I could tell that something was off about the energy signatures above before I even broke out of the cloud layer.
Specifically, they were much too loud. And numerous. There were at least three of them, and one of those three was easily the strongest pure-blooded human that I'd ever felt.
Did my existence cause Kami to begin training a successor years ago?
That was my first thought, but I immediately dismissed it. Impossible. Whoever this person was, they were far too strong for Kami to have been the one to train them.
The lookout itself was a bowl-shaped structure that floated a few hundred meters above the cloud structure. The design had a different color scheme from Korin's tower, but it was still immediately apparent that Korin Tower's own design was heavily inspired by the carvings on the bottom shell of the lookout itself.
I didn't speculate beyond that. Instead, I simply flew past the bowl and landed softly in the courtyard.
"...Ohh." As soon as I landed, most of my questions were answered. Not all of my questions, just to be clear, but enough.
"Hello. I am-"
"Kami, yeah. I know you're Earth's Namekian guardian, just like you know why I'm here." I paused, looking around the courtyard.
"Namekian…?" I ignored Kami's question, more preoccupied by what I was seeing and sensing.
"It was your darkness that made him stronger, wasn't it? That's what almost killed me." Kami didn't answer, but all the answer I needed was standing in the courtyard, toddling around on tiny baby feet with an angry expression on its tiny face.
I'd sensed three ki signatures earlier, but looking around, there were actually four people.
Krillin was the massive power level that I'd noticed earlier. I now suspected that he'd somehow managed to stay a whole day inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber or something, because not only was he notably taller and stronger than he'd been before, but his ki also flowed a lot easier, it was like night and day when compared to before. He'd somehow completely shot through the late hundreds and the thousands into the early ten thousands or so.
Currently, Krillin was meditating in the middle of the plaza, his aura shimmering around him like a storm. He didn't even have the presence of mind to pause because I was there, with how intensely he was focusing on wrangling his ki.
Now, for reference, human talent was incredibly low. In an era where people as strong as me just casually walked around, easily sensed, a human hitting the hundreds level essentially just meant that they'd tried a bit. Like a Saiyan whose power level had hit the ten thousands… While impressive from the viewpoint of the old days, when people had to struggle through without some reference of the next level, anyone could theoretically get there with the right kind of effort and time. It didn't mean that one had talent or skill.
However, surpassing that level, as a human, and breaking into the thousands was the equivalent of a Saiyan reaching the hundred thousands level.
That was where Roshi had mostly stalled, after a decade of hard-pressed effort coupled with centuries of skill. That was an anomaly. It meant that, inarguably, you weren't a normal person. It didn't make you great, but definitely abnormal.
Somehow, Krillin had already surpassed that level. For a human, a power level of ten thousand or higher was essentially the same as a Saiyan breaking into the millions. Lynn and Tater had just gotten to that level after years of talent, skill, and hard effort. This was a level that I honestly couldn't imagine Master Roshi ever managing to break past with his old body, and Krillin had just gotten there like it was nothing.
It genuinely stunned me.
The other two ki signatures that I'd sensed belonged to Kami and the baby, who was clearly Piccolo Jr. Kami's felt… light, airy, but deep at the same time. A contradiction, parts of it felt almost awe-inspiring, while other parts felt woefully useless.
As for Piccolo Jr's ki signature, it felt slightly reminiscent of Kami's. Harder, sharper, it reminded me of a tiny, weak version of Nail's energy signature, completely void of malice, but at the same time, not exactly open and naively optimistic like Kami's.
Mr. Popo was the fourth person. The one that I couldn't sense at all through my ki-sense. Simply looking at him sent a shiver down my spine… his body looked and felt like something that'd just been deleted from reality. He was watching over Piccolo Jr's attempts to toddle, but he didn't hesitate to give me a smile and a wave.
"Yes… it was my own evil nature that provided your adversary the boost in strength. I apologize. Young Krillin here was attempting to purify it when something went wrong." Kami explained, "The evil energy was successfully separated from my other half's spirit… but in the process, it took over young Krillin's body, destroyed it, and went to seek out the most appropriate vessel it could find." Kami explained to me.
"So, it merged with Slug." I concluded.
"Due to the fact that it became a part of your adversary, it seems that your wish to resurrect any killed by Slug also resurrected young Krillin. You have my thanks for that, as well as my thanks for protecting the planet Earth." Kami finished.
Kami hadn't actually learned about Krillin's resurrection until Korin had called him asking if he was still willing to teach the boy who Kami had assumed was dead. He had no way of knowing whether my wish was what had brought Krillin back or not. It was simply the logical conclusion.
But I had no reason to doubt it, either.
"How did Krillin know how to purify evil energy?" I asked.
"..." Kami shook his head, not knowing the answer to that question, either, "He said that it was a 'voice from nowhere.'" The half-souled-Namekian explained.
"..." That didn't explain anything. But I shook my head, letting it go. There were many things in the Dragon Ball universe that I didn't know about or understand, and it was entirely possible that there were entire arcs that would only be written after my reincarnation, that I'd have no way of knowing about.
As long as it wasn't some sort of weird demon-related time travel shenanigan that'd nearly killed me, I was fine with considering it a freak accident and letting it go.