Although Bulma didn't fully understand, the way Setsuna explained it gave her a sense that he was incredibly powerful.
Her eyes sparkled as she clasped her hands together and pleaded with Setsuna: "Setsuna, please protect me on the trip to Namek! With you there, I'll feel completely at ease!"
Hearing Bulma's words, Krillin couldn't help but mutter: "Hey hey, Bulma, I admit Setsuna was really strong back in the day, but I'm not weak now either. Besides, our power levels have already been updated. Even I could easily defeat the Demon King Piccolo from back then."
Upon hearing this, Setsuna's smile carried a hint of amusement: "Krillin, you seem pretty confident. Want to have a little competition?"
Krillin's eyes lit up, and he immediately perked up, grinning: "Of course! I'm going to surprise you!"
"Ready?" Setsuna remained standing in place. "I'm about to start."
"Right here in the hospital room?" Krillin was taken aback, looking at the surrounding space and Goku in the hospital bed. "Alright, I'll be careful not to break anything."
No sooner had he finished speaking than he saw Setsuna gently blow a breath towards him.
Krillin instantly felt an irresistible gust of wind slam into his chest. Before he could even react, he was sent flying backward with a whoosh.
He crashed through the hospital room wall, tumbled more than a dozen times on the lawn outside, and finally came to a stop, covered in dust and thoroughly dazed, seeing stars.
Inside the hospital room, there was dead silence.
Master Roshi's eyes behind his sunglasses were wide as saucers, his jaw practically hitting the floor.
Korin's paw slipped, and his staff nearly fell.
Even Goku, lying in the hospital bed, couldn't help but let out a 'Wow', his eyes filled with extreme shock and excitement.
They all knew Krillin's strength well. Although there was a big gap between him and Goku, he was definitely in the top tier on Earth. Yet, the result was that Setsuna had blown Krillin away with just a breath.
Master Roshi took a deep breath, trying to calm his tumultuous emotions: "Setsuna, how strong are you now, exactly?"
Setsuna tilted his head slightly: "Actually, I'm a bit curious about that myself."
When he was in the Saint Seiya World, he had already been able to transform into a Super Saiyan. Although his physical body was destroyed after the final battle, through his training in the Soul Society, his overall strength had not diminished but actually increased.
Setsuna guessed that if he still had a physical body now, his strength would probably be between Super Saiyan 2 and Super Saiyan 3.
But without a physical body, he could currently only exert strength somewhere between Super Saiyan 1 and Super Saiyan 2. Although not a top-tier super powerhouse, it should be sufficient for the current stage of the Dragon Ball Universe.
Just then, Krillin limped back through the hole in the wall, looking utterly dejected. His clothes were torn in several places, and there were a few blades of grass stuck in his hair. He looked at Setsuna and said gloomily: "I thought that since Goku isn't really an Earthling, I was the strongest Earthling now. But I still can't beat you."
But he quickly regained his optimism: "Hehe, then I'll just add a qualification: I'm the strongest 'living' Earthling."
This qualification of 'living' lightened the atmosphere in the hospital room a bit, and everyone couldn't help but laugh.
Bulma, her eyes sparkling as if she had found a savior, pleaded again: "Setsuna, please, you must come with us to Namek!"
Setsuna nodded and agreed calmly: "Alright."
With Setsuna's addition, the previously somewhat uncertain [Namek Rescue Team] instantly had their confidence soar.
...
An Earth spacecraft traveling to Namek would take at least 4,339 years.
But the Namekian spaceship that Setsuna and the others were taking would take only 34 days.
As for the Saiyan spaceship that Goku would take later, it would take only 6 days.
It had to be said, the alien technology in the Dragon Ball Universe was excessively advanced.
As the spaceship landed and the hatch opened, Bulma cautiously poked her head out and asked: "We've really arrived at the actual Namek this time, right?"
She still felt a chill when she recalled it. Just a few days earlier, their spaceship had landed on a planet whose environment was extremely similar to the description of Namek, even with humanoid intelligent life. But it had all turned out to be an illusion created by some kind of hallucinogenic creature.
Fortunately, Setsuna had seen through the illusion at a glance and, with a few casual mental shocks, instantly killed all those hidden hallucinogenic creatures, saving them from disaster.
"Based on the characteristics of the life energy, this is definitely Namek," Setsuna said affirmatively after sensing the surroundings.
He could feel many life forms on this planet similar to Piccolo.
Krillin and Son Gohan also stepped off the spaceship, curiously taking in this unfamiliar world.
Just as they were admiring the planet's unique and magnificent scenery, Krillin suddenly looked up sharply, pointing at the sky, his voice filled with terror: "Look! That's a Saiyan spaceship!"
In the distant sky, a familiar spherical spaceship was slowly descending towards the other side of the planet. Its design was clearly the same model that Vegeta and Nappa had used before.
"Ve... Vegeta! He's here too?" Bulma's face turned pale.
The three of them instantly became extremely tense. They had personally experienced Vegeta's terrifying strength... he was a monster capable of destroying planets.
They then looked at Setsuna, only to find him looking rather unconcerned, instead observing the distant scenery with interest.
"Setsuna!" Krillin urgently warned. "You haven't fought Vegeta, so you might not know how strong that guy is! Although you're also very strong, Saiyans are completely different from any enemy we've faced before. They're a natural warrior race... they get stronger as they fight, and they can transform! We have to avoid them! Hide first, gather intelligence, and wait for Goku to heal and come over!"
Setsuna found it somewhat amusing, 'Avoid Vegeta? Me?'
Just as Krillin was about to continue emphasizing the terror of the Saiyans, two energy beams shot out without warning from behind a nearby rock formation, heading straight for their spaceship. Clearly, someone had discovered them and was trying to destroy their means of transportation, cutting off their escape route.
"Not good!" Krillin and Gohan moved to intercept.
But Setsuna was faster. He simply raised his right hand casually and gently tapped towards the two incoming energy beams.
The two beams, powerful enough to pierce steel, disintegrated and dissipated instantly a few meters away from the spaceship, as if hitting an invisible wall.
"What?" Two surprised voices came from behind the rocks.
Setsuna remained very calm. It was common knowledge that the whole Dragon Ball Universe spoke Earthling.
Immediately after, two aliens in matching battle uniforms, with strange appearances and holding energy guns, jumped out in shock.
"Gohan, let's go." Krillin knew they couldn't let them notify their companions and immediately struck.
"Yes, Krillin-san!" Gohan also mustered his courage, his small body bursting with considerable speed as he charged at the insect-faced alien.
These two soldiers of the Frieza Force were clearly not very strong. It's fine for bullying ordinary natives on planets, but in front of Krillin and Gohan, whose strength had greatly increased after experiencing the Saiyan invasion and their life-or-death battles with Nappa and Vegeta, they were no match at all.
Krillin didn't even use a Ki Blast. With a simple close-quarters grapple, he easily disarmed the horned alien of his energy gun, then delivered a precise knife-hand strike to the side of his neck.
On the other side, although Gohan was young, his movements were even more agile. He ducked under several panicked energy blasts from the insect-faced alien, quickly closed the distance, and landed a solid punch wrapped in a faint layer of Ki squarely into the alien's abdomen with a bang. The insect-faced alien immediately doubled over like a shrimp, foaming at the mouth, and collapsed limp.
In the span of a breath, two patrol soldiers of the Frieza Force had been easily dealt with.