"Yeah... it should be counted, right?" Zarbon added from the side, "This is all Dodorian and I's speculation. Let's go to the nearest location first and see if there are any Dragon Balls, Lord Frieza?"
"Alright," Frieza thought for a moment and found it made sense.
After all, the nearest Dragon Ball wasn't too far from here.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
The three transformed into streaks of light and flew rapidly towards the direction of the nearest Dragon Ball.
However, what the three didn't know was that in a cave somewhere below them, Piccolo, Krillin, and the others were hiding, watching in the direction they were heading.
After seeing Frieza and the other two fly away, Krillin, Piccolo, and the others slumped onto the ground, their faces looking as grim as could be.
"This guy... why does this guy have such a powerful ki?" Krillin said solemnly.
"Uncle Piccolo... I'm scared..." Gohan trembled with fear.
"Hmph, useless! What's there to be afraid of! It's just a stronger ki!" Piccolo scoffed.
"Easy for you to say. That guy is probably the Emperor of the Universe, Frieza," Nail frowned and said gravely.
"What... what did you say? Emperor of the Universe?" Piccolo was taken aback.
"Simply put, in this universe, there is a being who exists like an emperor. His name is Frieza," Nail replied. "He once used his immense power to conquer the entire universe. No one was his match!"
"No wonder I felt such a sense of dread the moment I saw him!" Krillin shivered.
"Even you are no match for him?" Piccolo asked Nail.
"No, I feel there's still a huge gap," Nail mused. "However, there might be a way to defeat him."
"What way?" Piccolo was slightly startled.
"Assimilation!" Nail replied.
"Assimilation? What does that mean?" Piccolo asked, confused.
"Simply put, you and I assimilate into one person. Using one person's body as a base, the other provides strength and wisdom. This is a unique ability of us Namekians!" Nail explained.
"What? There's such an ability?" Piccolo was surprised.
"I heard from the Grand Elder that you are the grandson of Kadatz. Kadatz was a very exceptional warrior and an outstanding member of the Dragon Clan. By rights, you shouldn't be this weak," Nail said with a slight smile.
Piccolo felt a pang in his heart at that moment.
Who was he calling weak?
Was he really that weak?
Piccolo clenched his fists tightly. If he could defeat Nail, Piccolo would undoubtedly step forward and beat him up without hesitation.
This guy was repeatedly humiliating him.
"You don't know, do you? A long time ago, the Namekian who went to Earth released all the evil in his heart to become Earth's God, thus forming King Piccolo, who is Piccolo's father," Krillin explained from the side. "So, they are two separate beings..."
"I finally understand why you're so weak. If you could assimilate with that Earth God into one person, your strength might even surpass mine," Nail said with a smile.
"You... what did you say?" Piccolo was stunned and quickly asked, "If I assimilate with that old guy Kami, my strength could surpass yours?"
"It's likely so," Nail nodded.
"Hmph, forget it. We don't even know what kind of planet we're on yet!" Piccolo scoffed. "Besides, I really dislike that old guy. I would never assimilate with him!"
"If that doesn't work, let's assimilate, you and I..." Nail suggested. "That's the only way we can defeat Frieza."
"Hmph, forget it, I'm not assimilating with you!" Piccolo snorted.
"We'll talk about it later. Let's take it one step at a time," Nail nodded, not forcing the issue.
After all, they hadn't truly fought Frieza yet.
"Let's go find the Dragon Balls first," Krillin suggested. "Frieza and the others have the closest one. We'll look for the other few... We have the Dragon Radar, which is quite convenient for us."
"Indeed," Nail smiled faintly.
Without any further hesitation, the group immediately set out to search for the Dragon Balls.
...
Frieza and the others also successfully arrived near the location of the Dragon Ball marked on the map.
However, this mark was only an approximate location, not as precise as a radar.
Fortunately, that area wasn't too far from Frieza's subordinates.
Frieza had at least several hundred subordinates. With so many people searching for the Dragon Balls together, they would likely find them easily.
At this moment, the second Dragon Ball was presented to Frieza by a subordinate who held it with both hands.
"Not bad, Dodorian, Zarbon. Your research wasn't without merit. We've finally found the second Dragon Ball," Frieza said with a happy smile.
"Lord Frieza, shall we continue searching for the next Dragon Ball?" Zarbon suggested.
"Go!" Frieza nodded. "Once I have immortality, I'll deal with Vegeta! Let that guy gloat for a while longer!"
Frieza and the others immediately flew towards the location of the third Dragon Ball.
However, when Frieza and the others arrived at the location of the third Dragon Ball according to the map's annotation, they couldn't find it no matter how hard they looked.
"What's going on?" Frieza's veins bulged on his forehead.
"There's a large lake in this area... It's possible it's in the lake. We'll have to let those who are good swimmers search for it," Zarbon suggested.
"Hurry up and search! If necessary, evaporate the lake!" Frieza commanded.
"Yes!" Zarbon responded.
Afterward, Zarbon and Dodorian worked through the night, releasing their energy to evaporate the vast lake.
It took a full 10 hours.
The enormous lake was finally completely evaporated by Zarbon and Dodorian.
However, after it was completely evaporated, Zarbon and Dodorian were once again speechless.
This was because there were quite a few fish and shrimp in the lake.
Now, the dried lakebed was piled high with rotten, cooked fish and shrimp.
With so many subordinates, they had to rummage through the debris one by one.
After searching for several more days, there was still no sign of it.
"Strange, where did this Dragon Ball go?" Dodorian felt very puzzled and speculated, "Zarbon, do you think Vegeta deliberately gave us a fake map?"
"It's not impossible," Zarbon nodded. "Let's report to Lord Frieza quickly."
"You're right," Dodorian agreed.