Whoosh — whoosh!
Vegeta and Trunks landed before Kami in twin streaks of light.
Kami's expression tensed. He went very serious very quickly.
Mr. Popo took a frightened step back.
"You're the one who shares a body with Piccolo — the Guardian of Earth?" Vegeta studied Kami with calm, assessing eyes.
Kami: ...
"Hello — first time meeting you. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Trunks quickly stepped forward and bowed, looking genuinely apologetic.
Kami said nothing. He looked at Trunks for a long moment.
Vegeta's son is remarkably well-mannered. Far more so than Vegeta.
"I'm very sorry to trouble you — my father and I have come to train!" Trunks said quickly.
"To train?" Kami's expression darkened.
They've come here to train.
"Cough... your strength already far exceeds mine. There's nothing I could offer you as a teacher." Kami smiled with a certain embarrassment and quietly wiped his forehead.
Vegeta: ...
Vegeta's expression went darker than Kami's.
Nobody asked you to teach us.
Since when does Vegeta need anyone to teach him anything?
"I understand there's a peculiar room here — one where a year inside equals only a single day outside." Vegeta said, his tone as cool and imperious as ever. "Trunks and I wish to train in there."
"You — you mean the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" Kami quickly understood.
"That's the one." Vegeta nodded.
"That room's environment is extremely harsh... are you both absolutely certain you want to train in there?" Kami asked, his mouth twitching.
"Of course. Take us there." Vegeta said, in the tone of someone who doesn't entertain objections.
"...All right." Kami considered for a moment and saw no reason to refuse.
He already knew about the Androids that were coming.
He also knew that in Trunks' future, only Trunks remained as a fighter — that everyone else had been killed.
A future that terrible could not be allowed to repeat itself in this world.
If Vegeta wanted to train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, let him train. The odds of defeating the Androids would only improve.
"Mr. Popo — would you please take Vegeta and Trunks to the Chamber?" Kami instructed.
"Yes, Lord Kami." Mr. Popo bowed, then gestured to Vegeta and Trunks. "This way, please!"
"Thank you." Trunks bowed again.
Vegeta took two steps forward — and stopped. He looked back at Kami.
Kami's gaze sharpened.
"Your only purpose at this point is serving as a vessel for the Dragon Balls, isn't it?" Vegeta said with an easy smile. "You should seriously consider merging with Piccolo. The combined power would be considerably stronger."
Kami: ...
Mr. Popo's mouth twitched.
What kind of suggestion is that?
Vegeta said his piece and walked on.
Kami stood there in silence, sweat sliding down his face.
Following Mr. Popo's lead, they eventually reached the door of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
Mr. Popo pushed the door open and brought the two of them inside.
"The moment this door closes, this room is completely cut off from the outside world." Mr. Popo explained simply. "Bathroom and kitchen are over that way..."
Trunks looked around with curious eyes. The air was heavy and stifling, uncomfortably thin. Even the ground seemed to press down with unusual weight.
"Out of curiosity — how long are you planning to train in here?" Mr. Popo asked.
"One year." Vegeta answered without looking up.
"One year?" Mr. Popo's jaw nearly dropped. "When Goku was a boy, three months in here nearly sent him to the edge of sanity... you're planning a full year?"
"Kakarot couldn't take three months? Hmph." Vegeta looked deeply satisfied by this information. He waved Mr. Popo off. "You can go."
"Take care of yourselves..." Mr. Popo said, offering no further argument.
"Thank you." Trunks bowed politely.
"Not at all." Mr. Popo reflected that Vegeta's son had very good manners.
Once Mr. Popo left, only Vegeta and Trunks remained in the dimensional space.
Trunks felt something uncomfortable stir in his chest.
A full year in a place like this. With Dad.
Can I actually defeat the Androids?
I trained for years in my future, and I still couldn't beat them.
Will one year here really make the difference?
The uncertainty turned over in his mind.
But I should train as hard as I can.
Maybe a miracle really will happen.
"Trunks — come with me." Vegeta said, and led Trunks outside into the chamber's vast interior.
They stepped through the entrance into the boundless white expanse beyond.
Trunks' eyes went wide. The scope of what lay before him filled his expression with quiet wonder.
"It's white in every direction. Nothing but white everywhere you look." Trunks breathed.
"First things first, Trunks — what you need to do is simple. Transcend the Super Saiyan." Vegeta said, his expression calm and even.
"Transcend... the Super Saiyan?" Trunks blinked, staring at his father.
Dad thinks differently from anyone I've ever met. I never thought of it that way.
"Exactly." Vegeta nodded. "Once you've transcended the Super Saiyan, those two Androids are nothing."
"Transcend the Super Saiyan... I've never even thought about that before. Is it actually possible?" Trunks said, genuinely disbelieving.
CRACK!
Without a moment's hesitation, Vegeta's body blazed golden — and he shifted directly into Super Saiyan 2.
Crackle — crackle — crackle—
Golden lightning arcs wound around Vegeta's body, snapping and crackling. Immense energy radiated outward from him in every direction.
Trunks was completely dumbstruck. He stared at Super Saiyan 2 Vegeta for a long moment, unable to find his voice.
"This is the Super Saiyan that surpasses the Super Saiyan. You can call it Super Saiyan 2." Vegeta's mouth curved upward in a quiet, satisfied smile.
"Super Saiyan 2?" Trunks' mouth opened. The shock only deepened.
Dad has gotten this powerful?
No wonder Frieza was wiped out so easily.
Wait — that's strange.
When Dad finished off Frieza, I didn't sense any energy from him at all.
His presence actually disappeared in that moment.
"With power like this... Dad could definitely take on those two Androids without breaking a sweat." Trunks could barely contain himself. His eyes were stinging.
The answer was right here with Dad all along.
"Hmph. I told you — those two Androids are nothing." Vegeta said with a cool smile.
At this point, as far as Vegeta was concerned, Android 17 and 18 barely registered as a concern. Even Cell's perfect form would have been unremarkable. Even Majin Buu — as things stood now, Vegeta's current strength would handle him without difficulty.
"I'm giving you one year. I want you to reach Super Saiyan 2." Vegeta stepped forward and put a hand on Trunks' shoulder.
Trunks' mouth twitched.
Super Saiyan 2 in one year.
That feels impossible.
"Start by letting go of the emotional trigger required to enter Super Saiyan." Vegeta said, thinking it through. "From now on — except when you're sleeping — I want you to maintain your Super Saiyan form at all times."
As he said this, Vegeta felt a small, private sting.
This is Kakarot's training method.
In my previous life, Kakarot used this exact approach and left me — a natural genius — completely in the dust.
Later, I quietly adopted it myself, and the results were remarkable.
In that, at least — Vegeta genuinely respected Kakarot.
The man really was a prodigy when it came to training.
So in this life, Vegeta intended to use the same method to train his own son.
A year in here, and Trunks might not quite reach Super Saiyan 2 — but he'd be very close. And then with the right emotional trigger...
There was a real possibility of unlocking Super Saiyan 2 in Trunks.
This life — I, Vegeta, will not only surpass Kakarot.
I'll make my son surpass Son Gohan.
The thought filled Vegeta with a satisfaction he couldn't quite suppress.
"Maintain the Super Saiyan form?" Trunks blinked.
"Correct. Start now." Vegeta said.
"Ah — yes." Trunks nodded, and golden light blazed around him as he shifted into his Super Saiyan form.
"Now — attack me with everything you have." Vegeta gestured for him to come.
Trunks: ...
"Dad... your energy is far beyond mine. There's no way I can match you." Trunks said with an awkward smile.
"I won't take advantage of you." Vegeta said, and powered straight down to his base form. "I'll fight you without transforming."
Trunks wiped a bead of sweat.
Dad. Are you serious?
You're going to fight me without Super Saiyan?
I feel like I'd be bullying you.
"Start!" Vegeta gestured again.
"Then — I won't hold back, Dad!" Trunks took his stance immediately.
Then he blazed forward as a streak of gold, shooting at Vegeta.
But Trunks was hesitant — he held back his full strength, terrified of accidentally hurting his father.
CRACK!
The punch Trunks landed was caught cleanly by Vegeta.
"I said full strength." Vegeta snorted — and drove an uppercut directly into Trunks' chest.
"Pfgh—"
Trunks spat bile. The golden light around him nearly buckled.
In the next instant, Trunks' body arced through the air and crashed hard into the white ground below.
"Pfgh—"
Trunks coughed blood, genuinely shaken.
Is this a joke?
Dad just defeated my Super Saiyan form without even transforming?
Why is the gap between us this enormous?
"Get up. Again." Vegeta said.
"Yes!" A spark of eagerness ignited in Trunks' chest. He sprang back to his feet.
In that moment, something about his father looked different — as though a halo of pure, radiant power had settled over him.
So the strongest person out there isn't Mr. Goku — it's my dad.
But how? How did Dad become this strong?
Was it because of me? Did my arrival cause Dad to become so powerful?
If Dad is this strong, those two Androids are nothing to be afraid of.
So my trip here... was it for nothing?
No.
I came here for a reason.
I got to meet my powerful father.
And I'm training here with him in this strange room.
Androids!
Wait for me.
I'll avenge my comrades — and Master Gohan.
Actually... wait.
Master Gohan has been reborn.
So Master Gohan is basically alive...
If only Master Gohan could train here with Dad too.
Can't think about that now — first I get stronger, then I figure out how to help Master Gohan get stronger too.
While Trunks was training hard with Vegeta in the Chamber —
Near Mount Paozu.
Gohan was in rigorous training with Piccolo.
Heh heh heh!
Gohan threw a flurry of punches and kicks at Piccolo.
Piccolo blocked with all four limbs.
After a stretch of back-and-forth, Gohan sprang backward and opened some distance.
"That's enough for now, Uncle Piccolo." Gohan said, drawing a slow, steady breath.
Piccolo: ...
Why do I suddenly get the feeling this kid has grown considerably more mature?
He's completely different from before.
"Gohan — what exactly happened to you?" Piccolo looked at Gohan directly, his voice measured and serious.
Gohan felt a pang of anxiety.
He knew perfectly well how sharp Piccolo was.
Has he figured it out?
If I tell Uncle Piccolo I've been reincarnated — could that cause the Androids in this timeline to become even stronger?
That's absolutely not something I want.
"Nothing... nothing, Uncle Piccolo." Gohan shook his head, not wanting to give anything away that might shift this timeline further than it already had.
"If you don't want to talk about it, I won't push." Piccolo replied quietly.
"Uncle Piccolo — my training is nowhere near enough yet. I want to reach a higher level of power. Do you have any suggestions?" Gohan asked, looking up at Piccolo with a serious expression.
"If you truly want to reach a higher level — go to your father, Goku, and ask him to train you." Piccolo said after a moment's thought.
"Dad?" Gohan's eyes brightened. He nodded. "That's true — I've barely trained with Dad one-on-one."
Piccolo said nothing.
"Where is Dad right now? Where did he go with that Saiyan called Broly?" Gohan asked, puzzled.
"Probably King Kai's planet." Piccolo guessed.
"We can't get there, though." Gohan said with a slight grimace.
"Then we wait for him to come back." Piccolo said simply.
"Right." Gohan nodded.
"But speaking of that — Gohan, life in the future must have been very hard for you." Piccolo said, casually — almost as an aside.
"It was... the future was really brutal. Me and Trunks..." Gohan started to speak — and then it hit him. His expression shifted through several shades, and he stared at Piccolo with wide, stunned eyes.
Piccolo: ...
Piccolo looked back at Gohan in silence, equal parts exasperated and vindicated.
I knew something was off about this kid.
Exactly as I suspected.
And the way he and Trunks were acting together — the more I watched, the more suspicious it became.
"You're not my Gohan." Piccolo said bluntly. "I said something was off. Tell me — what happened?"
Gohan put his face in his hands.
Uncle Piccolo — was that really necessary?
Do you know how hard I worked to hide this?
And you just pulled it right out of me.
"That... well..." Gohan fumbled for words for a moment, then accepted the inevitable. "Uncle Piccolo — I wasn't trying to hide it from you. I was scared that because of me, too many things in this timeline would change."
"So — after the future version of you died, your soul merged with this body, and here you are." Piccolo said, cutting straight to the heart of it.
"Ha... you really are something, Uncle Piccolo." Gohan laughed with awkward admiration, rubbing the back of his head. "That's... exactly right."
Piccolo: ...
"That would be a form of reincarnation." Piccolo said, and genuinely hadn't expected to find this in Gohan.
"Yes." Gohan nodded. "Nobody else knows — not even my dad. Trunks knows, but that's it."
Piccolo gave a quiet nod, and something in his chest settled.
Not even Goku knows.
Which means Gohan wasn't deliberately hiding it from me specifically.
"I was reborn three days ago... I thought with my strength I could handle Frieza easily. I was naive." Gohan sighed, his voice falling. "What I didn't expect was how powerful Frieza had become. At my current level — I honestly don't think I can beat him."
Piccolo went quiet.
You thought turning Super Saiyan would be enough to handle Frieza?
Well. That's not something Piccolo needed to say out loud to hurt Gohan.
"Tell me about the future." Piccolo redirected.
"The future..." Gohan looked up at the sky and sank into memory.
Then, quietly and carefully, Gohan told Piccolo everything he remembered about what had happened in the future.
When he heard what Gohan's life there had been, Piccolo felt something twist in his chest.
"Your arm was destroyed..." Piccolo's fists tightened, his eyes going hard.
"Yes..." Gohan nodded.
"But in this life — as long as you train seriously — none of that will happen." Piccolo stepped forward and put a hand on Gohan's shoulder, firm and encouraging.
"That's why I want to get stronger. I want to protect you and my dad, Uncle Piccolo." Gohan's expression was unwavering.
"Wait for your father to return." Piccolo said, tapping his chin lightly.
"Uncle Piccolo — please don't mention my reincarnation to my dad..." Gohan urged, more than once.
"You're worried that the more people know, the larger the changes in this timeline will become, right?" Piccolo understood. He agreed without hesitation. "Don't worry — I won't say a word."
"Thank you, Uncle Piccolo." Gohan's expression broke into genuine relief.
Sacred World of the Kais.
Broly slept for well over an hour before finally stirring.
He rubbed his eyes, pushed himself upright, and immediately scanned the area — left, right, front, back.
Taking in the craters dotted everywhere and the wreckage left from their fight, Broly scratched the back of his head with obvious embarrassment and looked at Goku with a remorseful expression.
"I didn't... do anything too terrible, did I?" he asked.
"Nope." Goku laughed and glanced at the Supreme Kai.
The Supreme Kai: ...
Nope? Nothing too terrible?
Broly had me by the ankle swinging me back and forth.
He nearly beat me to death.
"Broly — you really are incredible." Goku said, feeling as though he'd stumbled onto something extraordinary.
This Broly is really something.
It's because of him that my tail grew back, and I was able to recover my Super Saiyan 4 transformation.
"It... it was nothing." Broly gave a shy, bashful smile.
"So... stay here and keep honing yourself. I'm sure Lord Old Kai and the Supreme Kai will help you find a way to regain your reason when you transform." Goku grinned broadly, got to his feet, and gave a wave to the Supreme Kai and Old Kai. "Anyway — I'd better head off. Lord Supreme Kai, Lord Old Kai — please keep working on helping Broly get his reason back."
The Supreme Kai opened his mouth. Nothing came out.
Old Kai stretched out a hand, desperately trying to stop Goku from leaving.
Oh no you don't.
You dropped a live bomb in our Sacred World and now you're just waltzing off?
Do you have any idea how dangerous this is for us?
And how are we supposed to know how to restore Broly's reason?
But before either of them could get a word in —
Goku vanished via Instant Transmission.
Old Kai and the Supreme Kai looked at each other. Their expressions had gone to places previously unexplored.
"Is there food here? I'm hungry." Broly said, rubbing his stomach and addressing Old Kai and the Supreme Kai without ceremony.
The Supreme Kai: ...
Old Kai's mouth twitched.
Kibito quietly wiped his forehead.
"What are you two standing there for? Go find him something to eat before he loses control again!" Old Kai barked at the Supreme Kai and Kibito.
The two of them immediately warped away to find food.
That left only Broly and Old Kai on the field.
Old Kai swallowed nervously. A wave of anxiety crashed through him.
"Do you... like reading manga?" Old Kai mustered his courage and tossed a peculiar manga in Broly's direction from a safe distance.
Broly scratched his head, caught it, and began to look through it carefully.
After a few pages, his expression became one of profound confusion.
"What are those two people doing? I still don't understand!" Broly scratched his head, thoroughly baffled, and pointed at one of the panels. "And — why does this person look so strange? What are those two lumps supposed to be?"
Old Kai quietly wiped his forehead.
You really have absolutely no sense for this sort of thing at all.
To be continued…
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