Namek

Meanwhile, as Turles fretted over how to grow stronger quickly, Raditz was having the time of his life.

The spaceship flew steadily, and Raditz sat in the cockpit, his fingers sliding across the star map as if he were flipping through an interesting atlas.

"Namek..."

"Found it!"

Once he slid to the location of Namek, he marked every nearby habitable planet along the route between his current position and the destination.

"Should have done this ages ago."

He no longer had to fly around like a headless chicken.

Raditz felt a surge of excitement.

He set the course.

The spaceship shot forward at full speed like an arrow released from a bow!

A month later.

The "arrow" had hit the mud.

Raditz lay in his chair, the excitement on his face having long since dried up.

He felt somewhat dejected.

Things were a bit different from what he had imagined.

During this time, he had landed on a frantic number of planets, more than he had in the previous half-year combined.

However, the system remained as silent as a dead engine, showing no activity whatsoever.

The system's check-in tasks don't seem to be random; they must require special planets.

Or perhaps special nodes?

Raditz helplessly abandoned the idea of continuing to "grind the map."

Namek was no longer far away.

"Estimated arrival in ten minutes. Namek, please prepare," the ship's main computer signaled.

Raditz stood up and looked out through the porthole.

In the deep reaches of space, a verdant green planet was slowly growing larger in his field of vision.

Namek.

Green skies, green plains, and green hills.

Moori leaned on his wooden staff as he walked along the village path.

This was the village under his care; it was small, with a dozen domed houses scattered about.

Patrolling the village was something he did every single day.

As the elder of this village, he had to ensure that every household was accounted for and that no one had fallen ill.

After a full circuit, everything was as usual.

Moori nodded in satisfaction and turned to walk toward the outskirts of the village.

In a patch of wasteland outside the village, several young Namekians were squatting on the ground, carefully planting saplings.

"Elder," one of them looked up and nodded at Moori.

Moori walked over and leaned down to inspect the saplings.

"This batch is growing better than the last; keep it up."

The young Namekian flashed a shy smile.

Moori gazed at the land before him, filled with emotion.

The environment of Namek was exceptionally fragile and had once suffered devastating destruction.

A series of disasters, including drought and disease, had nearly driven their race to extinction.

Fortunately, the Grand Elder had turned the tide, preserved their race, and led them in rebuilding their home.

The environment was recovering, and it was good that they could do these small things within their power.

Moori withdrew his gaze and turned to walk back to the village.

He entered the stone house at the very center of the village; unlike the other dwellings, this house was uninhabited.

The interior was dim, and resting quietly on a stone pedestal in the center lay a massive Dragon Ball.

Moori walked forward, took a cloth from a nearby shelf, and began to wipe it down carefully.

The seven Dragon Balls created by the Grand Elder were scattered across six villages, with each one kept by its respective elder.

Moori did not know when these Dragon Balls would be used, but he knew that as long as they existed, they held an extra shred of hope.

"Thump, thump, thump."

Rapid footsteps suddenly echoed from outside the door, followed immediately by the voice of a young clansman.

"Elder, come out and look! There's a spaceship! A spaceship is landing!"

Raditz adjusted his gear and opened the hatch.

He took one look.

"Uh... so many Piccolos."

He saw an obviously elderly Namekian approaching with a group of people.

They looked vigilant, their gazes locked tightly onto Raditz.

Raditz even sensed a ki signature rapidly moving away; someone had clearly gone to sound the alarm.

"Outsider, why have you come here?" Moori stepped forward, his expression grave as he asked.

Raditz organized his thoughts, keeping his tone as mild as possible.

"Greetings. I come from a distant planet called Earth. I have traveled a great distance to reach your lands at the request of another."

Moori was somewhat skeptical. Their race had always kept a low profile in the universe, and no one had ever considered them special in the slightest.

At most, there were rumors that they possessed some sort of magical ability.

Why would someone come all this way specifically for them?

"At whose request?"

Raditz's tone remained slow and steady. "A Namekian."

This was a lie.

Kami did not even know his own extraterrestrial origins, let alone entrust him with coming to Namek.

"A Namekian?!"

Moori was incredulous.

Did they still have kin living out in the reaches of space?

"Yes. The Namekian on Earth fled there as a refugee hundreds of years ago. According to him, his homeland suffered a great catastrophe. As time passed, he never returned to his native land."

Moori had been half-doubting, but upon hearing the mention of the "great catastrophe," the wariness on his face visibly softened.

"It really is a clansman..." he muttered to himself, his eyes reddening slightly as if lost in memory.

The clansmen behind him also began to whisper heatedly among themselves.

Raditz stood where he was, feeling somewhat awkward as he watched them reminisce about the past, leaving him standing to the side.

"Right." Moori finally regained his senses and stepped forward quickly, his tone becoming significantly more eager. "Does that clansman have any words for us? Is he not coming back himself?"

"Well, for certain reasons, he cannot come in person," Raditz nodded. "So, I have come in his stead."

The reason was simple enough: he had split into two, lost his memory, and had no recollection of his Namekian identity at all.

"He wanted to ask if he might borrow the Dragon Balls of his homeland."

"He asks that you allow this young man before you to use them. He is the most outstanding martial artist on Earth."

Raditz said this without blushing or skipping a beat.

He had no choice; he loved telling the occasional truth.

Upon suddenly hearing the words "Dragon Balls," Moori took a step back, the eagerness on his face freezing instantly.

The look he cast at the person before him turned dangerous.

"I am afraid you will be disappointed. We have no such thing as Dragon Balls."

Raditz: "..."

Blatant lying? Do you think the radar in my hand is just a decoration?

The situation turned tense.

Raditz could not expose the other party's lie, nor did he wish to spark a conflict.

Even though, with his strength, he could easily crush them.

"Takkaraputo, Poporunga..."

Raditz suddenly spoke.

Upon hearing this, the expressions of Moori and the others changed drastically.

It was not just because the person before them had uttered the incantation to summon Shenron, but because he had said it in the Namekian language.

Skills don't weigh you down; Raditz had attended a foreign language crash course at Kami's Lookout, even if he only knew this one phrase.

"You..."

"On my planet, there are Dragon Balls as well," Raditz said truthfully. "They were created by that very Namekian. He serves as the Kami on Earth."

"Since he was able to create something like this, then here, his homeland, should also have something similar, right?"

"..."

At this point, Moori could no longer deny it.

He sighed, "My apologies. Regarding the Dragon Balls, I cannot speak plainly. After all, the slightest carelessness could invite disaster."

Raditz nodded, signaling his understanding.

The Namekians did not even use the Dragon Balls to restore their planet's environment for fear of inviting unnecessary trouble, which showed just how deeply they guarded the secrets of the Dragon Balls.

"This guest, I am already aware of the request from you and that distant clansman, but I must report it to the Grand Elder for him to decide."

Moori's tone softened, "If you do not mind, Guest, you may rest in our village."