"Who's Trunks?" Old Kai hadn't heard the name before. "Just going by the name, he sounds like a Saiyan too, doesn't he?"
"That's right — he's Vegeta's son," Goku said plainly.
"Vegeta? The Saiyan prince?" Old Kai rubbed his head, struggling to process this. "Going by age, his son should be about the same age as yours, right?"
"That's not quite how it works... and this is where it gets important, Old Kai," Goku said with a smile.
"Then out with it — stop keeping me in suspense!" Old Kai's interest was piqued.
"Vegeta's son Trunks came to our era from the future, had already transformed into a Super Saiyan, and killed Frieza," Goku said, his expression completely serious.
Old Kai: "..."
Old Kai's eyes went wide. It took him a long moment to come back to himself.
Another person who came here from a different era? How many is that now?
"Was it the Supreme Kai who sent this kid back?" Old Kai muttered to himself, then shook his head. "No, no — he came back from the future to the past. The Time Ring can't do that. It can only go from the past to the future."
"A Time Ring? What's that?" Goku's eyes lit up immediately, curiosity sparking in them.
"Nothing... it's nothing. Don't worry about those details," Old Kai said, his mouth twitching as he quickly waved it off.
"Old Kai — if you have this Time Ring you're talking about... could it send me back to the timeline I came from?" Goku asked, excitement creeping into his voice.
Old Kai: "..."
Old Kai looked thoroughly uncomfortable, and didn't know how to answer that.
"So there is a possibility, right?" Goku's excitement surged.
Old Kai swallowed hard. He had no comeback.
A brief silence.
"Well... I'm not entirely sure, but it's not impossible," Old Kai finally said, thinking it through carefully. He ultimately nodded at Goku.
"Really?! I could actually go back to my own timeline?" Goku's face lit up even more.
"Don't get your hopes up too soon!" Old Kai fixed him with a stern look and grumbled, "There are more timelines in existence than you have hairs on your body. Finding the specific one that belongs to you would be incredibly difficult — it could take a very long time."
"I'm not in a rush — I haven't even gotten back to my peak yet," Goku laughed. "As long as there's hope, that's enough!"
"How is your attitude always this good?" Old Kai let out a sigh of wonder, then steered the conversation back on track. "So — it was this Future Trunks who eliminated Frieza?"
"That's right," Goku confirmed.
"So this son of Vegeta's — Trunks — came to your era by time machine?" Old Kai asked.
"Trust Old Kai to figure it out," Goku said with an admiring nod. "That's exactly right."
"And coming back in the time machine wasn't just to take out Frieza, was it?" Old Kai pressed.
"Right... it was because of the Androids, though those ended up not being as important in the grand scheme of things," Goku said, thinking it over. "The strongest Android in the end was Cell — roughly around the same level as Dabura."
"You've actually met Dabura too?" Old Kai was mildly taken aback.
Goku had no choice but to walk Old Kai through everything — his encounter with Supreme Kai, the run-in with Dabura, all of it.
Then Goku told him how Majin Buu had been released.
When Old Kai heard that Supreme Kai had actually gone and challenged Majin Buu himself, he was so furious his nose nearly twisted sideways.
"That fool!" Old Kai snapped, squeezing his fists tight, then added under his breath, "Which means... Lord Beerus came very close to dying."
"Lord Beerus? The guy who's a hundred thousand times stronger than the Shadow Dragons?" Goku's expression shifted slightly.
"You watch your mouth! How can you call Lord Beerus 'the guy'?! Be careful — if Lord Beerus hears you, he'll destroy you!" Old Kai went pale and immediately lectured Goku in a sharp, serious tone.
Goku slapped a hand over his mouth and didn't say another word.
"So, based on the current situation — if Frieza really has been reborn..." Old Kai mused, "since he can't get to you for revenge, he'll probably go after Trunks on Earth instead. After all, it was Trunks who killed him."
"You're absolutely right, Old Kai!" Goku said, suddenly seeing it all clearly. "But if Trunks has really come back in time from the future to our era, there's no way he'd be able to handle the Frieza we're dealing with now."
"Make your arrangements early. Come find me if you need anything," Old Kai waved at Goku, signalling he was free to leave.
"Old Kai — keep an eye on Gohan and the others. If anything dangerous happens, call me right away," Goku stressed, repeating it several times.
"Relax, relax. As long as I'm here, nobody's dying," Old Kai said breezily.
"Sorry for the trouble, Old Kai — I'll be going then!" Goku waved goodbye and immediately activated Instant Transmission, reappearing back at his own house.
"Goku? Where's Gohan?" Chi-Chi saw Goku come back without Gohan and instantly tensed up, worry spreading across her face.
"Ah... Gohan's still training. I'll bring him back when he's made enough progress," Goku said, looking decidedly shifty-eyed.
Fortunately, Chi-Chi didn't press the matter any further and went straight to the kitchen to get food ready for him.
After finishing his meal, Goku found a spot and threw himself into another round of training.
Now that he had a powerful opponent like Frieza, all Goku wanted was to recover his peak strength as fast as possible.
Without noticing it, another full day passed.
Goku finished up his training for the day, drew in a long, slow breath, and smiled quietly to himself.
"I can feel it — my base form has recovered to sixty percent of my peak," he murmured in thought. "I've got Frieza to thank for that. Without him, there's no way I'd be recovering this fast."
But then Goku quickly ran into another very real problem.
If Frieza had been reborn too, just how strong was he really at his actual peak?
Frieza had probably woken up by now.
He'd likely be pushing himself hard in training, working to get back to full power.
Alright. I need to reach Super Saiyan 4 as fast as I can.
Otherwise, once Frieza's Golden form stabilises, Super Saiyan 3 might not be enough.
"Let me try going Super Saiyan 4 right now," Goku muttered, clenching his fists and attempting to force the transformation.
No matter how hard he tried, however, the Super Saiyan 4 transformation simply wouldn't come.
Goku scratched his head helplessly.
Can I really not reach Super Saiyan 4 without a tail?
Looks like I need to figure out how to grow it back, and fast.
Do I actually have to use the Dragon Balls to wish my tail back?
...Let's wait a bit longer.
At least Frieza won't be coming back anytime soon.
...
To be continued…
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