After listening to Yamiru's frustrations, Annin thought for a moment, then pointed at the golden halo above his head.
"If what you say is true—that this halo constantly channels energy from the Other World to replenish your body—then why not just divert some of that energy for your own use?" she suggested. "In your daily life… just live as if you were still alive."
Yamiru understood.
Annin was telling him to pretend he wasn't dead.
The body he had crafted himself had a heartbeat, breath, and all the vital signs of a living being. If he were examined by a doctor, they'd declare him "perfectly healthy—even unnaturally so". By all biological definitions, he wasn't dead.
Even now, his "Other World body" could tire and hunger—but those needs were automatically replenished by the energy flowing from the golden halo, his "proof of residency" in the afterlife.
However, the "signal" from the Other World was already weak on Earth. The trickle of energy barely sufficed to maintain his "privilege" of not needing food or sleep as a dead man. If he diverted even a fraction of it, he'd have to eat and sleep like a living person again.
"You're already dead, and you were Earth's Kami in life," Annin continued. "Time is the one thing you don't lack. You could set aside a tiny portion of the energy each day, slowly accumulating it…" She tilted her head slightly. "Wait—are you even still a deity?"
Even deities had to report to the Other World after death.
Before the Cell Games, Kami had sacrificed himself to merge with piccolo—effectively committing suicide. The proof? The Dragon Balls he created turned to lifeless stone. Goku had to ask North Kai to bring Dende from Namek to revive them—and appoint him as Earth's new Kami.
So, once a deity died, the position was vacant.
And strictly speaking…
Yamiru's tenure as Earth's deity had been extremely brief.
From the moment Mr. Popo acknowledged him, to his self-destruction that took down the Great Demon King Satan… less than half an hour.
Theoretically, Yamiru was only Earth's deity for 30 minutes.
That he could return with an Other World body and defeat Satan a second time was already a special favor from King Yemma.
"Until the divine palace is completed and a successor is chosen… I'm still Earth's deity," Yamiru said after some thought.
Desperate times called for desperate measures. King Yemma—the same one who'd send particularly annoying villains to Heaven out of spite, or keep Vegeta's soul on standby during Majin Buu's rampage—was surprisingly flexible in this regard.
"Though… I could just delay the palace's completion indefinitely," Yamiru mused internally. "Maybe add a Hyperbolic Time Chamber to the blueprint. It's not like I know how to build one anyway. As long as it's unfinished, the palace isn't officially done. And as for my successor… until that Namekian prodigy shows up, I don't thing I will appoint a second kami."
His thoughts paused.
Master Roshi was over 300 years old. King Piccolo's reign of terror had occurred during Roshi's youth.
Meaning, the earliest that prodigy Namekian could have arrived on Earth was no more than a thousand years before Tights' era.
Yet Yamiru was now stranded tens of thousands of years in the past.
"Annin," he asked again, "are you sure the Furnace of Eight Divisions has no time-related abilities? Like sending something to the past or future?"
Annin hesitated before answering. "The furnace does have spacetime properties… You know it was originally my master's tool for sealing the rift to Hell. But using it to traverse time? Impossible."
If it's impossible, then how did I get here? Yamiru took a slow breath. Perhaps Annin had developed time-related techniques because of his influence tens of thousands of years later. Maybe.
But tens of thousands of years!
Was he really supposed to "die" his way back to his original era?
The thought gave him a headache.
He had gone to Mount Five Elements because of the prophecy from Fortuneteller Baba, which claimed his "future of shattering Earth with a single punch" was tied to that place. Then, Annin from tens of thousands of years later had shoved him into the furnace, sending him to this prehistoric age.
Now, "shattering Earth with a single punch" was something he could actually do.
With a battle power exceeding 200 million, a full-powered strike aimed at the planet's core would obliterate it effortlessly.
But even though he had achieved that goal, he felt no pull, no summons to return.
It was as if…
He had been forgotten in this ancient era.
As Yamiru collected his thoughts, he noticed Annin's expression shift slightly. At her current giant size, even subtle changes were easy to spot. She seemed to be telepathically communicating with someone.
"Oh… alright," she murmured, nodding to no one visible.
Then, she turned to Yamiru. "That was… someone called King Kai. A god from the Other World. He said…" She tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear. "I've been granted partial divine authority."
Yamiru understood immediately. "So I handle the living world, and you manage affairs related to the dead…"
"That's right," Annin confirmed. "For centuries, Earth was essentially an 'unrecognized hell'—when people died here, their souls were sent straight to damnation, with no chance of ascending to Heaven or even reincarnating. But now that the Furnace of Eight Divisions has sealed the rift between Mount Five Elements and Hell, and I've been granted this role... From now on, when Earthlings die, their souls can fly to this mountain, pass through the furnace's heat into the Other World, and properly enter King Yemma's judgment hall..."
Yamiru recalled his conversation with the future Supreme Elderly Lord at Mount Five Elements tens of thousands of years later. "But those killed by the remaining demons will still become wandering spirits, correct?"
"Demons are essentially 'sinners of Hell'—the opposite of 'citizens of Heaven' like yourself," Annin nodded. "To be killed by them, tainted by their energy... it's no different from being dragged straight to damnation. And once you're 'already in Hell', there's no path to the Afterlife..." She sighed softly.
"So you..." Yamiru studied her.
"Mhm. As long as I hold this divine authority, I cannot leave Mount Five Elements or the furnace," she said calmly. "Don't forget—this was one of the conditions for defeating Satan."
Yamiru fell silent. If he had paid with his life to vanquish Satan, then Annin had sacrificed all her power—and her freedom for ages to come.
The energy she had poured into the furnace represented lifetimes of accumulation. Now, by Yamiru's estimate, her battle power barely scraped 300.
Yet at her peak? Over 30 million.
---
The next day, the skies above Mount Five Elements remained bleak—this place was still far from hospitable.
At least the furnace's presence stabilized Yamiru's connection to the Other World. Without it, the "signal" from his golden halo would be even weaker...
Yamiru soared into the air, offering Annin a final wave before rocketing away from the mountain.
Skimming over the primordial jungle, his wake sent rippling waves through the sea of trees. He nearly collided with Korin Tower before swerving at a right angle, shooting straight up its length in the blink of an eye. Landing lightly on the palace balcony, he stepped inside.
Somehow, in just one night, Mr. Popo had already installed a small fountain at the center of the chamber. He was currently pouring water into it from a tiny bucket when Yamiru entered.
Exchanging a nod with his attendant, Yamiru focused on the faint stream of energy from his halo. Diverting one-tenth of it, he began stockpiling the minuscule amounts for his Flying Nimbus experiment. The remaining 90% would suffice to maintain his body's basic needs—eating, resting—for now.
Settling onto the balcony's edge, Yamiru closed his eyes.
As Annin had said—time was the one thing he didn't lack.
Entering deep meditation, he turned his thoughts to the next stage of his training.
Here was the crux: Though Yamiru had "stolen" an astronomical battle power exceeding 200 million—far beyond his natural limits—by merging with Yamoshi and drawing upon the Other World's energy, his physical body hadn't fundamentally changed.
The situation was akin to forcing a high-end operating system onto outdated hardware.
Through sheer will and martial mastery, he'd achieved a miraculous compatibility... but pushing further?
His body seemed to lack the capability.
Every being had layers of physiological limits. For Saiyans, even their lowest limit surpassed an Earthling's absolute peak. And 200 million power level? That dwarfed any conceivable threshold Yamiru's flesh could ever reach.
But having come this far—how could he stop now?
The question of how to keep growing under these constraints plagued him...
Yet he wasn't entirely without ideas.