Namek

The spaceship traveled through the endless sea of stars, and the atmosphere inside was as oppressive as a study hall before the college entrance exams.

Krillin stared blankly out the porthole, Tien Shinhan sat cross-legged in meditation, and Yajirobe hugged a bag of snacks, crunching away. This guy's stomach was practically a black hole.

And I, Son Gohan, a four-year-old kid, was doing push-ups in the corner.

One thousand of them.

After finishing the last set, I rolled onto my back, my breathing as steady as an emotionless office drone's.

"Gohan, do you really need to push yourself this hard?" Krillin finally snapped out of his daze. "We still have two days before we reach Namek."

Two days.

How long had it taken Goku to recover from his serious injuries in the original story? Probably two or three days too. Then, by the time he reached Namek...

I closed my eyes and refused to think about that iconic scene.

"Uncle Krillin, Frieza is really strong, right?"

"Yeah... incredibly strong." He scratched his head. "I heard his power level is over one million."

One million? That was his second form.

His first form was only 530,000.

And me? 5,000.

The gap was so huge it made me want to laugh.

"Gohan wants to get stronger." I blinked my innocent big eyes. "Gohan wants to protect Earth."

Krillin was instantly hit right in the feels, his eyes even reddening. "Gohan... you're only four..."

Without even looking up, Yajirobe said, "Tch, what does a brat know? Eating is what matters most."

I rolled my eyes inwardly.

This guy's power level was about 200. His role throughout the whole story was basically getting instantly defeated and providing comic relief, yet his mentality was steadier than anyone's.

Sure enough, ignorance was bliss.

Krillin, on the other hand, was completely different. He was the typical hot-blooded teammate, always charging to the front and always believing that light would overcome darkness.

Honestly, someone like that wouldn't survive their probation period in the workplace.

But here, someone like that made people feel safe.

Two days later.

The moment the spaceship broke through the atmosphere, I saw that planet through the porthole.

Namek.

Green vegetation, blue oceans—it looked no different from Earth.

But there was an indescribable aura hanging in the air.

It was too quiet.

Not peaceful quiet, but the kind of quiet that made you wonder, "What happened here?"

"This place feels strange." Tien Shinhan frowned. "There aren't even any bird calls."

Yajirobe finally put down his snack bag, a rare serious expression appearing on his face. "I smell blood."

I took a deep breath.

He was right.

There was a faint scent of blood in the air, mixed with scorched earth and some indescribable stench of decay.

In the original story, Vegeta had said that by the time he arrived, Namek was already a wasteland.

It looked like things were even worse than I had expected.

"Let's land first," I said. "Find somewhere hidden."

Krillin glanced at me.

He was probably wondering why a four-year-old was suddenly speaking so calmly.

But he didn't ask.

We chose a landing spot in a dense forest.

The instant the spaceship came to a stop, I was the first one to rush out.

After passing through several rows of trees, the sight before me made me stop cold.

A Namekian village.

Or rather, it had once been one.

Now, all that remained was scorched earth and wreckage.

The houses had been burned to ash, and the fields had become black swamps. Abandoned farm tools and shattered clay jars lay everywhere—and then I saw a Namekian arm.

It had been cleanly severed at the shoulder. The blood at the cut had long since dried, blackened.

This was all Frieza's doing.

"Urgh..." Yajirobe ran to the side and dry-heaved.

Tien Shinhan's face turned ashen.

Krillin's fists clenched with a crack. "Beasts... These people are beasts!"

I silently nodded to myself.

They really were beasts.

But beasts or not, they had the strength.

That was the cruel law of the universe: there was no reason to be had. Whoever had the bigger fist had the final say.

I said nothing and crouched down to pick up an abandoned metal disc.

A scouter.

Standard equipment for Frieza's forces.

It seemed Zarbon and Dodoria's advance squad had already swept through this place.

Those bastards moved fast.

"Old man, did bad people hurt you?"

At the words "bad people," the terror in the Namekian's eyes instantly transformed into bone-deep hatred.

"Fr... Frieza... They... took the Dragon Balls... killed... everyone..."

His voice came in broken fragments. Every word drained what little life force he had left.

I clenched my fists.

Just as I thought. It was all for the Dragon Balls.

"The Grand Elder... The Grand Elder still has one..." he said with the last of his strength. "Hurry... They're going to... going to kill the Grand Elder..."

After saying that, his body went limp.

Krillin hurriedly checked his breathing. "He's still alive, but it's very weak. He needs treatment immediately!"

I nodded.

But I knew full well that the effects of Sacred Water varied from person to person. Whether it could save him was still unknown.

More importantly, if the Grand Elder died, Namek's dragon could no longer be summoned, and the Dragon Balls would be useless.

So Frieza would not kill him easily.

He was waiting. Waiting until he had collected all the Dragon Balls, then wiping them all out in one fell swoop.

What a sinister bastard.

In my heart, I slapped a label on Frieza: intergalactic property developer—demolishing everything wherever he went.

"First, let's find somewhere safe to treat him," I said. "Then we need to make a plan."

We retreated to a cave near the spaceship.

We lit a fire and gave the Namekian some basic treatment for his wounds.

By the time we finished, night had already fallen.

The temperature difference between Namek's day and night was enormous. Even our breath came out in white mist.

I stood at the cave entrance, looking out over the pitch-black surface of the planet in the distance.

Frieza's advance squad was still active. The scouter showed those red dots still moving, searching, killing.

And all I could do was watch.

With a power level of 5,000, I wouldn't even be able to take a single move from Zarbon.

That was reality.

Anger was useless.

I kept reminding myself: Stay calm. I had to stay calm.

What was a transmigrator's advantage?

Knowing how the plot would unfold.

Knowing every opponent's weakness.

Knowing who would come.

My eyes snapped open.

If I remembered correctly, when Vegeta arrived on Namek, there would be a violent reaction on the scouter.

That was the key turning point.

Before then, I had to—

"Gohan." Tien Shinhan's voice came from behind me.

I turned around and saw the three-eyed martial artist standing at the cave entrance, his expression grave.

"What are you thinking about?"

I looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"Uncle Tien Shinhan, do you think we can win?"

Tien Shinhan fell silent for a moment. "I don't know. But we have to try."

I nodded.

"You're right."

Then my expression turned serious.

"Uncle Tien Shinhan, what I'm about to say may sound strange to you. But please believe me."

Tien Shinhan frowned. "What is it?"

I took a deep breath.

"At some point tomorrow, another alien will arrive here. His battle power is very high, but he isn't one of Frieza's men."

Tien Shinhan's pupils contracted. "...How did you know?"

Because I'm a transmigrator.

I finished the sentence in my heart, but what I said aloud was, "Because... this is our only chance."

Tien Shinhan looked at me for a long time.

Then he nodded.

"I believe you, Gohan."

At that moment, I suddenly felt that this three-eyed guy was far more dependable than Krillin.

Being dependable wasn't about hot-blooded passion. It was about trust.

And trust was the rarest thing in this cruel universe.

A piercing ding of an alarm shattered the night's silence.

I spun around.

Krillin's scouter was flashing wildly, the number representing a life signal on its screen skyrocketing at terrifying speed.

"What... is this?!" Krillin's face went deathly pale. "This number... it's jumping! It just keeps jumping!"

I glanced at it.

The number had already broken one hundred thousand and was still rising.

But this didn't look like a normal increase in battle power.

It looked more like someone was deliberately releasing their aura!

I understood instantly.

It was Vegeta.

He was provoking us. Declaring war.

In Namek's night sky, a meteor streaked across the heavens.

It drew closer and closer, brighter and brighter.

The corner of my mouth lifted.

He had come, just as expected.

Vegeta, that arrogant Saiyan prince.

And my first journey to Namek had only just begun.

At that moment, I understood with absolute clarity that my enemy was one of the most powerful beings in this universe.

And I was just a four-year-old kid with a battle power of 5,000.

But that was okay.

I knew what would happen next.

I knew everyone's weaknesses.

I knew how it would all end.

All that remained was to turn what I knew into what I could claim.