Preparing to Go to Namek

In the distant reaches of the universe...

There was a planet.

Its trees were lush and verdant, a picture of thriving vitality.

But in one place, amid the countless trees, stood a steel base, utterly out of place against the surrounding forest.

Inside the base.

In a luxuriously decorated office.

Frieza sat in a hovering mobility pod.

His hands folded before his chest, he listened elegantly to the recording his subordinate had brought him.

"Namek... wishing balls..."

"Vegeta really is naughty. But he doesn't know there's a recording device on his spaceship too, does he? Ho ho ho ho."

The subordinate standing to the side was a fat man with pink skin. He spoke at just the right moment. "Then should we..."

He made a throat-slitting gesture.

Frieza glanced at him and shook his head elegantly.

"I am not the sort of person without principles. Since Vegeta has given me such important information, I'll wait until I've gone to Namek and obtained immortality, then personally finish him off. Ho ho ho ho ho."

As he spoke, the corners of his mouth curled into a cruel arc.

"Dodoria, are there any squads at the base right now?"

The pink fat man Dodoria hurriedly said, "Reporting to you, my lord, the squads have basically all been sent out to fight. The fastest squad won't return for another three days."

"Then we set off in three days, for Namek."

Frieza said slowly.

Earth.

After Vegeta left.

The others fell silent.

Looking at the bodies of Yamcha, Tien Shinhan, and Chiaotzu, an atmosphere of grief spread through the air.

Krillin gave a forced laugh. "It's fine. We still have the Dragon Balls, don't we? We can just revive them a year from now."

Jiang Ling's expression was sorrowful.

No matter what, they had been friends he had spent several months with before.

Seeing people who had been alive and well just moments ago turned into cold corpses—anyone would have found it hard to bear.

But as he kept looking, Jiang Ling's expression turned strange, and the sadness in his heart vanished without a trace.

The way Yamcha was lying there...

Why did it look so... familiar?

Wasn't this exactly Yamcha's legendary scene from the original work, the one passed down through the ages?!

As expected, the Tea God really was worthy of being the Tea God.

While grieving, Jiang Ling took out his phone.

He opened the camera app.

And pressed the shutter button.

Click.

That scene, destined to be passed down through the ages, was preserved on his phone.

Jiang Ling made up his mind.

Once he got back, he would upload this photo to the flash drive where he kept his important study materials!

Jiang Ling called Bulma and asked her to fly over in a larger aircraft.

As they waited in place, they started talking about the words Vegeta had left behind at the end.

"Piccolo, did you know you were a Namekian?" Son Goku said.

Piccolo shook his head. "No. Kami probably doesn't know either."

Krillin cut in. "Vegeta said that there are wishing orbs similar to the Dragon Balls on Namek too. Looks like you and Kami must have some connection to Namek."

Jiang Ling pondered for a moment, then said, "My guess is that Namek should have Piccolo's people there. Piccolo, do you want to go to Namek?"

"Tch. What's it got to do with me?" Piccolo curled his lip and said nothing more.

But he felt a little tempted.

Judging by his appearance, he was completely out of place among Earthlings.

Several times, when he was training alone, he had wondered where he had come from.

Jiang Ling glanced at Piccolo and spoke again.

"Vegeta didn't get the Dragon Ball on Earth this time. Once his injuries heal, there's a very high chance he'll go to Namek. When that happens, Piccolo, your people... will probably be in danger."

The moment those words came out, Piccolo's expression darkened.

Goku, who was lying there, had his eyes light up as he said, "He'll go to Namek? Then I'm going too. I want to fight him again!"

"Hmph! Easy for you to say. What about a spaceship? Earth doesn't have spaceships yet, does it?" Piccolo said coldly.

Jiang Ling smiled.

"I'll handle that problem. I've decided to go to Namek with Goku and take a look."

Hearing this, Piccolo's eyes flickered. After a long while, he said in a muffled voice, "Take me with you when the time comes."

After saying that, he flew straight away.

Gohan raised his hand and said, "If Uncle Piccolo and Dad are going, then I want to go too!"

Jiang Ling nodded, then looked at Krillin.

Krillin scratched his shiny bald head. "Since all of you are going, I'll go too."

Hearing that, Jiang Ling originally wanted to refuse, because if Krillin went, he might end up following the same old route as in the original story and get sacrificed on the spot.

But after thinking about it, he felt that going to Namek would be pretty good. Krillin could go to the Grand Elder and have his potential unlocked, so he wouldn't be so weak in the future that enemies could one-shot him.

As Goku's childhood friend, childhood playmate, and the prince's study companion, it wouldn't make sense for him to be too weak, right?

After a while, a medium-sized aircraft flew over from the distance.

It landed beside them.

Chi-Chi was the first to come out. When she saw Goku lying on the ground, tears immediately welled up in her eyes, and she rushed over at once.

Jiang Ling turned to look at Bulma as she walked over and asked, "Why did Chi-Chi come with you?"

Bulma spread her hands. "I figured Goku was badly injured, and you guys are all rough men who don't know how to take care of people. Goku couldn't be left with no one to care for him, so I went and brought Chi-Chi over."

"Mm, that's not bad either."

Jiang Ling smiled and nodded.

Then, in passing, he put his hand on Bulma's waist.

"???"

Bulma rolled her eyes and slapped his hand away.

She said in a low voice, "Pervert!"

Jiang Ling chuckled and didn't mind, as if he hadn't heard her at all.

On the other side, Chi-Chi looked at Goku in this state and felt terribly distressed.

"Goku! How did you get hurt this badly... Does it hurt...? Why did you fight so desperately? If you died again and left Gohan and me behind, what would we do..."

Son Goku grinned. "It doesn't hurt. I'm fine, aren't I?"

"Really?" Hearing his father say that, Son Gohan poked his arm.

"Hiss—" Son Goku cried out in pain. "Don't poke it! It hurts like crazy!"

"And you still said it didn't hurt!"

Seeing this, Chi-Chi wiped her tears and burst out laughing, then lightly smacked Gohan. "Your dad's injured. Don't mess around."

Watching the Son family enjoying such a warm, happy moment, Jiang Ling shook his head.

Dog food! Naked dog food!

"Bulma, we need a spaceship..."

Jiang Ling wanted to talk to Bulma about going to Namek, but found her staring blankly at Yamcha's corpse without saying a word...

Seeing this, Jiang Ling fell silent and sighed inwardly.

That made sense.

Feelings built over several years didn't just disappear because someone said so.

Bulma must have been feeling awful inside.

Jiang Ling stepped forward and patted her shoulder, wanting to say something to comfort her.

But then he saw Bulma blink. "There might not be enough room in the aircraft. How about we just cremate Yamcha on the spot?"

Jiang Ling turned his head to look at the aircraft that could seat more than a dozen people and fell into deep thought.