Arctic, Earth!
This was the extreme northern icy zone, beyond the northern mountain ranges—a land of eternal frost and snow, home to no humans, only a few rare cold-adapted dinosaurs, polar bears, and other such creatures.
But today, from the ice-blue sky above—clear as a mirror—five red fireball-like objects came streaking down!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Five spherical pods, each bearing the insignia of the Frieza Force and the Ginyu Force beneath their glass canopies, hurtled down and smashed into the Arctic ice sheet! The ice was thick, and the five pods landed close together, blasting out five massive cratered circles. The surface shattered, and because of the high temperature, thick steam boiled up from each impact zone.
Goku floated in the sky above, his white martial arts uniform snapping in the blade-like wind, black belt fluttering. His expression was serious as he looked down at the five descending spacecraft below.
He knew these kinds of pods well.
Long ago, during training on Muten Island, Taro had shown him the pod he'd arrived in as a child. Taro never shied away from discussing Goku's origins, nor kept them secret. He trusted that Goku would come to his own conclusions—and he had. Goku never identified with the so-called Saiyans. To him, he was a martial artist of Earth. That had brought comfort to Taro.
So back then... I was sent here just like them, to destroy Earth? Goku thought to himself.
Down below, within the five steaming craters, faint lights began to glow—it seemed the people inside the pods were coming out. Goku's ears twitched; his hearing was sharp. He could already make out voices speaking within the pits.
Suddenly—
Goku turned around. A bald man in a straw raincoat was speeding through the air toward him, waving.
"Krillin!" Goku nodded, a smile breaking through his stern face. "You came too?"
"Of course! With such strong and evil energy, how could I not sense it? I couldn't just ignore it!"
With a snap, Krillin stopped mid-air beside Goku, light smoke rising from his straw cloak. To get here in time, he had used the Muken the entire way. Thinking about it, he grinned at Goku and said, "You're getting more and more insane, you know that? I pushed myself with the Muken just to make it, and I still got here after you!"
Goku simply smiled in response.
"I don't know what kind of training you did on the island, but I even took that latest gene optimization serum from Master's wife's company…" Krillin muttered, turning his gaze downward as well.
By now, the steam had thinned, and five figures floated up from the craters in the ice.
Krillin's face turned more serious. "So these are the guys…"
Whoosh!
The five members of the Ginyu Force burst out of the steam. Each of them touched the scouter on their face, scanning the two figures waiting in the sky.
"Hmm, 500 power level. Both of them are just 500, and they still had the guts to come here and die." The tall Recoome looked at the scouter data and nodded in sudden understanding. "So the people of this planet really are morons!"
"Ha ha! Recoome, don't be so harsh—they just don't have scouters. If they knew how strong we were, they'd be wetting their pants and running already!" said Jeice, red-skinned and white-haired, laughing theatrically.
Guldo, the short one with time-stop abilities, didn't pay any attention to Goku or Krillin. He looked southward and sneered, "Vegeta, that bastard... ran off to the South Pole? Hmph, I'll deal with you later!"
As elite special forces of the Frieza Force, none of them regarded natives of a remote planet as any kind of threat.
Especially after seeing Goku and Krillin's identical power levels of 500—they completely dismissed them, speaking loudly and carelessly as if the two weren't even there.
All except… Captain Ginyu.
For some reason, he felt pressure.
Goku and Krillin both hovered in the air silently, not responding to the Ginyu Force's chatter, only watching them coldly.
"Strange… Their power levels are so low, so why do I feel this sense of danger?"
Ginyu stared at Goku, his expression tense as suspicion bloomed in his heart.
He was a cosmic being with a body-swapping ability; the appearance he had now wasn't even close to his original form. Over his life, he had possessed countless bodies and witnessed many strange phenomena—far more than any of his teammates. He knew that in this universe, there were people who could suppress their true power levels.
Could it be… these two are such people?
But only 500 power level— even if they could unleash their true strength in battle, where could they really get to?
Right now, Kinyu's current body boasts a power level of 120,000!
That's exactly why the other four members of the Ginyu Force act so recklessly. With a captain that strong, the subordinates naturally feel more confident. Within the Frieza Army, aside from the First Special Squad, they never really respect anyone else. When they go on missions, it's usually a steamroll— their overwhelming strength guarantees it!
"You four must be under Frieza's command, right?" Goku finally spoke up and asked directly.
"Oh? Just a mere native, and you actually know the name of Lord Frieza?" the lightning-fast Burter exclaimed in surprise. He carefully looked at Goku twice, then suddenly noticed the brown, furry tail behind him. "Huh, a tail? Such a physical trait... what's your name?"
Kinyu, Recoome, Jeice, and Guldo also noticed this, all surprised— wasn't that a Saiyan tail?
Goku answered, "My name is Son Goku!"
"That's not a Saiyan name… but that tail is definitely unmistakable!" Burter sneered disdainfully. "Didn't expect that Vegeta still has some surviving comrades… Fine, I'll just wipe you out in his place! To fulfill his title as the 'Last Prince'!"
"Ha ha!" Recoome and Jeice laughed loudly.
Guldo clenched his fists, sneering, "Saiyans, huh? Perfect!"
Krillin sighed quietly to himself, feeling really troubled. Opponents who can't sense energy are terrifyingly stupid… he actually pitied them. He couldn't even imagine the scene where they get wrecked by Goku in the upcoming battle— it would definitely shake their worldview hard.
["Get this over with quickly. Just looking at them is annoying. Weak as they are and still want to come to Earth and cause trouble. They must be idiots with crap for brains!"] Kakarot seemed to feel ashamed he was once part of this group, angrily shouting inside Goku's mind.
"Captain, let Guldo go first. He has a deep grudge against Saiyans!" Recoome chuckled.
And so, Guldo stepped forward...
---
Antarctic Ice Field.
Three Grandmasters rushed over at high speed, using the Muken to increase their speed by more than tenfold. The air ripped with a sonic boom trailing behind them.
Along the way, many people noticed them. Experts familiar with the signatures of the world's Grandmasters were stunned— what could be so urgent for these masters to travel at such a breakneck pace?
In the Lookout, Kami looked down at the mortal world. Behind him, floating above the temple square, was Piccolo, eyes closed in meditation.
Soon, the three Grandmasters arrived at the Antarctic.
"It's Tienshinhan! And Chiaotzu!" Master Jifen looked toward a spot, seeing two figures, one tall and one short, walking across the ice field. Especially notable was the tall Tienshinhan, who, despite the freezing cold, still wore only his upper body uncovered, blood and energy vibrant, leaving shallow footprints on the ice with each step.
Ahead on the ice field, above twenty-six deep craters, twenty-six figures flew out.
They looked strange in form but all wore matching combat uniforms.
Master Yixin and the senior monk from Orin Temple exchanged glances and nodded silently: "Just like in the 'Earth Defense Battle,' those same combat suits! Is Frieza's force finally reaching Earth...?"
"Captain, a few native bugs have shown up!" a space warrior laughed, speaking to Vegeta.
Unfortunately, he didn't see Vegeta's face turn iron pale at that moment.
The Saiyan prince scanned the native planet in all directions, finally focusing on the two figures— tall and short— slowly approaching on the ice field below. His eyes locked tightly on the tall three-eyed man, showing an unprecedented seriousness.