Time flew by, and nearly half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.
They could have arrived much sooner, but Vegeta's burst of energy had caused a celestial upheaval. The spaceship had taken the first wave of impact, and although its shields had come on, some of its internal wiring had still been damaged.
The problems were minor, but they had affected Bulma's controls and required a simple repair.
Of course, under Bulma's piloting, the spaceship still made a safe landing at Grand Elder Guru's residence on Planet Namek.
Before they had even touched down, the four of them spotted quite a few Namekians, all wearing expressions of anxious anticipation.
After landing, Krillin, Son Gohan, and Bulma followed behind Dende, too nervous to make a sound.
After all, they were surrounded by a bunch of King Piccolos. Even though they already knew the Namekians were good people, they were still intimidating to Krillin and Bulma, despite the fact that the Grand Elder had personally invited them.
With Dende's introduction, the three finally met the Namekians and got to know them a little.
They arrived outside the Grand Elder's home.
As always, Nail stood by the entrance, his expression stern and his guard unwavering.
Protecting the Grand Elder was his duty. If his carelessness caused the Grand Elder any harm, he would be held responsible.
Under the pressure of Nail's energy, Krillin and Son Gohan grew solemn.
The Namekians' strength had already opened their eyes, but they had never expected one to be this powerful.
Even Goku using the Kaioken would probably be far weaker.
"Brother Nail, Grand Elder Guru asked me to bring Uncle Krillin and Gohan to see him," Dende said frankly.
Only after Dende interrupted him did Nail withdraw his scrutinizing gaze.
He was deeply puzzled. According to Grand Elder Guru, he had seen a glimpse of the future: warriors from Earth would save the Namekians...
He had assumed that the Earthlings would be incredibly powerful, at least as strong as him. But from what he could see, these two strange-looking, short Earthlings didn't seem to have much strength.
Rather than believe these two could defeat the invaders, he would sooner believe Vegeta would keep his promise.
"Come with me. Grand Elder Guru has been waiting for you." Though Nail was confused, he followed the Grand Elder's instructions and entered first.
Dende gestured for Krillin and Son Gohan to follow, then went inside.
Krillin and Son Gohan exchanged a glance and followed him.
Bulma came last.
She wasn't about to stay outside alone with all these Namekians.
What if they did something strange to her?
Bulma's imagination was still quite vivid at this point in time, and she was nowhere near as composed as she would be a few years later, after having a child with Vegeta.
Once they were inside, Nail and Dende respectfully greeted the Grand Elder.
Krillin, Son Gohan, and Bulma were startled by the enormous Grand Elder Guru.
He might have been old, but he still had an imposing presence.
After they had introduced themselves, the three visitors finally began to settle down. They had also learned something about the Namekians' past and the predicament they were currently facing.
Just as North Kai had said, they were a simple, honest people.
Most importantly, they weren't enemies. The Namekians were willing to help the Earthlings and give them Dragon Balls.
But five of the Dragon Balls had already fallen into Frieza's hands.
Now that they had found common ground and expressed their goodwill, the Grand Elder took the opportunity to make a request of the three: he wanted to see their memories of Piccolo and the Guardian of Earth.
In other words, he wanted to learn about what had happened on Earth.
It was really only possible because Krillin was the one involved. Anyone with even a little strength or selfishness would never let someone else look through their memories.
Krillin didn't have anything to hide, so he agreed.
The process was quite incredible, at least to Krillin and the others, who couldn't understand how it worked.
After briefly looking through his memories, the Grand Elder sighed with emotion.
"So that's how it was. I never imagined that Katatz's child, who wandered to Earth, would do so much. Even more surprising, he really did make it safely to Earth...
"Alas, if the two of them hadn't been separated, perhaps things wouldn't have turned out this way. You've had a hard time coming all this way to Planet Namek."
The Grand Elder's words were filled with helplessness.
He had also learned about Vegeta's invasion of Earth and everything that had happened, but he didn't mention it.
He had already helped Vegeta. In a sense, he had done something that couldn't be undone.
But for the sake of the Namekians, he had no choice.
The Grand Elder suddenly tightened his grip on Krillin's hand and used his ability to unlock potential.
Krillin had been a little nervous when he felt the Grand Elder's grip tighten, but then he suddenly felt his energy surging, with power welling up inside him without end.
Disbelief filled him, and even after the Grand Elder let go, he remained stunned.
Only when Son Gohan reminded him did he realize this wasn't a dream.
"Th-this is so strong! Is this really my power? This is... this is just..." Krillin was so excited that he didn't know how to express himself.
Just like in the original story, his battle power immediately rose to 13,000, and it continued to increase. It didn't stop once it reached that level.
The Grand Elder's unlocking was like a blessing. It wasn't a one-time release of potential; the increase was ongoing.
In the original story, Krillin's strength kept growing after the Grand Elder unlocked his potential. After he was injured fighting the Ginyu Force and recovered, his battle power had risen to 75,000 by the time he faced Frieza.
That was more than enough to show just how remarkable Krillin's potential was.
"All I can do for you now is unlock the potential within you. This power is already yours; you simply lack the right means to draw it out," the Grand Elder said. Then he looked at Son Gohan. "Child, you come over too. I can feel how kind you are, and the potential within you is incredibly deep—perhaps even more terrifying than Vegeta's. Unfortunately, all I can do now is open the way for you. I can't draw it all out at once."
At those words, Krillin, Son Gohan, and Bulma were all startled.
"Wait, Grand Elder, did you say Gohan's potential is even more terrifying than Vegeta's? Does that mean Vegeta went through your potential unlocking too?" Krillin asked.
"Yes. Not long ago, he came to me and asked me to unlock his potential. In return, he promised to help us defeat the invaders," the Grand Elder said with a nod.
"No wonder... no wonder Vegeta's so powerful." Son Gohan's face was full of anger.