.
"You… will never… get anything… out of me…"
Frieza's pupils narrowed to needle points. The pod's armrest crumbled under his unconscious grip.
"Interesting."
Frieza suddenly laughed, hopped off his pod, and walked toward Nappa.
He snapped his fingers. "Guldo. If you would."
"Understood!"
Guldo instantly used Time Freeze on Nappa.
Nappa could only watch as Frieza's finger slowly approached his eye—while his body refused to move.
A split second later, the pain detonated.
Blood spilled from his eye socket and ran down his cheek as Frieza pinched his eyeball between two fingers.
The sight was sickeningly vivid.
"Now," Frieza asked softly, "can you tell me where the Dragon Balls you collected are?"
Guldo released Time Freeze. Nappa screamed, the sound raw and broken.
A moment later, he lifted his head.
His remaining eye was blurred by sweat, but it still burned with hatred as it fixed on Frieza.
"I will never tell you, Frieza.
I already know the truth about back then.
The Saiyans weren't destroyed by a meteor—you exterminated us on purpose."
"Oh?"
Cruelty flashed across Frieza's face.
With a casual squeeze, he crushed what was left of Nappa's eye.
Then he looked down at him and laughed with smug delight.
"Ohohohohoho… I didn't expect watching the inner struggle of a nobody like you to be this entertaining!
Now I understand.
So that's why you sold Vegeta out first—swearing loyalty to me—
and then turned around and helped him afterward.
Here's some good news for you…"
Frieza's smile widened.
"Vegeta is already dead. I killed him."
Nappa had already guessed the outcome the moment Frieza caught up to him.
But hearing it out loud still made his hatred flare like fire.
He glared up at Frieza with what little strength he had left.
"I never imagined…
We served you with such loyalty…
and you were the one who destroyed Planet Vegeta… who slaughtered our people…"
Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth as he continued, voice hoarse.
"The cruelest part is…
we thought we were 'lucky' to survive…
and spent our lives working for the man who murdered us…"
Frieza sneered.
"Loyalty? Working for me?
Hmph. You can call it neither.
I never forced you.
I needed planets conquered—
and you Saiyans love killing. You enjoy killing.
We simply used each other.
Don't try to dress you wild monkeys up as something noble."
Nappa clenched his fist, shaking—yet he couldn't fight back.
All he could do was lie there and wait to die.
Suddenly, everyone's scouters detected a distant energy fluctuation.
Ginyu exclaimed, "Lord Frieza! Did you see that?! That was a powerful energy spike!"
Frieza nodded. "I saw it too.
But it vanished just as quickly.
Looks like something troublesome has appeared."
Ginyu smiled. "Then please wait here for our good news, Lord Frieza!
We'll gather all seven Dragon Balls for you in no time."
The other four immediately struck their awkward poses again, clearly preparing to dance before leaving.
"Lord Frieza! We choreographed a brand-new routine recently—how about we dedicate it to you now?"
A thin sheen of awkward sweat appeared on Frieza's forehead.
He waved them off instantly. "About the dancing—leave it for now.
Once we have the Dragon Balls, you can dance during the celebration."
Recoome practically vibrated with excitement. "Yes! Then we'll return in triumph, Lord Frieza!"
With that, the five members of the Ginyu Force shot off toward the direction of the energy spike.
A moment later, a muffled groan came from Nappa.
Frieza turned his attention back.
On the scouter, Nappa's energy signal had vanished completely.
Frieza clicked his tongue.
"Oh dear… how careless.
I hadn't even gotten the Dragon Balls' location out of you, and you went and killed yourself.
How very convenient for you."
He raised one finger and fired a thin beam through Nappa's chest—finishing the corpse for good measure.
Nappa didn't even twitch.
Frieza returned to his pod, using telekinesis to toy with the five Dragon Balls as if they were marbles.
And he waited—quietly—for the Ginyu Force to bring him good news.
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