After the last battle, Raditz's strength was finally recognized by everyone. Even Piccolo kept a low profile, worked harder in his training, and became stricter when teaching Gohan. During his free time, he often sought out Goku to work on mastering the Kaio-ken technique.
The others also deeply recognized their own shortcomings and took their training more seriously.
Time passed quietly as they immersed themselves in training. They didn't realize how much time had gone by until King Kai reminded them that it was almost time to face the Saiyans.
"Excuse me, Lord Kai, how long until they arrive?" Raditz asked.
"Well... about that, it will be roughly a month from now, a little later than I expected," King Kai replied. "The reason is that their spaceship encountered a star explosion while traveling through space, which affected their trajectory."
Hearing this, Goku looked puzzled. "Doesn't that mean we still have a month to train?"
"Well..." King Kai wiped his sweat nervously. "Actually, you've already surpassed me, and I have nothing left to teach you. You can continue your training when you return to Earth."
He put his hands behind his back, turned around, and nodded slightly, trying his best to look like a wise master.
But beneath his sunglasses, his eyes were filled with deep fear.
He didn't want them to stay any longer. His planet had been refurbished countless times during their stay. It seemed to get more damaged with each passing day.
After his car was scrapped, he never drove again. Even his hobby of counting blades of grass had been brutally taken from him, leaving him with nothing to do but play with Bubbles all day.
The most unbearable part was that his food warehouse was nearly empty. Everyone was ravenously hungry after training, especially Raditz and Goku, who ate ten or even dozens of times more than the others! At first, King Kai had just been trying to be polite by offering food, but he didn't expect everyone to take it for granted, praising him while mercilessly devouring his supplies. After this year, there wasn't much left of the food he had stored for so long—definitely not enough to last another month.
King Kai had made up his mind: they must not be allowed to stay!
"But, on Earth..." Goku frowned as he began to protest.
Before he could finish, King Kai yelled loudly: "You're going back, and that's final!"
"Ah, I get it! I get it!" Goku waved his hands frantically and took two steps back.
Raditz stepped forward and grabbed Goku's shoulder. "Master Kai is right—we should return to Earth. We can get used to the environment again and take some time to relax."
The intensive training over the past months had pushed each of them to their limits. Their bodies had reached a plateau, and they wouldn't improve much with another month of training. It would be better to go back, rest properly, and recover.
There was some deviation from what Raditz had expected in terms of timing, which concerned him slightly. Originally, the Saiyans were supposed to arrive a month earlier, but now it would be almost exactly one year. Was such a change really a coincidence? Or had things already started to diverge from what he knew?
Raditz clenched his fists tightly, feeling uneasy.
"Since Raditz thinks so too, let's head back," Yamcha agreed.
"We've become much stronger now. Master Roshi will be surprised when he sees us," Krillin said with a smile. "And Gohan too—as expected of Goku's son, especially with Piccolo's training."
"Um... I..." Gohan lowered his head shyly.
Piccolo glanced coldly at him. "It's still not enough." He snorted afterward, though there was an unmistakable hint of concern in his eyes.
These two really are the perfect master-student combination, Raditz thought to himself with amusement.
He led the group in bidding farewell to King Kai as they prepared to jump from King Kai's planet back to the start of Snake Way. King Kai waved goodbye while wiping sweat from his brow in relief.
Goku still looked reluctant to leave, which scared King Kai so much that he quickly added, "I'll notify the attendants on Earth to pick you up as soon as you reach the end of Snake Way!"
"Understood!"
Raditz responded loudly, waved to King Kai, and took off running. Without the ten-times gravity of King Kai's planet, he felt incredibly light, as if floating through the clouds, merging with the wind rushing past him.
"Let's have a race to see who's fastest!" Goku followed Raditz closely, the air around him surging as he left a trail of light behind him.
"That's cheating, you got a head start!"
"I won't lose!"
Everyone's competitive spirit was ignited. They all released powerful bursts of energy and shot forward, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.
Several streaks of energy flowed through the air like meteors flying across the boundless otherworld.
A few hours later, Raditz was the first to arrive at the entrance of Snake Way, though he was drenched in sweat. The million-kilometer distance was no joke, but his speed was remarkable.
After a while, Goku appeared on the horizon with Piccolo following closely behind, though he could never quite close the gap between them. Finally, they reached the entrance to Snake Way one after the other.
Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha followed next, while Chiaotzu arrived half an hour later alongside Gohan.
Gohan's ki was already quite strong, but he hadn't mastered using it efficiently yet, so he naturally couldn't match the others when flying at full speed. He glanced nervously at Piccolo and, predictably, received a cold stare in return.
"You must be the ones who trained with Lord Kai, correct?"
Suddenly, an official wearing a shirt and glasses appeared before them, holding a notebook. His face was blue, and he had two horns on his head, but otherwise looked no different from an ordinary human.
"This guy looks so strange," Goku muttered curiously as he approached.
"He's an attendant of the Otherworld—they all look like this," Raditz explained quietly.
"I'll take you to meet Kami. King Kai arranged for King Yemma to help with your transportation. Please, follow me to the bus." The otherworld attendant led them to an extended version of the special otherworld transport vehicle and drove them directly to King Yemma's hall.
As expected, Kami was already waiting for them there and greeted them as soon as they arrived.
Between the Otherworld and the planet they watched over, the guardians had the ability to travel freely. Everyone placed their hands on each other, forming a chain with Kami. In just a moment, they were all transported back to Earth's Lookout.
"We're back!"
"Suddenly I feel so light, so incredibly light!" Krillin shouted cheerfully. He hadn't had time to appreciate how light his body felt while racing along Snake Way, but now that they were back on Earth, he realized he seemed to weigh almost nothing—his entire body felt several times more agile.
Raditz gazed up at the sky, looking forward to Vegeta's arrival.
Come on, Vegeta. Let me show you the results of our training, and just how powerful these Earthlings have become!
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