Arriving on Namek

Krillin swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"So... could you introduce me to a few?" Krillin asked with a yearning look, his hands twisted together in front of him, his eyes filled with a hint of pleading.

Soro's face instantly hardened; his smile vanished, and his gaze turned sharp.

Krillin's body stiffened, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

"No... I was just joking!" Krillin panicked, waving his hands frantically in front of him. "Please, don't take it to heart, I really was just kidding."

"There are so many women on Earth, and not one of them has taken a liking to you, yet you want to run off to Atlantis Planet to find one?" Soro let out a cold snort, his gaze scraping over like a blade. "If you dare have such thoughts again, see if I don't turn you into a eunuch!"

Krillin shrank his neck in fear, pulling his whole body back, his hands instinctively shielding his front.

He didn't dare make another sound, lowering his head and even softening his breathing.

Son Gohan stood to the side, tilting his head to look at Krillin, then at Soro, a hint of confusion on his small face.

Son Goku and Piccolo had been training for several hours and finally came up from downstairs.

Both of their clothes were soaked through with sweat, clinging to their bodies.

Son Goku's hair was dripping wet, and a large patch of Piccolo's cape was soaked as well.

But their eyes were bright, and they were full of vigor.

Krillin went up to meet them and immediately gave a brief account of the situation regarding Frieza to Son Goku and Piccolo.

"A battle power of 100 million?" Son Goku looked suspicious and unsettled. "That's terrifying!"

Cold sweat broke out on Piccolo's face, beads of perspiration rolling down from his forehead to the tip of his nose.

He couldn't say a word, his gaze fixed firmly out the window.

"Well... hahaha." Krillin let out a laugh, the sound dry and forced. "But our luck shouldn't be that bad, right? It's not like Frieza would go to Namek!"

"I actually really want to test my mettle against a Frieza with a battle power of 100 million." Son Goku rubbed his hands together, his eyes gleaming with a hint of anticipation. "I want to see just how strong he really is."

"Goku, you must not have such thoughts!" Krillin grew anxious, his voice rising as he waved his hands frantically. "What is your battle power right now? You'd be lucky to even have 20,000, right?"

"That's why I have to train even harder!" Son Goku took a deep breath, his chest expanding, then exhaled slowly. He turned to look at Soro, his gaze firm. "Soro, I need to speed up my progress from here on out and try to adapt to 50 times gravity as soon as possible."

Soro nodded slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Days passed one by one.

The spaceship flew steadily through the starry sky, the starlight outside the window remaining motionless.

The lights in the Gravity Training Room were on from morning until night every day.

Son Goku's training progress was rapid, moving from 20 times to 30 times, then from 30 times to 40 times, breaking his own limits every single day.

Piccolo gritted his teeth and followed behind; although his progress wasn't as fast as Son Goku's, he was still steadily improving.

Krillin and Son Gohan practiced meditation and ki control upstairs, occasionally heading down to attempt the lower gravity settings before scurrying back up, looking dejected.

Six days later.

Soro's spaceship appeared in the sky above Namek.

Outside the porthole, a verdant green planet rotated slowly in the void.

The planet's surface was covered in blue-green vegetation, with lakes embedded in the land like gemstones, and three suns appeared in the sky as light orbs of different sizes, casting their radiance upon this beautiful world.

"Is that Namek?" Krillin exclaimed, pressing against the porthole with wide, excited eyes.

"What a beautiful planet!" Son Goku marveled, leaning toward the window as well.

Piccolo, however, remained silent, standing behind the others with his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the planet through the porthole.

There was a rare flicker of emotion in his eyes; his lips moved slightly before pressing shut again.

He felt a sense of trepidation, the kind one feels when nearing home.

"Whoosh!"

The spaceship broke through the planet's atmosphere, emitting a scorching red glow.

The ship descended from the sky like a shooting star, trailing a long white streak behind it.

As it neared the ground, the rear of the ship suddenly ejected blue flames, decelerating, decelerating, and decelerating further.

Four pillars extended from the base, planting themselves firmly into the ground.

"Thud!"

The spaceship landed steadily on the soil of Namek.

This was a beautiful planet covered in blue lawns.

The grass was soft, feeling like a carpet underfoot.

Green lakes flowed quietly, dividing the land into small islands.

Namek has three suns, each suspended in a different direction in the sky, varying in size and brightness.

Because of this, there is no night here; the sky is perpetually bright, with only the angle and color of the light shifting according to the relative positions of the three suns.

"Finally, we've reached Namek!" Son Goku was brimming with excitement, rubbing his hands together and pacing back and forth in front of the hatch.

Soro opened the spaceship's hatch and stepped out, his feet landing on the blue grass.

Son Goku, Son Gohan, Piccolo, and Krillin followed him out.

Son Goku and the others gazed around like curious children.

"This place is a lot like where Uncle Piccolo and I trained." Son Gohan looked up at Piccolo, his eyes brightening.

He had spent a long time in that wilderness when he was younger, and the terrain there was indeed somewhat similar to this.

Piccolo took a deep breath, his chest expanding.

The air on Namek carried a faint scent of grass, mixed with the dampness of lake water.

He sensed the aura of his homeland, closed his eyes, then opened them again, remaining silent for a moment.

"Right, the Dragon Balls!" Son Goku suddenly remembered the Dragon Balls and hurriedly pulled the Dragon Radar prepared by Bulma from his pocket.

It was a palm-sized circular device with ripples appearing on its screen.

Son Goku pressed the button on top.

Light dots immediately appeared on the screen.

One, two, three... seven in total.

Seven glowing dots were distributed in different positions on the screen; some were clustered together, while others were scattered far apart.

"How is it, Goku?" Krillin asked excitedly, leaning in so close his head nearly bumped into Son Goku's shoulder.

"It's great!" Son Goku was both surprised and delighted, a wide grin spreading across his face. "There really is a reaction from the Dragon Balls!"

"Then let's hurry and find the Dragon Balls!" Piccolo suggested, crossing his arms and sweeping his gaze over the distant hills and lakes.

"Dad, Uncle Piccolo, Uncle Krillin, Uncle Soro..." Son Gohan suddenly turned his head to look in another direction, raising his small hand to point into the distance. "There's a powerful aura over there!"

"Really?" Krillin was taken aback. He followed the direction of Son Gohan's finger, squinting his eyes. "Is it a Namekian?"

"No." Son Gohan shook his head, his brows furrowing slightly as a hint of wariness appeared on his young face. "The aura feels very evil."

"Isn't that normal?" Krillin laughed, turning to glance at Piccolo. "Piccolo even wanted to rule the entire Earth once!"

Piccolo's face darkened, his mouth twitching as he glared fiercely at Krillin and let out a cold snort. "Do you think you're being funny?"