"You heard her, didn't you? Kale doesn't want to go. So let's leave it at that," Gohan said to Caulifla with a smile.
"Hmph." Caulifla let out a snort, her eyes still blazing as she looked at Gohan. "You're stronger than I expected. We're finishing this another day."
"Sure," Gohan agreed with a nod.
It was not every day he ran into an opponent so evenly matched. Gohan was more than happy to fight her again.
It felt like a chess game.
If your opponent was far too strong, no matter what you did, you could never win, and sooner or later you would lose interest.
On the other hand, if the other side was far weaker than you, crushing them a few times would get boring fast.
Only when the gap was small enough did fighting stay fun.
The main reason Gohan had kept training all this time was because he had never had a suitable opponent.
Now that he had finally found one, he was genuinely happy about it.
"Gohan-nii, you still want to fight Caulifla-nee?" Kale asked, with ten thousand objections written all over her face.
The way you two fight feels way too likely to turn into something else.
"We'll see if we get the chance," Gohan said with a nod. He did not notice that Kale was unhappy. Instead, he turned to Caulifla and asked, "You just arrived on Earth from Planet Sadala, right? Since you came all this way, why don't you come to my place for a while?"
"You mean you're treating us to a meal?" Caulifla asked with a smile.
"Yeah… You don't seem like bad people," Gohan replied with a nod.
"Gohan-nii… weren't we going to Aunt Bulma's place?" Kale reminded him.
"Ah… right, I completely forgot." Gohan slapped his forehead. "Then let's just eat there instead. I haven't had Capsule Corp food in ages."
"I'm fine with that." Kale had her own little plan in mind.
Hopefully Ken-nii hasn't left Earth.
If Ken-nii is still on Earth, he has to be staying with Aunt Bulma.
I'll ask him and see if he can make me prettier.
Even if he can't actually make me beautiful, maybe he can at least adjust my figure a little. Make me a bit more… curvy.
An Angel should be able to do something like that, right?
After all, Aunt Bulma got her youth restored by Ken.
"Come with me." Gohan rose into the air.
"Caulifla, are we really going?" Cabba asked uncertainly.
"Why wouldn't we? We might as well follow him and get some good food first," Caulifla said, looking completely unconcerned.
"But we came here to get revenge on Goku and Vegeta!" Cabba lowered his voice. "Don't forget, that Goku guy helped Raditz escape from prison… and he even injured my friend Lusen."
"With Goku's son right here, if we stay with him, are we really going to lose track of Goku?" Caulifla said with a smile. Then her voice dropped. "Besides… you can't even turn Super Saiyan. Even if you did find Goku, do you really think you could beat him?"
Cabba lowered his head and said nothing.
"First learn how to turn Super Saiyan while we're on Earth," Caulifla said, patting him on the shoulder.
"Got it…" Cabba nodded, then asked, "Should we bring the spaceship too?"
"Of course. Otherwise how are we supposed to get back to Sadala?" Caulifla said, glancing toward the ship nearby.
…
Universe 6, King Yemma's hall.
Frost's soul appeared in the hall with a miserable expression on his face.
He felt like he had been done dirty beyond belief.
That woman one-shotted me.
Damn it!
I didn't even get the chance to transform!
It's all that Frieza bastard's fault!
I died because of him.
What a pathetic way to go.
I got killed because someone mistook me for somebody else.
"Frost!" King Yemma opened the book of life and death, turned to Frost's page, and studied it with his chin resting on one hand.
Frost swallowed nervously.
I wonder if that thing records everything I ever did.
If it does… am I going to Hell?
"Frost," King Yemma said coldly, "as a member of the peacekeeping force, you did perform many good deeds across the universe. But all of it was for personal gain. Using the influence and status of the peacekeeping force, you occupied multiple planets and turned them into tools for building your wealth."
Frost's soul trembled slightly.
So the ledger really does record everything.
"To Hell with you!" King Yemma stamped the judgment and passed it to a nearby staff member.
"King Yemma," the staff member said with a respectful bow.
"What is it?" King Yemma asked.
"A few years ago, there was another one called Frieza. He seemed to be of the same race as this one, and he also occupied many planets. The things they did were pretty similar," the staff member said, suddenly remembering Frieza.
King Yemma recalled him as well and nodded thoughtfully. "That's true. But Frieza was an open villain, while Frost is the hypocritical kind."
"Very well said, King Yemma," the staff member replied with a strange little laugh.
"Why are you smiling like that?" King Yemma asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"King Yemma, why not lock the two of them up together?" the staff member suggested.
King Yemma thought it over and did not object. "Not a bad idea. Do it."
…
About half an hour later.
In a beautiful garden filled with spring warmth and flowers.
One particularly crooked tree stood out from the rest.
And hanging from that crooked tree were two cocoons.
Each cocoon had a head sticking out of it.
One belonged to Frieza.
The other belonged to Frost.
The two stared at each other.
"Ohohohoho!" Frieza let out a wicked laugh. "What a surprise. I suddenly have company."
"So you're Frieza?" Frost glared at him.
"Oh? You know me?" Frieza asked, looking Frost over with a smile. "Judging by how you look, you seem to be one of my kind… Don't tell me you're my father's illegitimate child?"
"Who the hell is your father's illegitimate child? Don't talk nonsense!" Frost roared. "I have absolutely nothing to do with you! I'm from Universe 6! And you should belong to Universe 7!"
"I knew my father could never have produced a child as ugly as you," Frieza said with a grin.
"You… what did you just say? Who are you calling ugly?" Frost snapped, even angrier now.
"So, how did you die?" Frieza asked with interest.
"You've got some nerve asking that! The person who killed me thought I was you!" Frost felt his whole stomach fill with rage the moment he thought of it. He wanted nothing more than to tear Frieza apart with his teeth.
"What an honor," Frieza said, shamelessly pleased instead of embarrassed.
"You… you bastard!" Frost's anger flared even higher.
"Don't get angry," Frieza said calmly. "Anger only drains your soul energy. Once enough of it is gone, you'll disappear completely. No matter which world you're in, you'll cease to exist. If you check carefully, you should already be able to feel your soul growing weaker."
Frost was startled. After concentrating for a moment, his face changed.
Just as Frieza had said, he could feel his soul energy weakening.
Especially when he got angry, the drain seemed even faster.
"Th-Thank you… thank you…" Frost said in alarm.
"You died because of me, and now you're thanking me? Hohoho!" Frieza laughed even harder.
"You… you bastard!" Frost had only just forced his anger back down, and now it came surging up all over again.
"There's no need to thank me," Frieza said, the smile on his face turning even darker. "I simply don't want you disappearing too soon. If you vanish, who exactly am I supposed to entertain myself with?"
"This whole place is so empty. Before I got here, was it really just you alone?" Frost asked, turning his head to look around.
"No. There are plenty of others… no, not others. More like dolls," Frieza said. At that point, the corners of his mouth began twitching.
"Dolls?" Frost blinked.
"Look. They're here," Frieza said through gritted teeth.
The moment the words left his mouth, the sound of gongs and drums echoed in from afar.
Frost focused his gaze and saw a crowd of dolls approaching while beating drums and gongs and dancing in formation.
There were even several cute little fairy-like creatures fluttering around Frieza and Frost in circles, singing in sweet voices.
"What are they trying to do?" Frost asked, unable to make sense of it.
"You're about to find out why this place is called Hell," Frieza said, his eyes nearly splitting with fury.
"I thought you said not to get angry," Frost sneered.
Frieza simply closed his eyes and refused to bother with him.
"I always thought Hell would mean being thrown into a pot of boiling oil," Frost said, suddenly feeling like he had lucked out. "If this is Hell, I wouldn't mind staying here forever."
Frieza rolled his eyes with obvious contempt.
Just wait.
You'll find out soon enough what real Hell feels like.
An hour later, Frost wanted to die.
That bunch had been singing and dancing here for over an hour and still had not stopped.
Worst of all, there was some guy dribbling a basketball nearby while chanting something weird under his breath.
Something about being too beautiful…
"Aaaargh!" Frost screamed as if his soul were on the verge of collapsing.
"You'd better save your strength. It's only been an hour," Frieza said with a snort.
"You mean… they're going to keep singing for several more hours?" Frost's eyes went wide.
"At least eight," Frieza replied.
"Wh-What? Eight hours? Are you joking?" Frost's entire mentality shattered.
"Ooh-ooh too beautiful, ooh-ooh too beautiful…"
The guy with the ball was the most enthusiastic of them all. Every bounce of the ball seemed to tug at Frost's soul and torture it endlessly.
"Damn it! You with the ball! Stop that!" Frost shouted.
But the moment he shouted, the basketball player started dancing even harder.
Frost broke down.
…
After another long silence, Frost asked, "How long have you been locked up here?"
"How long?" Frieza said darkly. "Feels like nearly ten years."
"Ten years? How did you survive ten years of this?" Frost asked in astonishment.
"Training. Mental training," Frieza replied.
"Mental training? What kind of training is that?" Frost asked, puzzled.
"Want to learn?" Frieza asked with an evil grin.
Frost nodded rapidly.
"Call me Dad, and I'll teach you," Frieza said smugly.
"Get lost!" Frost screamed the words with all the strength he had left.
"I do wonder where my son is being kept," Frieza said, narrowing his eyes as he studied Frost. "If not, perhaps you could be my son instead?"
…
Universe 6, Earth.
Capsule Corporation headquarters.
"Gohan? You're this tall already?" Bulma said with a little sigh of emotion. "Yeah… seven years really have gone by before I knew it… I must be almost forty now, right?"
As she spoke, Bulma pulled out a small mirror and checked her face.
"I still look eighteen." Bulma was utterly radiant.
Gohan fell silent.
Kale had no response either.
Cabba and Caulifla said nothing.
"Kale's grown up too. You've become a proper young lady," Bulma said with a smile, turning her attention to Kale. She warmly took Kale's hand and asked, "You two will be eighteen in another couple of years, right? Are you planning to get married once you're adults?"
Kale instantly felt her heartbeat speed up, and her face turned as red as a ripe apple.
"And are these two friends of yours and Gohan's?" Bulma asked, looking at Cabba and Caulifla.
"She's my big sister. She's from Planet Sadala," Kale explained.
"Planet Sadala? I've heard Ken mention that planet," Bulma said with a nod. "The early Saiyans of Universe 7 used to live on Planet Sadala too. But later, the planet was destroyed in a civil conflict, so the Saiyans moved elsewhere."
"I've heard that too," Gohan said with a nod.
"So what brings you here?" Bulma asked.
"Aunt Bulma, they came from far away, and I wanted to treat them to something good to eat, so… I brought them here," Gohan said awkwardly, scratching his head.
Bulma: "…"
So you wanted to treat them, and you brought them to our house…
"You really are Goku's son," Bulma said with a shrug.
"What do you mean?" Gohan asked, not quite getting it.
"Robot, get some food ready for them," Bulma said, turning to a nearby robot.
"Yes!" the robot replied before hurrying off to work.
"Sorry for the trouble!" Cabba and Caulifla said politely.
"Was there anything else?" Bulma asked Gohan.
"Uh… yeah, actually…" Gohan began explaining. He told her everything from how he and Kale had started attending Orange Star High School in Satan City to how they had run into criminals.
"So you want a completely different transformation, one that won't let people figure out who you really are?" Bulma asked once she understood.
"Yes. Is there any good solution?" Gohan nodded.
"Of course there is. I'm a genius," Bulma said matter-of-factly. "Just like Capsule Corp technology, we can turn your outfit into particles in advance and have it deploy instantly whenever you need it."
"Then I'll leave it to you, Aunt Bulma." Gohan thanked her repeatedly.
"You really can't stand by and watch bad guys get away. That's so like you, Gohan," Bulma said with a smile. "All right, I'll help you. It should take about two hours."
"Sorry for the trouble, Aunt Bulma," Gohan said, thanking her again. Then he asked, "By the way, I heard Trunks's family moved nearby? I'll go chat with him. Just sitting here waiting sounds kind of boring."
"Yeah, they're right next door. Just fly over that way and you'll reach Emily's place," Bulma answered. "I heard he's in the gravity training room right now, getting put through harsh training by Vegeta."
"Vegeta? Training Trunks?" Gohan asked, a little surprised.
"Emily told me last time that Trunks has reached the age where formal training should begin, so Vegeta's teaching him combat," Bulma said with a smile. "Vegeta wants to train Trunks into someone even stronger than you."
"Hahaha, that won't be easy," Gohan said with a laugh.
"Aunt Bulma… where's Ken? Is he here?" Kale quickly stepped forward to ask.
"Ken? He's over there training." Bulma pointed toward a house in the middle of the distant lake.
"Training? He's already that strong, and he still needs to train?" Kale said, wiping sweat from her brow.
"Yeah. He says he's still not strong enough," Bulma answered with a nod. "Do you need him for something?"
"Well…" Kale fidgeted, not knowing how to say it.
"If you have something to say, just say it," Bulma replied.
"I want…" Kale leaned in and whispered a few words into Bulma's ear. By the time she finished, her face was even redder than before.
"Oh, so that's it," Bulma said, bursting into laughter. Then she glanced at Gohan and replied, "That probably won't be a problem. Go talk to him."
"Okay." Kale nodded, a little hopeful now.
"Then I'm going to go see Trunks," Gohan said.
"Mm, I need to talk to Ken about something," Kale replied. She had no interest in playing with some little kid.
As for Cabba and Caulifla, the two of them stayed behind to eat.
Gohan rose into the air, landed in the neighboring yard, and arrived near the gravity room.
He had only been there a short while when Trunks emerged from the gravity room, drenched in sweat.
"Gohan-nii? When did you get here?" Trunks asked excitedly.
"I just got here. I heard you're training with your dad?" Gohan asked with a smile.
"Yeah." Trunks nodded.
At that moment, Vegeta walked out as well and glanced at Gohan.
"Ah! Hello! I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Gohan greeted him quickly.
"Your body feels sluggish," Vegeta said coldly. "So what if the world is peaceful? There are still plenty of things to deal with across the universe. Don't forget, Ken still intends to train you into a God of Destruction. Do you look like someone fit to become a God of Destruction in your current state?"
"Y-Yes…" Gohan said with an awkward smile.
"Where's Kakarot?" Vegeta asked.
"Dad went off to train, and I don't know where he is," Gohan said, shaking his head.
"Hmph. Kakarot, you'd better come back soon. This time, no matter what, I'm going to surpass you," Vegeta said, full of confidence.
"Oh, right. Two Saiyans from Planet Sadala showed up. They're eating at Aunt Bulma's place right now," Gohan added.
"Temat?" Vegeta's expression shifted at once.
"Temat? No, it's not him… They're a young man and a young woman, around my age. The guy's named Cabba, and the girl's named Caulifla," Gohan explained.
"They're nothing special. I'm not interested," Vegeta snorted and turned away.
But after only a few steps, he suddenly seemed to remember something and came back.
"How strong are those two?" Vegeta asked. "Your clothes are torn up a little, so I'm guessing you fought them?"
"In base form, they're about as strong as I am. But they couldn't turn Super Saiyan," Gohan answered honestly. "Though I don't know what Kale said to Caulifla, because Caulifla suddenly transformed very easily."
Vegeta: "…"
"And what about that Cabba kid?" Vegeta asked again.
"He still doesn't seem to know the trick to transforming, so I don't think he can do it yet," Gohan said, scratching his head.
"Trunks." Vegeta turned to look at his son.
"Dad…" Trunks froze, suddenly getting a bad feeling.
"Go over there and beat them," Vegeta ordered.
Trunks: "…"
"Come with me." Vegeta took the lead and flew into the sky.
With no other choice, Trunks followed.
Gohan scratched his head awkwardly and flew after them.
…
Inside the house at the center of the lake.
Ken was training seriously.
After absorbing Temat's energy and Rohl's, his level had risen to 76.
Six more years had now passed.
And during those six years, Ken had done nothing but train hard, trying to push himself even further.
At first, he had intended to spend more time developing Goku and Vegeta.
But right now, he could barely guarantee his own safety, let alone focus on bringing Goku and Vegeta up further.
So he could only leave them to grow on their own.
Besides, he had already taught them everything he could.
The rest was up to them.
After six years of hard training, Ken had finally reached level 80.
Truth be told, after absorbing Temat's energy and the others', he had felt his angel power become complete.
Before that, once he had reached level 71, it had felt as though something inside him was blocking the way, making it incredibly difficult to move forward.
But after absorbing their energy, that sense of resistance vanished completely.
Training once again felt as natural and effortless as water for a fish.
In only six years, he had gone from level 76 to level 80. It was undeniably fast.
The Grand Priestess inside Ken's body was completely stunned, her eyes full of disbelief.
At this rate… if you keep progressing like this, in another ten years you might actually hit level 90.
It was hard to imagine that this brat had only lived a little over forty years.
And it had not even been that long since he had become an Angel.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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