A Clean Slate

"I'm not surrendering. My dad is really strong. You can't beat him!" Wang Sheng shouted. In his heart, his father was the greatest and strongest person in the world.

"And my dad is really strong too! You can't beat him either!" Gohan shouted along with him.

"Damn it!"

Vegeta flew into a rage, the veins on his forehead bulging. As the proud Saiyan Prince, he couldn't tolerate anyone claiming he was weaker than a low-class warrior—even if the words came from a child.

"Your dads aren't the same person?"

Suppressing his anger, Vegeta looked at the two children and asked.

"Of course not. My dad's name is Wang Yang, and Gohan's dad is Goku," Wang Sheng said matter-of-factly. "They're obviously different people."

"Is there another Saiyan?" Vegeta wondered. But then he remembered that if Raditz hadn't told him this time, he wouldn't have known that another Saiyan, Kakarot, was still alive.

Maybe this Wang Yang was also a low-class warrior who'd been sent away as a child, just like Kakarot.

"Nappa, teach them a lesson. Make it hurt," Vegeta ordered the hulking Saiyan.

"Yes, Prince Vegeta! Let's see how strong you Earthlings are." Nappa pressed a button on his Scouter.

Gohan: 901.

Wang Sheng: 985.

Piccolo: 1200.

Krillin: 996.

Tien Shinhan: 1001.

"Idiots. You think you can fight me with power levels like those? Let the Saibamen play with you instead!" Nappa scoffed. He pulled six seeds from his pocket and planted them in the soil, then dripped a special nutrient solution onto them. Before long, six green Saibamen had appeared.

Unfortunately, Nappa didn't know that Earthlings could hide their power levels.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The phone rang. Wang Yang glanced at it and saw that Bulma was calling.

"Bulma's calling." Goku leaned over, craning his neck to see her picture on the screen.

Bang!

Wang Yang gave the phone a slight squeeze with his right hand, crushing it instantly.

"Why'd you break the phone?" Goku asked, confused.

"She's worried about Wang Sheng's safety and wants me to go deal with the Saiyans. At home, she gets to call the shots. But when it comes to raising Wang Sheng, that's my decision," Wang Yang said calmly.

Goku chuckled, as if he'd found a kindred spirit.

At Kame House, a group of people sat in front of the television, watching Wang Sheng and the others fight the vicious Saiyans.

"Bulma, did Wang Yang answer?"

"Damn Wang Yang! He actually ignored my call!" Bulma grabbed Oolong by the ear and punched him hard on the head.

"Ow!"

"When we get home, I'll show you what's what!" Bulma roared, never letting up. After just a few blows, Oolong's head was covered in lumps.

With Bulma raging, Oolong didn't dare complain, though he was furious.

On the plane, Goku suddenly changed expression and hurriedly sat up straight.

"Yamcha's ki disappeared?"

"Yeah," Wang Yang replied calmly.

"Damn it! I shouldn't have just sat back and watched." Goku cried out. They'd agreed to let Gohan and Wang Sheng get some experience, but now that someone had died, he couldn't help regretting it.

"Chiaotzu?"

"He's dead too."

"Damn it!" Goku stood up, ready to fly straight to the battlefield without another thought. Unlike Wang Yang, he couldn't bring himself to be so hard-hearted.

"Goku, they're already dead. Going there now won't change anything. Besides, we have the Dragon Balls. The dead will all come back eventually." Wang Yang hurried to stop him.

He was conflicted too. He worried about his son's safety, but he also feared that if he always stepped in as Wang Sheng's father, Wang Sheng would become dependent on him and never truly grow up.

Goku paced back and forth on the plane, looking restless.

Not long afterward, the plane finally landed on a mountaintop.

Wang Yang and Goku got off the plane and stood behind a rock, silently watching the battle in the distance.

On the battlefield, the bald Nappa was wreaking havoc. Krillin, Tien Shinhan, and Piccolo were no match for him.

Watching Nappa fight so viciously and thinking of Yamcha and Chiaotzu's deaths, Gohan and Wang Sheng were terrified. They hid behind a rock, trembling.

They were only five years old, after all, and still immature. It was only natural for them to be afraid. And when one of them held back, it affected the other too.

"Wang Sheng, that guy's terrifying!" Gohan stammered to the boy beside him.

"Y-yeah. He's terrifying and vicious." Wang Sheng swallowed nervously.

In the distance, Wang Yang and Goku watched the two kids run away at the crucial moment. They exchanged glances, feeling awkward, then both looked away as if to say, This has nothing to do with me.

Smack!

Nappa's massive fist slammed into Tien Shinhan's stomach, sending him flying. He crashed into a small hill just a short distance from Wang Sheng and Gohan.

"Uncle Tien!" The two kids saw Tien lying motionless on the ground and hurried over, moving cautiously.

"You two! Get over here and fight!" Piccolo spotted them and flew into a rage.

They'd trained so hard for a year, and now, when it was time for the decisive battle, they'd run away. Piccolo was so angry his nose nearly twisted out of shape.

"What do we do?" Krillin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and asked Piccolo.

"Useless!" Piccolo gritted his teeth as he glared at the two kids below.

"Don't get cocky! Goku and Wang Yang will show up for sure. Just wait until they do, and you'll be sorry!" Krillin was starting to despair. Nappa was absurdly strong.

"If they're so powerful, why haven't they shown up yet?" Nappa shouted, hovering in the air.

"They must've seen me and run off the planet without even taking their sons with them!" Vegeta laughed loudly after hearing Krillin. He was certain that was what had happened. Which Saiyan wouldn't be afraid of the Saiyan Prince?

"That's not true! My dad will definitely come!" Wang Sheng clenched his little fist, glaring angrily at Vegeta.

"My dad will come too!" Gohan shouted.

"If you believe in them so much, then I'll wait for them. But I'll give them three hours." Vegeta arrogantly held up three fingers.

The fighting paused for the moment!

While they waited, Krillin and Piccolo found Gohan and Wang Sheng still hiding.

The two kids lowered their heads in shame.

"Don't blame them. They're still young, and this is their first time on a battlefield. It's only natural that they'd be scared." Krillin sympathetically patted their heads. When he'd been their age, he'd been bullied by his senior students at Orin Temple and hadn't dared fight back.

"I thought you'd amount to something, but I was wrong. I don't want to see you here anymore. Go home to your mothers. We don't need you in this fight." Piccolo folded his arms across his chest, his voice cold.

Piccolo talked tough, but he had a soft heart. Gohan might not have lived up to his hopes, but after a year together, the boy had come to occupy a special place in his heart. Deep down, he wanted Gohan to leave and stay alive.

The two kids pressed their lips together and refused to leave.

The three hours passed quickly.

"Three hours are up, and those two Saiyan traitors still haven't shown up. Looks like they really are cowards!" Nappa burst into laughter.

"My dad isn't a coward!" Wang Sheng said angrily. He'd always believed his father could do anything, so he wouldn't let them insult him.

"They didn't show up? They dare mock me?" Vegeta's face grew more and more furious.

"Nappa, finish them off!" Vegeta ordered.

He no longer wanted to recruit the two children. He wanted everyone to know how terrifying the Saiyan Prince's fury was.

"All right, Vegeta." Nappa cracked his knuckles, a sinister smile spreading across his face as he strode toward Gohan.

"Oh, dear. Why haven't Wang Yang and Goku shown up yet? This is terrifying." Krillin was almost in despair. How could they possibly beat these two?

"Goku, if I die, you have to use the Dragon Balls to bring me back!"

Wang Yang glanced at Goku and saw him standing rigid, his eyes fixed on the battlefield, as if he might jump in at any moment.

"What did you say? You can come back to life after you die?" Vegeta's sharp ears caught Krillin's words. He was startled and hurriedly pressed him for an answer.

"Hmph!" Krillin was feeling stubborn now. He turned his head away and ignored Vegeta.

"Good! Good! Good! You dare ignore me?" Vegeta repeated the word three times, the veins on his forehead twitching.

"He's going to kill you now, so if you don't want to die, you have to stop being afraid, understand? You're much stronger than you think. As long as you aren't afraid, you can beat that bastard!" Krillin earnestly encouraged the two kids.

"Yeah!"

"I won't be afraid!"

They both nodded.

"Charge!"

The battle was about to begin. Krillin and Piccolo exchanged a glance and charged at Nappa together.

"Wang Sheng?" Gohan glanced at the boy beside him.

"Let's go!" Wang Sheng gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and charged forward.

"Okay!" Seeing Wang Sheng charge in gave Gohan a tremendous boost. He gritted his teeth and followed close behind.

"That's it, Gohan!" Goku cheered and clapped when he saw Gohan finally overcome his fear.

"Not bad, I guess. When I was born, I was already fighting for my life." Wang Yang said it casually, but his gaze never left Wang Sheng.

"Fighting for your life right after you were born? Really? Gohan was so weak when he was born." Goku looked at Wang Yang in confusion. He had no memories of his own birth, but he'd witnessed Gohan's. The newborn had been so fragile that Goku had been afraid he'd break his arm if he squeezed too hard.

"My power level was 5,001 when I was born. I was a little weaker than that bald guy." Wang Yang spoke calmly, though a spark of pride seemed to dance across his brow.

When he'd first opened his eyes, he hadn't understood what the Saiyans around him were saying. But after he learned the language and remembered what that Saiyan had said, he finally understood.

"What?" Goku's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He looked at Nappa tossing Piccolo around on the battlefield, then stared at Wang Yang in shock. You were that strong at birth?

"Back then, three of us were born around the same time: you, me, and another Saiyan named Broly. Your power level was only 2, mine was 5,001, and Broly's was 10,000." Wang Yang watched the battlefield as he spoke to Goku.

On the battlefield, Wang Sheng went from fumbling around at first to gradually getting used to the rhythm of the fight. The power inside him kept growing.

Thinking about the difference between himself and Wang Yang, Goku felt a little embarrassed. The gap had been enormous. But then he remembered all the hard training he'd done over the years, and felt a sense of accomplishment. He'd already caught up with Wang Yang.

It doesn't matter if your power level was low at birth. If you work hard, you can catch up. Goku clenched his fist and thought to himself.

"You were sent to Earth because your power level was so low at birth. Back then, his father, King Vegeta, saw how powerful Broly and I were and worried we'd threaten his position, so he sent people to kill us."

Wang Yang pointed at Vegeta.

"Broly was stabbed while he was asleep. I happened to see it, so I took him and fought our way out."

"What happened after that?" Goku hurriedly asked.

"I'd planned to find a spaceship and leave, but the planet was attacked and was about to explode."

"How did you survive the explosion?" Goku asked curiously.

"Luckily, I was quick-witted and held on tight to Broly. When the planet exploded, Broly sensed the danger and instinctively created a Protective Barrier. It carried us safely into space." Wang Yang's voice was wistful. If not for Broly, he'd have had to be reincarnated.

"That's so despicable!" Goku felt a chill at Wang Yang's story, but he was also furious. They'd been willing to attack children that young. They were completely inhuman.

The Saiyans really were a vicious and evil race.

"Even though Planet Vegeta was destroyed years ago and King Vegeta is dead, I still feel bitter whenever I think about what happened back then." Wang Yang sighed. That was also one of the reasons he'd been determined to get together with Bulma once he learned who she was.

"Good grief, all these years later and you're still holding a grudge? You really are petty." Goku waggled his eyebrows at Wang Yang.

Wang Yang looked at Goku's innocent smile and couldn't help but pause. To Goku, there was no grudge worth holding onto for a lifetime.

In the original story, even when Vegeta and Frieza had killed his companions, Goku chose to forgive them after defeating them and let them live.

Thinking of Bulma's smile and his adorable son, Wang Yang felt the anger in his heart gradually dissolve beneath Goku's smile.

Now that he had a happy family, and King Vegeta was suffering in hell, there was no need to keep holding on to the past.

Let bygones be bygones! Wang Yang looked at the arrogant Vegeta in the distance and thought.

Just then, Wang Yang suddenly felt a sense of lightness in his heart, as if dust had been wiped from a mirror. His soul and body felt more closely connected, and he had finer control over his body.