Namek had only eternal daylight.
Three suns hung overhead, lighting the blue grass until it shimmered—while also making the heat oppressive.
Village No. 109 was surrounded by flames.
Several round houses had already been flattened, black smoke rolling into the sky.
A few corpses lay on the ground, green skin scorched and blackened.
The young Namekian warriors had died protecting their home.
At the center of the village, a group of strange-looking aliens surrounded the remaining villagers.
Leading them was a small figure sitting on a floating chair.
Short and slender, snow-white skin, a purple dome on his head, and a long tail dragging behind him.
Frieza.
Emperor of the universe.
He hadn't even lifted a finger—just propped his cheek with one hand, watching everything with cold indifference, like he was observing ants moving a nest.
Standing in front of Frieza was a fat pink brute.
Dodoria.
His head was covered in fleshy spikes, and right now he was holding a Namekian elder up by the collar.
"Old man, hand over the Dragon Ball."
Dodoria's voice was crude, saliva splattering onto the elder's face.
The Namekian Grand Elder, Moori, clutched the large orange sphere in his arms, eyes shut tight, refusing to say a word.
"Not talking, huh?"
Dodoria grinned viciously and released him.
The elder hit the ground.
The pink brute raised his foot and stomped down on the elder's chest.
A cracking sound rang out.
Elder Moori spat out a mouthful of purple blood.
"Stop! Let the elder go!"
Two young Namekian children rushed out.
Dende and Cargo.
They held crude spears, trying to attack that terrifying fat monster.
Dodoria turned his head and looked at the two kids, the folds of fat on his face pressing together.
"These brats still have some spirit."
He lifted a hand, forming a yellow energy blast in his palm.
"Then I'll send you on your way first."
Behind a distant rock outcropping…
Krillin pressed Gohan's head down hard, forcing both of them to stay low in the shallow depression.
Cold sweat soaked through Krillin's gi.
The ki was too strong.
That fat pink guy had a battle power of at least twenty thousand.
And that green-haired guy with braids beside him—his battle power was even higher.
As for the short one on the chair…
Krillin didn't even dare to sense him.
It was like a bottomless well—stick your head in, and the darkness would swallow you whole.
"Krillin! They're going to kill those two kids!"
Gohan's eyes were bloodshot as he struggled violently.
"Don't move, Gohan! If we go out there, we're just going to die!"
Krillin forced him down, fighting to keep him from bursting out.
His rational mind screamed that stepping out now meant total annihilation.
That short demon only needed to twitch a finger and Earth would be finished.
But…
Gohan stared at that energy blast about to drop, and his blood burned.
Justice—also a Saiyan instinct.
Right as Gohan was about to explode his ki and rush out—
A hand pressed onto his shoulder.
Steady. Powerful.
Gohan turned his head.
Shinju stood there, golden hair fluttering in the breeze.
"Shinju-ojisan…"
"Watch."
Shinju said only two words.
The next second—
Only an afterimage remained where he stood.
Dodoria's energy blast was fully formed.
Cargo was so terrified he fell backward onto the ground, staring in despair as death descended.
Dodoria's face twisted with cruel delight.
Killing was his only pleasure.
Bang!
A dull impact sounded.
Dodoria's huge body flew sideways like a cannonball.
So fast the naked eye couldn't track it.
A distant rocky peak shattered on impact, rubble exploding outward as dust and smoke billowed.
The interrupted energy blast detonated wildly in the sky, bursting into a brilliant firework.
Silence swallowed the battlefield.
Everyone froze.
The Namekian villagers stared blankly at the golden-haired man who had appeared in the center.
That green-haired "Zarbon," who'd been watching with his arms crossed, suddenly straightened, eyes locked onto the scene.
Even Frieza stopped moving.
Shinju stood in front of the two children.
He didn't even take a fighting stance—just stood there casually.
"Saved…"
Dende collapsed to the ground, panting hard.
A furious roar erupted from the ruins.
Stones burst apart.
Dodoria crawled out of the rubble.
His whole body was coated in dust, blood hanging at the corner of his mouth, his ugly face twisted with rage.
"Bastard! Who was it?! Who dared sneak attack me?!"
Dodoria roared and charged back.
As one of Frieza's guards, he'd rampaged across the universe for years—he was the one who beat others down. Since when did he get kicked away like a ball?
Shinju didn't look at him.
His gaze slid past everyone and landed directly on the figure seated on the floating chair.
Their eyes met.
Frieza's gaze was calm—an arrogance unique to those who sat above all others.
"Oh?"
Frieza tapped the scouter over his left eye.
Beep beep beep.
Numbers jumped.
"Battle power…?"
Frieza smiled, his voice thin and elegant.
"Looks like my scouter is broken. Or did a little rat come running in that can hide its presence?"
Shinju looked at the so-called emperor of the universe.
No fear. No reverence.
"Emperor of the universe?"
Shinju said flatly.
"To me, you're nothing but a freak that looks like a lizard."
Behind the rock, Krillin clamped a hand over his mouth, eyes nearly popping out.
He's insane! Shinju is insane!
He actually called Frieza a lizard to his face?!
Zarbon's face went pale, and he instinctively glanced at Frieza.
No one spoke to the king like that.
The last person who did… their planet had become cosmic dust.
Frieza's smile vanished.
The temperature around them seemed to drop several degrees out of nowhere.
"What did you say?"
Frieza's voice sank.
"You ignorant monkey who doesn't know how to die."
Dodoria had already reached Shinju. Enraged, he bellowed—
"The king is someone you can insult?! Die!"
A massive fist, carrying terrifying wind pressure, smashed toward Shinju's head.
That punch could crush a tank's armor.
Shinju didn't move an inch.
The instant the fist was about to touch his nose—
He lifted his head, eyes meeting Dodoria's.
Dodoria's motion locked.
That huge fist hung in midair, unable to move even a fraction forward.
The pink brute's eyes went blank, pupils losing focus.
In his mental world…
The scenery changed.
No longer Namek's village.
Instead—an ocean of blood-red.
Countless hands reached up from that blood sea, gripping his ankles and dragging him down.
And in the sky, a gigantic eye stared at him coldly.
That was Shinju's eye.
"Aaaaaaah!"
In the real world—
Dodoria suddenly let out a shrill, agonized scream.
(End of Chapter)
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