Amused to the Point of Laughter

"Captain Ginyu, who exactly are they?" Recoome was drenched in sweat, his entire body looking as if it had been washed in water, and he was panting heavily.

"They are the Armored Squadron under Lord Cooler," Ginyu said, steadying his nerves.

"Under Lord Cooler? Why have we never heard of them?" Burter felt a lingering fear and found it completely baffling.

Frieza and Cooler each possessed their own independent territories. While they did not go so far as to slaughter one another, there was friction from time to time.

As the strongest special forces unit under Frieza, the fact that Burter and the others had never heard of this Armored Squadron was, in itself, a terrifying realization.

"Because they are an elite unit that only executes top-secret missions. Their identities have never been made public," Ginyu sighed.

"Lord Frieza would never bring them up to us either, which is why you all kept thinking that you were the strongest unit in the universe."

Cooler had sent all three of them here; it seemed he was determined to obtain the Dragon Balls.

"Captain Ginyu, then how do you know about them?" Jeice asked curiously.

"I found out by chance," Ginyu said, unwilling to dwell on the topic.

A long time ago, he had applied to join Cooler's Armored Squadron and wanted to serve as its captain, but he had run into Salza, who was the current captain of Cooler's Armored Squadron.

The two had engaged in a one-on-one duel, and in the end, Ginyu was soundly defeated.

After his defeat, Ginyu caught the eye of Frieza. Frieza followed Cooler's example and formed his own unit, with Ginyu serving as captain.

Frieza had sealed the information regarding this incident, and it eventually became a top-secret matter that no one ever mentioned again.

"So, what do we do now?"

Guldo wore a mournful expression. Through his scouter, he observed that the three members of Cooler's Armored Squadron were approaching at an incredible speed.

"Brother Nail!" Dende suddenly saw Nail arrive and shouted happily.

"Whoosh!"

Nail bypassed Ginyu and the others and landed in the village, holding a Seven-Star Ball in his hand.

Dende leaned against him and whispered about what had just happened.

"Alas, there is no time left to use the Dragon Balls to make a wish."

Seeing that Nail had indeed brought the final Dragon Ball, Ginyu felt deeply frustrated. He was only a step away from completing Lord Frieza's orders.

Frieza had instructed the Ginyu Force to arrive on Namek first to make their wish, and after completing the task, to destroy the Dragon Balls and slaughter all the Namekians.

"Are you and that brutal Saiyan working together?" Nail asked, his expression hostile as he shouted the question.

"A power level of 4,200. I can have some real fun with this," Recoome thought, feeling that he had lost his composure earlier and wanting to vent his anger on Nail.

"Let me handle it!" Burter and Jeice scrambled to rush forward.

"Enough playing around. Attack together and force them to reveal how to use the Dragon Balls to make a wish," Ginyu commanded with an impatient wave of his hand.

Failing Lord Frieza's mission would certainly result in punishment upon their return. If they couldn't even extract the method for using the Dragon Balls, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Boom!"

The sound of explosions rang out one after another, shattering the peace of the area.

Dodoria fired a purple energy blast that struck a house with precision. The roof of the building exploded, and purple flames consumed everything.

The two Namekians hiding inside let out screams before collapsing in a pool of blood.

"Stop!"

Nail's eyes turned blood-red. With a roar of rage, he tried to step forward to intervene, but he was surrounded by Recoome, Burter, and Jeice, who launched a fierce battle.

At the very first contact, blood splattered from Nail's entire body, and his forearm was snapped, falling to the ground.

Recoome, Burter, and Jeice were each stronger than Nail, let alone when attacking him all at once.

"Tell me the method for making a wish with the Dragon Balls."

A cruel smile played on Zarbon's handsome face. He condensed a hair-thin energy blade at his fingertip, and three Namekians were neatly sliced in half.

"Troublesome guys have arrived," Ginyu said, staring in one direction.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

The three figures had been flying at high speed a second ago, but in the next, they abruptly halted their momentum and appeared before Ginyu, demonstrating their immense control.

"Yo, isn't this Ginyu? Long time no see. How come you've changed your look?"

Salza had ice-blue skin and clean, side-swept short hair. He began mocking Ginyu the moment they met.

Because Salza had seen Ginyu's original body, he knew that when they competed for the captaincy of Cooler's Armored Squadron, Ginyu had not possessed his current body with the purple horns.

"Salza, why are you here?" Ginyu suppressed his anger, not wanting to clash with these people.

He still didn't understand; the Ginyu Force had received Frieza's orders and departed first, so how had they run into these people?

"It's simple. Lord Cooler was afraid Lord Frieza might pull some tricks, so he had us wait here in advance," Salza said with a cold sneer.

He truly wanted to bury the entire Ginyu Force here, but he was worried about triggering an all-out war between Cooler and Frieza.

In the universe, the only people capable of making the Ginyu Force disappear without a trace, other than Cooler, were King Cold.

Clearly, King Cold would not, and had no reason to, do such a thing.

"The Dragon Balls are right here, and my men are currently forcing them to reveal the method for making a wish. If you want to take a shot, I won't stop you."

Ginyu said this as a final word before ignoring the three members of Cooler's Armored Squadron. He knew that these three wouldn't dare to lay a hand on him.

"You guys can do the work. The strong only need to sit back and reap the rewards," Salza said, walking to the side and actually finding a spot to sit down.

Just then, the entire sky of Namek darkened. A massive object forcibly crushed the clouds—it was a giant black warship.

Even the people currently engaged in battle stopped their movements and looked up at the oppressive steel vessel.

"Who is this now!?"

Ginyu was so frustrated he was amused to the point of laughter. He looked at Salza and found that the other man was equally bewildered.

Wasn't everyone supposed to have come to Namek in secret? It was becoming a tourist attraction.

"Could it be someone sent by King Cold?"

"Go!"

Nail's body was covered in gruesome wounds, and green blood continued to flow. He was weak to the extreme.

He forced himself to hold his breath and, seizing the opportunity, grabbed Dende, who was trembling in the corner, and broke through the encirclement.

Recoome and the others glanced at them but did not pursue, knowing that the combat-type Namekian was too severely injured to possibly survive.

There were still other living Namekians here; that was enough to extract the method for using the Dragon Balls.

"Boom!"

The black warship, covered in heavy armor, slammed into the soil of Namek. The ground shook violently, splitting into spiderweb-like ravines as dust and boulders shot into the sky.

The black warship landed near the Namekian village. The heavy, mountain-like hatch opened slowly, emitting a dry, grating sound of metal friction.

Immediately following, a dense formation of soldiers marched out in perfect order. They wore dark, heavy armor and carried thick energy machine guns.

"Hand over the Dragon Balls!" a leading soldier commanded loudly.