The battle between Setsuna and Frieza had reached its climax.
Each of their clashes was like detonating countless large-yield nuclear bombs on the planet's surface. The earth, fragile as paper, was torn open with terrifying chasms thousands of kilometers long and seemingly bottomless. Molten lava gushed out like blood, devouring everything. Seawater was vaporized by the terrifying energy, triggering kilometer-high tsunamis.
Even Namek's core began to emit cracking groans of collapse under the relentless violent assault.
'Almost there.' Setsuna, while 'fiercely' exchanging blows with Frieza, diverted a thread of his consciousness and contacted Bulma telepathically.
"Bulma..."
Bulma was riding a small hovercraft when Setsuna's voice suddenly appeared in her mind, nearly causing her to fall out of the sky.
"It's me, Setsuna. Listen, this planet won't last much longer. You need to find all the Dragon Balls as quickly as possible, summon Shenron, and wish for all the Namekians and yourselves to be transferred to Earth. Hurry!"
Bulma was anxious, but fortunately, they had already gathered six Dragon Balls. They were currently rushing towards the location indicated on the scouter for the seventh Dragon Ball's energy signal. Moreover, they noticed that the signal seemed to be moving towards them as well.
After crossing a mountain range shattered by the battle's aftershocks, they soon discovered the possessor of the last Dragon Ball… five oddly shaped aliens.
Bulma didn't think much of it. To her, all aliens looked pretty much the same. The previous two Dragon Balls had also been taken by Vegeta from these people.
"Vegeta, hurry, this is the last one." Bulma excitedly urged Vegeta, completely missing the sour expression on his face.
Vegeta ignored her, instead gritting his teeth and shouting: "The Ginyu Force!"
Ginyu chuckled: "Hohoho, Vegeta, I didn't expect you to be so useful, already finding six Dragon Balls. Excellent. Hand all six over to me now."
Vegeta's expression was grim. Although his power had slightly increased after recovering from his severe injuries by Zarbon, it was only around 30,000 or 40,000. He could barely handle one Ginyu Force member, let alone Ginyu himself, whose power level exceeded 100,000.
Seeing Vegeta unmoving, Jeice said with a smile: "Captain, it seems Vegeta has betrayed us. Let's just take them by force."
Ginyu nodded and struck a flamboyant pose: "Go, show this traitor our power."
"Yes, Captain!" Jeice responded with a similar pose.
Bulma and Krillin's mouths twitched, 'Were these aliens mentally challenged?'
They completely missed the look of awe in Gohan's eyes.
Vegeta took a deep breath, lowered his voice, and asked Krillin without turning his head: "Hey, you said that Kakarot guy would come to Namek, right?"
"Huh? Yes! Goku should be arriving soon!" Krillin was startled, then quickly answered.
"We can only hope he gets here soon..." Vegeta gritted his teeth. "I can't hold out for long."
With that, he exploded with all his remaining Ki and charged at the Ginyu Force.
"You think you can take us on?" Jeice sneered, meeting him first.
After exchanging blows, they quickly separated. Jeice was slightly surprised: "Your power level has exceeded 30,000?"
Vegeta's expression was grim. Jeice's power level was 45,000. The gap was still significant.
Sure enough, after just a few exchanges, Vegeta was sent flying back, coughing up blood.
Krillin and the others watched Vegeta being beaten, despair settling in, 'If even Vegeta couldn't handle these people, what could we do?'
Just then, a green figure rushed towards them from the distance.
"Piccolo!" Gohan shouted excitedly.
It was Nail. He had originally come to seize the Dragon Balls, but seeing Gohan's excitement, he instinctively stopped.
"I don't know you," Nail said, shaking his head.
Bulma quickly explained: "You're a Namekian, right? We're friends! Those aliens are the bad guys trying to steal the Dragon Balls!"
She spoke rapidly: "Once we gather all seven Dragon Balls and summon Shenron, we can wish for all the Namekians to be transferred to our planet, Earth. It's very safe there."
Nail's eyes flickered upon hearing this. He didn't fully trust this woman's words, but the uniforms of those five aliens were clearly the same as the grunts he had previously captured who called themselves the [Frieza Force]. Moreover, the evil aura they radiated couldn't be faked.
After only a moment's hesitation, Nail charged at Jeice. His speed was so fast that Jeice couldn't react and was punched away.
"What?" The six, including Vegeta, were all in disbelief.
'Weren't Namekians supposed to have power levels of only a few hundred or thousand?'
Jeice quickly activated his scouter, and seeing the number on the display, said grimly: "42,000. Who knew a mere Namekian could have this kind of power?"
"42,000? Barely worth my personal attention." Ginyu stretched, doing what looked like calisthenics.
Vegeta's expression changed drastically: "Careful! His power level is 120,000!"
Ginyu's speed was astonishing. Before Nail could react, Ginyu appeared before him and punched him in the abdomen.
"Guah!" Nail's eyes bulged as he flew backward, crashing heavily into a distant mountain wall.
"The gap is too big!" Vegeta's heart was filled with unwillingness. He had finally surpassed his father, surpassed the limits of the Saiyans. He hadn't yet become a true Super Saiyan. How could he die here?
"Haha, you'll all..." Ginyu began charging an energy sphere.
But before he could finish, an orange meteor suddenly flew in from the horizon and slammed into him. Ginyu, caught off guard, was sent flying sideways.
"Goku!" Krillin and Bulma shouted excitedly.
"Kakarot!" Sensing Goku's Ki, Vegeta's heart was filled with disbelief.
'Last time on Earth, Kakarot had barely been able to defeat him. How, in just a month or two, had Kakarot's strength surpassed mine so greatly? I had been training hard too!'
"Goku! No time to explain!" Bulma shouted, pointing at the seventh Dragon Ball that had fallen from Ginyu's hand and rolled to the ground. "Quick! Grab that Dragon Ball!"
Although Goku didn't understand, he quickly complied. He vanished again, and before Ginyu could react, picked up the Dragon Ball and threw it to Bulma.
"Bastard!" Ginyu was furious and immediately tried to retrieve it. But Goku blocked his path again: "Your opponent is me!"
While Goku desperately held off the Ginyu Force, Bulma frantically placed all seven Dragon Balls together. Then, clasping her hands together, she shouted: "Come forth! Shenron!"
Dead silence. The Dragon Balls didn't react.
"Huh?" Bulma was stunned. She tried a few more times: "Come forth! Shenron! Please! Come out now!"
Just then, Nail flew out from the rock debris: "You have to use the Namekian language."
With that, Nail began to call out in Namekian: "Come forth, Porunga!"