Inside Frieza's spaceship, the Emperor of the Universe, seated in his 'hover pod', frowned slightly.
On the display of the scouter before him, the energy signal representing Dodoria had abruptly vanished.
"Dodoria's energy signature is gone?" Frieza's voice carried a hint of amusement. "Was it Vegeta's doing?"
Zarbon, standing by, gracefully bowed: "Frieza-sama, with all due respect, that monkey shouldn't possess such strength."
"No matter." Frieza waved his hand. "Zarbon, go to the last location the scouter indicated and retrieve my Dragon Balls."
"As you command, Frieza-sama." Zarbon bowed elegantly, then turned and shot off as a streak of light towards the indicated direction.
Meanwhile, Vegeta, who was searching for Dragon Balls elsewhere on Namek, noticed through his own scouter that four Dragon Ball energy signals had remained in the same location for an extended period. (T/N: It seems the Author makes mistake. Dragon Ball can only be located with Dragon Radar, not Scouter.)
"Oh? Someone has already gathered four Dragon Balls? Is it Frieza's men? Or a counterattack by the Namekians?" Vegeta's eyes gleamed with greed. "Whoever it is, the Dragon Balls are mine!"
He immediately changed direction, racing at even greater speed towards the location of the Dragon Ball signals. The area he was in wasn't too far from the signal source, and he arrived almost instantly.
When he landed, he saw Krillin and Gohan walking boldly on the ground, carrying four Dragon Balls.
"Hahaha!" Vegeta laughed arrogantly. "I didn't expect you Earth monkeys to have such luck, finding four Dragon Balls. Quickly, hand over the Dragon Balls. For Kakarot's sake, I might spare your lives."
He expected that as soon as he appeared, these former defeated foes would tremble in fear as before and immediately hand over the Dragon Balls.
However, he saw Krillin and Gohan tilt their chins up, with an expression that seemed to say, 'Who are you? You think you're tough?'
Before he could figure out what was going on with this strange atmosphere, whoosh… another streak of light followed closely, landing on the ground, revealing Zarbon.
Zarbon glanced at the Dragon Balls, then swept his gaze past Vegeta: "Vegeta, you dare act without Frieza-sama's orders, stealing Dragon Balls? Are you planning to betray Frieza-sama?"
Vegeta's eyes showed a flicker of caution when he saw Zarbon, but it was quickly replaced by a wild ambition and thirst for power. "That's right! Once I wish for eternal life, I will definitely surpass Frieza and become the new Emperor of the Universe!"
"Hah." Zarbon let out a mocking laugh, as if hearing the funniest joke in the world. "You barbaric Saiyan monkey dare to claim you can surpass Frieza-sama?"
"Then witness... the power of the Saiyan Prince!" Vegeta roared, his Ki erupting, his power level instantly surging to 24,000.
Noticing the skyrocketing numbers on the scouter, Zarbon was somewhat surprised: "What? Isn't your power level only 18,000?"
"Haha, this is precisely the strength of a Saiyan!" Vegeta laughed loudly and engaged in battle with Zarbon.
Fists and feet clashed, Ki energy scattered, the ground cracked, and the lake below churned up huge waves. The battle was fierce, but it was clear that Zarbon was slightly inferior to Vegeta in power level at this moment.
"Haha! See that, Zarbon? This is the power of a Saiyan!" Vegeta grew bolder as he fought, seizing an opening in Zarbon's defense and landing a heavy blow squarely on his abdomen.
Zarbon grunted, flying backward and shattering a large boulder, looking rather disheveled.
Vegeta hovered in mid-air, arms crossed, laughing triumphantly: "I am now a Super Saiyan!"
Seeing Vegeta shout this classic line, Setsuna knew he would soon get beaten.
Sure enough, Zarbon quickly got up, revealing a cruel smile: "You think that's all I've got? Let me tell you, my race can transform. You've forced out my 'ugly' form. Today, you must die!"
As his voice fell, his muscles bulged and twisted wildly, his features becoming hideous and ugly, like a bloated demon. But the energy radiating from him erupted like a volcano, skyrocketing.
"My power level now is 28,000!" Zarbon twisted his neck.
"What?" The smile on Vegeta's face instantly froze, his eyes filled with shock. "How can you be this strong?"
Having completed his transformation, Zarbon let out a vicious laugh. His speed and strength surged, and he vanished from his spot instantly. The next moment, he appeared before Vegeta.
"Too slow!" Zarbon threw a punch.
Vegeta couldn't react at all, taking the blow squarely. He was blasted into the ground like a cannonball, creating a massive crater. He struggled to get up, but Zarbon had already stepped onto his chest, pinning him down.
"See that, monkey?" Zarbon looked down, his voice like a cracked gong. "This is true power!"
Blood trickled from Vegeta's mouth, his eyes filled with unwillingness, 'I had surpassed all Saiyans, so why was I still being defeated?'
Zarbon didn't bother with the defeated Vegeta at his feet. Instead, he turned his gaze to Krillin and the others nearby.
"Was it you who defeated Dodoria?" Zarbon's voice carried scrutiny and a hint of doubt. His scouter had indeed indicated that Dodoria's signal disappeared here. But looking them over, aside from the halo-wearing man being a bit strange, the other three didn't seem like they could defeat Dodoria.
"Dodoria?" Vegeta in the crater heard this, his eyes showing shock again. "Dodoria was defeated by them? How is that possible?"
Only now did he notice that there was another unfamiliar Earthling next to the two short ones.
Krillin, whose confidence had been soaring because of Setsuna, started to waver slightly after witnessing Zarbon effortlessly crush Vegeta. He asked quietly: "Setsuna, you can beat him, right?"
Setsuna smiled slightly: "Easily."
His voice wasn't loud, but everyone present heard it clearly.
Zarbon let out a piercing, arrogant laugh: "Monkey, do you have any idea what you're saying? My power level is 28,000! Even within the Ginyu Force, only four are stronger than me. I am the sixth strongest warrior in the universe!"
Setsuna smiled and asked: "Do you want to check my power level?"
"Of course I do." Zarbon sneered and activated the scouter over his left eye. Numbers flashed on the scouter's display, showing the initial reading.
"Pfft!" Zarbon couldn't help but snort derisively. "A power level of only 5? A worthless trash, worse than the lowest grunt! With this, you dare..."
But in the next instant, his laughter died in his throat.
The numbers on the scouter display, after a brief pause, began to skyrocket wildly like a runaway horse.
One hundred, ten thousand, one million, one hundred million...
Pop!
With a small burst, Zarbon's scouter exploded directly.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Zarbon shouted, as if going mad. "How can there possibly be a warrior with a power level exceeding one hundred million in the universe? Even Frieza-sama's power level is only 530,000!"
Hearing Zarbon's screams, Vegeta was shaken to his core. He looked at the halo-wearing man in disbelief.
'How can anyone have a power level over 100 million? Could he be a Super Earthling?'