Vegeta left.
After finally getting rid of the pressure he brought, Krillin and Gohan both let out a long breath.
Even though no fighting had occurred, the mental strain alone was enough to exhaust them.
The pressure Vegeta carried now was even more terrifying than when they faced him on Earth.
"What should we do next? Are we really going back to Earth? Uncle Krillin, Aunt Bulma?" Gohan asked anxiously.
"It looks like we don't have a choice anymore. The Dragon Radar was taken, so we can't track the Dragon Balls," Krillin said, face full of defeat.
Just moments ago he had still been hesitating, but now that the Dragon Radar was gone, the path ahead seemed completely cut off.
Even he started to agree with Vegeta's earlier suggestion—maybe leaving Planet Namek really was the best option.
After all, if they couldn't even deal with Vegeta, how could they possibly deal with Frieza, the Universe Emperor who even Vegeta was afraid of?
Hearing this, Gohan clenched his fists tightly.
He didn't want to give up. He had to revive Piccolo. That was why he came to Namek in the first place.
But even if he was unwilling… some things couldn't be changed with willpower alone.
He began to blame himself again—it was because he wasn't strong enough that Piccolo died to save him, and now it was because he was weak that they were trapped and helpless on Namek.
Just as the atmosphere grew heavy, Bulma suddenly let out a proud little laugh.
"Hmph hmph~! You guys underestimate me too much! Tada~! Look what I have!"
Bulma pulled out another Dragon Radar like she was performing a magic trick.
Krillin and Gohan froze, staring at her in disbelief.
"Bulma… you actually brought two Dragon Radars?"
"That's great! We can still search for the Dragon Balls!" Gohan said excitedly.
But Krillin immediately poured cold water on him:
"But even if we find them, Vegeta has a radar too. He'll just steal them from us in the end…"
Bulma snorted proudly.
"That's why I said you underestimated me! How do you know the radar I gave him was real? I prepared a fake one before coming to Namek just in case."
"Fake?!" Krillin's jaw dropped again.
"In that case," Gohan muttered, eyes lighting up, "we can find the Dragon Balls before him… and maybe even before Frieza!"
His ideas were enthusiastic, but not very realistic.
Frieza was still taking his time, but once he lost patience, he wouldn't play around anymore—something the three of them couldn't imagine.
They continued discussing their plan, and Bulma even took out a communicator to contact Earth.
At that moment, a voice suddenly echoed directly into their minds.
The three froze—then their faces lit up in joy.
It was King Kai.
As the overseer of the North Area, he had been monitoring Namek closely.
Since Frieza was now involved, he had no choice but to warn them personally.
Under King Kai's explanation, the three finally understood just how terrifying Frieza truly was.
Even King Kai agreed that Vegeta's idea was right—leaving Namek was the safest choice.
Hearing that from someone like King Kai made their hearts sink again.
Just when all hope seemed lost, King Kai added:
"Goku just recovered after eating a Senzu Bean. He's already left Earth and is heading toward Namek. If nothing goes wrong, he'll arrive in six days.
But don't celebrate yet—my advice is that you RETURN TO EARTH immediately. I'll try to contact Goku and tell him to turn back."
Again, King Kai's words hit them like a hammer.
After the telepathic link faded, the three sat in silence.
Finally, Bulma took a deep breath.
"I'll contact Earth first… hear what everyone thinks. If Goku still insists on coming, then we can't just leave him alone on an alien planet.
And if Goku can reach Namek in six days, that means the spaceship my dad designed can do a round trip in about twelve."
Compared to that, flying back now would take much longer.
For the moment… they were stuck between choices.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Namek…
Frieza and his soldiers were heading toward the next Namekian village when a report arrived—the final transmission of the reconnaissance soldier Zarbon had sent before he died.
"Lord Frieza, are we really going to ignore Vegeta? He killed the scout. This will interfere with our Dragon Ball search. Also, the scout saw intruders from another planet before he died…" Zarbon reported.
"Hehehe~ Zarbon, you're far too nervous. Just two scouts—if they die, they die. Vegeta wants to rebel against me, and he thinks this is enough to provoke me? How ridiculous," Frieza replied with complete indifference.
Zarbon bowed deeply. "Forgive my rashness, Lord Frieza…"
Dodoria stepped forward. "What about those outsiders? How should we deal with them?"
"Don't worry. If I'm not mistaken, they're probably the Earthlings Vegeta once invaded. They must have come for the Dragon Balls as well," Frieza said casually.
He was curious about the Earthlings… but not enough to care.
He certainly wouldn't go looking for them.