Just wanted to heal, why so much trouble?

Just as Bulma was about to make intimate contact with the earth and become immortalized in the most permanent way possible, Frieza suddenly appeared by her side.

The energy enveloping his hand wrapped around Bulma, sparing her from the fate of being flattened into a pulp.

Son Goku stopped mid-flight, having seen a pale-skinned figure with a long tail trailing behind him save Bulma.

Sensing no malice from the man toward Bulma, Son Goku turned his attention away from her and toward the beam struggle between Slug and Vegeta.

"Oh ho ho ho! Miss Bulma, how could you be so careless? Falling from such a height—even with your current battle power of 1,000, you might not die, but landing face-first would surely ruin your looks!"

Hearing that laugh, Bulma felt a strange, inexplicable sense of security.

"I—I—I want a bath!"

Frieza was just about to laugh again when he was stunned by her exclamation, followed by a quick sniff of the air.

Hmm~~

Extending a finger, Frieza pointed it toward Bulma from a distance.

A ripple of unique energy surged, and in an instant, Bulma was wearing a clean, identical outfit in a different color; even her body had been thoroughly cleansed.

Bulma froze, then flew into a towering rage!

"You—you—you!!"

She stammered for a long time, unable to get the words out.

How could she possibly say, "How dare you change my undergarments too?"

She couldn't!

Bulma was a high-society lady; she had her dignity to maintain!

She could never pull a stunt like Son Goku, stripping down in public—it was just too shameless.

Puff!!~~ Whoosh!!

Vegeta ultimately lost the beam struggle to Slug. The moment his Galick Gun shattered, he used every ounce of his strength to shift his body, letting the energy beam graze past him.

Regardless, the beam was headed toward the sky, so he felt no psychological burden in dodging it.

The critical issue was that Vegeta was completely drained; his battle power had plummeted to the point where he couldn't even maintain flight.

If he were hit by Slug's Mouth Blast now, there wouldn't even be a speck of him left.

Vegeta plummeted toward the ground, in the same head-first position as Bulma just moments before.

Slug accelerated violently, intending to finish Vegeta off once and for all. Frieza's instructions were long forgotten; if he allowed this Saiyan Monkey to keep growing, his own life would surely be in jeopardy.

However, Son Goku would not let him have his way.

"10x Kaio-ken!"

With a shout, the aura around Son Goku turned red, and in the next instant, he appeared before Slug.

Slug, currently in a state of blind rage, saw another Saiyan Monkey interfering and delivered a direct knee strike!

Bang!

"Ugh~~!"

Caught off guard, Son Goku took the knee to his stomach and spat out a mouthful of bile.

He had been careless; at 10x Kaio-ken, his battle power was only 20 million. How could he possibly be a match for a fully powered, enraged Slug?

Just as he was about to unleash the 20x Kaio-ken, a grating, hateful laugh echoed out.

Son Goku had never heard this laugh before, but he found it incredibly irritating!

"Oh ho ho ho!"

"You two, hold on a moment. As a bystander, I feel that your current fight is a bit unfair!"

Hearing this, Slug shuddered, not daring to make another move.

Son Goku also put some distance between himself and Slug, eyeing Frieza in the distance and the Bulma standing beside him.

Huh?

Why did Bulma change her clothes?

That didn't seem important; what mattered was that this white-and-purple figure gave him a sense of unfathomable depth.

He hadn't felt it from afar, but now Son Goku could sense it—even if the man's aura didn't seem strong, barely a notch above Nail's.

"Bulma, who is that with you?"

As soon as Son Goku spoke, he completely missed the point of the situation.

Still fuming with embarrassment and rage, Bulma rolled her eyes and snapped at him.

"Son Goku, why didn't you come find me the moment you arrived! Do you have any idea how close I was to falling to my death!"

Frieza's brow twitched with irritation. With a flick of his finger, he sent Bulma screaming toward the location of Krillin and the others.

"Oh ho ho ho!"

"Lord Slug, your ki has dropped quite a bit. It seems Vegeta gave you a taste of trouble after all!"

"You are Son Goku, right? Do you want to have a battle with Slug in his prime?"

Slug was indeed panting a little, but he still had a trump card; he remained confident in dealing with the spiky-haired man before him.

Son Goku's eyes lit up!

"That's for sure, but I've run out of Senzu Beans, and Dende wouldn't agree to heal this guy, would he?"

He glanced at Nail and Dende on the ground.

Uh—the two of them seemed to have been stunned silly; they had actually forgotten to go save Vegeta.

Forget it, Vegeta wouldn't die anyway; if they didn't want to heal him, then so be it.

"Ohohoho! I shall grant your wish. You two had better provide me with a good show!"

Frieza's eyes narrowed slightly as he finished speaking, which made Slug shiver uncontrollably once more.

Even Son Goku felt an incomparably evil aura!

"Fri—Fri—Lord Frieza!"

Dodoria, who had long since hidden to avoid the shockwaves of the battle, suddenly flew up from the water, shaking his fleshy body.

Dodoria felt aggrieved, wronged, and terrified!

Having finally reunited with his backbone, Dodoria was so excited he nearly crashed headlong into Frieza's arms.

Frieza was also full of helplessness, but since Dodoria was absolutely loyal to him, he still needed such a subordinate to run errands and relay messages.

Suppressing the irritation in his heart, Frieza flicked his finger, hitting Dodoria squarely on the forehead with pinpoint accuracy.

Whoosh.

Dodoria vanished from everyone's sight at high speed.

"Stay hidden until the spaceship arrives!"

Sigh, he was worried sick.

He, Frieza, just wanted to come out and heal the two of them; why were there so many complications!

Two green beams of light flew toward Slug and Son Goku, while Frieza flew toward Bulma without looking back.

The main reason was that Bulma had plenty of delicious food on hand; drinking alone was boring, after all.

Besides, watching a show required snacking on melon seeds and sipping fine wine.

Life needed a sense of ritual!

Vegeta suddenly shouted.

"Everyone, be careful! He is the real Frieza, the Emperor of the Universe, Frieza, the most evil Frieza in history!"

At this cry, Krillin and Gohan immediately entered combat stance, but Bulma simply took out a Capsule containing a variety of delicacies.

Nail and Dende finally snapped out of their daze.

However, neither of them recognized Frieza. Although Nail had seen Frieza once, he had passed out shortly after.

As for Dende, he had only heard of Frieza from the Grand Elder and had never seen the man himself.

But both of them had learned from the Grand Elder that Frieza was not a man of extreme cruelty, provided one behaved obediently.

Hearing Vegeta's string of descriptions, a faint smile actually appeared on the corner of Frieza's mouth.

"Miss Bulma, thank you for your hospitality!"

Frieza reclined on a beach chair, grabbed a handful of melon seeds, and took a sip of red wine, ignoring Vegeta entirely.

"Hey, aren't you two starting yet? I'm all set over here!"

An energy barrier appeared, protecting Frieza and his table of food; because Bulma was standing nearby, she was protected as well.

Vegeta was stunned, and Gohan and Krillin were left standing there in a daze.

Were they going to fight or not?