Health supplements.
That was right—supplements for his "sword."
They were Old Kai's lifelong passion.
In his younger days, Old Kai had traveled from galaxy to galaxy in pursuit of them. He had seen plenty and lived quite a life.
Trunks quickly washed off his sweat, changed into clean clothes, and hurried out with Son Gohan.
A little while later...
Son Gohan returned with a haul.
Trunks, beside him, was full of curiosity.
Gohan kept visiting strange-looking shops and making him stand guard outside. He wouldn't let Trunks come in, either. What on earth had he bought?
While they ate, Trunks finally gave in and asked, "Gohan, what did you buy?"
Son Gohan put a finger to his lips and whispered, "Shh. It's a secret. Old Kai will get mad if I tell you."
"Old Kai? You bought something for him?"
"Of course. Don't ask, and don't try to sneak a look. Old Kai doesn't like people knowing his secrets."
"Oh, okay." Trunks nodded earnestly.
After that, whenever he passed those shops, he took a detour and never lingered.
Trunks always kept his promises.
But when Son Gohan thought of what was inside the Storage Capsule, even he was stunned.
Perhaps to get back at the Androids, people on Earth had used advanced AI to create a whole series of Android 18 photo shoots, in both magazines and videos.
The shops even had dedicated sections selling them. It was outrageous.
Section: Photo collections
Section: HD videos
Son Gohan had enjoyed an eyeful before buying them.
His efforts had paid off. Old Kai wouldn't be disappointed.
After a short rest, Son Gohan and Trunks went to Kami's Lookout.
He wanted to talk to Dende about upgrading Earth's Shenron.
The current Shenron was far too limited. It needed a serious upgrade.
At the very least, it ought to be able to revive someone who had been dead for more than a year, as long as their body and soul were still around, right?
If they'd reincarnated, fine. But if they hadn't, surely there was a way?
It had to happen. It was time for a brand-new version.
Dende frowned after hearing Son Gohan's request.
"Gohan, it's not that I don't want to upgrade Shenron. I just don't have enough power. My mental strength, spiritual power, and dragon power all fall far short. I can't do it yet."
Son Gohan thought for a moment, then asked, "Is there any way to make you stronger?"
"I'd need the right training," Dende said. "Ideally, somewhere suited to it and an experienced mentor to guide me."
"Could you train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" Son Gohan asked.
"That's different. The gravity there is ten times normal, and it's mainly for training the body. I'd have a hard time enduring it.
"Besides, I'd have no one to guide me. My mental strength, spiritual power, and dragon power would probably be just as hard to improve."
Then where could he go?
Son Gohan frowned and thought hard. Dende's problem sounded tricky.
Just then, Trunks spoke up. "Gohan, are you forgetting someone? He might be able to help Dende."
"Who?" Son Gohan asked.
"Supreme Kai. You said he outranks Dende, right? That means he must know a lot more. Guiding Dende's training shouldn't be a problem for him."
"Right! How did I forget? Supreme Kai might not be all that reliable, but Old Kai definitely knows his stuff." Son Gohan's eyes lit up.
He had been too close to the problem to see the answer.
Trunks, looking on from the outside, had thought of Supreme Kai at once.
"Haha! Trunks, you get all the credit this time." Son Gohan laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Who? Supreme Kai?" Dende was startled by their conversation. He thought he must have misheard.
"Yes, Supreme Kai. Could he help you?" Son Gohan asked.
Dende might not have known who Supreme Kai was before.
But after becoming Kami, he had learned how the gods ranked.
Supreme Kai was among the greatest gods in the universe, countless ranks above him.
An incredibly powerful god.
Dende wiped the sweat from his forehead. "If it's Supreme Kai, he might be able to help me train."
"Heh." Son Gohan grinned.
"Then that settles it."
He took out a Storage Capsule and retrieved the Communication Orb from it.
He immediately contacted Old Kai.
After he called out a few times, Old Kai's face appeared in the Communication Orb.
Old Kai looked full of energy. He had even opened his narrow eyes as wide as he could.
He asked expectantly, "Gohan, what is it? Do you have good news?"
Everyone listening stayed silent.
Son Gohan and Old Kai must have had some important arrangement. It wasn't their place to pry.
Son Gohan nodded. "Of course. I've kept your request in mind the whole time. As soon as I got back, I went to take care of it before I even ate. You'll be pleased, heh."
"Oh, and did you eat the food Kibito brought back?"
Old Kai smiled, making his eyes look even narrower.
"I did, I did. It was quite good. I never expected Earth's food to taste so delicious."
"Of course! You'll have to keep an eye on Earth from now on, Grandpa. Otherwise, you'd be missing out on a lot. Ahem. And I don't just mean the food."
"Sure, no problem." Old Kai thumped his chest. "And that thing..."
Son Gohan grinned. "I'll have Kibito deliver it to you personally tomorrow. Nothing will go wrong."
"Good, good." Old Kai sounded satisfied.
"Grandpa, could I ask you a favor?" Son Gohan said.
"Go ahead." Old Kai was in a fine mood.
"I'd like to send Earth's Kami to the Sacred World of the Kai to study. When you have time, could you give him a few pointers?" Son Gohan patted Dende's shoulder.
"Ahem. Dende, say hello."
Dende leaned into view, his expression deeply reverent.
"Hello, Supreme Kai. I'm Dende, Earth's Kami."
Old Kai fell silent. On this end, Dende kept swallowing nervously.
After a moment, Old Kai finally said, "Hmm, all right. But let me be clear: I won't teach him much. I'm busy."
Got him. Son Gohan smiled. "No problem. You don't need to teach him anything else. Just give him some pointers on his own training when you have time."
"Fine. I'll send Kibito to pick him up now. Give him that thing while he's there."
"Uh..."
Old Kai was a man who knew what he wanted, and he moved fast.
If there were a universe-wide contest for getting things done, Son Gohan would vote for him.
"All right. Send Kibito over," Son Gohan said.
"Mm. Fine."
"Kibito, go."
The moment he finished speaking, Kibito appeared on Kami's Lookout.
Son Gohan solemnly handed him the Storage Capsule, showed him how to use it, and repeatedly insisted that he place it directly in Old Kai's hands.
And so Kibito took Dende to the Sacred World of the Kai, where his training began.
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