The doors of both spaceships opened at once, and Son Gohan, Tien Shinhan, and the others stepped out one after another, breathing in Namek's fresh air.
"Is this Namek? What a beautiful place!" Krillin said excitedly.
"There are so many evil, powerful ki signatures." Tien Shinhan was the first to sense something was wrong.
"At least seven or eight people are stronger than me. Some of them are far stronger!"
Yamcha felt utterly crushed. He already had a power level of 160,000, enough to crush Vegeta and Nappa as they'd been when they first arrived on Earth.
He'd thought that made him a pretty formidable fighter, but reality had dealt him a heavy blow.
"T-Tien." Chiaotzu's face had gone pale, and he huddled close to Tien Shinhan.
Chiaotzu was the weakest of them all—not even as strong as Yamcha.
"Uncle Chiaotzu, Uncle Yamcha, don't lose heart. None of your hard work will go to waste," Son Gohan reassured them.
As soon as they landed on Namek, Son Gohan sensed two ki signatures stronger than his own. His normal power level had already reached ten million.
He immediately realized something was wrong. The disruption in space and time was getting worse, and every new enemy they encountered was beyond anything he remembered from the story.
They would have to investigate to find out who had come to Namek this time.
"Weren't there supposed to be 109 Namekians here? Why can't I sense even half of them?" Piccolo furrowed his brow.
That meant many Namekians had died. He'd never met those people, but he still felt furious.
"Let's check over there. There are a lot of powerful ki signatures gathered in that direction." Son Goku could hardly wait to fight.
The seven of them shot into the sky and flew toward the Namekian village where Slug was.
Elsewhere, Vegeta stepped out of his single-seat pod, fully recovered from his injuries. He still couldn't stop thinking about the Dragon Balls.
"Damn Namekians! This time I'll transform into a Great Ape right away. Let's see how you stop me then!" Vegeta wore a cruel grin.
After recovering from the brink of death, his power had risen by a large margin, surpassing 30,000.
When Cui heard he'd been injured, he'd gone out of his way to mock him—and Vegeta had blasted him to pieces.
The two had once been roughly equal in power, but now Vegeta was far ahead. His confidence had soared, and he'd returned to Namek.
But the next moment, Vegeta's grin vanished. He sensed a great many powerful ki signatures.
On Earth, he'd learned how to sense ki and control his power level.
"One... two... three..."
The more he counted, the grimmer his expression became. He counted fifteen ki signatures stronger than his own.
Son Gohan and the others were so powerful that even the small amount of ki they let show was far beyond Vegeta's—unless they deliberately suppressed it.
"Impossible! This can't be happening!" Vegeta cried, furious and shocked.
"I'll go see for myself who's over there!"
Frieza's fleet of spaceships landed, and countless soldiers poured out, blotting out the sky.
At the very center, Frieza, Cooler, and King Cold slowly flew out. They spotted Slug at once.
"Lord Cooler! Lord Frieza!" Salza and the other three Ginyu Force members shouted.
They glanced at Slug beside them. There was no way to escape. At such close range, they'd be killed on the spot.
"Ginyu, how's the Dragon Ball collection coming along?" Frieza sat calmly and confidently in his hoverchair.
His body hadn't changed at all, which meant the Ginyu Force had failed their mission. Cooler's Armored Squadron must have interfered with them.
Frieza saw the powerful Slug, as well as Guldo, Dodoria, and the others' corpses, but he paid them no mind.
The Dragon Balls mattered more than any of that.
"Lord Frieza, we..."
Ginyu's heart was in turmoil as he recounted in detail everything that had happened to them.
Slug didn't stop him. He watched Frieza and his father and brother with interest, finding them stronger than he'd expected.
It was a good thing he'd made three wishes, Slug thought, relieved.
"You're saying someone's already used the Dragon Balls, and even killed Shenron?" Frieza asked calmly.
At those words, Ginyu dropped to his knees with a thud. Only those familiar with Frieza knew that his rage was being held back by the thinnest thread.
Cooler's pupils contracted slightly as he glared at Salza and the other two.
"Forgive me, Lord Cooler. It was all because of our incompetence." Salza, Dore, and Neiz broke into a cold sweat and knelt as well.
"A pack of useless fools!" King Cold said in disappointment.
At last, Frieza and Cooler turned their attention to Slug, regarding the Namekian properly for the first time.
"Frieza, emperor of the universe—I was just about to come looking for you. I never thought you'd come right to me," Slug said without fear.
"Slug, I know who you are. A Super Namekian who's spent his time conquering resource-poor planets on the edge of the universe."
"I've never cared about those planets, and they're too far away. Otherwise, do you think you'd still be alive?" Frieza said with a cruel laugh.
The intelligence networks of the three Cold family members covered nearly the entire universe. They had information on all kinds of powerful fighters.
They knew exactly who they could afford to provoke—and who they couldn't.
That was why, long ago, King Cold had warned Frieza and Cooler never to provoke Majin Buu or God of Destruction Beerus.
"Ha ha ha! You really think you're the emperor of the universe? Today, I'll kill you here on Namek!"
"Whoosh!"
Slug moved almost as fast as instant transmission, charging into the Frieza Force. His terrifying ki surged in every direction, attacking everyone indiscriminately.
Many soldiers didn't even have time to react before the force crushed them, bursting them into clouds of blood.
He was actually trying to fight all three of the Cold family members alone!
"You're asking for it!"
Cooler swept out a hand, ready to strike, but King Cold stopped him.
"If all three of us fight, we'd be giving him too much credit. Let Frieza handle it," King Cold said steadily.
Frieza knew his opponent was no pushover. He transformed twice in quick succession, taking on his monstrous third form.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The two powerful figures collided again and again in the sky. Their wild energy surged outward, warping the space around them.
"Let's go!"
The three members of Cooler's Armored Squadron and Ginyu seized the opportunity to return to the Frieza Force.
They weren't fools. They'd never been truly loyal to Slug; they'd only gone along with him as a temporary measure.
The Z Fighters had also arrived quietly, and they saw what was happening.
"Frieza, Cooler, King Cold, and Slug!"
Son Gohan recognized the familiar figures and felt a headache coming on. At last, he understood who they were facing this time.
Nearly all the strongest fighters in the universe had gathered here.
The difficulty had just quadrupled!
"They're really strong!"
Son Goku watched the two battling in the sky, his eyes shining with excitement as he clenched his fists without realizing it.
"Are there really Namekians this powerful besides me?" Piccolo stared in astonishment.
Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu, Yamcha, and Krillin could only laugh bitterly. They'd worked so hard to train, yet somehow they'd become cannon fodder again.
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