Not far from the Grand Elder's village, Goku's group ran into the Ginyu Force.
Krillin cracked his knuckles eagerly. "Goku, let me test the power boost the Grand Elder gave me!"
Goku nodded. "Go ahead. Their battle power isn't below yours—don't get careless!"
At that moment, the five members of the Ginyu Force struck their usual shame-inducing poses.
Recoome did ballet. Jeice danced with painfully awkward steps. Burter twisted into some bizarre stance…
The sheer visual impact was too much. For a second, Goku's group just stared, stunned.
Finally, the five snapped into their signature formation, with Ginyu at the front, arms crossed.
"We are the universe's number one!!"
All five shouted together, "THE GINYU FORCE!!!"
In that instant, they looked like they were glowing.
Meanwhile, Goku's side felt their souls leaving their bodies from secondhand embarrassment.
It was Bulma's first time seeing burly grown men doing ballet—awkward sweat literally beaded on her forehead.
Right then, Vegeta arrived nearby.
When he saw the Ginyu Force, Goku's group, and the Dragon Ball in their hands, Vegeta immediately ducked behind a boulder.
Kakarot and the others are here?!
So that insanely powerful ki I sensed earlier… was that Kakarot?
That aura—hundreds of times stronger than even Frieza…
Did he really become the legendary Super Saiyan?!
Watching the Ginyu Force's ridiculous choreography, Krillin couldn't hold it in. He pointed at them and burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! What kind of cringe play is this?!"
Jeice instantly blew up. His skin turned even redder with anger.
"What did you say?!"
"How dare you, you little bald runt—mock our elegant, handsome poses!"
Recoome hopped forward, flexing his "warrior muscles" like he was on stage.
"Baldy! Show me what you've got."
The other three members panicked.
"Damn it! We didn't even rock-paper-scissors—Recoome went first! What a steal!"
Ginyu chuckled. "Don't worry. That little bald one is the weakest.
They've got plenty of stronger opponents for you to fight."
The other three nodded, satisfied.
"The captain's right!"
Krillin's mouth twitched. "Damn it… don't judge me by my looks. Calling me the weakest…"
Recoome held a ballet-like stance and said smugly, "I'll let you attack first, baldy."
Just seeing that pose made Krillin feel sick. He exploded forward, launching a furious assault.
The fight erupted instantly.
Krillin was several times faster than before—his body blurring into afterimages as sharp strikes poured toward Recoome.
But Recoome grinned and tanked everything head-on.
When Krillin finally pulled back, Recoome laughed.
"Was that a massage? Now taste my power!"
He lunged—
and a headbutt slammed into Krillin's face, blood spraying from his nose.
Tien's pupils shrank. "Even after potential unlocking, the boost was huge…
and he still can't even take one move… the gap is that big?"
Goku sighed. "Yeah. Krillin got stronger, but he still needs training. Strong aliens are everywhere."
Seeing Krillin get flattened in one exchange, Bulma started hopping in panic.
She turned to Goku. "Krillin can't win! Don't let him die—Goku, go help!"
Before Goku could move, Piccolo couldn't take it anymore.
"This is my home planet. I'll handle it."
He tore off his cape and flashed in front of Recoome.
No flashy moves.
Piccolo simply drove a knife-hand forward.
SHHK!
The difference between near a million and under a hundred thousand was brutal.
Piccolo's hand didn't slow for even a fraction—piercing straight through Recoome's chest.
Recoome looked down at the hole, eyes wide, disbelief filling his face.
"How… is that possible…?"
Thud.
Recoome collapsed.
Piccolo pulled his bloodied hand back and looked toward the remaining members.
Tien seized the moment and dragged Krillin back.
The Ginyu Force didn't even spare Krillin a glance.
They were staring at Recoome's body in shock.
Jeice hissed, "Damn it… Recoome got killed!"
Burter frowned. "This is a pain… we just perfected those poses. Now we can't reenact them!"
Guldo blinked blankly. "What just happened…?"
Ginyu's expression turned serious.
He finally realized Piccolo wasn't ordinary.
But even with the scouter, he still couldn't get a clear battle power reading.
Or rather—
these people could control their power too well.
It was like their battle power only spiked at the instant they struck, making it impossible for the scouter to capture properly.
Seeing Piccolo's openly taunting expression, Ginyu commanded, "Burter. Jeice. Go!"
In the next second, Burter and Jeice attacked together.
Piccolo didn't even move his feet.
His arms stretched like rubber in an instant, snapping around both their necks—locking them together back-to-back.
They struggled desperately.
Piccolo opened his mouth—
and fired a brutal mouth blast straight into them.
The beam of destructive power instantly blew their heads apart.
Jeice and Burter dropped dead.
Bulma yelped, covered her eyes, and hid behind Goku.
"They're villains, but that's still… that's way too brutal!"
Krillin groaned weakly, "Don't forget… he was King Piccolo once…"
Bulma nodded, whispering, "True… if Goku hadn't been there, our Earth might've been destroyed by him…"
Seeing Jeice and Burter die too, Guldo's face filled with terror.
"If even they're dead… then I have to go all out!"
He threw both hands forward.
"Time Freeze!"
He held his breath.
Piccolo's movement stalled for an instant.
Guldo rushed toward Piccolo, still holding his breath—
but in that same heartbeat, Piccolo fired a Special Beam Cannon straight through Guldo's chest.
Guldo was blasted backward dozens of meters before slamming into the ground.
"How… how is that possible?!"
"My time freeze… it didn't work?!"
Goku understood immediately.
Just like Hit's Time-Skip, this kind of broken ability wasn't absolute.
When the gap in strength was too large, the duration was compressed to almost nothing—barely effective.
With four members dead and still no accurate battle power reading, Ginyu's mind raced.
Even I can't instantly kill all four like that… but this Namekian can.
He's dangerous.
Ginyu swept his eyes across the others.
That body… is the strongest among them.
If I take it, I win.
Ginyu roared, "Change!"
A white beam burst from his body and shot toward Piccolo.
But Goku had been waiting for exactly this.
His figure flickered—
and he appeared behind Ginyu.
A point-blank energy blast fired instantly.
Before the Change beam could reach Piccolo, Ginyu was blown apart into dust.
The Change beam dimmed and dissolved into nothingness.
…
Far away, Frieza was still holding the five Dragon Balls, waiting for the Ginyu Force to bring him good news.
Then, almost one after another, the energy signals of all five members vanished.
Frieza's face tightened as he rose to his feet.
"What…?"
"Someone killed my elite force that fast?
Who did this?"
Frieza touched his chin, muttering, "To kill them, you'd need at least over a hundred thousand in battle power.
But the scouter couldn't capture the opponent's power at all. Why?"
He snorted.
"Looks like I'll have to take action myself.
No matter how strong they are… no one can be my match."
Realizing there was no point waiting any longer, Frieza used telekinesis to float the five Dragon Balls beside him and flew toward Goku's direction.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
patreon.com/NightShard525