Outside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Zhou Zilong changed into a blue tracksuit, as if getting ready to face the challenges ahead.
"Guardian of Earth, could you take me to Other World? I'm planning to seek out King Kai and begin a new round of training," Zhou Zilong said, his voice firm and resolute.
The Guardian nodded and smiled. "I didn't expect you to know about King Kai. Very well, I'll take you there and see if you get lucky!"
The Guardian reached out and gently rested a hand on Zhou Zilong's shoulder. A gentle force enveloped them both, and the world around them blurred in an instant.
When everything came back into focus, they were inside a wooden building.
A huge wooden desk stood ahead of them. To the left were a telephone and a sign bearing the words "King Yemma." A massive man with reddish-purple skin sat behind the desk. He had a thick, bushy beard and wore a horned helmet with the character "Yemma" emblazoned on the front. At that moment, he was looking something up in a book.
The reddish-purple-skinned man looked up. Seeing the Guardian and Zhou Zilong, he put down his book and asked, "Guardian, this young man's still alive. What did you bring him here for?"
The Guardian replied, "King Yemma, this young man says he wants to go train with King Kai. He hopes you can let him through!"
King Yemma looked at Zhou Zilong, curiosity flashing in his eyes. "You're young, but you've already attained a fair amount of skill. Why do you want to seek out King Kai for training?"
Zhou Zilong took a deep breath and answered, "King Yemma, master of life and death, you must know there are still many evil people in our universe. I need to grow stronger so they won't be able to ravage my planet!"
King Yemma nodded approvingly. "Good. Wanting to protect your planet is admirable. As for whether you'll get to meet King Kai, that'll depend on your luck. Ogi, take him to Snake Way."
Ogi acknowledged him, then took Zhou Zilong to Snake Way in a little red car. The car traveled along a winding road while Zhou Zilong leaned back in his seat and rested with his eyes closed. He knew the journey ahead would be long and arduous, so he had to conserve his strength and prepare for the challenges to come.
After about an hour, the car finally stopped. A winding, silver, snake-shaped road stretched out before Zhou Zilong. This was Snake Way, which led to King Kai's Planet and ran for a million kilometers.
Zhou Zilong jumped out of the car, did a few warm-up exercises, then walked to the snake's head. He took a deep breath and set off with determined strides.
After raising his power level to around eight thousand, Zhou Zilong began flying along Snake Way with the Flight Technique. He streaked forward like lightning, swift and agile.
At that moment, North Kai sensed Zhou Zilong's energy on King Kai's Planet and muttered, "Hm? This energy has quite a high battle power. I wonder why he's coming here!"
Five hours later, Zhou Zilong finally saw the end of Snake Way: a small green planet. It was North Kai's home, King Kai's Planet!
He sped toward the planet, anticipation filling his heart. As he flew above it, he suddenly felt a powerful force pulling him down toward the surface!
Good thing my base power is high. I'm adapting to this tenfold gravity pretty quickly, Zhou Zilong thought, steadying himself as he descended toward King Kai's Planet.
Once he landed, he saw a blue-skinned man wearing unusual clothes and sunglasses approaching him. This was North Kai, the one Zhou Zilong had come to visit.
"Well, well, you're pretty impressive! You've already adapted to the gravity on my planet!" North Kai said with a smile, a hint of approval in his eyes.
"Thank you for the praise, King Kai. I've come to ask you to teach me how to train, so I can face any unknown challenges that may arise in the future," Zhou Zilong said, bowing respectfully.
North Kai nodded. "I can teach you how to train, but first you have to tell me a few jokes and make me laugh!"
Wanting to see if North Kai really was as easy to amuse as he was in the original story, Zhou Zilong casually began with, "Someone cut off a horse's tail!"
At that, North Kai's expression turned strange. He covered his mouth as if afraid he might laugh out loud. Seeing this, Zhou Zilong was pleased. It was clear North Kai still had a very low threshold for laughter.
So Zhou Zilong pressed on with another joke: "A cat got chased by a mouse!"
This time, North Kai clamped his hand over his mouth even harder. His eyes were full of shock and disbelief, as if he were saying, "How is that possible?"
Zhou Zilong felt even more confident, so he said, "A corner of my house was round and shiny. Turns out it was a toilet!"
As soon as he said it, North Kai began muttering to himself, "A corner of my house was round and shiny. Turns out it was a toilet! A corner of my house was round and shiny. Turns out it was a toilet!" His voice grew louder and louder until he finally collapsed to the ground, laughing uproariously.
"On a night so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, a tadpole was sunbathing!" Zhou Zilong added when he saw this.
"Hahahaha!" North Kai, who had already been laughing uproariously, laughed even louder.
Seizing the moment, Zhou Zilong asked, "Oh King Kai, with the best sense of humor of all, have I passed the test?"
After his fit of laughter, North Kai finally settled down. He adjusted his sunglasses and said to Zhou Zilong, "You've got a great sense of humor. You passed. Starting today, you'll train with me until you decide to leave!"
Zhou Zilong was overjoyed. He hurriedly bowed and thanked him.
Just as in the original story, North Kai's first training task for Zhou Zilong was to catch one of his pets, Bubbles—the gorilla Goku had struggled to catch when he first arrived on King Kai's Planet.
"King Kai, I suggest you add some weight to my clothes. Otherwise, I'll catch Bubbles in no time!"
Hearing Zhou Zilong say this, North Kai replied, "Don't underestimate Bubbles. He's very nimble!"
"Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!" Bubbles, hopping from side to side, seemed to be saying, "You're underestimating me!"
"Then please time me, King Kai!" Zhou Zilong replied.
Seeing how confident Zhou Zilong was, North Kai immediately produced a stopwatch. Bubbles, standing nearby, also prepared to run.
"Then let's begin!" North Kai pressed the stopwatch's start button and signaled that Zhou Zilong could start.
Without the slightest hesitation, Zhou Zilong pushed off hard with his feet and shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. He was so fast that he closed the distance to Bubbles in an instant.
He reached out with both hands, grabbed Bubbles by the tail, then lifted him up with a single tug.
"Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!" Bubbles cried out in alarm as soon as he was caught. He struggled to get free, but Zhou Zilong's hand held him like an iron clamp.
"0.2 seconds! Amazing!" North Kai exclaimed, looking at the time on the stopwatch. He hadn't expected Zhou Zilong to catch Bubbles so quickly.
"Good game, Bubbles!" Zhou Zilong let go and set him down.
"Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!" Bubbles replied in his own way, as if saying, "You're too kind! You're amazing—you caught me so quickly!"
"Now for the second test. If you can hit Gregory, I'll begin your proper training!" North Kai said. He produced a hammer and handed it to Zhou Zilong.
Zhou Zilong took the hammer and felt its considerable weight. He understood that this wasn't just a simple test; it was a challenge to both his speed and his reflexes. He took a deep breath, gripped the hammer tightly, and got ready.
Just then, a little ochre-colored grasshopper appeared before Zhou Zilong. This was Gregory, another of North Kai's pets!
"Greg! Greg! I'm really fast, so watch closely!" Gregory called out twice, sounding smug, as if showing off his speed to Zhou Zilong.
When he was done, a blue-green glow surrounded Gregory.
The instant the glow faded, Gregory charged at Zhou Zilong with incredible speed.
With a dull thud, Zhou Zilong moved with astonishing speed and appeared beside Gregory. He lightly tapped Gregory on the back of the head with the hammer, hitting him squarely.
"0.4 seconds! What incredible speed!" North Kai exclaimed as he checked the stopwatch.
After being hit, Gregory staggered slightly, then clutched his head and cried out in pain. "Ow, that hurts!" He clearly hadn't expected Zhou Zilong to hit him so quickly.
"I can't believe you're a human from Earth and this strong! You've completed both of my tests so quickly!" North Kai said, looking at Zhou Zilong with approval.
"King Kai, I'm not from Earth!" Zhou Zilong said with a smile, pulling out the tail he had wrapped around his waist beneath his clothes.
"You're a Saiyan!" North Kai said in surprise.
"That's right, King Kai. Although I'm a Saiyan, Earth is my home. I came here to learn how to grow stronger so I can better protect it," Zhou Zilong answered respectfully.
"That's certainly not how most Saiyans—who love fighting and causing trouble—think!" North Kai said, still surprised.
"It's because of the different environment. If I'd grown up in that kind of environment, I'd probably have turned out the same," Zhou Zilong replied.
North Kai nodded approvingly. "That's a good way to think. Take the rest of the day off and relax. Starting tomorrow, I'll teach you everything I know. But don't complain when it gets tough!"
"No matter how difficult it is, I'm ready!" Zhou Zilong said firmly.
Before you continue