Arrival, First Contact

A month later, when everyone arrived at their destination, Namek, they discovered that someone seemed to have gotten there before them. During their descent, Piccolo and the others also noticed that life energies on the planet were constantly vanishing at an alarming speed.

The moment they landed, Piccolo could not hold himself back and rushed off. The others prepared to follow, while Bulma hurried over and had Chiaotzu carry her. They followed the group to a place that looked like a primitive village.

The ground was littered with the corpses of Piccolo's people, along with bodies of different races clad in identical armor. After passing through the piles of corpses, the group saw Piccolo staring ahead with an awful expression. The entire village was filled with bodies. Only a young Namekian remained, sitting beside the corpse of an elderly Namekian and crying out.

Far away on Earth, Ye Bai brought Gohan, whose potential had gradually awakened after a month of training, back to Goku's home. With Ye Bai around, Chi-Chi had not yet become a resentful housewife, and her personality was still quite pleasant.

Seeing Gohan, who had been away from her for a month, Chi-Chi ran over with tears in her eyes and pulled him into a tight embrace. Then she pushed him back and carefully checked him over from head to toe. Only after confirming that he was not missing any arms or legs did she speak.

"Gohan, Mommy missed you so much. Was training hard? If you don't want to train, Mommy will tell Uncle Ye Bai that you don't have to go anymore."

"Mom, I'm fine. Training isn't hard, just a little tiring sometimes. Uncle Ye Bai treats me very well." Gohan's eyes were watery as well.

Looks like I still have to leave him to Piccolo. Otherwise, this kid's personality is really hard to handle. Watching the scene before him, Ye Bai still felt that he was no match for Piccolo.

"Chi-Chi, you're a martial artist too. It's normal for training to be tiring. You can't keep spoiling Gohan like this. Look at him—he doesn't have a bit of a boy's spirit."

"I know it's natural for you to worry as his mother, but Gohan's personality really won't do. Besides, you want Gohan to become a real man too, right? If Goku had such a timid personality, would you like him?

"If Gohan stays like this in the future, he won't even be able to find a wife." Ye Bai was truly a little speechless toward Chi-Chi. It was excessive pampering that had caused Gohan to develop this sort of personality.

"But I just want Gohan to grow up healthy and safe." Although Chi-Chi understood those principles, she truly could not help herself as a mother.

"No buts. Listen to me. Gohan will become a great martial artist in the future, and he'll become a great scholar too. Right, Gohan?" Ye Bai said the first part while looking at Chi-Chi, then turned toward Gohan with encouragement in his eyes.

Gohan looked at Ye Bai and unconsciously nodded. "Mm!"

"I brought Gohan back this time so you two could spend some time together. In a few days, I'll come take Gohan to Namek so he can see the world. Don't worry! With me around, Gohan will be fine." Ye Bai spoke to Chi-Chi. This was the first promise he had ever made.

"Alright, thank you, Ye Bai. I believe you! After all, you're much more reliable than Goku." Chi-Chi said, finally relieved.

"Hahaha, Chi-Chi, although Goku may not look very reliable, he's never let us down, has he?"

"Goku may look foolish, but you are all incredibly important to him. He would give up his life for you and his companions. That's precisely why you like him, isn't it?" Though Ye Bai enjoyed hearing her words, he still gave Goku a helping hand.

"Of course!" Chi-Chi smiled as well, her expression brimming with unconcealed happiness.

Ye Bai returned to his gravity training room and resumed training. Over the past few years, his strength had doubled again and again. He should soon reach a nice round number. Ye Bai could feel that he was about to break through an invisible shackle. That feeling had lasted for an entire year, and now he felt that he could finally cross it at any moment.

On Namek, Krillin and the others were being led by Dende to meet the Grand Elder. They had already encountered many waves of enemies along the way, and with their current strength, those enemies had been utterly powerless to resist.

Meanwhile, Vegeta had also arrived on Namek and was currently being hunted. After luring his pursuers far away, he finally stopped.

The group arrived at the Grand Elder's residence. After receiving Nail's permission, they were finally brought before the Grand Elder. Following a conversation, the Grand Elder stated that their current strength was nowhere near enough to defeat the enemy and offered to lend them a hand. Then, under Nail's worried gaze, he began raising their strength.

In space not far from Namek, five single-pilot combat spacecraft were rapidly approaching the planet.

After the Grand Elder unlocked their potential, everyone's strength increased severalfold. Goku's strength rose all the way to 1.2 million, while Piccolo reached 600,000. The rest of them had all reached roughly 100,000.

In the distant sky, five streaks of light descended, smashing five massive craters into the ground. Five figures burst from their pods and headed toward the enormous spacecraft in the distance.

Before the giant spacecraft, a purple figure seated in some unknown floating baby carriage watched the five streaks of light flying in from the sky and finally revealed a delighted smile.

After the five figures landed, they took turns loudly announcing their names. Then, after performing a series of utterly embarrassing poses, they shouted, "Ginyu Force!"

On the other side, after stealing the Dragon Ball, Vegeta sensed the enormous increase in Goku and the others' strength. He then sensed five more powerful energies. Knowing that it was the Ginyu Force, he decided that, for safety's sake, he would first run to Goku and the others and divert the disaster toward them.

With that thought, Vegeta decisively flared his energy and flew straight toward Goku and the others.

At that moment, Goku and the others were still getting used to their bodies after their sudden surge in strength. They sensed Vegeta approaching but did not care. After all, they now felt terrifyingly powerful. On this planet, the strongest energy they had sensed was not even half of Goku's.

After arriving, Vegeta proposed that they join forces. His condition was that they tell him how their energy had suddenly increased so many times over and help him become stronger too.

Naturally, everyone refused. Even when Vegeta offered up the Dragon Ball as a condition, they did not agree. Vegeta was not angered by this, since his goal had already been achieved.

Just then, five white streaks of light arrived before them and landed. Another performance so embarrassing it made one want to clench their fists followed. Then, upon seeing the readings on their scouters, their expressions finally turned serious. Since everyone had not yet fully mastered their energy, roughly ten percent of it was still being detected. Thus, the five did not fear them too much, though they remained wary of Goku.

Ginyu chose Goku as his opponent, while the other four were assigned through rock-paper-scissors.

Seeing how little the others thought of them, Krillin and the group took the initiative to attack, leaving Chiaotzu behind to protect the Grand Elder's residence and the people inside.

Goku, too, felt his fighting spirit stirred by the sight of worthy prey and attacked Ginyu. Yet before long, everyone except Ginyu and Guldo had been defeated. Ginyu remained because Goku was simply playing around in the fight, while Guldo was barely hanging on against Yamcha solely due to his psychic abilities. Soon after, Guldo was defeated as well. Just as Piccolo could no longer stand Goku's playful attitude and prepared to step in and finish Ginyu—

"Body Change!"

After Ginyu shouted, Goku's body seemed to be frozen in place, unable to move. A phantom Ginyu appeared behind him. Suddenly, a golden light emerged from his mouth. Goku felt that something bad would happen if that beam struck him, so he stopped holding back, unleashed all of his energy, and dodged it.

Piccolo immediately fired a full-power energy blast, reducing Ginyu to ashes, then shouted at Goku.

"Idiot! What were you doing? That move obviously looked wrong, yet you still nearly fell for it!"

"Sorry, sorry, Piccolo. Hahaha." Goku said awkwardly, scratching his head.

A streak of light shot in from the distance, drawing everyone's attention. When Goku recognized it as the strongest energy they had sensed before, his expression finally turned serious as he looked toward the newcomer.

After the figure landed, Frieza's pale-purple form was revealed. He looked down on the group before him and spoke.

"Oh? So you're the ones who killed my entire Ginyu Force?" As he spoke, he tapped the scouter on his ear and scanned them.

"Hm? How could your combat power be so low? No, you must be the people from Earth who defeated Vegeta. Vegeta must have learned from you how to evade scouters. I imagine all of you can do it as well."

"But it doesn't matter. You killed the strongest Ginyu Force under my command, and I have no one useful left. If you are willing to become my subordinates and work for me, and hand over the Dragon Balls, then I, your king, may mercifully spare your lives. After all, I cherish talent." While speaking, Frieza glanced at the Ginyu Force's corpses on the ground.

"You're their leader, right? Why did you invade this planet and kill so many innocent lives?" Goku asked Frieza before him.

"Are you an idiot? He already said he wants the Dragon Balls. Get out of my way—I'm going to kill this guy!" Piccolo's face turned green with rage. Unable to bear it any longer, he cursed, stepped forward, and shoved Goku backward.

"Oh? You want to kill me? Hohohoho~" Frieza covered his mouth and laughed.

Seeing this, Piccolo stopped wasting words and released all of his energy. The scouter by Frieza's ear exploded with a "pop~."

Frieza finally got serious. He rose from his floating chair and drifted toward Piccolo. The two locked eyes as their auras collided.

Just then, Vegeta shouted from below, "Be careful! Frieza can transform! He becomes even stronger after transforming!"

"Oh? Vegeta, you even know that? But this isn't a transformation. My power at my peak was too great to control, so I developed this restrained form," Frieza replied, looking down at Vegeta in surprise, though he clearly did not care.

"Since that's the case, I'll let you have a look. Watch carefully—this isn't something you get to see whenever you want."

"Remember when I attacked Planet Vegeta, where the Saiyans lived? I defeated all of you without even transforming! Vegeta, your father, King Vegeta, couldn't even bend a single one of my fingers!" Frieza said, looking at Vegeta.

"Watch closely! Don't faint from fright." With that, white light burst from Frieza's body. His armor shattered, and white battle armor with round purple shoulder guards grew over his body. He began to swell and grow taller, the right angles on his head turning into ninety-degree curved horns, while his tail became entirely dark purple.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's continue the battle from before," Frieza said to Piccolo after completing his transformation, rolling his body slightly.