Seeing Vegeta swaying on the verge of collapse before finally closing his eyes completely, Krillin hurried forward and caught him.
"Dende, he's right. At the very least, he's one of our fighting forces now. Please heal him."
Krillin pleaded.
Dende nodded. Judging from Vegeta's condition, he was already on the brink of death.
"I hope the system triggers its return reward this time!"
Dende silently prayed.
After all, the body in front of him possessed a power level of 120,000.
If the system's return effect activated, he would receive a thousandfold return—120 million power level!
That should be enough to deal with Frieza.
Filled with anticipation, Dende began treating Vegeta.
A faint glow flashed.
The wound in Captain Ginyu's body—currently occupied by Vegeta—healed instantly.
Dende closed his eyes and waited for the system notification.
Nothing happened.
After a long pause...
"Damn it! It failed again?"
"Was this crappy system developed by Tencent or something? Why is the success rate so low?!"
Dende nearly wanted to beat Vegeta half to death again and then heal him once more.
But that obviously wasn't practical.
He couldn't accurately control his strength. If he accidentally killed Vegeta, wouldn't he expose his true power right in front of Gohan and the others?
And when Frieza arrived, was he supposed to flee in front of Krillin and Gohan?
Although Dende didn't consider himself some great hero, the thought alone felt shameful.
After all, Gohan had risked his life to rescue him from Frieza's forces despite knowing he couldn't win.
Could he really abandon Gohan and the others and run away from Frieza?
No.
He couldn't do that.
Vegeta opened his eyes and realized he had survived.
Yet he felt no joy whatsoever.
After all, he had lost his original body.
Should he charge back and take it?
Impossible.
He was no match for Captain Ginyu, who now possessed Vegeta's body.
Should he stay here and wait?
Frieza would be returning soon.
And then he'd still die.
No hope.
None at all.
Krillin understood this reality as well.
They couldn't win.
They couldn't escape.
Their carefully planned operation had failed in the worst possible way.
Only Dende remained completely calm, staring up at the sky.
If he remembered correctly, that person should arrive shortly after the Ginyu Force appeared.
Sure enough, a whistling sound echoed overhead.
Something descended from the sky like a meteor.
"Huh? It's a spaceship!"
"Could it be... Dad's here?!"
The moment Gohan saw the spacecraft, excitement lit up his face.
Krillin immediately realized who it was as well.
"It's Goku!"
"He's finally here!"
"We're saved!"
"Kakarot?"
Vegeta looked toward the spacecraft.
Hearing Son Goku's Saiyan name, a trace of disdain instinctively appeared on his face.
But after thinking about it carefully, his eyes suddenly brightened.
"If it's really him..."
"Then maybe there is still hope."
Though Vegeta hated Kakarot, he could only treat him as his final lifeline.
Rushing toward the spacecraft, Vegeta stared fixedly at its hatch.
Clank...
The door slowly opened.
Son Goku stepped out.
During his journey to Namek, Goku had trained every day inside the ship.
Thanks to the advanced technology developed by Bulma's father, the gravity inside the spacecraft could be increased to one hundred times Earth's gravity.
Goku spent a considerable amount of time adapting to that environment.
After he became capable of moving normally under 100x gravity, he began a brutal training method.
He continuously fired energy blasts, then controlled them to curve back and strike himself directly.
Using his own body to withstand the attacks, he pushed his limits further and further.
As a result, he had nearly died three separate times.
Only the Senzu Beans saved him from the brink of death.
Those three near-death experiences had caused his power to skyrocket.
"Huh? Gohan? Krillin?"
"What are you guys doing here?"
"Are you okay?"
"Oh? Is this a Namekian?"
"He's really tiny."
"And who's this guy next to him?"
"Why does he have horns?"
"He looks terrifying!"
"Where's Bulma?"
"What's she doing?"
"..."
Listening to Goku casually fire off a barrage of questions, Vegeta immediately felt irritated.
It was like having a crow constantly cawing beside his ear.
"Kakarot!"
"Fight me!"
Vegeta shouted impatiently.
He needed to know whether Kakarot possessed the strength necessary to defeat Captain Ginyu in Vegeta's body.
If Goku wasn't strong enough, Vegeta planned to beat him until he was barely alive and then have Dende heal him.
He would repeat the process until Goku became strong enough to defeat Ginyu.
Only then could Vegeta be certain that his stolen body could be recovered.
This was the hope Vegeta had found.
Although the thought of allowing a low-class warrior to surpass him disgusted him, it was the only option available.
Once Kakarot severely injured his original body, Vegeta could reclaim it and then receive another healing boost.
At that point, he should surpass Kakarot again.
If that was the outcome, then allowing a lower-class Saiyan to lead temporarily wasn't unbearable.
"Oh?"
"That tone..."
"Are you Vegeta?"
"..."
Vegeta hadn't expected Goku to recognize him from a single sentence.
Then again, who else called him "Kakarot"?
Of course Goku knew.
"Wow, Vegeta."
"You've gotten a lot stronger."
"But what's wrong with your body?"
"Did your training mutate you or something?"
"..."
Vegeta felt his patience evaporating.
Just hearing Goku speak irritated him.
"Enough nonsense!"
Vegeta pressed the scouter on his ear.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"Five thousand?"
"It's the same as when he was on Earth?"
"Kakarot!"
"Don't tell me you came to Namek for a vacation."
"Have you not been training at all?"
"No, wait."
"Back on Earth I nearly beat him to death."
"Since he's recovered now, his power level should be at least ten thousand."
Goku laughed when he saw Vegeta fiddling with the scouter.
"Oh?"
"Vegeta, you're still trusting that thing?"
Hearing that, Vegeta immediately tore the scouter off and crushed it.
"Damn you, Kakarot!"
"You're hiding your power level!"
"Stop looking down on me!"
"Come on!"
Even as he said that, Vegeta could clearly sense that Goku's energy felt strangely weak.
"Heh!"
"I just got off the spaceship and already found someone to fight!"
Goku grinned eagerly.
"Hey, Goku!"
"Now's not the time for fighting!"
Krillin quickly interrupted.
"We've got a huge problem!"
"Whatever happened between you and Vegeta before doesn't matter right now."
"We need to get the Dragon Balls back!"
Vegeta couldn't help thinking that Krillin was an idiot.
"Baldy!"
"Stop interfering!"
"If Kakarot can't even beat this body of mine, how's he supposed to recover the Dragon Balls?"
"By going to his death?"
Although Vegeta had found hope, he remained confident in his own body's strength.
After all, it was his body.
It possessed his power level.
There was no way a low-class warrior like Kakarot could surpass him.
"Uh..."
Only then did Krillin realize Vegeta had a point.
"Right!"
"Goku!"
"One of Frieza's men stole Vegeta's body!"
"We have to defeat him first!"
"Goku..."
"Are you confident you can do it?"**
-------------------
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