"Namekian?"
"I only found out today that I'm an alien... No wonder I was different from ordinary people..." Kami said with a grave expression.
"Kami..." Korin looked at Kami.
"I created the Dragon Balls long ago, and at the time, they felt strangely familiar... Could someone in my distant homeland have made something like this too?... It was memories of my ancestors that made me..." Kami murmured.
"That's right. Kami's homeland is the distant Planet Namek. Hundreds of years ago, Planet Namek's climate changed drastically. Kami's parents sent him to Earth, but they themselves didn't make it before..." Krillin said slowly.
Kami continued, "I lived in the Saiton Highlands from childhood. There was a house there, and inside was a letter that said, 'I'll be there soon. Wait for me!' So I believed my parents would definitely come... But I waited for a very, very long time... It was awful... There was no food there... I kept waiting... Twenty years, perhaps! No, thirty years... In the end, I gave up. I left Saiton, left that house..."
"Heh heh, thinking back on it now... that house really was rather strange!" Kami revealed a relaxed smile. A confusion that had plagued him for hundreds of years had finally been resolved.
"That house was the spaceship Kami rode when he came to Earth," Krillin explained.
"I wonder what Planet Namek is like now. After all, I left Planet Namek hundreds of years ago..." Kami was filled with longing for Planet Namek, for his homeland.
When people grew old, their desire to return to their roots became exceptionally strong. Not to mention that homeland existed only in Kami's dreams. As a genuine descendant of Yan and Huang, Krillin could deeply understand Kami's feelings at that moment.
"Kami, do you remember when Korin and I said we were preparing to leave Earth? With Earth's current technology, it would be difficult to build a spaceship capable of interstellar travel, so the ship you rode as a child is the best choice." Krillin spoke slowly to Kami.
Kami nodded.
"Kami, come with me. Let's go to Planet Namek."
Kami's eyes lit up at Krillin's words, but they soon dimmed again. Shaking his head, he said, "As Kami, I have the responsibility and duty to protect Earth. I shouldn't leave my post without permission."
"It's fine, Kami. With Korin here, he can absolutely protect Earth," Korin hurriedly said to Kami.
"That's right. With Korin here, it'll be fine. And isn't Goku around too? Don't worry about it," Krillin quickly added.
Kami hesitated. Should he go?
Krillin pressed on again. "The spaceship is very fast. A round trip won't even take a few days."
Once Porunga granted his wish, he probably wouldn't need the spaceship anymore.
Kami hesitated even more. Planet Namek? A phantom seemed to appear before him. Kami reached out to grasp it, but it scattered like a flower reflected in a mirror. After pondering for a long time, Kami said, "All right!"
"Kami feels somewhat guilty. Because of King Piccolo, I brought a disaster upon the human world. Now... perhaps I am an unworthy Kami." Kami muttered to himself.
"Kami, you've already done very well. You don't need to blame yourself so much," Krillin consoled him.
Kami waved a hand, signaling Krillin not to say anything more.
Krillin swallowed the words he had been about to say.
"Let's go to the Saiton Highlands and retrieve the spaceship. So many years have passed; I don't know whether it has malfunctioned." Krillin vaguely remembered that the ship seemed to have been repaired.
Korin had already brought out the Flying Carpet. "Please get on. The Saiton Highlands are rather far away, but Korin's Flying Carpet can get us there quickly."
Krillin and Kami nodded and stepped onto the Flying Carpet.
Korin chanted a spell, and the surroundings suddenly changed drastically. A howling wind blew over Krillin's head... Damn it! Krillin cursed inwardly. He absolutely had to learn Instant Transmission, an essential skill for fighting and escaping.
"We've arrived. We can get off now!" Korin said slowly.
"It's here. Right ahead." Kami's face was filled with memories, though they were all painful ones.
The house was round and had four legs, like some kind of beetle...
As expected, it's the Namekians' unique architectural style, Krillin thought to himself.
Once the group approached it,
Kami said to himself, "There's no doorknob and no lock. It can be opened just by saying a word..."
"Piccolo. It means 'different world.'" Krillin still remembered that.
Kami softly said, "Piccolo." The bottom of the spaceship descended, and everyone stepped onto it. Like an elevator platform, it carried Krillin and Kami into the ship's interior.
"Unfortunately, I don't know how to operate the spaceship," Kami said helplessly.
Krillin chuckled. "It doesn't need to be operated. It has fully automatic voice recognition, but it needs to be in Namekian—the language Kami and Piccolo spoke during the Martial Arts Tournament."
Kami wore a look of sudden realization. It seemed he really was foolish!
"Kami, say, 'Fly. Fly to the Sacred Temple.'"
Kami nodded. "&*%&&#%^*"
This... foreign languages really were...
A string of characters appeared on the control panel.
"It says it understands."
As they spoke, the ship had already landed atop the Sacred Temple in the blink of an eye.
Krillin and Kami couldn't help but rejoice. Krillin said, "The spaceship is completely intact." Kami said, "I can return to my homeland."
Everyone stepped outside, and Krillin said to Kami, "Teach me a few simple phrases in Namekian."
No matter how difficult a foreign language was, he still had to learn it. That was the reality of the situation; there was no way around it. Krillin let out a deep sigh.
Kami said, "*&...%%...&*"
After a long while, "We'll prepare to depart tomorrow. Before that, we need to make some preparations. At the very least, we need food, and we should install a bathroom in the spaceship..."
Kami indicated that he used photosynthesis...
At Mount Paozu...
"Goku, really, no. I'm going to train in the universe, and I really can't take you with me. Look, Chi-Chi is about to give birth. You need to take good care of Chi-Chi..." Krillin patiently explained to Goku.
Before leaving Earth, he naturally had to come and tell Goku. Once he left, the task of protecting Earth for this period would be entrusted to Goku.
When Goku heard Chi-Chi's name, he froze for a moment and no longer mentioned following Krillin into the universe. It seemed Krillin's guidance had been somewhat useful. Krillin couldn't help giving himself a mental pat on the back. Chi-Chi was a very good girl, and marrying Goku had been unfair to her. Goku had never concerned himself with household chores; Chi-Chi had always been the one raising their child. Faced with reality, Chi-Chi had changed from a virtuous girl into a nagging woman. She had always wanted Gohan to become a great scholar because she feared Gohan would follow in Goku's footsteps...
He had no idea when he would return from the universe, so it was time to secure a backup plan for Goku's family. If Chi-Chi worked for the Haidilao Group, and he gave them 20% of his 49% annual dividends, that should be enough. Krillin still believed that as long as he had enough money to spend, that was sufficient. To him, money was nothing but dirt.
"Goku, once the child is a little older in a couple of years, have Chi-Chi go work for the Haidilao Group. I'll put in a word with Launch."
"Haidilao Group?" Goku asked innocently. "What's that?"
Krillin covered his head with both hands. "Forget it. That was pointless. I'll go talk to Chi-Chi."
July 1st, Era 756.
"Kami, it's time to depart!"
Korin wiped away tears as he waved goodbye to Kami, making it seem like a final parting between life and death.
The two boarded the spaceship, and Kami was somewhat happy as well. After all, he was about to return to his homeland.
Krillin said to the control panel, "Fly to Planet Namek."
"Ding. Understood. Estimated travel time: five days."
The spaceship abruptly shot out into space.
At Korin Tower, Korin and Fanyu waved at the departing spaceship. Korin murmured, "Just how strong will you be when you return next time?"
Far away in Yunze Bitegao, Piccolo sensed that Kami had left Earth and viciously muttered, "What is that old bastard up to now?" With that, he glanced at the sky.
Krillin looked at the blue planet receding beyond the window and silently clenched his fist. "Wait for me, Android 18. I'll be back soon."
Earth's arc had temporarily come to an end. Krillin had successfully stepped into the universe, and the story ahead would no longer be as peaceful as before. The beginning had merely been a transitional period on Earth, and Krillin intended to rise during that time.
Thanks to My Handsomeness Goes Unnoticed, Greed, Bamboo Leaf, Qinghua, Invincible, Names Are All Fleeting Clouds, and Book Friend 2018 for the recommendation votes you gave Xiao Ci. Your recommendation votes are what motivate me to keep writing, hahaha.
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