Bardock's Incredible Story.

(Everyone, make sure you remember this... Bardock is a huge plot point I've planted!! He'll keep coming in handy later...)

Bardock...

In Dragon Ball, he could be called a mere bit player... At first... he stood alone against Frieza and the others... but Frieza still killed him with ease... Even so, when all was said and done, his strength was still above average...

He was a Saiyan with a power level over ten thousand... Though he only shone briefly, there was no denying that he was a hard worker...

Bardock also had an identity that everyone should take seriously... He was Son Goku's biological father...

If that were all, it wouldn't be such a big deal...

But the most shocking part was that Bardock had actually transformed into a Super Saiyan... He had even killed Frieza's Ancestor, leaving him with the famous last words, "Beware the Saiyan with the golden aura"... It was just that nobody had taken the warning seriously...

And that was the so-called beginning... Perhaps Bardock wasn't the legendary Super Saiyan, but he was definitely the first to transform into one...

"You seem to know something..."

Bardock looked at the shock on Betkas's face and spoke calmly... He slowly stood up. His thin frame didn't look the least bit frail with age; instead, it seemed full of strength.

"Didn't you die when Frieza hit you with that attack? And what happened to you?!"

Betkas quickly came to his senses, then pretended to be serious as he questioned Bardock... The truth was, the question was pointless. He already knew the answer...

The instant Frieza's energy ball destroyed Bardock, he'd traveled through time... He'd ended up in an age far, far in the past, when Frieza's Ancestor was acting as a "space cop"... And it was in that era that Bardock had transformed into a Super Saiyan!

Bardock's current appearance was clearly the result of aging...

What shocked Betkas even more was just how chaotic this was... It felt bizarre, after all. Bardock had been "killed" by Frieza only about ten years ago, and now he'd run into an elderly Bardock... who could even transform into a Super Saiyan... What was he supposed to make of this?

"It's a long story..."

Hearing the world-weary words, Betkas suddenly realized that Bardock's personality seemed to have changed... In the original story, Bardock had been proud and warlike, like other Saiyans, but he was also kind at heart. The way he treated that little alien in the Bardock Chapter made that clear...

But now, Betkas couldn't sense any of that pride or Saiyan cruelty in Bardock... Still, when he thought about it, it made sense... Time and hardship could wear down even the most stubborn personality... Let alone that of a "mere" Saiyan...

"Though I don't know what you know, Third Prince, there's no need to be too surprised... Given my age, I should have been nothing but a pile of dust long ago."

Bardock murmured wistfully...

Betkas listened in silence... He knew there might be more to Bardock's story, given that he'd lived all the way from the era of Frieza's Ancestor...

"Perhaps fate brought me back to the distant past... No, even farther back... I met many powerful fighters there... Among them..."

The more Betkas heard, the more shocked he became... This Bardock had lived through even more than the Bardock in the original story...

Not only had he traveled back in time, transformed into a Super Saiyan, and killed Frieza's Ancestor, but during his aimless journey through space, he'd even encountered Majin Buu as he rampaged through the universe... and the Four Supreme Kais... He'd fought countless battles along the way, yet he'd survived...

What shocked Betkas most was that Bardock had once encountered the strongest villain in Dragon Ball GT: the Shadow Dragons...

In that battle, Bardock had suffered even more than Son Goku in the original story... His body had been on the verge of death. That was when he found this planet and accidentally fell into a lake here. After that, he recovered...

But even after recovering, Bardock's strength had plummeted... He had less than one percent of what he'd once possessed... What made Betkas tremble was that this guy had actually surpassed Super Saiyan 4... He'd even reached the Fifth Form. Only after reaching that level had he been able to stand against the Shadow Dragons and survive...

This was just ridiculous!! Betkas wanted to shout...

"Wait... What the hell is going on? It's already crazy enough that Son Goku went from a Low-Class Warrior all the way to Super Saiyan 4... But his dad seems even more terrifying... He actually reached the Fifth Form? I've never even seen what the Fifth Form looks like..."

Betkas was completely confused... Bardock had hit him with a shock unlike anything he'd ever experienced. And when Bardock told him that he'd once reached the Fifth Form, Betkas had nearly lost his mind...

Because the Fifth Form was a transformation he'd never seen... He was dying to see it... There had been pictures online back in the day, but most of them had been Photoshopped and couldn't be trusted...

"Looks like there may be fighters in this Dragon Ball world who surpass even the Shadow Dragons... This is awesome!! I'm already fired up!!"

Betkas trembled from head to toe, clenching his fists so tightly that his palms grew sweaty. His face was full of excitement as he muttered to himself...

"It was this lake that let me live this long... Otherwise, I'd have been nothing but a pile of bones by now..."

Bardock spoke with a hint of optimism, a smile appearing on his face... But Betkas clearly caught a trace of sadness in his eyes. He figured Bardock must have felt helpless about his current situation... He'd lost the fighting strength he once possessed and become so feeble. No powerful warrior could bear that...

Especially a battle-loving Saiyan... That might have been the biggest reason Bardock's personality had changed...

"By the way... I don't even know what to call you now..."

For the first time, Betkas smiled with genuine ease. He spoke to Bardock with some respect... He truly admired him now... Bardock was a miraculous man who'd forged an unknown legend in the darkness, the strongest Saiyan never remembered by the world!! Without equal!

Of course, if that freak Son Goku broke through the limits of Earth... then he'd have to take that title...