Unlocking Potential?

The Great Elder was lying on his chair, his presence barely perceptible. His body could easily match two or three ordinary Namekians in size. He looked kindly at Kami, seeming to sink back into memory, and after a long moment said, "You look so much like Kadatz. You must be Kadatz's child. Welcome home."

Kami said with some confusion, "The Earth's Kami greets the Great Elder, but I have no memory of Kadatz in my mind."

"Kadatz is your father. Hundreds of years ago, the climate on Namek changed drastically. Your father sent you away, but he himself didn't make it... I never expected you to actually survive." The Great Elder spoke slowly, as if each breath might be his last. Krillin calculated that the Great Elder had about five years of life left.

Kami listened intently as the Great Elder recounted events from hundreds of years ago.

Before Kami could speak, the Great Elder continued, "In that catastrophe, Namek was destroyed. The Namekian civilization, passed down for countless generations, was wiped out... In the end, only I remained." The Great Elder's eyes were hollow, as if he had fallen back into the scene of Namek's destruction that day.

Hearing the Great Elder's account, Kami felt deep memories stirring within him. Suddenly, flashes of memory crossed his mind—his father hurriedly stuffing him into a spaceship, looking at him with loving eyes and saying, "You go first. Wait for me. I'll be right behind." Then the scene shifted: Namek began to collapse, countless clansmen wailing in agony, the planet swallowed bit by bit by darkness... Hah... Hah... Hah... Kami stumbled back to reality, gripping his Divine Staff tightly, eyes shut, sweat beading on his furrowed brow as he gasped for air.

Kami slowly opened his eyes, his expression pained. His voice cracked as he said, "I remember."

"Child, the era of suffering has passed. What we must do now is rebuild our home." The Great Elder spoke softly and slowly, his voice soothing and calm.

Then the Great Elder turned to Krillin. "Earth warrior who has traveled far, welcome to Namek."

"Thank you, Great Elder." Krillin smiled politely at the Great Elder.

"I have a premonition that Namek will soon be invaded. Originally, I foresaw a golden-haired warrior defeating the evil and saving the Namekian people. But seven months ago, my vision suddenly changed. There is also a powerful bald-headed young man defending Namek. At the critical moment, this bald-headed young man turns the tide and defeats the evil... Cough, cough." The Great Elder began to cough incessantly.

Hearing that Namek was to be invaded again, Kami's face changed drastically. Why is fate so unjust? Why must the Namekians suffer such calamity? Kami cried out helplessly in his heart.

Krillin's heart stirred. Seven months ago—wasn't that when I first arrived in the Dragon Ball World? Did my arrival change the future the Great Elder saw? Was it originally "Krillin sacrifices to heaven, boundless power" Goku defeating Frieza, and now it's me and Goku joining forces to beat him? Can he really foresee so far into the future?

"At first, I wasn't sure about the future I saw. Time and space are mysterious forces—no one can say for certain. And the future I saw changed. But now that I've met you, I'm certain of my thoughts." The Great Elder spoke with difficulty, the words seeming to come out one by one.

Kami looked at Krillin, his heart jolting. A bald-headed young man? The future is Krillin saving Namek? That's too hard to believe. Kami knew Krillin was strong, but he never imagined he could be this strong. Kami felt he had been shocked enough for one day.

"Great Elder, rest assured. I will do everything in my power to protect these simple, kind, peace-loving Namekians." Krillin spoke in a tone of assurance. After all, he would need to ask a favor soon. Besides, what he said came straight from the heart—the Namekians were a lovely race.

Hearing Krillin's words, the Great Elder smiled happily and closed his eyes. If not for his long, steady breathing, Krillin would have thought he had passed on.

Krillin stood there, waiting for the Great Elder. About five minutes later, the Great Elder opened his eyes again. The brief rest had restored a bit of his energy, and he smiled gratefully. "I'm troubling you. Namek's future is in your hands."

Krillin nodded solemnly. When he promised something, he had to deliver—especially when the Great Elder trusted him so much.

"Child, come forward. I sense an astonishing power within you. Let me help you unlock it." The Great Elder spoke to Krillin.

"Great Elder! You need to rest. You can't waste your strength like this." Nail looked at the Great Elder with concern.

"It's fine. Unlocking potential is my special ability—it doesn't consume physical strength." The Great Elder said slowly.

Krillin's heart leaped with joy. I was just thinking about how to bring this up. It's like a pillow arriving just when I'm sleepy. Great Elder, you're too thoughtful!

In the original story, when Krillin arrived on Namek, his Battle Power was 1,500. After the Great Elder unlocked his potential, it reached 13,000—nearly a tenfold increase. His current Battle Power was 335,000. If the Great Elder unlocked his potential, wouldn't he reach 3.3 million? With 3.3 million Battle Power, he could go toe-to-toe with Frieza. Even if he couldn't win, he could escape to the ends of the universe while Frieza was transforming. Haha, just thinking about it was exciting.

Krillin walked slowly toward the Great Elder and stopped beneath his hand.

The Great Elder moved his arm with effort and placed his hand on Krillin's head. A soft hum...

Krillin was enveloped in a layer of energy. He felt his own power being drawn out.

Ding. Foreign energy detected. Attempting to draw out the host's power. System is blocking.

Ding. Block successful. Power draw failed.

"Damn it!" Krillin couldn't help but curse. I finally get a chance to skyrocket my Battle Power, and you block it? System! System! Get out here! If you don't explain yourself today, I'm uninstalling you! Krillin fumed.

The System said flatly, "Let me say one thing. Just one thing. Slap! Like the sound of a slap. Don't I have any face? Unlocking the host's abilities right in front of me—did you ask for my permission? If it were that easy to raise your Battle Power, where would I get my energy?" With that, the System's voice cut off.

"What?" That's your reason? You wasted my chance to gain three million power? Go to hell!

"Heh. Not entirely. Did you really think it would be a tenfold increase? Let me tell you bluntly, with the limits of Earthling talent, you'd only reach 1.5 million Battle Power. Enough talk. Check your status panel."

System, view status:

Time: Era 756

Name: Krillin

Age: 21

Race: Earthling

Dimension: Level 1 Dimension (equivalent to Korin)

Battle Power: 350,000 (next limit: 1.5 million)

Potential: 4.65 million

Training Speed: Light Speed

"Hey, that's not right. How did my potential become 4.65 million?"

"Simply put, the Great Elder's potential unlock didn't directly raise your Battle Power. It added to your potential. Originally, your potential for this limit was only 1.5 million. Now it's 5 million. How about that? Grateful, aren't you?" The System said smugly.

Krillin understood now. When he reached 1.5 million Battle Power, he would need a huge amount of energy to break through the limit. And he clearly didn't have enough energy now. So this was actually much more cost-effective than directly increasing his Battle Power.

A moment later, the Great Elder made a puzzled sound. I clearly drew out his potential just now. Where did it go? He couldn't figure it out.

"I'm sorry, child. You clearly have great potential within you, but I cannot bring it out." The Great Elder looked apologetically at Krillin.

Knowing that the System had blocked the Great Elder's power, Krillin smiled and said, "It's fine. I can unlock my potential step by step through my own training."