After leaving Bulma, Krillin, and Son Gohan behind, Vegeta wasted no more time. He flew straight toward the Grand Elder's location on Planet Namek.
He could sense the Grand Elder's location so clearly thanks to Nail, who was by his side.
Even with most of his power concealed, Nail's ki was, in a sense, far stronger than that of an ordinary Namekian warrior.
He was, after all, the only true fighter among them, and Vegeta could easily distinguish his presence.
After five days of training to sense ki, Vegeta wasn't as skilled as Kakarot, but he was at least as good as Krillin and Son Gohan.
And with his current strength behind him, his ability to sense ki had become exceptionally sharp.
"Strange. The Grand Elder should have one of the Dragon Balls..."
As he soared through the sky, Vegeta checked the Dragon Radar.
He couldn't be certain before, but the closer he got, the clearer it became: the Dragon Radar showed nothing. Even though it detected a Dragon Ball, the distance and position were wrong.
At the very least, there was no Dragon Ball signal at the Grand Elder's location.
If this had been uncertain information about the story, Vegeta would have been suspicious. Now, though, he suddenly understood.
"No wonder he handed me the Dragon Radar so readily. It was fake."
Although he'd gotten a fake Dragon Radar, Vegeta wasn't angry.
If he hadn't known the Grand Elder had a Dragon Ball, he would have been fooled completely and only figured out the radar was fake after several attempts.
He didn't crush the Dragon Radar in his hand, either. He still needed to verify it.
He slipped it back into his pocket and continued straight ahead, accelerating.
At this point, there was little need to hide his ki, especially from so far away.
Frieza's ki hadn't moved across a wide area, which meant he was still heading toward the next Namekian village. Clearly, he had no intention of wasting time coming after Vegeta.
As long as Vegeta didn't go looking for trouble, he had free rein for now.
And he might have to fight Nail later. Letting Nail and the Grand Elder sense his power now would make their conversation easier afterward.
Meanwhile.
In the central region, atop a tall, sheer-sided mountain.
Nail stood guard outside the Grand Elder's residence. His expression changed abruptly as he looked into the distance.
"Have they already found us? How did those guys manage to track us down?"
According to the information they'd received, several villages had already been invaded by aliens, and countless fellow Namekians had been slaughtered.
Now someone was targeting this place, and Nail's anger had finally erupted.
As the strongest Namekian alive, he would have already taken action if he weren't responsible for keeping the Grand Elder safe.
[Nail, control your emotions. Don't act rashly. Let's see what the newcomer wants first.]
The Grand Elder's voice suddenly rang in Nail's mind. Nail froze, then gritted his teeth.
"Grand Elder, these outsiders have already gone this far. Are we still supposed to endure it?" Nail asked bitterly.
The Grand Elder sighed, then sent his voice into Nail's mind again. [The Namekians face the greatest crisis in our history. I was foolish to cling to hope. If I had known things would come to this, I should have summoned all my people to bring the Dragon Balls here, made a wish to create a new home, and escaped this calamity... I never imagined those outsiders would slaughter the innocent without a word of warning.]
"Grand Elder, if you've already realized that, then we can't keep doing things as we have! Even if we can't strike first, they've come to our doorstep. We're not helpless." Nail's words left the Grand Elder speechless for a moment.
The Grand Elder was already advanced in age, and his life was drawing to a close.
He had never imagined he would face annihilation before he died.
Now that things had come to this, all he could do was try to leave his children a way to survive.
[All right. If the newcomer attacks without a word and tries to take the Dragon Balls, show him your strength and make him think twice.] The Grand Elder sent his reply.
Constantly giving ground would only encourage the enemy to push further.
If Nail was strong enough to deal with the newcomer, that would serve as a warning, too.
However, the Grand Elder knew all too well that a terrifying evil being now dwelled on Planet Namek.
Nail was no match for him. That was why the Grand Elder had kept yielding and waiting to see what would happen.
In truth, the Grand Elder was waiting, too.
He was waiting for the visitors from Earth he had seen in his visions of the future.
The glimpse of the future he had seen at the cost of what little life he had left told him that Earth's warriors would be needed to end the crisis. The fate of the Namekians was even bound to the warriors of Earth.
With the Grand Elder's approval, Nail's spirits soared. He could hardly wait to let loose and vent his anger.
He was ready. If the newcomer showed even the slightest hostility, he would face the full fury of the Namekians.
Time passed, moment by moment.
At last, a speck appeared on the horizon and steadily grew larger. Nail's expression turned grave as he watched the newcomer approach.
Vegeta had spotted his target. He locked onto the location, quickly closed in, then concealed his ki as he landed atop the towering mountain.
Nail stood before him!
The tension was palpable, and Nail's presence was overwhelming.
Even with his current strength, Vegeta couldn't help being surprised by Nail.
No wonder he had a power level of 42,000!
If Vegeta's power hadn't risen so dramatically, he would have been crushed by now.
Unfazed by Vegeta's scrutiny, Nail deliberately released his full power, putting even greater pressure on his opponent.
As Nail's ki continued to swell, Vegeta's new Scouter issued an alert with a precise power level reading.
"That's some impressive power. But isn't it a little unreasonable to treat me as an enemy without even asking why I'm here?" Vegeta asked, watching Nail.
"Hmph! You outsiders have invaded Planet Namek and killed so many of my people. How can you possibly not be our enemies?!" Nail roared.
His expression was cold, his eyes full of fury.
It seemed that if Vegeta hadn't said that, Nail might have held back. But those words became the outlet for his rage.
"So you're going to attack me without even a word? You're not exactly interested in hearing both sides." Vegeta had already been prepared to fight Nail. Now that his strength had increased, he needed a battle to solidify it.
Still, he had to explain things first. They could fight afterward.