Three Wishes

On Planet Namek, there was a Namekian named Nail. He was the Grand Elder's guardian, and the original story had stated that his power level was 42,000. Given the Namekians' long lifespan, even if Nail hadn't reached the strength he had in the original story by now, he must still have had a power level of twenty or thirty thousand.

If they went to Planet Namek now and Nail caught them, they would surely be driven off. If they were unlucky, they might even lose their lives there.

A wise man didn't put himself in danger. Roland valued his life too much to go to Planet Namek without absolute confidence, even if rumors said the Namekians were a very kind people.

But Hertz couldn't worry about any of that now. After learning that his wife could be brought back to life, he couldn't wait another moment. All he could think about was reviving her as soon as possible.

"I can't wait. Planet Frie isn't far from Planet Namek. It'll only take a few months to get there by spaceship. Please lend me your ship."

Hertz didn't ask Roland to take him there. Instead, he chose to fly the ship himself.

Roland looked at him. "There are powerful fighters on Planet Namek. Your power level has reached 5,000, but you're still no match for them. You might not get the Dragon Balls, and could end up leaving your life there instead."

Hertz replied solemnly, "I want to try."

Roland watched him for a long while. Seeing how determined he was, he nodded. "All right. Take the Gravity Spaceship. Be careful. The Namekians are a kind people, so don't show any hostility. If you talk things over with them, you might be able to borrow the Dragon Balls."

Hertz took Roland's words to heart. Just then, Sephiria suddenly said, "By the way, Saiyans can grow much stronger after recovering from near-fatal injuries. Why don't we try that and see if we can increase Hertz's power?"

"I'm willing to try!" Hertz was ready to risk it.

Roland considered it, then nodded. Saiyans really could grow much stronger after recovering from near-fatal injuries, but it was incredibly difficult to judge what counted as near-fatal. It wasn't the same as being seriously injured; one small mistake could kill him for real. And the ability seemed far too powerful to be guaranteed to work indefinitely.

"Sephiria, aim near Hertz's heart and be careful when you strike. Don't kill him."

Sephiria glanced at Roland as if to say, Did he really think she didn't know that? Then she nodded calmly. After having Hertz put a Senzu Bean in his mouth, she placed her palm near his heart.

Whoosh!

A sharp beam of energy shot out. Hertz's body couldn't withstand the attack. The beam entered through his chest and burst out through his back, sending blood spraying into the air. His battle suit was instantly soaked in bright red blood.

Hertz coughed weakly, blood spilling from his mouth. His eyes grew unfocused.

"Quick, bite down on the Senzu Bean!" Roland shouted.

Hertz struggled to bite through the bean. A strange Vital Energy spread through his mouth, and the wound in his chest healed in an instant. Then a vast energy surged out from every cell in his body.

The Scouter in Roland's hand began beeping rapidly. The number on its display jumped again and again, quickly rising from 5,100 to 6,700!

"He really got stronger." Sephiria stared intently, excitement rising in her as if she had just discovered a gold mine.

Hertz let out a long breath, amazed as he felt the power within him. This was the first time he had returned from the brink of death. It was completely different from being badly injured before; in that instant, it had felt as though his soul had drifted to the Otherworld. But thanks to it, his strength had truly increased by a great deal.

Hertz gritted his teeth. "Again."

"All right."

A glint flashed in Roland's eyes. He wanted to test whether the near-death boost could be repeated without limit. If it could, that would be outrageously powerful.

With another Senzu Bean in Hertz's mouth, Sephiria struck again. After he recovered, Hertz's power rose to 8,000, though the increase was smaller than before. The effect was indeed starting to weaken.

Hertz kept experimenting: a third time, a fourth, a fifth... The boost from each recovery grew weaker and weaker, until his power stopped increasing altogether. By then, his power level had reached 12,000—more than double what it had been before.

"Phew, it finally stopped increasing." Hertz could barely contain his delight.

"It seems this near-death ability needs time to build up. Its effects weaken in the short term," Roland mused.

Roland figured that the boost came from releasing the potential Saiyans had accumulated through training and battle. Once they had released all that potential, they needed to accumulate more. Without enough stored up, they couldn't keep breaking through by repeatedly flirting with death.

"Hahaha! With this kind of strength, I'm even more confident about going to Planet Namek."

Hertz laughed heartily. At the height of Planet Vegeta's power, five fighters had power levels over 10,000. Even when Planet Vegeta still existed, few had reached a power level of 12,000. And now he, Hertz, had reached that level himself... With the hope of bringing his wife back right before him, how could he not be happy?

"Your power is a little unstable. You'd better train in the Gravity Chamber," Sephiria said. She knew that a sudden surge of power wasn't necessarily a good thing if he couldn't control it.

After calming down, Hertz replied, "I'll learn to control my power on the way to Planet Namek."

Roland said, "By the way, the Dragon Balls on Planet Namek can grant three wishes. Since Planet Vegeta has already been destroyed, the first wish should be to bring your wife's soul to Planet Namek. Then you can use the second wish to revive her."

That was one difference between the Dragon Balls on Planet Namek and the ones on Earth. The Namekian Dragon Balls could revive only one person at a time, but they allowed that person to be revived multiple times. Earth's Dragon Balls could revive many people at once, but each person could only be revived once.

"So they can grant three wishes." Sephiria was surprised.

"Got it." Hertz looked at Roland gratefully.

Roland continued, "For the third wish, I want you to ask for this: 'Let the three of us obtain all the martial arts knowledge held by Earth's Kami...' That'll be very important to us in the future. Make sure you remember."

The essence of Earth's martial arts was contained in the training at Kami's Lookout. More importantly, that training included how to cultivate Ki.

In the original story, after Goku drank the Ultra Divine Water, his potential was unleashed and his power surged. He could also roughly sense people by their Ki. At that point, however, his grasp of Ki was still crude, and he could only vaguely sense the Ki of powerful fighters. It wasn't until he reached Kami's Lookout and trained in meditation under Kami and Mr. Popo's guidance that he grasped the true nature of Ki. He learned to close his eyes and fight by sensing Ki, bringing his fighting style to an entirely new level.

And the masters of Ki control were undoubtedly Earth's Kami and his servant, Mr. Popo.

As an aside, Master Roshi, who hadn't trained at Kami's Lookout, probably hadn't yet learned to use Ki to fight in the early days.

Roland knew that if he went to Earth himself, Kami might not be willing to teach him everything he knew. That was why he wanted Hertz to make the wish to the Namekian Dragon.

The wish should be within Porunga's power to grant.

Actually, what Roland wanted even more was North Kai's martial arts knowledge. But North Kai held a lofty position, even higher than the Grand Elder of Planet Namek, so that was clearly beyond the Dragon's power.

Seeing how serious Roland was, Hertz knew the matter must be extremely important. He nodded firmly.

"I'll remember that wish."

"Make sure you come back alive."

After preparing some food for Hertz, Roland and Sephiria watched the Gravity Spaceship slowly rise into the sky. Then, amid a burst of intense light, it left the atmosphere.