Bulma looked at the two aliens lying on the ground, patted her chest, and sighed in relief: "That scared me. Good thing you guys are here."
"First, take their communication devices. Then we can interrogate them," Setsuna said.
Bulma carefully removed all suspected communication devices and locators from the two aliens and piled them aside.
Then, Setsuna used a weak mental stimulation to wake the two unconscious aliens.
The two aliens came to, found themselves disarmed, and were immediately shocked and enraged.
The horned alien blustered: "You primitive barbarians from a low-level planet! Do you know who we are? We are soldiers of the Frieza Force! If you know what's good for you, you'll release us immediately! Otherwise, when our army arrives, you're all dead!"
"The Frieza Force?" Bulma asked curiously. "What's that?"
"Hmph, ignorant lowlifes." Although the insect-faced alien was scared, his face involuntarily showed pride and fervor when mentioning the [Frieza Force]. "The Frieza Force is the most powerful combat force in the universe! Frieza-sama is the Emperor of the Universe, ruling over countless galaxies! If you dare touch us, you're making an enemy of the entire universe!"
Krillin had an idea and probed: "So... do you know 'Vegeta'?"
"Vegeta-sama?" The horned alien was startled for a moment, then said: "Of course I know him. Vegeta-sama is a high-ranking officer in our Frieza Force, the prince of the Saiyans. His combat power is very strong!"
"Just as I thought! Vegeta really is a subordinate of this Frieza!" Krillin's heart sank.
Bulma pressed: "Where does Vegeta rank in your Frieza Force?"
"Where?" The insect-faced alien thought for a moment, then said somewhat uncertainly: "Vegeta-sama's strength in the Force... maybe he could rank in the top ten? After all, there's the Ginyu Force, and Zarbon, Dodoria... they're all stronger than Vegeta-sama. Frieza-sama himself goes without saying... he's invincible!"
"Top ten?" Krillin and the others gasped simultaneously, their faces turning pale instantly.
Bulma's face fell: "That monster Vegeta, who almost destroyed Earth, is only maybe in the top ten of this Frieza Force? How strong must the ones ahead of him be? And that Emperor Frieza sounds incredibly terrifying!"
A suffocating fear made the three of them tremble slightly.
Krillin's voice lacked confidence: "We should probably hide first."
"I second that!" Bulma immediately raised her hand.
Gohan also nodded vigorously, his young face filled with unease.
However, just as they were enveloped by fear and about to follow Krillin's suggestion to hide first, several streaks of light suddenly shot across the distant sky at high speed. They moved extremely fast, carrying obvious energy fluctuations. Krillin and Gohan's senses were immediately drawn to them.
Krillin's expression changed drastically because he could clearly sense that the Ki emanating from the leading streak of light was even stronger than Vegeta's when he first came to Earth.
Moreover, they seemed to be carrying something… round objects that emitted faint but distinctive energy fluctuations...
"Not good! They got the Dragon Balls!" Krillin exclaimed, then immediately lowered his voice, urgently whispering to Gohan and Setsuna: "Quick! Hide your Ki! Don't let them find us! That leader is probably even stronger than Vegeta!"
Gohan immediately complied, trying to suppress his Ki. Bulma also held her breath and hid behind a rock.
However, when Krillin turned to Setsuna to confirm if he had also hidden, he saw a sight that made his soul nearly leave his body. Setsuna hadn't hidden his Ki at all.
Not only that, but he was also floating into the air, flying straight towards the swiftly passing streaks of light under Krillin's terrified gaze.
"Setsuna! What are you doing? Come back!" Krillin called out anxiously in a low voice, but it was too late.
The streaks of light had also noticed this uninvited guest with a halo on his head, flying so brazenly, and immediately stopped. The light dissipated, revealing several figures.
Leading them was a bulky, pink-skinned alien wearing a Frieza Force uniform. Behind him followed several other soldiers in battle uniforms, each holding a Dragon Ball.
"Haha, it's Dodoria-sama!" The insect-faced alien below shouted excitedly.
The trio's hearts sank, 'Wasn't this the man they had just mentioned who might be stronger than Vegeta?'
Dodoria watched Setsuna approaching, sensed his Ki, and immediately showed a disdainful and cruel smile. "Hmm? Where did this ignorant fool come from? And with that ridiculous ring on his head?"
He couldn't even be bothered to act personally and waved at the soldiers behind him: "Go, take care of him. Make it quick. We still need to return and report to Frieza-sama."
"Yes, Dodoria-sama!" The soldiers grinned viciously, but the moment they finished speaking, they were frozen in mid-air, completely unresponsive.
"What?" The disdain on Dodoria's face instantly froze, replaced by a hint of shock and doubt. He realized he might have misjudged. This guy with the halo was a bit strange.
"Seems I need to take care of this personally!" Dodoria let out a low growl, his bulky body bursting with surprising speed incongruous with his size.
He instantly appeared before Setsuna, his fist wrapped in powerful Ki, swinging viciously at Setsuna's face.
Setsuna raised a finger, striking after Dodoria but arriving first. The moment his fingertip touched Dodoria's forehead, Dodoria's ferocious expression froze. Then, his bulky body fell from the sky, lifeless.
With a casual gesture, Setsuna killed the soldiers while retrieving the Dragon Balls they were holding. He slowly descended back to the ground, landing before Krillin and the others, who were staring dumbfounded.
"Here, the Dragon Balls." Setsuna placed the four Dragon Balls on the ground.
It took over ten seconds for Krillin to snap back to reality. Shocked, he asked: "Setsuna, how strong are you now exactly? That Dodoria was supposed to be even stronger than Vegeta!"
Setsuna calculated seriously: "Maybe about ten thousand times stronger than him?"
Dodoria's power level was 22,000. Setsuna's current power level was difficult to assess, but it was certainly over 200 million. A Super Saiyan's power level was fifty times their base form. If he could be revived and transform into a Super Saiyan, his power level would directly exceed 10 billion. However, starting from Super Saiyan 2, power levels essentially became meaningless.
"Ten... ten thousand times?" Krillin's eyes nearly popped out.
Bulma was stunned for a moment, then laughed triumphantly, hands on her hips: "Ohohoho, if Setsuna is this strong, why should we be afraid of Vegeta or Frieza?"
These words instantly re-energized Krillin and Gohan.
"Yeah!" Krillin straightened up immediately. "Why should we hide? Let Frieza come!"