Not long afterward, Bulma finished checking the atmospheric composition and oxygen concentration, changed into her work clothes, and stepped out of the spaceship.
The moment she did, she could barely contain herself and started shouting.
"You two really treated everything I said like it went in one ear and out the other.
"This is an unknown planet, Planet Namek! You just rushed outside without a second thought. Do you even use your brains? Idiots."
Krillin and Son Gohan, who were still observing their surroundings, looked awkward as Bulma gave them a thorough scolding.
They didn't dare argue. They knew Bulma had a bad temper, and if they really upset her, she definitely wouldn't be pleasant to be around afterward.
"Please don't be mad, Aunt Bulma."
"Right, right! We're fine, aren't we?"
As the two tried to sweet-talk her, Bulma rolled her eyes. Then, without another word, she pulled the Dragon Radar from her pouch and began scanning.
"Let's hurry up and find the Dragon Balls. Once we make our wish, we can go home."
Bulma reassured herself.
The Dragon Radar switched on, and before long, it began displaying a signal from a Dragon Ball.
This surprised Bulma. She hadn't expected a response so quickly, and Krillin and Son Gohan hurried over excitedly.
Once they confirmed that Planet Namek really did have Dragon Balls, the three of them were overjoyed.
But not long afterward, Son Gohan suddenly sensed something. Sweat ran down his face as he said to Krillin, "Uncle Krillin, can you sense it? Over there, in that direction—there are a lot of powerful presences."
"Where? Let me see if I can sense them..." Seeing how alarmed Gohan looked, Krillin put his excitement aside and began concentrating.
It didn't take long for Krillin's expression to change as well.
"There really are a lot of powerful presences. And these auras seem a little..."
"Oh, what are you two worried about? This is Planet Namek. Kami and Piccolo are both so powerful, so it's no surprise the Namekians are strong too... Besides, didn't King Kai say the Namekians here were honest and simple folk?" Bulma couldn't understand what Krillin and Son Gohan were feeling.
"That may be true, but those auras seem kind of evil," Son Gohan said.
Krillin nodded. "Yeah. And those auras are completely different from Piccolo's. A few of them are so evil it's hard to imagine."
"Huh? Y-you mean there are other people on Planet Namek besides us? Have the Saiyans already arrived ahead of us?" Bulma's neck shrank back in fear as soon as she heard that.
"What do we do now? Maybe we should go back to Earth and come back once Goku's recovered..." Krillin was starting to lose his nerve too.
He had worked up a lot of courage just to agree to come to Planet Namek. If he died here, he'd die far from home.
"I agree! Let's get out of here. It'll be bad if they find us. I just hope that after they make their wish, they don't kill Shenron like King Piccolo did..." Bulma's worries made Krillin and Son Gohan hesitate again.
The three of them stood there, unable to make up their minds.
After discussing it for a while, they decided to contact Earth first and then decide what to do.
At that moment, they still didn't know that the Frieza Force's scout soldiers had already detected them because they hadn't concealed their auras.
Vegeta, who was elsewhere, had also sensed them while scanning the area.
About a thousand kilometers northwest of where Bulma and the others were.
After sensing the surrounding auras, Vegeta had a rough idea of the situation on Planet Namek.
He had sensed Frieza, Dodoria, and Zarbon, and pinpointed the locations of the Grand Elder Guru and Nail as well.
Most importantly, he had sensed Bulma, Krillin, and Son Gohan—the three people he absolutely had to see.
Bulma's aura was unfamiliar, since his original self had never met her, but he couldn't mistake Krillin's and Son Gohan's.
"Heh heh! Perfect timing. I can't wait to see your faces when we meet again." Vegeta's lips curled up as he slowly rose into the air.
A moment later, his aura burst out, and he shot straight toward the three of them.
At his current speed, he was moving too fast for the naked eye to follow. He could cross the thousand kilometers in no time.
Of course, that wasn't even close to his full power. He was moving at less than a fifth of his top speed.
Vegeta knew Frieza and the others must have already learned that he had arrived on Planet Namek, but they hadn't come after him. Frieza probably didn't consider him a threat.
Perhaps they couldn't pinpoint his location, since he had concealed his aura earlier.
But if Frieza and the others made any move toward him, he could immediately erase his aura and leave them with no way to find him.
Even if Frieza and the others flew the fifteen thousand kilometers between them as fast as they could, Vegeta would have plenty of time to react.
Unless Frieza destroyed Planet Namek with a Planet Destroyer Bomb, they weren't going to kill him.
With a way to hide that meant he didn't need to worry, Vegeta no longer had to be so careful about suppressing his aura.
Meanwhile.
Vegeta's aura appeared, shocking Krillin and Son Gohan as they discussed what to do while sensing the surrounding auras.
They had already suspected that the Saiyans might have arrived on Planet Namek. Now that Vegeta's aura had appeared, there was no need to wonder.
"What do we do, what do we do? Vegeta really has arrived on Planet Namek, and he's heading this way at incredible speed," Krillin said, flustered.
Son Gohan was at a loss too, but he quickly reacted and tried to suppress his aura. "Quick, Uncle Krillin, hide your aura!"
"N-no, it's too late!" Krillin's face turned ashen. He stared into the distance, seemingly able to see Vegeta racing toward them.
After a brief delay, Vegeta arrived and stopped powering up, then descended naturally to the ground in front of them.
Krillin and Son Gohan hardly dared to breathe. They did their best to control their emotions and face Vegeta.
Vegeta watched the two with amusement. Without breaking stride, he also glanced at the spaceship.
You couldn't see inside from the outside, but Vegeta knew Bulma was watching him from within.
"Damn it! You were so badly injured, yet you recovered completely—and you got to Planet Namek before us." After holding back for a long while, Krillin gritted his teeth and spoke first, breaking the tense silence.
If this went on any longer, he was afraid Vegeta's aura would make it impossible for him to breathe.